Assessing Your I.T. Needs

Feb
27

There are certain needs common to every business, regardless of what product or service it’s offering. At a minimum, every office will need:

“ A desk and a comfortable chair
“ At least one good-sized bookcase or shelving unit
“ A table
“ A telephone
“ A computer and good monitor
“ A printer, copier and FAX machine

Let’s look at these one by one:

Desk and chair

This is where you’re going to be spending a great deal of time, and if you don’t choose wisely, you’ll find yourself getting aches and pains in places you didn’t know existed. While it may not seem to have much to do with your I.T. equipment needs, it has everything to do with your long-term chiropractic health – and without that, the best I.T. and electronic equipment in the world won’t help you.

You can get away with buying many things for your office second-hand and “on the cheap” – but do not skimp on the desk and chair setup. Go to a store that specializes in office furniture and try several until you find something that works for you – and use the information you researched on oline about “workstation ergonomics” in the middle as a guide.

Bookcase/Shelves

You can probably get away with starting out small, here – but chances are good that your storage needs will expand substantially over the years. It may be tempting to go with a lighter model simply for ease of movement. If your business is a success however, those shelves will soon be groaning under the weight of reference books, ledgers, and more.

If portability is an issue, there are models available with casters – or you can add some prior to filling the shelves. Just make sure that the shelves and the casters are of sufficient capacity; plan on about 100 lbs. per shelf.

A word about office supplies (including writing and computer supplies): shelves can be a great storage place for these as well. Just make sure they’re organized into small boxes, and store these items on the top shelves (since they’re lighter in weight).

Table

A table – aside from your desk – is an infinitely useful place for holding brainstorming sessions (by yourself or with others), meeting with clients, having a “working lunch,” or doing any work involving pen (or pencil) and paper away from the computer (which is probably taking up most of your desk space in any event). One caveat: there’s a real danger that a table will turn into a “catch-all” for books, important papers, and more. Resist this temptation by making sure that:

(A) your desk has sufficient drawer space,

(B) you have a decent file cabinet, and

Telephone (And Phone System)

This is something to think about. If you plan on being able to talk on the phone while having your hands free, you’ll need either (A) a headset or (B) a speaker phone, or (C) both. Having both affords you a bit of flexibility, as you can conduct both a private conversation and a conference with yourself, the person on the other end and whoever is in the office with you.

Other elements of this system include answering machine, message forwarding and paging. There are numerous ways to set this up.

The easiest and most economical is to simply have an answering machine (and be sure to get one that allows the caller to leave a message longer than 30 seconds – or you’ll have a lot of abbreviated and unfinished messages), then provide a cell number in the outgoing greeting. That way, if it’s important enough, your clients and/or customers can always reach you, and you can avoid the expense of a paging/messaging service.

If you plan on taking cell phone calls while on the road, a “hands-free” set-up is absolutely necessary. Many auto accidents are caused by people attempting to talk on a cell phone while driving, and many states are beginning to crack down on the practice, issuing stiff fines.

Such “hands-free” set-ups are available at many electronic and even automotive stores. Top-of-the-line set ups will run no more than $150, and there are many (of varying quality) that cost less than that.

Another thing to think about is whether or not you want a second phone line. If you have teenagers, this is practically a necessity. There are now numerous companies on-line who can provide your business with a toll-free phone number. Typically, you’ll be charged a monthly fee ranging from $9.95 to over $80 depending on what features you choose, plus a per-minute charge that can vary between .02¢ and .08¢.

Many companies offer a set amount of “free” minutes (that is, minutes included with the monthly charge) before you wind up paying for additional minutes. As with every other service and tool, it pays to shop around.

Computer and Monitor

Here is the heart and soul of your operation. You’ll spend a great deal of time with this machine – which will probably be obsolete within two years. For this reason, it really doesn’t make sense to spend a lot of money on this year’s latest and greatest model.

Last year’s top model will work just fine, and you’ll save a LOT of money by going that direction. During the summer of 2006, this writer purchased a one-year old Dell Dimension with an Intel Pentium 4 processor running at 3.2 GHz, complete with Ethernet, 3 GB of RAM, advanced ATI video card and a 160 GB hard drive from a private party for $750, including a 17″ monitor and keyboard. This is about half of what it cost new.

It is suitable for high-end 3-D graphics and rendering, runs graphic-intensive 3d games at a good resolution, and allows for satisfactory mid-range video editing (the book you are reading was written and published on this same machine). Chances are, a computer similar to this one will serve about 95% of the small businesses out there quite well for several years.

There are of course risks to purchasing a used computer. You have no idea if it has been protected by a firewall (more on this later), what viruses may be lurking, and you have no way of knowing how well it has been maintained. 98% of all computer problems are software-related, but if you don’t know what you’re doing, you’ll experience a great deal of frustration and downtime.

If you’re going to purchase a second-hand computer, make sure you have some computer knowledge, or bring a friend with you who does. The best cure for most all computer problems is prevention of course, so later on, we’ll be discussing the care and feeding of your computer.

If you are determined to have a brand new computer however, it’s best to have it custom configured for your needs. This writer recommends UNION BUILT PC (http://www.unionbuiltpc.com/umc.php#).

This U.S. – based company uses unionized, U.S. American labor to assemble their products. Their machines are priced very competitively with those of the major manufacturers who use off-shore factories in Asia. You can purchase a new computer with an Intel Pentium 4.3 Ghz processor, 512 MB of DDR RAM, 80 GB hard drive, 52X CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive with Windows XP Pro operating system installed for $1018, (At the time of this writing.) and includes an optical mouse, enhanced keyboard and stereo speakers.

That is nearly $70 less than the lowest-priced, overseas-manufactured name brand, which does not include mouse, keyboard nor speakers. Union Built PC offers a one-year warranty on its computers, and has additional products and business-related services available. The base price of their machines starts at $825, and a “wizard” is available on their website that enables you to add upgrades and see the price difference in real time.

About monitors: today’s standard is the 19″, flat screen LCD. Anything smaller will cause eyestrain if used continually. Unfortunately, the prices on LCD screens go up dramatically with every inch. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that like all technology, monitor prices have been dropping a great deal. We are now seeing 22″ LCD monitors on auction websites for less than $350, and 19″ monitors for a little over half that. Our advice is that you select the largest monitor you can afford – your eyes will thank you for it.

Printer, Copier, FAX Machine

Today, you can get one machine that performs all of these functions. Sometimes called an “all-in-one,” a printer-copier-FAX can run about $150 new. If you decide to purchase a used one, you may find a perfectly functional device for as little as $20 (more on this, later).

It should be pointed out that the copier function of these low-priced all-in-one machines is intended for light duty. If you are planning on making a large number of copies on a regular basis, you’ll be better off with something larger and more durable. PC Magazine (http://www.pcmag.com ) and Consumer Reports (http://www.consumerreports.org ) generally have good, reliable independent reviews of the various brands and machines available that will help you make an informed choice.

And trust me, you are going to want to be able to make a “Well informed” choice.