HOUSECALL information technology

Earlier this year, Research in Motion, the makers of Blackberry, released a new operating system for their devices.* You may have been prompted to upgrade your current Blackberry to the new operating system, or you may have received a new Blackberry with the new system already installed. Either way, you are sure to notice that it is drastically different and requires some getting used to. In this blog, we hope to help you find some of the useful features you may have missed and learn how to overcome some of the common complaints. If you do not currently have the new operating system and want it, please talk to your HouseCall Systems Administrator. It is not advisable to upgrade all devices.

The Home Screen

The new home screen looks somewhat similar, but you will find that you can interact with it in a very different way. They designed it to work well with touch screen devices, so you might find it very reminiscent of an iPhone or Android.

There are 5 home screens available: All, Frequent, Favorites, Media, and Downloads. You get to different screens by scrolling to the left or right, or by swiping left or right on a touch screen. To see more than the top six applications, just keep scrolling down or swipe the title of the screen up. If you have accidentally scrolled over to another screen and just want to get back to your email quickly, you can hit the End Call button twice to return to the first application on the All screen.

You will also discover that, rather than just provide information as before, the new home screen is far more interactive and allows you to change things quickly, as well.

Clicking on the notification area, which displays the alerts for new messages and appointments, will display a list of the messages it is alerting you to for easier access.

Clicking on the top bar which displays the time and network coverage, will get you quick access to turn connections to the different kinds of networks on and off and set the alarm clock and several other options.

Clicking on the icon at the top left which tells you which sound profile it is active will allow you to quickly change to a different profile. And can’t we all appreciate a faster way to make the Blackberry go silent?

By default, when you start typing anything, the Blackberry will start searching for what you are typing. This can make it very quick and easy to find a certain contact or appointment, or an email containing certain information, or a setting you are looking for on your Blackberry. You can even search the internet this way.

If you just wanted to make a phone call, finsish dialing the number and hit the Send Call button or scroll down to select the number on the screen.

If you do not like this feature or want to be able to use keyboard shortcuts, you can disable it running by default and access it through the magnifiying glass icon at the top of the screen. From anywhere on the home screen, hit the Menu button (the one with the Blackberry symbol of a cluster of dots) and choose Options. Here, you can switch between Universal Search and Application Shortcuts. You can also change your wallpaper, the number of icons that show up on the home screen before you have to scroll down, and where applications you download are put by default. These are some of the most useful and common personal preferences all together in one screen.

When you look at the five home screens, you may wonder if there is a difference between Frequent and Favorites, and there is. Favorites is customizable. It will automatically fill with applications you use frequently, but you can set it allow easy access to applications, contacts, and websites you use.

To add an application to Favorites, just select it on the home screen, hit the Menu button, and choose Mark as Favorite.

To add a website to the home screen, open the website, hit the Menu key, and choose Add to Home Screen. Note, that you will have to open the website to do this. You cannot send a link to the home screen until you have opened the site in the browser.

To add a contact to the home screen, select it in the Address Book, hit the Menu button and choose Add to Home Screen.

This will open a screen that allows you to name it and choose where you want to put the shortcut to that contact. If Mark as Favorite is checked, it will go on the Favorites screen. Otherwise, it will just show like any application.

Now, you have easy access to all of these resources from the Favorites screen. When you roll the cursor over the icon, text will appear above it, to let you know which shortcut or application it is, but wouldn’t it be better if there was a picture?

Add Pictures to Contacts

For that reason, or just because it is fun or because helps your organization, you can add pictures to any of your contacts. You can either add the picture to the contact in Outlook, or straight through the Blackberry. On the Blackberry, open the contact, choose Edit from the menu, and click on the picture icon.

This will open a screen that allows you to either choose from pictures already on your Blackberry, or choose Camera to take a picture.

Tabbed Browsing:

Another great feature of the new operating system, is the addition of tabbed browsing. Now you can have more than one website open at a time. Just open a website and then click on the button showing two boxes in the top right corner to add another tab or choose between the tabs you currently have open.

