Business

Mac HelpMate is a remote computer support application for Macs running Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later. You can always download the latest version of Mac HelpMate from www.MacAtoZ.com/Support. All Macs owned by a business are covered by our MSS remote computer support policy. This includes company laptops “in the field.”

Although anyone is welcome to download and use Mac HelpMate and take advantage of the diagnostic and repair functions therein, MSS corporate members can use the remote computer support function to receive remote computer repair or training billed in 5 minute increments (of our $96/hr rate, with a 15 minute minimum). For MSS members, getting a problem solved is literally as easy as one phone call and three clicks of the mouse!

If your business has replaced a Mac with a newer model and wants to get remove the old one, we will pick up the old Mac for free. From there, we’ll do one of two things:

1. Take it to the recycling center for you. If the Mac is inoperable, this is often the best solution. With your permission we may harvest any usable parts.

2. If the machine still works and is capable of running Mac OS X, we may ask your permission to securely erase the hard drive, fix it up, and donate to some needy individual (frequently a student). We will only do this with your permission. If we cannot place the machine with someone, we will donate it to charity (such as the Goodwill).

Remember that many different types of computer components—RAM, hard drives, printers, software, etc.—can have value in cobbling together an older Mac system for someone. If you’d like to donate, please don’t throw anything away without calling us first. If an item can’t be used, we’ll take it to the recycling center for you anyway. (This service valid in Marion County only.)

Important: We use a 7-pass erase on all hard drives to insure that your data is thoroughly removed. This process meets the United States Department of Defense specification for the erasure of “Secret” level documents.

Depending on you or your employees’ level of aptitude, installing new RAM memory into a Mac can be a daunting, time-consuming task. For MSS members in the Salem-Keizer area, we will install for free computer memory that your company purchases through us on to any Mac your business owns. This can prove helpful in several ways.

First, Apple’s RAM prices are notoriously poor. Apple charges well beyond market price for the RAM it sells, costing end users a lot of money for no additional benefit versus buying third-party memory. Unless Apple changes their long established policy, our RAM (which like the general memory market fluctuates in pricing—email for the latest) will always be substantially less expensive than Apple’s.

Second, the RAM we sell is certified and comes with a lifetime replacement guarantee. Apple’s RAM has a one year warranty (three years if you’ve purchased AppleCare). Certified RAM is memory that has been tested and found to be 100 percent functional. If through normal usage the RAM fails to perform satisfactorily, it will be replaced for free.

Finally, we can save your business time and money on the installation itself. At your local Mac reseller, RAM installation costs almost $30 and you have to take your machine in to be serviced. With our MSS RAM installation service, we come to you and it costs you nothing.

The special case of the Mac mini
The Mac mini is very tightly engineered and requires a special tool in order to open properly. Apple (rightly, in our opinion) does not consider the Mac mini to be “Do It Yourself” upgradeable. Although we’ve done RAM upgrades on minis before, it’s not been without a fair degree of time and effort. Therefore at our option we may take Mac minis to the local Mac Store or Apple Retail Store and have the upgrade performed there. If so, we will pay for the RAM installation as part of your MSS service.

We hold special “how to” events throughout the year to help explain the features of the MacAtoZ Service Suite. The classes are one-day sessions, usually a couple hours in duration, and free to MacAtoZ Service Suite members. Although most subjects covered apply primarily to MSS Individual and Non-profit members, you or an employee are welcome to attend.

If you’re happy with the peace of mind and time and cost savings from the MacAtoZ Service Suite, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell other Mac-using business owners how great it is. As a “thank you” for the positive word-of-mouth, we’re giving you the opportunity to get the MSS for free. Simply refer another MSS corporate-level member and when they sign up for service your renewal date will automatically be extended by three months.

Make sure to remind anyone your refer to tell us of your referral when they sign up so that we can credit your account properly.

If for any reason you are dissatisfied with the MacAtoZ Service Suite, you may cancel the service within the first 60 days for a full refund. Unconditionally. No questions asked.

This is a guarantee that applies to all tiers of our service, but for corporate customers we offer a better-than-money-back guarantee. Not only will we refund your money if you’re unsatisfied, you keep your domain name at no charge.

