LCC International Goes Google Apps!

A pioneer in the industry since 1983, LCC International has performed technical services for the largest wireless operators in North and South America, Europe, The Middle East, Africa and Asia. The Company has worked with all major access technologies (including UMTS, EV-DO, HSDPA and WiMAX) and has participated in the success of some of the largest and most sophisticated wireless systems in the world. LCC recently switched to Google Apps for their messaging and collaboration needs with the support of SADA Systems, Inc.

SADA worked closely with LCCI to develop a strategy for meeting the goals of the implementation. To meet the needs of users at LCC International, SADA worked closely with their own IT department to implement Google Apps. Solutions deployed at LCCI include:

• Email migration and contact sharing in between Google Apps and the Active Directory system in place at LCCI.
• Set up the Gmail list tool to maintain distribution lists managed by LCCI.
• Deployed Enhanced Dual Delivery to maintain messages sent to both accounts (Exchange and Gmail) during the transition period.
• Conducted extensive online training via webinar for employees on five continents.
• Transitioned LCC International's 1,100 employees to Google Apps from their previous MS Exchange-based system.

LCC's Vice President of Information Systems John Buckholz will lead a Tech Republic sponsored Google webinar to share his experience in "going Google." Joining John will be SADA's Director of Projects and Development, Michael Higby, who served as SADA's primary liaison to LCC even before the project started through final rollout.

Read more about LCC's deployment of Google Apps by clicking here.

You're invited to join the webinar this Thursday, December 3rd at 11:00 a.m. PST (GMT - 8).  For more information and to register please visit this link. For more information on Google Apps please visit this link or call 866-997-0000, option 3.

Google Gets Caffeinated and Firefox is Five (years old, not version 5)

Google recently announced they will be releasing a major update to their search engine, and Mozilla's Firefox web browser is five years old.

Over the last decade the "Google" has become synonymous with search, so much so that it is actually used as a verb, "Hey, Fred, why don't you Google 'fixing catastrophic barbecue disasters?'" In the last three years Google has made a number of game changing moves, from constant updates and new features released for Gmail, to the introduction of Google Apps, to the launch of Google Voice, and most recently the announcement of a new way to think about communication and collaboration with their latest, and arguably boldest, new product, Google Wave. Through all of this innovation Google has consistently tweaked the search engine, but it has been a while since Google search was the subject of a major enhancement.

Google Caffeine is set to change that. Caffeine isn't intended to change the look of the search engine, or how users make use of it. Changes in Caffeine have been specifically designed to improve indexing speed, accuracy, and other dimensions. This is according to a statement from Google engineers.

Firefox is now 5. No, not version five, Mozilla's browser is five-years-old.
Firefox is so widespread these days that it is practically a household name. While most people who make regular use of Firefox are still in the savvy, "in-the-know" set of computer users, the browser's share of the market is considerable. Given this, it's easy to forget that Firefox has only been with us a relatively short time. In fact, Firefox just celebrated the fifth anniversary of its initial launch.

In the 1990's Netscape competed with Internet Explorer in an early 'browser war.' Internet Explorer quickly came to dominate the market, and Netscape sank into obscurity and obsolescence, and threatened to take its spin-off project "Mozilla" with it. Then on November 9th, 2004 Mozilla released Firefox 1.0 and changed the browser game. Initially dubbed "Phoenix" to represent rising from the ashes of the Netscape project, the new browser came about when Netscape open-sourced their browser software package.

At the start it appeared as though this initiative would be a non-starter, but the nature of open-source, which allows anyone to see, modify, and distribute a program's underlying source code, ensured that a new browser continued to grow out of the seed that had been planted. As Firefox continued to grow and develop, the Mozilla team introduced features that outstripped the competing version of Internet Explorer. These features included improved browsing speed and tabbed browsing.

Now, five years on, Firefox accounts for about a quarter of browser traffic on the Internet.