Selecting Text:

One of the changes which you will run into often is the new way Blackberry handles text and links in emails. The new method allows for smoother scrolling through emails, especially ones with graphics, and gives better control when selecting text.  Now, to select text, you hit the Menu button and choose Select. You can also hit Alt+Space, to enter text selection mode.

This changes your cursor to the same kind you are used to seeing in on a computer and lets you use the trackpad or touch screen to immediately move the cursor to the text you want to select. Click at the beginning of the text and again at the end to select.

Once you have made a selection, a screen will automatically pop up to allow you to choose what you want to do with the selected text.

Navigating with the Trackpad:

As mentioned before, the new operating system was designed for touch-screen Blackberries. It is also available for trackpad only devices, but the navigation can be a little tricky. When switching between home screens or days on a calendar or from one email to the next on a touch-screen, you would swipe your finger across the screen to the left or right. With a track pad, the motion is the same, but you only have about a quarter inch of space to do it. This often translates into scrolling at just the right speed. It can help to swipe across the trackpad and the surrounding keys together to get the right movement. Most importantly, just know that it takes a little practice to learn, but it is possible and your Blackberry isn’t broken. It is just different.

If you have one of the new touch-screen Blackberries, you will notice the downfall every iPhone and Android user is well aware of: touch-screens kill battery life. Different phone manufacturers handle the issue in different ways, but it is an unavoidable fact that it takes a lot of energy to make a touch-screen work.  There are a few tricks you can use to minimize the drain on the battery, though.

First, don’t use the touch screen when it isn’t helpful. The new Blackberry comes with a full keyboard and trackpad and call buttons, so you don’t need to use the touch screen for everything. This makes navigation much easier, since you can choose the best option for what you want to do. Touching the screen would be much easier to open an application, while the trackpad may be easier for you to use to select text or scroll precisely through an email. It also saves battery life to type on physical keys instead of a touch-screen interface. You also don’t want to be using the touch screen when you don’t mean to. Be sure to always lock the screen before putting the Blackberry in your pocket, purse, or briefcase. The battery can be drained just by bumping against your wallet, if it isn’t locked.

Since the touch-screen will always take a lot of your battery power, you can reduce the drain in other areas to make up for it. The next biggest drain on the battery is searching for service the Blackberry can’t find. If you are in an area with no cell signal, turn off the Mobile Network. If you are in an area with no WiFi, turn off WiFi. If you are not using a Bluetooth device, turn off the Bluetooth. (It is good security policy to turn off Bluetooth when not in use, as well, since Bluetooth can be used for file sharing.) Remember, it is now easy to get to these settings by just clicking at the top of the home screen.

If you are in an area with WiFi, it will use less battery than the Mobile Network. If you have wireless internet in your office or at your home, setting that up on your Blackberry can really help battery life. (Please note that you may be disconnected from HousePublic if you leave your office for another part of the House Office buildings. Your HouseCall Systems Administrator can explain further.)

Lastly, if you aren’t going to need loud notification of your incoming emails and appointment reminders, you can turn the sound to silent. Vibrate uses less battery than Loud and Silent and Phone Calls Only use far less battery than the others.

Hopefully, this will keep your Blackberry going and help you use the new features. If you have any questions, just let us know.

*RIM has released Blackberry OS 6 and OS 7. The main difference is that OS 7 is designed solely for touch screen devices. The two operating systems will look and act the same for the user, so they are being discussed without distinction here.

Everyone has a favorite browser they like to use that makes their Internet browsing experience a personalized. Here are a few tips & tricks that will help you get the most out Google Chrome & Mozilla FireFox.

Firefox

Opening multiple web pages at startup

Did you think it was only possible to have one web page open at start up? With Firefox there is an option to have multiple pages open at launch. You can now have Politico, CNN, & HouseNet greet you each morning. To turn this feature on in Firefox go to Options -> General. In the homepage field enter the web addresses separated by pipes. For example: http://www.cnn.com | http://www.politico.com | and so on.  Click Ok to save and next time you relaunch Firefox you will see all your tabs open.