Never worry about forgetting to pay for or re-register your company’s domain again! MSS business members get their own free domain name (www.YourBusinessNameHere.com). You are welcome to choose any available domain or transfer your existing domain. If your first choice for a domain is taken, you may wish to try altering the suffix from .com to .net or .org. Many common names were taken long ago, so don’t be surprised if your company’s first choice is unavailable.

Additional domains may be registered for $12/yr.

Your business doesn’t need another set of email accounts, it needs the BEST email accounts! Here are some of the reasons why:

1. Because your business has its own free domain as part of MSS, you can pick any email addresses you want at that domain. Maybe you tried to get JohnDoe@yourISP.com, but there were other JohnDoes already so you had to be the less professsional JohnDoe12@yourisp.com. With your own domain, your email can be exactly what you want it to be.

2. Unlike many of the free email accounts available, MSS email is ad-free.

3. MSS email can be either IMAP or POP (your choice) and works with Apple’s Mail (or other email software).

4. MSS email has a secure (https) web mail interface, so you can retrieve it from any Internet connected computer (including PCs).

5. MSS email uses SpamAssassin spam filtering which includes whitelists (allowing certain email to always get through) and blacklists (allowing certain email to always get blocked).

6. MSS email supports digital signatures and encryption.

Additional email addresses are only $5/yr.

Conduct your own inexpensive audio or video computer conferencing!

Jabber is an open source instant messenging (IM) protocol supported by Apple’s iChat AV , Fire, or Adium X. Unlike other IM services, you and your employees do not need to fill out any intrusive sign-up forms to use Jabber, making it an excellent ad-free alternative to other IM services like MSN, AIM or Yahoo!

MSS Jabber IM supports transports for connecting with other IM services (like AIM), multiuser conferences and audio/video chats. Jabber IM is the basis of GoogleTalk, Google’s IM service and as such is compatible with MSS Jabber IM.

An iDisk is a remote WebDAV server that appears on your desktop just like any other removable disk. It’s great for backing up files, transferring files between computers, sharing files with a vendor or customer, or saving items off-site. Just click the iDisk open like a hard drive, and drag-and-drop! Plus, because the WebDAV protocol relies on http, it is a significantly faster method of transferring data than sending files by email.

If you wish, you can also use the online space for hosting your own web site. Simply use any FTP client (we recommend Panic’s Transmit ) to upload HTML files to your space. If your FTP client supports SFTP (Secure FTP) we recommend that you use it, as FTP is an inherently insecure protocol.

As a courtesy, we will place an index.html file with your domain’s name (www.yourdomain.com) root web folder. This keeps others from seeing the files stored at your domain, and it provides a convenient point of reference for placing your own HTML files in the future should you wish to do so.

You can use any number of web site creation programs including Adobe GoLive, Adobe DreamWeaver, RapidWeaver, Nvu, and Apple’s iWeb (part of the iLife suite). Help with web site design and implementation is also available at our hourly rate from MacAtoZ should you prefer to leave the coding to us. We’ve created a number of business web sites over the years and would be thrilled to help in building yours.

A corporate web log, or “blog,” can be whatever you make of it. Some companies use it to build goodwill or brand recognition. Others post short “how-to” stories. Some businesses allow employees to post about company events, figuring it’s an easier way to maintain some level of corporate control over a company’s online image.

WordPress is online blogging software that is designed to make blogging easy. In fact, setting up a multi-user company blog is not much more difficult that for a single user.

This web site was created using WordPress.

MacAtoZ offers Mac OS X training courses several times per year. MSS Business members will receive a substantial discount on these courses just by virtue of membership. They will also be the first ones alerted of when new training classes are announced, giving them priority notification for those courses.

Gallery is online photo organizer designed to help your business share your digital images. Because Gallery is open source, the developers have been able to add an amazing array of features including image manipulation, themes, multiple languages, slideshows, photo printing service support, and more.

As with a blog, a company can use an online photo gallery for internal or external communications.

Publish your iCal calendars and have others subscribe directly via your special WebDAV calendar space.