Continuing Medical Education Expands Beyond the Walls of the Medical Center with SADA's CME Anywhere

There is a rising trend in the medical profession of providing online content for medical and administrative staff. One area that has grown considerably is providing online programming that allows physicians to earn their Continuing Medical Education (CME) credit. Online lectures allow physicians and other health care professionals to fulfill their CME requirements without having to take time away from patients.  With CME Anywhere, these professionals can engage in professional development and earn CME credit literally anywhere and at any time of the day.

With that need in mind, SADA Systems has developed a turnkey CME platform - CME Anywhere - that allows delivery of video content through a health care provider, or health care organization website.

This web-based application was initially developed for Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, and has been in place for over a year. The solution developed for Providence St. Joseph has proven successful, and serves as a terrific proof-of-concept for the implementation of online lecture series provided by a health care organization for their physicians.

SADA Systems, Inc. will debut the latest version of this system at our exhibitor booth at the Southern California Medical Education Council (SCMEC) 13th Annual Conference to be held Friday, November 20th at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles.  Attendees will have an opportunity to view and demonstrate the system and ask questions of the application's developers.  The Southern California Medical Education Council (SCMEC) is a group of Continuing Medical Education professionals whose purpose is to enhance the performance of Continuing Medical Education professionals and the quality of CME programming. Established in 1981, SCMEC members explore their common interests, concerns and responsibilities for the planning, coordination and evaluation of CME programs.

For more information about CME Anywhere please call Michael Higby at 818.942.1094 or visit us online at http://go.sadasystems.com/cme.

SADA Systems, Inc., an information technology services firm founded in 2000. SADA works with its primary client base to develop innovative Information Technology solutions to business problems. SADA designs, delivers, deploys and supports a holistic and cutting-edge suite of best-of-breed technologies, allowing organizations to the highest leverage Information Technology to achieve levels of effectiveness, efficiency, and collaboration.

Google Apps Updates: Greatest Hits of 2008-09

In the past year, over 100 new features have been rolled out to Google Apps!. Here are the ones customers have found most useful: Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook Enjoy the reliability and affordability of Google Apps, but allow users to keep Outlook as their client if they want. Users can get their email, contacts, and calendars in Outlook while also being able to access all of their data in the cloud. Mobile support for BlackBerry, iPhone, and Windows Mobile phones With Google Apps, if you aren't in front of a computer, you can still access your data and be productive. Blackberry, iPhone, and Windows Mobile users can manage their email, contacts, and calendars from their mobile phones. And if you have a Blackberry Enterprise Server, be sure to take advantage of the Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry Enterprise Server, which adds administrative control and added security for BlackBerry access. Offline access Have your laptop but no Internet connection? Not a problem with Google Apps, which offers offline access to Gmail, Calendar, and Docs.  Shared contacts Premier Edition admins can robustly manage shared contacts on their domains by creating a global address list for users accessible in both the Gmail web interface and Outlook. With this feature, users can access others' phone numbers, addresses, and custom fields that you define. As an admin, you can also use the directory sync service to connect Google Apps to your exisitng LDAP directory. For more information on Google Apps please visit http://www.sadasystems.com/services-and-solutions/google-apps/buy-google-apps

SADA Systems Inc. Announces CloudToolKit at Summit

At the ConnectWise Partner summit, which took place last week, Florida SADA Systems, Inc. (SADA) announced their new product, CloudToolKit. CloudToolKit is a web-based application intended to provide Value Added Resellers (VARs) with a set of tools to be used in conjunction with cloud-based solutions. SADA created value added tools and utilities found in the CloudToolKit to automatically handle user management, automatic account provisioning, and single sign-on. The CloudToolKit is not yet available for use, but will officially launch on November 16, 2009. Prior to the official launch, SADA is accepting registrations from interested VARs. In addition SADA offered attendees of the ConnectWise Partner Summit an exclusive registration offer. Those who sign up at the ConnectWise Partner Summit will receive their first year of service on CloudToolKit for free.