Customizing your search with Smart Keywords

Firefox has a feature that enables you to perform searches within a webpage through the address bar. For example, this feature allows you to search for an “Apple Ipad” on Bestbuy.com without browsing to Bestbuy.com and then typing the search in their search bar. You simply have to type in bestbuy apple ipad into Firefox’s address bar.

To activate this feature and create a smart keyword, go to a website that has a Search field. Right-click in the search field and select “Add a Keyword for this search”. Create the bookmark for the site and your smart keyword is now enabled.

Bookmarking RSS feeds

If you have websites you frequent often, especially news websites,  RSS feed’s make staying updated easier. Creating an RSS bookmark will automatically update stories and headlines from that feed.

To create an RSS bookmark, right-click on the Firefox tool bar and select Customize. Drag & Drop the RSS logo (which looks like radio waves and has Subscribe underneath) onto the toolbar. Go to a website whose RSS feed you would like to subscribe to and select the RSS feed button that is now on your toolbar. Now enter a name for the RSS feed and click Add.  You will see it has been added to your toolbar and will update as new posts are made on that website.

Multiple pages at startup

Google Chrome also allows multiple pages to open during startup. Chrome makes it super easy to set up. Select the wrench at the top right of the browser,  choose Options and under the Basic’s tab check the radio button that says “On startup…open the following pages”. On launch of the browser it will open the web pages in the order listed.

Pinning Tabs

If there’s a site or service you find yourself using often in a web session, you can pin a tab in Chrome. This feature shrink’s the window down to the size of the favicon (small logo that shows up in the left portion of the tab), enabling you to better multi-task with multiple tabs open in Chrome.

To enable this feature, right-click on the tab you want to pin and click “Pin tab.” To enlarge the tab, just right-click and click “Unpin tab” again to uncheck the option.

Calculations in Address Bar

Another cool feature of Google Chrome is its address bar can also be used to perform mathematical calculations with its basic calculator feature. You can type your math equation into the address bar and the answer will show up where you normally see auto-suggestions.

There are many, many more features in both Firefox and Chrome.  For more Firefox tips visit the Mozilla Tips Page.  For more Chrome tips check out Chrome Tricks the website dedicated to Chrom tips and tricks.

Creating Computer Lock Shortcut

Keeping your computer unlocked while away from your desk can be risky.  You never know who might walk into the office and try to access your work.  Every time you plan to step away from your desk for more than five minutes you should always lock it.  A couple options to quick lock are through keyboard shortcuts such as Ctrl + Alt + Del or Windows + L, but there is also a way to create a shortcut icon on the desktop to lock the computer:

Right-click anywhere on the desktop → New → Shortcut.

In the Create Shortcut dialog box type “rundll32 user32.dll,LockWorkStation” in the ‘Type the location of the item:’ field → Next.

Note: This shortcut example is using the lock function.  A shortcut for restart and shutdown can be made also using the following in the ‘Type the location of the item:’ field in place of “rundll32 user32.dll,LockWorkStation”

Restart – %windir%\System32\shutdown.exe -r -f -t 00

Shutdown – %windir%\System32\shutdown.exe -s -f -t 00

Type “Lock PC” (or whatever name you want to name the shortcut) in the field named “Type a name for this shortcut:” → Finish.

Double-click the newly created shortcut icon on the desktop to lock the PC.

Creating Safely Remove USB Flash Drive Shortcut

USB flash drives are used commonly in most office environments to move files from computer to computer or to home.  The proper way to eject the USB flash drive from the computer is to safely remove the USB hardware by going through the icon in the system tray.  A shortcut icon can also be created to safely remove the USB flash drive without going to the system tray:

Right-click anywhere on the desktop → New → Shortcut.

