Posts in the Small Business Category at Austin MacWorks

Small business

Mac Is For Any Business

Thursday, January 24th, 2013

Apple offers great information for businesses who want to use Macs.

Tools for getting started

Mac OS X offers unparalleled productivity tools for your startup. Not only is it intuitive and easy to use, but you’ll be amazed by all the ways it can help you grow your business and manage your life. Here are just a few of the business-friendly innovations in Lion:

iChat AV

Free and easy. Built-in audio and video conferencing allows you to show your presentations, videos or photos in real time online. Oh, and there’s one more thing every new business likes about iChat: It’s free³.

Screen Sharing

An amazing collaboration tool. If you’re on the go but need to work closely with clients, employees — or even family and friends — Screen Sharing lets you access another Mac screen (with permission, of course) so you can work together as though you were in the same room.

Time Machine

Work without worry. Time Machine is a set-it-and-forget-it backup system that can rewind your computer to the moment right before you hit the delete button or to a date in the distant past. Talk about peace of mind.

Quick Look

Every second counts. With Quick Look, you’ll be amazed how quickly you can flip through your files — without having to wait to open the document or the program first. With all the hours you’re investing in getting your company off the ground, the more time you have for productivity — and life— the better.

Stacks

Keep your Desktop clutter-free. Lion’s Stacks feature lets you see all files in a folder at a glance right from your dock. It’s so fast and easy, you’ll wonder how you ever kept track of your business or personal stuff any other way.

Spotlight.

Seek and you will find. With Spotlight, you can find files anywhere on your desktop, network or server. It’s an easy way to access the information you need, anytime.

Learn more about how Lion’s incredible features can help your work and life.

iLife

Every Mac comes loaded with iLife, a multimedia suite which can help you grow your new business — or impress your friends and family. iLife makes it easy to build portfolios, create podcasts, develop websites and much, much more.

iWork

Every startup business needs powerful communication tools. iWork delivers with Keynote, Pages and Numbers. These Mac apps can help you create gorgeous presentations and marketing materials and more.

Swear by your computer, not at it.

Good news: you won’t need an army to maintain your Mac. In fact, Mac business users feel empowered by the intuitive, self-service quality of their computer. You’ll be amazed by how secure the fully compliant UNIX technology in Lion is. Plus, Mac software is engineered to work with Mac hardware. So your computer is less likely to fall victim to the conflicts and crashes that plague PC owners.

Help is here. Here. And here.

If you’re a first-time Mac user, you may want help getting started or getting questions answered. We offer lots of options. Visit any Apple Store for free business workshops, One to One training, to chat with a Business Consultant, or get live tech support from the Genius Bar. Purchase ProCare for only £77 per year, and you’ll get priority service at the Apple Store. You can extend your 90 days of complimentary support with award-winning AppleCare. The AppleCare support team can answer the simplest questions about an application or help you troubleshoot any issue you might be having. And of course you can always visit our online support pages.

Mac or PC. We don’t discriminate.

Why choose? While most popular applications for Mac and PC use the same file formats, making it easy to exchange documents between Macs and PCs, a Mac is the only computer that can run both Mac and PC operating systems and software. So not only is a Mac compatible with Microsoft Office and thousands of other applications, it’s the only computer that can run Windows and Mac applications side by side¹. It’s like you’re getting two computers for the price of one—not a bad deal.

Startup Simplicity

The Mac is plug-and-play, meaning it will automatically connect on a network and work with your peripherals. Just open it up, plug it in and start working. With a Mac, you’ll spend way less time worrying about your computer and way more time looking for ingenious ways to build your business.

The Mac Daddy of business computers.

Our business customers tell us that Macs do more for their business, more easily than any other

Posted in Hardware, Small business, Software | No Comments »

How Apple is Transforming Businesses

Wednesday, January 9th, 2013

On iPad, managers use the Manager’s Briefcase app to monitor pricing, contracts and delivery quantities.

Here are some great case studies about how Apple is helping business grow and flourish.

Using iPhone, iPad, and custom apps built in-house, PepsiCo’s North America Beverages division ensures that the right product arrives at the right location as quickly and efficiently as possible. Read more about how Pepsi uses iPads and iPhones.
At Carmel Café & Wine Bar, iPad serves up customer satisfaction and increases efficiency from the kitchen to the dining room. Read more.
At The Ottawa Hospital, not only has iPad increased efficiency from a provider perspective — it’s increased engagement between the provider and patient. Learn more.
By outfitting its pilots and cabin crews with iPads and specialized apps, EVA Air is taking its quest for innovative technology to a new level.
CTV News has been one of Canada’s primary news sources for more than 50 years. Now the company has adopted two new high-tech reporting tools: iPhone and iPad. Learn how they do it.
“iPhone and iPad allow the business to move forward at a much faster speed,” — Yasuhiro, Ikeda, Vice President, IT Strategy for Global pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo. Read more about how Daiichi Sankyo uses Apple technology to make its business stronger.

