Dental IT Ltd
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Texting through Ozeki HOWTO
Overview:
The text message sent from your DPMS (in this case we are talking about Software of Excellence Exact), actually starts out in life as an email. In the normal configuration, this email is sent out via the Internet to your text messaging provider. They change this email into a text message and dispatch it to your patient. All we are doing with the in-house system, is bringing the email to SMS conversion in-house. The email is still generated, but it is just sent from one PC on the network to another (the target is called the SMS server). The SMS server then converts the email to an SMS, and sends it out via your phone. Simple! The system works by deploying a very clever, powerful, flexible, marvellously stable and efficient SMS handling program called Ozeki Message Server. We have deployed this software at many sites, and it is consistently stable, and predictable. It operates as a service (it does not require the user to be logged on), handles service downtimes with ease (messages are queued and retried), and is easy to deploy, manage and monitor. If only some dental software was this well programmed, but I digress...
Step 1: creating the SMS “modem”.
Decide which machine you are going to use as the SMS server.
Workstation PCs
How new designs and new technologies may be making the traditional tower PC redundant.
In a well designed client/server network, workstations should not be storing any data, they should only be responsible for your applications, and any directly attached peripherals. You should not spend more money than you need to on your workstations - for many SMEs, a basic business class machine for office work will be more than enough. If you require manipulation of digital images, or other processor intensive tasks, that may justify better specification hardware. Furthermore, if you often run more than one application at the same time, the machines need to be specified with plenty of RAM memory, or they will slow down under load.
NHS Discounted Software
Your NHS dental practice's entitlement, are you benefiting?
The NHS licensing agreement with Microsoft allows practices with an NHS contract to obtain certain Microsoft software at a much reduced cost. Some client software, such as Windows XP professional, Office 2003 and Office 2007 is completely free. Many client licences for server software are also free, which can especially benefit larger practices, that otherwise would have to buy additional client licences (normally purchased in packs of 5).
Internet Access and Your Business
Managing the risks, exploiting the benefits.
Firstly, I want to dispel any idea that getting your business online is inherently dangerous. It isn’t. Viruses, spyware, and other infections can make their way onto your system via the Internet. However, if your network is properly protected and maintained, the risk can be minimised.
Down Time and Data Loss
The truth about hard drives and managing risk.
The hard drive is the part in your server that holds all your data. You may have 2 hard drives in your server: one holding the operating system, and one holding your data. Either way, the risk is the same – if you are relying on one hard disk to hold your data, you are running a huge risk of suffering sudden and potentially catastrophic down time and data loss. It is easily the biggest risk you need to manage, and the one that is typically managed the worst by most IT suppliers and installers.