In the Create Shortcut dialog box type “RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll

” in the ‘Type the location of the item:’ field → Next.

Type “Remove USB” (or whatever name you want to name the shortcut) in the ‘Type a name for this shortcut:’ field → Finish.

Double-click the newly created shortcut icon on the desktop to safely remove the USB flash drive (when applicable).

As you can see shortcuts are easy to create and given the right command function can perform routine tasks that normally require multiple clicks.  If you perform a routine task many times a day and would benefit from shortcuts, ask your Systems Administrator how to automate a task and let them help you become more efficient!

Using forms saves time and energy while ensuring that needed information is provided in an easy to read format. Creating forms can be a major headache. Fortunately Word 2007 provides some easy to use tools to help create customized interactive forms. Most users choose not to take advantage of these powerful tools because they seem overwhelming.  This guide will explain just how simple it is to create forms in Microsoft Word 2007.

A form is a document with pre-defined fields for a user to complete. To start creating one, decide what type of form you’d like to create. For this example, we will be creating an Employee Leave form.

Open Microsoft Office 2007 and click the Office Button  and choose “New”

Under the Templates heading, choose “My templates…”

In the new window, select “Blank Document,” click the “Template” radio button, and click “OK”

Congratulations, you’ve just created a blank template! We are now going to add content to your form.

Click the Office button and select “Word Options”

Click “Popular,” check the box next to “Show Developer tab in the Ribbon,” and click OK. This adds a new tab to the ribbon at the top of the Office 2007 screen. The Developer tab contains all the controls you need to create simple or complex forms.

On the Developer tab, the section labeled “Controls” contains a number of icons, each of which create a different form item.

is the Rich Text button, which creates a Rich Text fill-in field.

is the Text button, which creates a basic Text fill-in field.

The difference between these two buttons is that Rich Text allows you to group form fields. For our purposes, we will only use the Text button.

is the Drop Down Box button, which creates a drop down box form item, which you can fill with items to select between.

is the Combo Box button. This allows you to either select from a list of choices (like a Drop Down Box) or insert your own text (like a Text or Rich Text button).

is the Date Picker button. This allows you to quickly pick a specific date from an on-screen calendar and formats the date any way you’d like.

is the Picture Content Control button. It allows you to insert a picture from a file into a predetermined area on your document.

is the Legacy Tools button. This allows you to add a number of basic form fields including radio buttons and check boxes.

Now that we know a bit about the different controls we can use, let’s create that Employee Leave form.

First, let’s create the basic layout of the form. In the end it should look something like this:

As you can see above, there are a number of areas that need to be filled in. Let’s start by adding a few Date Picker buttons. This will clean up the overall appearance of the form and give the employee a nice visual interface when they are filling it out.

Click next to where it says “Date:” in the top right corner of the document.

In the Developer tab, click the “Date Picker” button

This gives you a basic calendar to pick a day from. We are now going to customize it. Click the “Properties button” in the Controls section of the Developer tab.

Under properties, you can give the button a Title and Tag, which will label the button. You can also choose to lock the button so that it can’t be deleted or have it’s properties edited.  Check the first box (Content control cannot be deleted) but not the second (Contents cannot be edited). If you check the second box, users will not be able to change the date. Choose the appropriate date format and click OK.

You now have a Date form that still says “Click here to enter a date.” In order to change the text to something more instructive, click the “Design Mode” button in the Controls section of the Developer tab. You’ll notice that brackets appear around the form.

Click inside the brackets and replace the text with something more descriptive. Once you’ve done that, unclick the Design Mode button. The final result will look like this:

You now have added a Date Picker control to the form. I am going to add two more Date Picker controls in place of the “Requested Leave Start date” and “Requested Leave End date” fields. The form will then look like this:

Next let’s add a Drop Down Box so employees can choose their name from a list.

Click next to “Employee Name” and select Drop Down list  from the Controls area of the Developer tab.

Click Properties from the Controls area of the Developer tab and add employee names by clicking the “Add” button and inserting their names. You can also change and delete names from the list in this window.

Once you’ve added all the employee names, select the first item “Choose an item” from the list of names and click Remove. Check the “Content Control cannot be deleted” box and click OK.

Change the title of the” Employee Name” drop down box by clicking on the Design Mode button and changing the text inside the brackets from “Choose an item” to something more descriptive. I chose “Your Name”

Since not all information can be added to a drop down box , let’s add a text box for “Total Time requested” and “Special notes”

Click next to “Total Time requested” and choose the Text content control . Click the Properties button in the Controls area of the Developer tab and check the “Content Control cannot be deleted” box and click OK.

Click the Design Mode button in the Controls area of the Developer tab and change “Click here to enter text” to something more applicable for the form. I chose “Please enter time in days and hours.” Once you are finished, uncheck Design Mode.

To create a multi-paragraph text box, you only need to change one setting. Let’s create one by clicking next to “Special notes” and adding another Text content control.

Click Click the Properties button in the Controls area of the Developer tab and check the “Content Control cannot be deleted” box as well as the “Allow carriage returns (multiple paragraphs)” and click OK. Now you can type multiple paragraphs in one text control box.

Click the Design Mode button in the Controls area of the Developer tab and change “Click here to enter text” to “Add any additional information here.” Don’t forget to uncheck Design Mode.

Almost all of our fields are now filled out. We could use a drop down box for the “Leave type” field, but this would also make a great occasion to learn how to create radio buttons. Radio buttons allow you to pick one option out of a group (whereas check boxes allow you to pick multiple options.

To start, click next to “Leave type” and click the Legacy tools button  from the Controls area of the Developer tab.

This will create an item called “OptionButton1.” Click the Properties button on the Controls area of the Developer tab. Find the item called “Caption” and change it to “Annual Leave”

To

You can add as many additional Radio buttons as you’d like. I’ve added two more buttons.

As one last touch, I’m going to add a check box next to the statement that begins “I have given…” This is very simple, all you need to do is lace the cursor in front of the statement “I have given…” and select the check box from Legacy tools.

It will automatically add the check box and the form will end up looking like this:

Now all you need to do is save the form in the correct way so that people can only edit the form data and not the forms themselves.

Click the Protect Document icon on the Developer Tab and chose “Restrict Formatting and Editing

On the left side of the screen, check the box labeled “Allow only this type of editing in the document:” and select “Filling in forms” from the drop down box.

Click “Yes, Start Enforcing Protection” and enter a password to protect the document.  Click OK and your document is now protected.

Click the Office button and choose “Save as à Word Template”

Select “Word Macro-Enabled Template” from the “Save as type” drop down box and your document is now ready to be used.

Mobile devices are taking over the way that we work, play and interact with people on a daily basis. Thus, securing these devices should be a top priority, but all too often it’s not.  With the growing popularity and increased utility of smartphones comes greater vulnerability.  Today’s smartphones are faster than an average computer purchased 10 years ago, the htc Evo 4G has a 1 GHz processor and 512 MB RAM while  a desktop computer purchased in 2001 was likely to only have a 900 MHz process and 512 MB RAM.

These devices carry a wealth of information, personal and otherwise, making our smartphones a prime target for criminals.  In a world of phishing, hacking, and spam we need a set of tools to restrict access to these devices.  Here are a few quick tips for securing Android devices.

Secure Your Settings

Password Protection – Lock your screen with a pin code, pattern lock or password.

Bluetooth – turn off Bluetooth when it is not in use.

GPS – turn off the GPS locator when it is not in use.

Droid Wall – OLD–a firewall for Android

For users that don’t have truly unlimited data plans, which only Sprint still offers, this app is a must.  Droid Wall allows apps unrestricted WiFi access, however it blocks all access over the cellular network unless you add the application to the white list.  Droid Wall can be found in the Android App store or by following this link https://market.android.com/details?id=com.googlecode.droidwall&feature=related_apps

Note:  the new Droid Wall is for rooted devices.

