Webinar on Demand: The Challenge for Hospital IT Managers

With hundreds of servers spread throughout numerous locations, it can be extremely time consuming and challenging to track down and manage troublesome servers and network devices in hospital environments. To solve these challenges and make the day to day maintenance of servers and devices in hospital network closets more efficient, Minicom has developed the solution outlined in this quick webinar.



Learn "How to use Remote Management of Network Closets in the Hospital Environment"

Total time: 12 minutes

Presented by: David Zucker, Director of KVM Business Development, Minicom

Customer Stories Wanted

This is a call for customer stories which I would like to feature on the blog regularly.

As Minicom system integrators and partners, you are the eyes and ears to the end users. I am looking for customer stories to publish on a regular basis. With your help we can offer solution ideas that can be helpful for others.

Please take a minute to submit the following information from a recent installation or sale:

1. What is the type of customer? IT manager of SMB or vertical market? Bank, school, etc? (we respect the privacy rights of our customers and will not use a company name unless there is permission to do so.)
2. What is the specific problem they need to solve?
3. What Minicom product did you use for the solution? And, were there any other products that worked together with Minicom to help solve the problem?
4. What is the reason the customer chose this specific problem? Financial, easy use, simplify actions?
5. Did this specific solution help you in the future to solve similar problems?
6. If there was any feedback, what was it?
7. How did this solution help the customer?
8. Do you have a pictures of where the installation took place for a visual reference?

If your customer story is chosen to appear on the blog, do you want to help promote your business with a free link to your business/company or direct contact information? If not, please specify and we will keep all information anonymous.

Please send all customer stories to minicom@minicom.com

Thank you for your participation!

Support Report: Remote monitor & control multiple computers over IP from a single computer

Recently we had an interesting application request that I would like to share…

A customer requested a solution to allow him to remotely monitor and control five computers which are located in multiple locations.

His requirement was that there would be five screens attached to a “Master” PC and this Master PC will constantly monitor the remote computers and take the control when needed. There is also a need to maintain a local console next to each remote computer for local operation. Another important requirement is that there should be no software installed on the remote computers.

We recommended adding a Quad VGA adaptor to the “Master computer” that will allow him to connect five screens to the Master PC at once, along with using our IP Control he can remotely view and control each computer without the need of installing any application on them (this feature is also known as remote bios level access). The Smart Extender that is also added to each remote PC will allow the local user to ‘share’ the control with the administrator working from the Master PC without being disconnected.

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Thanks to Nir Dary, Minicom's Technical Support Manager for this Support Report!

Do you have a technical question about a Minicom product or are you looking for solutions for your IT department? Visit Minicom Support for FAQ's, product updates, user guides and contact details for our expert technicians around the world.

Reseller Seminar & KVM.net II Certification Invitation

If you are a Minicom Reseller, please join us for a Partner Product Seminar & become certified to sell Minicom’s revolutionary Centralized Remote Access & Management Solution – KVM.net II

During the seminar you will learn:

• Why centralized access is critical to your customers, large and small.
• The exclusive advantages of the KVM.NET II solution.
• To position a central access solution to your small, medium and large IT end customers
• How to design solutions to real life customer problems
• Hands on training with KVM.net II and other remote access products.
• How to access valuable sales tools
  

Event Location and Details:

• At the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Elizabeth, NJ
• 0.5 miles from the Newark International Airport

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

• 9:30 - 12:30 Product Introduction
• 1:30 - 5:30 Certification Training

Please RSVP by February 15, 2009 to: David Zucker at David.Zucker@minicom.com

Please Note: If you are not from the area, room reservations can be made here. Advanced Room Rate Specials are available from $63.95 onwards.

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Previous attendees said:

Jim Fry, President, Fox Network Systems:

"KVM.net II certification training was probably the best focused product training I've seen in a decade. Although the training had participants at all levels of prior experience and technical knowledge, the Minicom leaders kept the participants and material on track and focused. This made sure the beginners weren't lost and the "old-timers" weren't bored silly. Minicom people kept attendees interested and involved with lecture, tests and interactive groups. My hat's off to the Minicom team for a job well done."

Jim Mollencop, DataSPAN - Territory Manager PNW:

"The certification program for KVM.net II was VERY informative and helpful! Not only does Minicom have a great IT solution that is simple to set up, use and sell at great margins, but also provides a great marketing tool for these tough economic times called "Minicom's real needs approach" said Jim Mollencop, dataSPAN Territory Manager PNW. "Literally a few days after the training I visited a client and discussed the "real needs approach" and was immediately asked for a quote at the meeting."

Support Report: Remote Bios Level Access over 3g Network

From time to time we receive interesting technical support questions and seeing as how it's always fun to share in-house, we are going to also share them here:

Recently a telecommunications company requested to remotely control a PC not dependant on the operating system (also known as remote bios level access). Ideally, the connection would be over cellular network. The main concern was quality of performance when controlling a remote desktop over a 3g network… and primarily how fast will the screen refresh!?

The application he intended on using was to mend an application from anywhere, in other words he has an application that needs to be mended regardless of the physical location of the operator.

Most of the time he needs the remote collection to be over Lan or wireless but there will be times where the remote operator will connect to the cellular network. Their requirement was also not to install any application or driver on the controlled computer.

This is where our KVM over IP technology suits his needs. By using the PX USB (Minicom’s high-performance IP Gateway) or IP Control (remote KVM gateway) products we were able to demonstrate and control a remote computer over a 3g cellular network with excellent performance.

Learn how remote KVM gateways can work for your IT needs, download the FREE white paper “Remote Support using KVM IP Technology” or test one of Minicom's IP products in an interactive live demo - go to Request Demo Form.

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Thanks to Nir Dary, Minicom's Technical Support Manager for the first Support Report!

Do you have a technical question about a Minicom KVM product? Visit Minicom Support for FAQ's, product updates, user guides and contact details for our expert technicians around the world.

SMB Tweets

Twitter has been around a while now, and if you don't know what it is or how small business can get the most out of this free tool, just go see what Bernie Borges of BAMB (Bay Area Business Magazine) wrote in his article: "Is Twitter a Corporate Communication Tool?"

I agree with Bernie when he says "The opportunities for businesses to use Twitter are plentiful. Individuals within your company can create a Twitter profile. They can post comments about things that are happening in your company or your industry. They can search to find and follow people who share common interests by searching in Twitter using relevant keywords."

If you are considering starting a Twitter feed for your small business, there are helpful FAQ's on Twitter for a good overview.

Jason Hiner over at Tech Republic recently posted "Techies: The top 10 people you should follow on Twitter". There are much more than 10 on his list which is definitely worth looking at.

You can now follow Minicom on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Minicom_IT

Free Webinar Invitation

Is the current economic situation delaying your plans to upgrade your server rooms? Join us for a FREE Webinar: Cost Effective Solutions for Remote Data Center Access

Date: Friday, February 6, 2009

Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST

Now, more than ever, we need to concentrate on our Real Needs:

Remote access? Yes, that's a real need.

Replacing your perfectly good KVM switches? Not so much.

This short webinar will focus on how to give your Data Center's KVM infrastructure a facelift and transform it into a remotely accessible IP system without replacing any legacy KVM switches.


We will be focusing on:

• Why we suggest not throwing out perfectly good KVM switches and serial devices just because you need to upgrade to an IP environment
  
• How you can save time, money, and training headaches by concentrating on your Real Needs
  
• What our competitors do not want you to know ---how to extend the life of your existing products.

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.


System Requirements:

PC-based attendees Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, VistaMacintosh®-based attendees Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer