April 1 OnDeckTech Newsletter
No Robots Providing Mac Help Today
Ok, ok, let me start by assuring you there will be no April-fools jokes in this newsletter. I don’t promise something entirely humorless, either!
This is the second warm day in Chicago in what seems like, well, forever, and the sun is creeping in when it makes it past the clouds rolling by, warming my back, making my eyes squint and the text on the screen appear to dim. Ah, Spring! Which in Chicago at least comes on like Summer. Boom. It’s hot.
That may be what it seems like with changes here at OnDeckTech. Boom, 24×7. Boom, the largest Mac-focused team in the world. Boom, a global Mac help desk. And let me assure you that’s not the case, the seasons have come gradually at OnDeckTech, we’ve been working indefatigably to bring you more availability, better services in the form of greater accountability, and more expertise.
We’ve also added some new ways to communicate with you, having deployed version 2.2 of our website, using the Mambo/Joomla open-source community toolset, and our latest addition, the OnDeckTech Apple/Mac News & Opinions Blog, where you may find Show Notes from our WGN Radio show, archived versions of this newsletter, opinions, news, how-to articles, white papers and more contributed by me and other members of the OnDeckTech team. Where is the Blog? It’s where it IS: http://www.is.org
Unlike others that have focused on tech tips, for once, due to the number of changes we’ve experienced, this newsletter will talk about what’s been happening at OnDeckTech, so you’ll have a sense for the new services we have to offer, see additional benefits to your existing or prospective service plan. We’ll get back to the tech tips next letter!
Last year at this time, we introduced a robot, NaturallyMac, who as of this date is decommissioned, although her logic has been stored for another, future date, as we’ve determined tech support cannot yet be delivered effectively by a robot, no matter how sophisticated. In 100 years, some robot will come across this text and chuckle to itself.
24×7 Global Help Desk
So we’ve been spending the last year hiring and training more team members to staff our help desk, including two of our latest, proud additions, Frankie Rick and Sunshine Best. You can of course reach them, along with other Apple Certified Consultant-members of our help desk, 24×7 at 888-632-2336, by e-mail at support@ondecktech.com, by text or even video chat at ondecktech@mac.com. Other help desk news includes we’ve broadened our support to include local numbers in the United Kingdom (aka UK, England, Great Britain) and Canada (aka Our Northern Neighbors). Stay tuned for further developments on the help desk front, including new secure remote control & training services, support for new software, and more new areas around the world with local numbers.
Professional and Business Services
On the business side we’ve made some drastic changes to deliver new services and solutions. In addition to over-hauling our process and implementing an enterprise accounting, CRM and ERP package to improve our performance measurement and general management, we have added a dedicated technical project manager to the staff, participating in most of our ongoing projects with customers, ensuring complete, proactive resource management, documentation and reporting. We believe this will substantially improve the quality of our larger projects, and adds to the expertise we have available to our customers, in addition to our Sales Consultants, Sales Engineers, Technical Consultants, Help Desk Specialists and Senior Consultants.
We have added additional staff, and many of our existing staff have continued to train and certify, making our team possibly the most certified in the world, with multiple Apple Certified Systems Administrators, and about 200 years of combined technical experience! We have released a new Directory Services Integration package, enabling enterprises to cost-effectively implement, for example, Active Directory and Open Directory integration projects (AD/OD). Stay tuned for further information about our exciting, innovative and exclusive new business solutions, to be released in the coming months.
Database and Website Development Department
We’ve grown tremendously. We now have dedicated team members for graphic design, search engine optimization (SEO), online promotions and marketing, project management, in addition to new dedicated programming resources, with full-time depth of expertise in Filemaker (Accounting, web-integration, CRM and ERP), MySQL, PHP, PERL, Python, Java, Javascript, Mambo, Joomla, Zen Cart, Apple Script, OSCommerce among other open-source tools and languages. Recent project completed include OnDeckTeach’s new website featuring a custom Joomla template and modules, a revision of Wicker Park’s website, Steve Dale’s (of Pet World Radio fame) latest incarnation of his website, and a demo of dynamic video-streaming-on-demand for MediaBurn’s Fund for Innovative TV. Here are their URLs:
http://www.OnDeckTeach.com
http://www.WickerPark.com
http://www.SteveDalePetWorld.com
http://odtx.ondecktech.com/mediaburn.php
Training Center
http://www.OnDeckTeach.com
Not only has the training center added an all-star team member, Tom Keen, with certifications and 20 years of technology training experience, the department has also introduced its own website, which must be seen to be believed! It’s really that cool, providing a glimpse into the variety of in-depth courses we are offering and plan to offer in the near future. We are now providing custom training in addition to the courses offered at the Wicker Park training center at 1464 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago. For custom training, we come to you, wherever you’re located. This is especially suited to businesses for whom convenience is key to a training solution, and we are fully capable and willing to travel where we’re needed to deliver quality training on Mac applications, including the Adobe CS Suite, Final Cut Pro, Logic and many others. Check out the Tips by Tom blog on the OnDeckTeach website, including recent entries on iTunes, Flash and Dreamweaver, located here:
http://www.ondeckteach.com/index.php?option=com_content&task
That’s All Folks
Thanks for reading our newsletter. We appreciate your constructive feedback, suggestions for future letters. Hope you’re enjoying the warmer weather, excited by all that our lives have to offer, ready for Spring!