Safe Browsing

Email and web browsing on a smartphone present the same threats as they do on a computer, including phishing attacks, malicious websites, infected attachments, and scams. If you receive an e-mail that looks suspicious or sounds too good to be true, do not respond to it or click on embedded links.  When browsing the internet limit your browsing to well-known, trusted websites  and use SSL encryption whenever possible (https://).

Orweb + Orbot

Orweb is a privacy enhanced web browser that uses the Tor network (a system intended to enable online anonymity).  When used with the Orbot (Tor on Android) app, this web browser provides enhanced privacy features.  Through the use of Tor Orweb allows you to conceal your location and usage from someone conducting network surveillance or traffic analysis.  Using Tor makes tracing Internet activity, including visits to Web sites, online posts, instant messages and other communication forms, to the user more difficult.  Oorweb browser  and Orbot can be downloaded from the Android market or by following  the links below.

https://market.android.com/details?id=info.guardianproject.browser&feature=search_result

https://market.android.com/details?id=org.torproject.android&feature=related_apps

Due to the 24/7 access that it grants us to news, information and work email, the Blackberry is a staple in both the government and business world. While the Blackberry continues to gain prominence in our everyday lives, it is still not a replacement for a real computer. However, with a couple of handy tricks it can keep your work organized and help you be more productive during the times that you can’t be at your computer.

Organizing your Message Folder

The first step to setting up your Blackberry is organizing your email message folder. One of the best ways to do this is to limit your message folder to only incoming messages.  By default, the Blackberry message folder includes both incoming and sent messages. While this helps you remember quickly whether or not you replied to a certain message, it also adds clutter to your message folder and can easily be accomplished by other means.

To limit your message folder to only incoming mail do the following: while in the message folder press the Blackberry menu key (the button immediately to the left of the trackpad), go down to “Options,” and then choose “Message Display and Actions.” From here, just scroll down and check “Hide Sent Messages”

To see messages that you’ve sent so that you can confirm if you replied to an email simply press the “Alt” button and then the “O” button (for “Outgoing”). This will list all of your sent emails. To go back to your inbox simply press the back/escape button (directly to the right of the trackpad).

Searching your Messages

It often becomes necessary to search through your messages. While the Blackberry search functionality isn’t up to par with Outlook, it is still very useful for finding recent messages. The main limitation of the Blackberry message search is that you’re limited to a certain number of days in the past, usually 30, which is not encountered when using Outlook.

To search both incoming and outgoing emails, simply press the menu key and choose “Search.” From there you can search by subject, recipient, or sender. If you need to use the more advanced options in your search, press the menu key, scroll to “Search By,” and choose “Advanced.” The Advanced search allows you search by both name and subject at the same time; choose which folders to search; choose whether to search sent messages, received messages, or both; and it allows you to specify the type of message you’re looking for (i.e., a flagged message).

Flagging your Messages

A functionality that I find handy is the ability to flag messages. It works in the same way as flagging a message in Outlook and the flag status will automatically synchronize with Outlook so that messages flagged on your Blackberry will be flagged in Outlook. While you can press the menu key and choose “Flag for Followup,” the keyboard shortcut is a lot quicker. To flag a message, simply press the “W” key. To then mark a flagged message as complete press the “W” key again. If you end up accidentally flagging a message, you can clear the flag by pressing the menu key and choosing “Clear Flag.”

While the ability to flag messages combined with the automatic synchronization with Outlook would be great by itself, you can also easily view all of your flagged messages on your Blackberry using a keyboard shortcut. To view your flagged messages, press the “Alt” key and then the “F” key (for “Flagged”). This will bring up all of your flagged messages, both pending and complete.

