Despite what the news people say about our economy, small businesses are still needing computer services. Some of my customers have made the upgrade to the new Small Business Server 2008 that was released last November, and even more companies have made the transition to a fully digital VoIP based phone system.

In order to keep up with the increased demand, I am no longer working by myself. Many of you have already met Bruce Caouette who has been working with me for over a year. And recently I have additional help from Ted Antal. I know that these changes have prompted the question of who to call when your company is in need of technical support. I will try to clarify the roles, but first let me introduce our new phone system.

My cell phone is no longer going to be the primary number for Paperless Solutions. We now have a central business number so that one number can connect you to any of the three of us (depending on availability).

Our new number is

404-214-2790.

The new phone system has an automated attendant that answers all calls. The recordings were made by the talented “Promo Jenn” Schwartz and give you the following options (which you can press at any time):

Option 1 – This is the option you will use most of the time. If you are having a problem and need to talk to one of us, dial the number and press option 1. The system will automatically select one of the three of us based on availability and we’ll make our best effort to answer. After two minutes if we haven’t been able to answer, you will get the opportunity to leave a message. Our goal is to respond to any messages within 4 business hours.

Option 2 – This is the option for new customers. If you are interested in our services for your company or want to refer us, select option 2 to hear a recording about our services while you wait for one of us to answer. Priority will always go to our existing customers, so this may go to voicemail more often.

Option 3 – Vendors, this is the option for the companies we partner with for follow up on orders or for accounts payable issues.

Option # – The directory

Extension 7911 – The emergency extension. Dialing 7911 at any time needs to be reserved for the rare cases when a server is completely inoperable or your business is completely disrupted. This option will automatically ring all extensions and cell phones and will not go to voicemail, the phones will ring indefinitely until someone answers. Remember what happened to the boy who cried, “Wolf!” so please do not dial this extension unless necessary. If this feature is abused, I may have to disable it or charge premium rates per phone call.

You will no longer need to dial our cell phones to reach us, the specific extension numbers will automatically forward to our cell phones when we are out of the office. One number is all you need.