SADA was one of the original Google Enterprise partners in Google Apps. Since becoming a Google Apps Enterprise Partner SADA has had the opportunity to assist in the implementation of Google Apps for both educational and enterprise organizations. SADA has become one of the nation's leading providers of Google Apps implementations since becoming a partner in 2006. Project requirements for several implementations required the creation of custom tools to meet the needs of the client. These custom tools included utilities for the provisioning of accounts, synchronization with a client's existing identity management solution, and others. SADA realized an opportunity was available to help VARs grow their Cloud-based practice, while reducing their costs.

"There are millions of Small or Mid-size Businesses (SMBs) in the country," says Tony Safoian, president and CEO of SADA Systems, Inc. He adds, "Our goal is to ensure that, for every SMB, there is a skilled VAR to help them deploy cloud-based solutions that save them money." SADA is accepting registrations from interested VARs now, and the CloudToolKit officially launches later this month. For more information, and to sign up visit www.cloudtoolkit.com

Google Apps Update: Multiple calendars and more in new version of Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook

The updates keep coming from Google Apps! Here are some GREAT new features for the Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook:

Version 1.6.155.1603 of Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook has been released for new installs and updates.

Editions included:
Premier and Education Editions

Languages included:
Available worldwide with US English interface

How to access what's new:
- Multiple calendars
You can now create new calendars in Outlook and they will sync with Google Apps. For any of your Google Apps calendars for which you have write permissions, and that appear unhidden in your Google Apps Calendar list, these will also now be synced to Outlook.

- Support for querying free/busy information for Exchange users
If you are using Google Apps Sync in a mixed Google Apps/Exchange environment, you can query free/busy information for Exchange users by implementing Google Calendar Connectors and adding a new registry key to each computer on which Google Apps Sync is installed.

Get information about the Google Calendar Connectors here. Get information about setting up the new registry key here.

For more information on Google Apps - go here: http://www.sadasystems.com/services-and-solutions/google-apps/buy-google-apps

Google Apps Update: Download options for Offline Gmail

You now have more options to configure offline settings and manage messages for offline use.

Editions included:
Standard, Premier, Education and Partner Editions

Languages included:
All languages supported by Gmail Labs

How to access what's new:
In your Gmail settings, go to 'Offline' if you have offline enabled.

- In 'Download options', select the timeframe for messages you want to download for offline use e.g. 4 days, 1 month etc. The timeframe that you choose will then show under the options when changing offline label settings.
- Click on 'Change label settings' to modify which labelled messages you download for offline use. For a particular label, choose between 'All', 'Timeframe selected' or 'None'.

For more information:
http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/choose-which-messages-get-downloaded.html

Good News for Google Voice Users: Sprint Drops Call Forwarding Fees

If you're a user of Google Voice and a Sprint customer the cellular company has some good news for you:  Mobile Crunch reports that, beginning in mid-November,  Sprint will drop the long-standing twenty cents per minute call forwarding charge that is charged to users who forward their calls to voice mail providers such as Google Voice.  As the blog reports:

"As it currently stands, call forwarding on Sprint currently costs $0.20 per minute. For example: if a user has their line set to forward to their Google Voice mailbox after a certain number of rings and the caller leaves a 5 minute message, that call would cost the user a buck. No longer, says Sprint; for any type of call forwarding required for the use of a third-party service (such as while the line is busy, or when calls go unanswered), the minutes will go uncounted."

Google Voice is a telecommunications service by Google which provisions a U.S. phone number, chosen by the user from available numbers in selected area codes, free of charge to each user account. Inbound calls to this number are forwarded to other phone numbers of the subscriber. Outbound calls may be placed to domestic and international destinations by dialing the Google Voice number or from a web-based application. Inbound and domestic outbound calls (including calls to Canada, Alaska and Hawaii are free of charge, while international calls are billed according to a schedule posted on the Google Voice website.