Using the Blackberry Memopad

Another useful tool is the Blackberry Memopad. The title of this app is pretty self explanatory; the Memopad allows you to write down important notes and reminders. What makes this a great app is that it automatically syncs with Outlook Notes giving you an easy way to always have your notes with you. Regardless of whether you make the notes in Outlook or on the Blackberry, they will appear on both.

Using Keyboard Shortcuts

* These are not typos, these shortcuts were not mapped correctly in the new Blackberry operating systems. Older Blackberries have the correct mapping where N skips to the next day and P goes back to the previous day.

Have you ever been frustrated when you transfer your contacts over from your blackberry device to outlook but for some reason not all the contacts transfer over? This issue is very common and we at HouseCall deal with it a lot.  Here is a quick guide to ABC Amber Converter which is the software we use to fix the issue.

How it works: The ABC Amber converter is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a converter that takes all the items in your blackberry and puts them in an excel format that outlook will recognize. This way when you import the spreadsheet of your contacts it will import everything on your blackberry instead of missing a few items here and there.

1. First make a back up of your blackberry using the blackberry desktop manager. Save the backup to a folder you can find easily – we recommend the desktop.

2. Once the backup is created open ABC Amber Converter and open the back up file by choosing File -> Open -> browse to the desktop and choose the file.

3. ABC Amber Converter will take a few minutes to open the file and then you will be able to see  all your contacts in the contacts tab.  (You will notice that there are many other items you can browse from the backup file also, but that’s for another time).  Select all the contacts in the contacts tab and then choose the “Export (destination)” and choose “XLS (MS Excel)” and click on save as.  A dialogue box will prompt you to choose a location and once again save it somewhere easy to find.

4. Now you just need to import them into Outlook.  To do that go to File -> import and export -> import from another program or file -> choose “Comma separated values(DOS)” -> Click Browse and choose the file we created with ABC Amber Converter and then choose “Replace duplicated items” -> choose next and then import.  Outlook will take a couple of minutes to go through and add the contacts in and once it is done your Blackberry and Outlook will have the same contact lists.

Of course we don’t expect you to do this yourself, but you never can tell when this information may come in handy for a personal Blackberry you may have.  If you are having issues with your Blackbery just talk to your HouseCall Systems Administrator and we’ll take care of all the heavy lifting for you and get it back into shape!

Do you receive the “Your Mailbox is almost full” message far too often?  Exchange Extended Mailbox (EEM) is the quick solution!

The U.S. House of Representatives migrated to Exchange 2007 last year.  With this migration came several important changes to your email system. The change this post will focus on is the Exchange Extended Mailbox.  Exchange Extended Mailbox (EEM), also called Symantec Enterprise Vault (EV), is the software the House uses to automatically move older emails to secondary storage.

How it works: When your mailbox reaches the trigger point of 375,000 kb, EEM will kick in the following night and move mail messages older than 30 days to secondary storage until your mailbox is back under the limit.  This process is called moving to the vault or vaulting.  If you are at a PC, using Outlook or Outlook Web Access, vaulted messages appear in your Inbox (or whichever sub-folder you left them in) just like regular messages, with the exception of having a different icon.

If emails are vaulted automatically why are you still receiving “your mailbox is almost full” messages? Because your mailbox size surpassed the ‘trigger point’ during business hours and EEM’s automatic vaulting process only occurs overnight.

How do you solve this? Manual Vaulting

Manually Vaulting emails in Outlook 2007

1.  Open Outlook and arrange the emails in your inbox by size.  Click the View menu, click Arrange By and select Size

2.  Select the largest emails in your inbox and click the Store in Vault button on the Symantec Outlook Add-In Toolbar.

3.  Click OK to move the selected emails into the Enterprise Vault.

4.  The message icon for vaulted emails will change to indicate that they have been moved into the Enterprise Vault.

Messages that have been vaulted no longer count against your mailbox size limit.

