@notverypunny said in Roster and Schedule Software:

Might be worthwhile checking to see if there's something already available within your payroll or HR software. Just to avoid re-inventing something that you might already have.

Excellent suggestion. Thanks.
The current setup does not have such functionality.

@dashrender said in Need MS Access app re-written to something else.:

@scottalanmiller said in Need MS Access app re-written to something else.:

@dashrender said in Need MS Access app re-written to something else.:

While I think Scott's a bit overblown with the whole Windows Server and SQL server to be "serious" I see where he's coming from.
For example sticking with Windows 10 for example is likely fine because I'm assuming it's being run on and from a single machine connected to the gate system, not a remote server, etc...

It's a licensing requirement if you want security and reliable multi-user access. Otherwise you have to use the shared-file system of a JetDB that is completely exposed to things like ransomware. And that is highly flaky once you have more than about five users.

This really seems like a single computer setup - so while what you mention could be good, might be overkill for this setup.

It is a Raspberry Pi setup, IMO. I think @JasGot is right on that.

I think he is off on the "wishing he had 5 hours" thing though.

I don't know enough about controlling Pi pins to handle this. I think that would be better than the serial interface for the relay control. But it will also require then new wiring which is physical.

The barcode readers should be a standard listen for input handler.

The database design should be pretty straightforward.

The user interface does not sound like it needs to be complex, but like anything, you need to make it comfortably usable, or users will not use.

Finally, security of the application, it's users, data, etc will have to be designed.

@popester said in Voip Law: non binding question of course.:

@dashrender said in Voip Law: non binding question of course.:

I'm curious, in that setup, are you paying this third party, the one who imported your real DID, for inbound mins? or a flat monthly fee for inbound calling?

Its a flat monthly fee I believe, all rolled into one bill. So breaking out the phone part may be tough. I am going to dig into the "Did we "Really" need to port our DID. For now, it is so convoluted and fraught with WTF's, I am going to suggest that we go ahead and rather we can or cannot, just add the warning. Easy peasy.

Well, if you didn't run the call through them, you'd need a way to send the CID information to that vendor so they could give you the screen pops to the ERP for your call center. I'm guessing you could have an function on the PBX that makes an API call to the vendor, definitely would be the cleaner way to do it... you also get to control your inbound costs.

I also wonder if the current solution allows them to be in the call path for voice recording purposes? I don't understand the RTP stuff enough to know. i.e. could that vendor be eavesdropping on all of your calls?

@jasgot said in Where do you advertise for techs?:

@jaredbusch said in Where do you advertise for techs?:

@travisdh1 said in Where do you advertise for techs?:

I've had better luck finding jobs with ZipRecruiter. It's supposed to be easier for someone looking to hire as well. Don't know about "the other side" tho.

I tried this one last time I was looking for a part time person. it was a shit show like the rest.

And really expensive.

Result, not worth the cost.

I'll pay more for quality.. It was not.

@JasGot said in Looking for OpenInsight / Advance Revelation developer.:

@scottalanmiller said in Looking for OpenInsight / Advance Revelation developer.:

Someone is actively implementing OI today? I thought that that was the legacy piece lingering on.

The AREV app was written in DOS 32 years ago. It was converted to OI 8 years ago. The guy who did the work died. It's proving to be very difficult to find someone who is fluent in OI that originated as AREV.

AFAIK OI is just a GUI for making .NET apps. Just working in the .NET might do the trick. Might not even need to know what OI is to do it.

@Pete-S said in If you were to start all over, knowing what you know now.:

Hiring smart people sounds like a great idea but if they're smarter than you, why wouldn't they run their own business? Why would a smart person work for someone dumber than they are? I'm not saying they wouldn't - I'm saying you need to figure out a reason why they should.

Everyone who works for me is smarter than me, I'm the only one dumb enough to own the place. ;)

That's awesome, thank you!

@Spiral said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:

I would say at any age, depending on one's facts and circumstances, you presumably could make the switch. Currently, during this economic environment, there are many opportunities for entrepreneurial pursuits. Because of the inherent risk of starting a business and complicated by current uncertainty, the SBA has many loan programs in the 7a series, which, if applied for before September 27, 2020 qualify for 6 months of tax free principle and interest paid by the SBA. https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/sba-debt-relief For example, if you took out a $500k 7a working capital loan, the SBA would basically give you a $33k tax free gift. Along with the SBA programs, there are also many other grant programs for small businesses out there.

Good info. Can be an excellent time to attempt starting a new business, for sure.

I guess the ISP thing never happened.

@scottalanmiller It's pretty mature now. The feature set is minimal but works fine compared to some other options I've played with. If they added a few more features it would be golden.

Problem solved:
822F2316-4113-4C17-BADF-7EF235C1012A.jpeg

You’re welcome.

I have my name and title and I think my cell phone in my outlook signature. We have 450,000 employees so there's times when I get emailed or email someone and they have no idea who I am. I don't have a signature on my phone.

Hey @EddieJennings
That sounds fair to me :) Can I ask you what are the most common tasks you and your team undertake in you day to day?

@CCWTech said in Defining "Emergency" For MSP Customers:

@JaredBusch said in Defining "Emergency" For MSP Customers:

This is what we currently do for hourly phone system jobs.

933b95d1-3c95-490a-ae00-02765016e775-image.png

Basically as long as you schedule it, you get the normal rate. Time of day doesn't matter.

Do you charge differently for on site vs. remote support?

No, but as I’ve said many times. We are not really an MSP. Strictly consulting.

Looked at them a few weeks ago. Not free, didnt look interesting enough to test.

A place I used to work for used a mob called Kronos.

@scottalanmiller
Thanks for the clarification

@Obsolesce said in Writing a Job Posting:

@scottalanmiller said in Writing a Job Posting:

It's hard, risky and it sucks.

You must be going to some crazy parties...

I absolutely do.

@CCWTech said in MSP Billing:

We currently are billing 25/computer/month and 65/server/month (if virtualized we don't count the 1st VM just hosting the hyper-v role).
Initially for remote support we gave clients an allotted hours per month based on the amount of computers/servers they had and billed anything over that. We found that almost all clinics never went over what we allocated.

We use the per/comp and per/server model as a basis for decision making, but don't actually price from that. We try almost all flat rate pricing, but it is determined by effort and adjusted over time, not by the size of the environment. We use size of environment to try to estimate effort, but it is very loose.

Because things like printers or AD are way bigger support factors than are desktop or server counts. And the apps being used make a massive difference.