San Isabel Blog

On Wednesday, January 18, 2012, many sites will go dark to protest a bill that is before Congress.  The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), if passed, would affect many websites and online communities.  As a protest, many popular websites will blackout or “go dark” on Thursday, January 18.

For more information on SOPA, the bill text is located here:

http://thomas.loc.gov

The bill is H.R.3261

If you have questions or concerns. please contact us on (970) 337-1300.

Happy holidays from all of us at San Isabel!

1. Back up, back up, and back up.  You should know how to back up your emails, your important files, and your entire computer.  There are many backup programs and methods; take a moment to decide the best options for you.  This might be an external drive, a thumb drive, or DVDs.  You might even have online storage as part of your Internet service.
2. Know your own email.  This includes incoming and outgoing mail servers, usernames, passwords, type of account (IMAP, POP3, etc.) and know how to use forwarding and filters.  If you own a smartphone, you should understand how it handles email, too.
3. Be careful online.  Don’t just click on anything that strikes your fancy.  Think first, then click.
4. Understand your digital footprint.  Do you know what people will find if they Google your name?  How about your friend lists?  Are your privacy settings working for you?  Review your online settings periodically.
5. Have a future plan.  Computers do not last forever.  Most IT managers expect their hardware to last about three years.  Expect to replace or upgrade your equipment.  If you want to extend the life of your computer, spend more on memory and processors when you purchase it, and spend more effort on maintaining it regularly.  When you do replace your computer, don’t expect to be able to buy one and have it completely ready to replace your existing machine in one day.  Migrating takes time and planning, and you should allow at least a day or two to move to your new machine.
6. Schedule your maintenance time. 
7. Keep your antivirus software up-to-date.
8. Have a designated spot for your computer peripherals.  Video boxes are a good size for multiple things like software manuals, CDs, DVDs, and cables.  This will help you when you need to upgrade your hardware or software; you’ll know exactly where those license numbers and operating system CDs are.
9. Keep your passwords in a safe location.  This means an actual safe location, not a sticky note on your monitor!
10. Understand your local area network (LAN).  If you use a wireless router, you are probably using Network Address Translation (NAT).  You should know that these addresses expire and refresh themselves, and that sometimes you might need to force the refresh process.  Many routers have built-in firewalls.  Have your username and password available in your safe location.  If you don’t know them, spend a few minutes and track them down.  Having this information can save you a technician visit.

Tulips

We’d love to wish you a happy Spring! 

We are a small company, and sometimes we are out on installations or helping other customers.  If you need to reach us, please call (970) 337-1300 and follow the prompts.  We are here, and your message will page the on-call technician.

This notice is to inform you that we will be conducting scheduled maintenance beginning at 8:00pm MT, Friday, March 11, 2011 for approximately three hours. Please be aware that during this time you will not have access to webmail or email via POP, and any incoming mail will be delivered after the outage.

If you have any questions or if you need assistance, please call us at (970) 337-1300. After-hours support is available; just follow the prompts and leave a message. A technician will be paged.

Happy holidays from all of us at San Isabel Telecom!

San Isabel’s new voice mail platform allows its WiMax customers to check their voice mail via computer, smartphone, or regular phone.  It also allows customers to receive email .wav file copies of voice mails. 

Read more about San Isabel’s launch of the XOP platform at:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/11/prweb3196674.htm

For more information on XOP, please visit www.xopnetworks.com.