Limitations to Vaulted Messages

There are just a few limitations to messages which have been vaulted:

1. You may have to wait an extra second for the message to open, though it is normally VERY quick.
2. You will only able to see the first 4000 characters of vaulted messages on your Blackberry or on an Apple mail client.  You will notice this most commonly with message attachments not being viewable, but it will also apply to the text of very long emails. Anything over 4000 characters can be viewed by unvaulting the message or by clicking on the link included in the message – this will open the entire message in a web browser.
3. Messages cannot be manually vaulted between 7:00 AM – 9:30 AM.
4. Vaulted messages should not be moved to PST files (archive/personal folders) or exported via Outlook’s import/export wizard.  If you need to export vaulted messages to a file, to take with you to a new job or for backup purposes, please contact your HouseCall Systems Administrator assistance with the process.

These limitations can all be quickly overcome by unvaulting messages, saving all that time you previously spent archiving emails in PST (personal/archive folders) files.  

EEM is not a replacement for keeping a tidy inbox – you should continue to maintain an organized structure of inbox sub-folders and delete any unnecessary emails.  EEM is a valuable tool that will help keep you organized by allowing you to keep all of your messages in your inbox eliminating the need for those pesky PST files.  Note: Outlook does limit the number of emails that can be stored in a single folder so it is important to create inbox sub-folders.

The CAO’s full guide to EEM services can be found on HouseNet under: Technology/ How-To Library/Exchange Extended Mailbox Service Features Guide.

An office environment can be quite stressful.  Working under demanding conditions and short deadlines can lead you to cut corners in your work.  While it may seem you are saving time in the moment, it can (and usually does) lead to wasted time in the future.  A good example of this is creating computer files and folders without having an efficient system of filing.  A lack of structure and organization can lead to hours of frustration and more undue stress searching for files and folders that are lost among a mess of other documents.  Here are a few quick tips to help you manage your files better.

1.  Draw up a directory tree – This is helpful in visualizing the architecture and hierarchy of your folders and files. It also gives you a chance to minimize folder location paths within the tree by eliminating unnecessary files or folders, which can be a tremendous timesaver.

Example of a directory tree

2.  Be consistent – It is important to develop a naming scheme that will help you quickly locate folders and retrieve files.

- Try using abbreviations when dealing with long words. Also, try to keep the character count under 25
-Try to select a meaningful name that will provide context to the computer user
-When dealing with files that require similar names, try adding the date and time for added distinction (MMDDYY_HHMMSS)\
-Do not use spaces in your file names. If necessary, use an underscore (_).

Whatever you may choose to follow as a scheme, it is most important to be consistent.  Once your system is committed to memory, you will be surprised how quickly you can navigate through your files and folders.

3.  Keep it small – It is ideal to maintain a folder structure that does not require you to do a great deal of down scrolling.  With each window you open, you will want to be able to see its entire contents without the need for scrolling.  To do this, try separating your folders by year or broad subject matter, e.g. Fiscal Year 2010, Proposals, Invoices, etc. Doing this could create a lengthy file structure, however, the benefit of knowing where your files are should outweigh the drawback of extra folder clicking.

4.  Save in one root location only – This will save you a lot of search time when you know all of your documents are saved within a folder structure in “drive A” as opposed to some being saved in “drive A, drive B and drive C”.  This can make using the windows search tool easier and time saving.  In addition, most office network infrastructures provide network drive locations for each user to save documents to. It is good practice to utilize the network drive as the primary location for saving documents and folders as the drive will more than likely be backed up on a regular basis, thus, minimizing the risk for data loss.

5.  Save often – When creating or dealing with a document, you should immediately save it in its proper location and frequently save your changes. It can save you time in selecting the location after you finish.  Also, should the application prematurely shutdown and an auto recovery backup isn’t an option, this can save you the time of retyping the document.

6.  Clean up – Be sure to delete obsolete files.  It helps to keep your folder structure from being cluttered with unnecessary documents and folders. It also helps to free up necessary drive space for new files and folders to be added.

By following these guidelines, you will save yourself several future headaches. Not only that, you will notice an uptick in your productivity and a decrease in your stress levels!