Posted in Hardware, Small business | No Comments »

Get Help Converting Your Small Business to Macs

Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013

Thinking of converting your small business to Macs?

Here are a few great reasons why you should do this.

Businesses of all sizes find that the Mac platform can save money over time, despite the higher price tag associated with the initial purchase. The Mac’s greatest ally in calculating cost of ownership is the value of time. Business owners say their Macs experience fewer crashes and other problems than PCs running Windows, translating to less lost work and fewer visits from the IT folks. They also tend to keep Macs in service longer than they keep PCs running.
Part of the reason businesses report more uptime with the Mac is because of the Mac’s built-in security features that keep viruses and malware at bay. A Mac won’t run Windows software right out of the box, so most of the malware lurking on the Internet won’t harm a Mac.
Backups are tedious, time consuming, and inconvenient to schedules, but they’re critical for all businesses, especially small ones that don’t have IT departments in charge of such things. Mac OS X’s built-in backup software, Time Machine, backs up documents automatically. Should you accidentally delete your tax return, payroll info, or even if you just destroy part of it, you can easily call up Time Machine and travel backwards in hours, days, or weeks through time—onscreen, of course—until you find the particular file you were looking for.

And the best reason? With Austin MacWorks right here in Austin, you’ve got an unbeatable resource working with you to ensure your success. The Apple-trained experts at Austin MacWorks will get your new computers set up in no time at all, and we’ll stick with you as your business grows, ensuring your systems grow along with your receipts.

Let us partner with you today to make 2013 your most successful year ever! Call us at 512-476-7000.

Tags: apple, mac, Small Business
Posted in Hardware, Small business, Software | No Comments »

Need Help Getting Your Small Business Set Up on Macs?

Monday, March 26th, 2012

More and more businesses are switching to Macs, and Austin MacWorks can help you get your business set up with Macs and whatever computing-related products you need.

Whether you need a mobile solution or a powerful desktop, the Mac lineup has it all, including security and compatibility.

From notebooks to desktops, Apple offers an amazing lineup of Macs to meet your business needs. Every Mac comes with the latest operating system, OS X Lion, which allows it to easily fit into your existing business environment. Features include built-in support for the latest version of Exchange and a powerful platform to run the most common business apps. OS X Lion also contains new features — such as Mission Control, AirDrop and Auto Save — that change the way you use a computer. And with the Mac App Store built into OS X Lion, you can discover and download even more great apps for business.

OS X Lion Server provides simple, innovative tools to help you set up and monitor all your key business services. Powerful yet streamlined, Lion Server makes it easier than ever for the people in your organization to collaborate, communicate, and share information.

Austin MacWorks has more than 15 years experience helping businesses with their computing needs. We can help you—down to the smallest detail— no matter how big or small your needs. Need printers or scanners? Need your computers to talk to each other? We can help. We understand small businesses, and know the most cost-effective and efficient way to help small companies do amazing things.

And we’ll stay with you even after your computers are all installed. Something go haywire? We offer the best Mac service and Mac repair in Austin, and we’ll stick with you even after the sale is made.

Call Austin MacWorks today (512-323-6666) and let us be your partner in success!

Tags: Business
Posted in Small business | No Comments »

LightSpeed for iPad– Your Store Goes iPad

Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

LightSpeed for iPad brings the LightSpeed Point of Sale experience to Apple’s acclaimed tablet platform, allowing retailers to showcase their products with Show & Tell and process transactions anywhere. LightSpeed for iPad is retail’s first interactive point of sale system, combining next-level personalized selling with inventory scanning, wireless payments and the powerful retail workflows of LightSpeed.

LightSpeed for iPad features the amazing product display technology Show & Tell, which allows sales reps to use iPad to share expanded product details and up to five zoomed images on a stylish curtained backdrop. Switch between showcasing and selling seamlessly, invoicing any product in Show & Tell with a single tap. Outfit your team with this interactive sales tool and start showing your stuff.

Have the freedom to create new invoices, scan products, enter customer information and perform inventory lookups at your front counter, on your showroom floor or even beyond your store at a sales event. Process payments anywhere the iPad takes you, accept signatures on-screen, and email or wirelessly print receipts.

LightSpeed for iPad is compatible with the Socket barcode scanner, iDynamo credit card swipe and the Ingenico i6580 terminal for wirelessly processing credit and debit transactions.

Select the iPad solution that’s integrated with LightSpeed, the complete solution for growing iGeneration retailers. The LightSpeed family of retail tools offers powerful inventory and business workflows for Mac, Mobile and eCommerce. And now, LightSpeed for iPad rewrites the retail playbook by adding the flexibility to showcase and sell anywhere using iPad.

LightSpeed for iPad is a free download from iTunes and requires an available user license on your LightSpeed Server; let Austin MacWorks handle set up and installation for you.

Tags: ipad, lightspeed
Posted in Hardware, Small business, Software | No Comments »