Ensure your staff have the skills they need to succeed.  Tech Networks of Boston offers a full spectrum of training programs to develop your organization’s capacity to use your software.  Your staff will be happier and more productive when they are using Microsoft Office and accompanying business productivity suites as intended.  That’s where TNB training can help.

A typical training engagement includes a structured skills assessment that enables us to design a tailored training program for your staff.  Training sessions can be formatted as one-hour “lunch and learn” series, seminars, or longer workshops.  Training sessions can take place with any desired frequency from weekly to monthly.

Training topics focus on Microsoft products, from remedial to advanced Word, Excel and PowerPoint, Outlook, SharePoint, and more.  We are available to design custom training sessions on using office productivity products for common tasks in your organization’s workflow.  Here is a sample of some recent sessions TNB has conducted for clients:

• Creating Better Documents Faster
• Customizing Microsoft Office
• Time Management and Team Collaboration Using Outlook and SharePoint
• Hidden Functions of Word and Excel
• Peer Review and Publishing with Office 2010 Collaborative Tools

Let TNB help you work more productively with the tools you already own.  For more information on training, contact us today.

Communication and productivity are key to a successful office. What better way to work better together with you than to present to you Office 365, Microsoft’s newest online services innovation. Microsoft calls it “the easiest way to work together.”

Microsoft’s Office 365 delivers your familiar Office collaboration and productivity suite as a subscription service through the cloud. The software provides secure access anywhere to professional email, shared calendars, video conferencing, instant messaging, and document sharing.

The cloud service enables you to deliver the correct tools to the necessary users with a high level of security while lowering costs. The best part is that regardless of the size of your business, Microsoft offers plans to fit your exact needs, cutting out costly extras that don’t fit your office’s work style.

The program’s goals include:

• Lower overall costs
• Enhance productivity
• Streamline communications
• Simplify management
• Achieve business-class security and reliability

To show you more, Tech Networks is hosting a free informative webinar on Office 365. The webinar will take place on February 6, 2012, at 4:00pm. Contact us to sign up, or visit the link below. Learn everything you need right from your desk to determine if Microsoft Office 365 is a fit for your business.

In the four years Tuan Pham has worked at Tech Networks of Boston, he’s had ample opportunity to showcase his diverse skillset. Tuan has been a true team player, taking on a wide range of responsibilities, from marketing to project management to web development. In his new role as Training Manager, Tuan is able to leverage his previous college-level teaching experience as well as his cornucopia of professional credentials. Tuan’s aptitude for learning new software has enabled him to pass dozens of certification exams, including some of Microsoft’s toughest, like the Microsoft Office Specialist Master.

Tuan’s experience wearing multiple hats allows him to see problems from the end-user perspective. A little-known fact: After Tuan obtained his Master’s degree in Journalism from Boston University, he went to work for the Boston Herald as a sports writer. No wonder he’s a whiz at explaining technical concepts in plain English. He also draws on his sports journalism experience to help lighten up his classes with a dose of healthy humor.

Introducing a convenient way to read Boston Techie: on Facebook! We are posting all of our Boston Techie articles on our Facebook page (http://on.fb.me/technetworks) as well as updates, event photos, and Facebook-only offers. Now you can find everything from our blog (http://blog.techboston.com) on our Facebook page as well. Like us on Facebook and get an inside look at Tech Networks. Go see TNB staffers at work and at play. See you on Facebook!

Where in Cambridge is this tree? Have you seen a lot of trees with their leaves still on this year? This natural phenomenon is called marcescence. The tree shown at right is a pin oak undergoing this process, which is the retention of leaves or other parts that would be expected to fall off. It is not uncommon for oaks to show marcescence, which may have evolutionary advantages.

Tech Networks of Boston supports the preservation of mature urban trees, which make neighborhoods more pleasant, filter our air and water, and moderate temperatures. It’s one of the ways trees are adapting to our warming climate.

We hope you’ll use this contest as a fun way to get to know your city’s trees!

Here’s what Tech Networks has saved in 2011 by utilizing the recycling services of SaveThatStuff! We’ve saved more trees through this service than through our environmental initiative Southie Trees. We encourage you to utilize a service like SaveThatStuff so you can be a part of the green revolution in the business world. Currently TNB is undergoing the Sustainable Business Leader recertification process and hopefully this will help us to find even more ways to limit our impact on the environment and continue to grow as a socially responsible business.

Did you know that many nonprofits receive half their donations at the end of the year? The holidays are a wonderful time to practice charity and social responsibility.

At TNB, as we focus on providing the highest quality technology services at the best possible value, we donate more than one percent of revenues to environmental causes. Here are the organizations to which we made major gifts in 2011.

Orangutan Foundation International is leading an effort to pre- serve the Rawa Kuno Legacy Forest in Borneo, Indonesia. This vast, biologically rich forest is home to hundreds of orangutans and other endangered wildlife species. As the centerpiece of TNB’s Hutan Project, we contributed the first $11,060 to preserving this valuable habitat. To purchase your land, see bit.ly/rawakuno.

350.org founder Bill McKibben is a renowned writer and climate activist. This group spreads the message that high levels of atmospheric CO2 are causing drastic changes in our oceans and climate. TNB has helped plan 350.org’s annual climate awareness day and other advocacy activities for the past three years.

The annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival put on by “e” inc was the inspiration for TNB’s Hutan Project. It’s a testimony to the power of film that a six-minute documentary shown at the 2009 festival motivated our President to tackle the planet’s most serious deforestation issue.

Tech Networks of Boston tries to practice the ethic of service every day, in supporting the needs of all our clients.

Recently Livia Gonzalez called us to find a computer for her son Roberto, who lives with muscular dystrophy.  The family has been on a limited income since Livia quit her job to care for Roberto full-time.  We offered the family an HP accessible All-in-One PC free of charge.  “That made my day,” Livia said, “because I’d do anything for him.”  Now Roberto can study history, his favorite subject, at home on his new accessible computer.

As we prepare for the holiday season, please note that Tech Networks of Boston will be closed for business on the following two days in observance of the holidays:

• Monday, December 26, 2011
• Monday, January 2, 2012

Our emergency service will be operating during these two observed holidays. Should you require immediate assistance, call our Help Desk on Demand at (617) 269-0299 and select emergency support.

TNB will be open for business as usual at all other times. Happy holidays from all of us at Tech Networks of Boston!

Save the Date: Office 365 Webinar:
Learn about Office 365 direct from a Microsoft trainer! Microsoft has teamed up with Tech Networks of Boston to offer a free webinar about the Office 365 software accessible over the Internet. Share files and work collaboratively with ease.

In the webinar, we’ll show you the Office 365 product line, with a focus on integrating Sharepoint. It’s a great way to increase skills and just learn about new technologies that are now available. Save the date! More details to follow.

Free TNB-Microsoft Webinar:
Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, 4-5pm

When you call our office, there’s a good chance you’ll find Joe Codi on the other end of the line ready to help. Joe is responsible for fielding tech support phone calls, handling server and network outages, and finding solutions to our clients’ computer and network problems.

With years of experience in electrical and electronic repair, telecommunications, computer graphics and electro-mechanical assembly, Joe offers quality assistance to all our end users. And his experience doesn’t stop at computer and network repair. He studied audio engineering and music industry at UMass Lowell and received a degree in Sound Recording Technology.

Outside of work, Joe spends his time playing keyboard and writing music, hiking, camping, and indulging in the occasional video game.