Over the past few weeks we have been getting a lot of inquires in regards to printer hardware failures and what can be done to fix them, so we felt it time to address printers and what maybe the best situational outcome for many.

Printers are a different beast that stand on their own and have its own set of rules to configuration and maintenance to deal with them.  When this device begins to malfunction be it a paper jam, streaking, or any other hardware related issues it can cause a problem to which then you have to weigh in on your options in regards to fixing the printer.  There aren’t many options available but in each situation there is at the very least a choice.

In the business environment the printers that should be purchased should be of business quality because of the volume of printing that may occur. With this type of printer maintenance is a little different that with a home or personal use printer. Business printers many times have the ability to be kitted, which means you can purchase hardware to replace on the printer to have it function like new again. Included in the kit are a fuser, rollers, paper roller, and other misc items depending on the printer. These kits run in the neighborhood of a few hundred bucks and can prolong the life of the printer itself. The reason this is a viable option for businesses is because the initial upfront cost of the printer is significant enough whereby kitting the machine does not out weight the overall value of the printer itself.

In the home environment printers are a little different as the initial purchase price isn’t as much as a business printer, enough to warrant replacing parts for a couple hundred bucks.  For a fraction of the cost for the parts and labor you can go out and purchase another printer probably newer at this point and be up and working again sooner than later. Instead of waiting for the parts to arrive and you hiring a technician to come out and install the parts, installing a new printer will be easier.  It is in this situation that we find it hard for users to do away with their printers because they are used to them, but if you look at it economically it just makes sense to replace it.

Overall printers will last for quite some time business or personal, but in the event that something does go wrong with the printer weigh in on your options to decide what would be best for you. Make a conscious decision whether or not it makes sense to fix it or just go buy another printer.

Three things about social media

Social Media is here, there, everywhere and there is no escaping it now. With the success of the movie “The Social Network” it brought social media further into the forefront of technology and everyone’s mind. Take your pick of facebook, flickr, twitter, delicious, myspace, linkedin, foursquare, etc. these social mediums provide us with the ability to touch thousands if not millions with the click of a button posting your “update” to the world. Since this is the case and it doesn’t seem like it is going anywhere, let’s embrace this new wave of communication and technology. While we embrace this here are a few things to take note to as you embark on your new found social life. 

You don’t need everything

Although there are a number of social media outlets to choose from that doesn’t mean you need to sign up for them all. Evaluate which social networks would be mutually beneficial to you and to those you opt to follow you. This an important concept because you have to gain just as much if not more from the network in order for you to stay enthused about using it. A good idea is to start off with two networks and dive into them. Once you are comfortable with these then you should take on more if you are so inclined.

Business vs. Personal

One of the neat things about social networks is that it gives you the ability to seamlessly interact with businesses. The interaction transcends itself from consumer to business and from business to consumer effectively where you can be on either ends of the spectrum. Although this is a great communicator it must be stressed that the two must be kept separate. Sending personal updates through the business accounts is a no no, as your business should stay neutral and normal in many lanes. Drawing a line between business and personal maintains the respect levels of each the business and personal through each subsequent update.

Universal Updates

Right now there are many third party applications that have the ability to integrate multiple social networks into one easy to use interface. TweetDeck and Hootsuite are a few examples of this type of application. With this it gives the user the ability to make one update span across multiple networks. This in itself is a wonderful thing because it maximizes you time by not having to login to multiple social networks to make the same update, as well as if there is something you want to say on one and not the other you can do that too. Most of the networks have links to the other networks built into their networks again allowing you to make one update across the board.

Overall social media is very big right now and it can become overwhelming and staggering. If you follow this simple outline above we guarantee you will be a lot better. Don’t be afraid to give it a try and if it doesn’t work for you that’s ok, but you don’t know until you try. After it’s all said and done remember Be Social.

It’s that time of year everyone where the holiday bells are ringing so, lets get festive and have a good time.Count this as a formal invitation to a great time with food, fun, and wonderful entertainment at the second annual Christmas party given by the Roxborough Business Exchange. In Manayunk, Pa come have a good time with us as the only thing needed to get in is one non – perishable canned good. Check out the flyer that was designed by us here at Calcom Technologies.  From all of us at Calcom Technologies we wish you and your family a Happy Holiday’s and we hope to see you at the party.

From the desk of our owner Isaiah Nathaniel

 …With any business the press can be a two headed sword. It can be a great marketing and business advertising medium, and on the other hand it can take the facts and stretch them beyond expectation to garner reader appeal. While some say all press is good press, it still can provide the daunting task of overcoming from negative, overstated, or understated opinions from such an opinionated society. Although you can have stringent principals and a proven track record negativity can take its toll to which some never really rebound. So, when the press gets it right and accurate it is something that can be commended and such has recently happened to us here at Calcom Technologies.  Not only was it a great article for pleasurable reading but just as informative to where it can be used as a starting reference. This here shows us that we must continue to push ourselves to the limit each and every day to provide great service and values to all of our existing clients and potential new clients…

 To see what he is referring to click here to read the full article http://roxborough.patch.com/articles/sweet-tweets-throughout-roxborough-manayunk

In the computing world today you hear a lot about how much traffic you receive or can receive on your website. You hear terms like SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and SEM (Search Engine Marketing). In all these things you can quickly become very frustrated as all you are trying to do is drive in more business and you haven’t the slightest idea what traffic is or let alone SEO, etc. After reading this hopefully you will have a better grasp of things and are able to make a conscious effort to get more customers by way of the internet.

Wikipedia defines search engine optimization (SEO) as the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” or un-paid (”organic” or “algorithmic”) search results as opposed to search engine marketing (SEM) which deals with paid inclusion. What this means to you is that by improving the quality of your website you would be able to drive more traffic to your site and then the possibility of the traffic turning into customers. What actually needs to take place is slightly different than what seems to be implied. Improving the quality of your website has more to do with the background coding of the website that the outwardly seen appearance. Yes the appearance does make a difference, but in terms of SEO the coding with the modification of keywords, headings, and tags are more significant. The second part to this is the extension of SEO which is SEM. Search engine marketing deals more exclusively with paid advertisements prominently being displayed on your website in addition to the modification of coding. It also deals with you paying some of the top search engines a certain amount based upon what categories you want which is to guaranteed your website to be in the top of the search list.

All these things tied together (either separately or collectively) are what can produce traffic to your website in addition to the natural traffic from you current business. As with almost everything there is a give and get, a good and a bad that has to be taken into consideration. Good traffic consists of quality visitors visiting and browsing the site for the possibility of conduction business with your company. They are also visiting your site to gain an insight to some valuable information about the company and the field of expertise you are engaged in. On the other hand bad traffic consists of a lot of spammers going to your site with the intention of soliciting their services to you and/or your employees. This type of traffic causes a lot of hectic occurrences and the possibility of your website being flagged as spam among the ISP (Internet Service Providers.)

On average many have benefited from both SEO and SEM. There are many that do without SEM and just utilize SEO for bringing more visitors to their website. Some say SEM is an unwanted approach to driving more visitors to your site because of the junk that has the potential to come along with it. Many say it is the driving force for their business. When we are asked the question as to what do we recommend, we do a few things. We take a look at the industry you do business, the type of services you offer and then make our recommendation as to if your company would benefit from one, none, or both. All in all there are many avenues you can use to utilize the technology evolution and drive more business in from your presence on the web. Whatever option is chosen, get professional help because you can go from trying to drive business in to lose business if not done correctly.