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Home > Resources > eNews > Oct 2000 Part2 |
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The Managed Care Insider eNews Volume Two Number 9 October 2000 PART TWO of TWO Welcome to The Managed Care Insider eNews. You are receiving this because you have subscribed; the eNews is never sent unsolicited. Subscribe/unsubscribe information can be found at the end of this eNews. The Managed Care Insider eNews is published, copyrighted, and owned by The Scheur Management Group, Inc. (SMG), http://www.scheur.com and is distributed monthly, free to subscribers. If you wish to forward this edition, you may do so only if the edition is forwarded in its entirety. No reproduction of any part of this publication is permitted without the express permission of the publishers. ---------------------------------------------------------------- In Part Two of this issue, the Managed Care Insider eNews continues its focus on communications and the tools needed to communicate today. Below, we offers tips on traveling with technology. As always we invite your response. You may email us at insider@scheur.com with your comments. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Traveling with Technology: Tips for Business Travelers and Busy People on Vacation by Jeffrey K. Erickson Do you travel on business regularly? Or even worse, occasionally? Are you heading out on vacation just days before your team wraps up the big project? If these scenarios sound familiar, you are traveling with technology. Traveling is complicated enough, why add the unnecessary stress of worrying about your computer? This article offers some suggestions to alleviate the issues that make traveling with technology difficult. BE PREPARED Here are a few things you can do before you leave for the airport. Data and documents: - Organize data files you will need while you are away. Gather the relevant files that reside on your file server or your office desktop computer. Copy these files to your notebook's hard drive. Or, if you have a writable CD-ROM drive, burn a CD-ROM with the files you need. All current portable computers have CD-ROM drives and a CD-ROM is slim, portable, and holds a lot of data. Also, you can e-mail documents with last minute changes to yourself. - Replicate or download your e-mail and other information while you are still logged into the network at the office. It's likely to be the last high-speed connection you'll have until you return home. - Look up local access numbers of your Internet Service Provider (ISP) for the cities (or small towns) you will be visiting. Enter these access numbers into your personal digital assistant (PDA) or address book. Equipment: - Take all the cables and adapters you'll need. It might be handy to have a smaller bag, a "technology shaving kit," that contains all your computer's traveling gear; AC adapter, modem adapter, phone cord, phone cord coupler, etc. Whenever you travel, grab it with confidence; it contains all the gadgets you'll need away from home. After all, you don't want to drag that computer along just for exercise. - Pack a Windows98 Boot Disk in your computer bag; even if your computer still runs on Windows95. A Boot Disk allows you to turn on your computer if something bad happens to your hard drive. A Windows98 Boot Disk is enhanced and allows you to turn on your computer and also allows access to your CD-ROM drive and some diagnostic utilities. - Be sure you have anti-virus rescue disks with you, especially if you use Microsoft Exchange and Office. - Throw a few AA or AAA batteries into your computer bag in case your PDA or pager dies. Why make a trip to the drug store if you don't have to? - Get a HotSync cable (without the cradle) if you rely on your PDA. Then you can update your schedule, edit your To Do list and enter business contacts you made at your meeting on your computer, and later, HotSync in the hotel. The cable is small and costs about $20. - Keep a mini screwdriver in your computer bag. It's small and has a Phillips head driver on one end and a slotted driver on the other. HIT THE ROAD JACK: These suggestions will keep you moving, with a minimum of interruptions. Travel light: - Pack technological accessories that are not required on the plane in your suitcase. Why carry over your shoulder what you can drag around in a bag on wheels? - Don't worry about it. Let your computer go through the x-ray machine. It won't hurt anything. Just be sure to pick up the same non-descript computer bag that you put into the x-ray machine. - Place a non-bootable floppy disk into your computer's floppy drive. If airport security selects you to turn on your computer to ensure it's not a bomb, the computer will turn on and stop within seconds as it encounters the floppy disk. You can then power off the computer without waiting for Windows to fully boot or without risking pulling the plug on Windows as it is booting (which is never a good idea). - Taking a short trip? Only need to check e-mail? Try using your PDA's modem and e-mail. You won't want to do this for a long trip, but there's nothing like it for traveling light and keeping in touch. - Attach a personal, obvious, identifiable object on all your luggage. This will make it easy to confirm you've collected your computer and luggage. But remember, never check your computer as baggage. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE: Technical assistance extends to the office door. Knowing a thing or two can get you back up and running when the "techie" is not traveling with you. Warning, Will Robinson: A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Proceed with caution; even more so in the non-critical situations. For example, if your computer is not playing sounds, don't pursue a solution so vigorously that your mouse stops working, if you know what I mean. Be Self-sufficient: - Be sure you have the contents of your Windows Installation CD on your hard drive (usually in the c:\windows\options\cabs folder) if you have available disk space. This will allow you to install printer drivers or the like if your client has a standard printer that is not already installed on your computer. - Traveling on a coast-to-coast or transcontinental flight? Don't worry about your computer's battery performance. See if a car/plane AC adapter is available for your computer. It's the same as being plugged into the wall and most planes have them. - Make sure you have a backup of the Windows Registry on your computer. The Registry is your computer's configuration and it can become corrupted in a number of ways. A backup can rescue a crippled machine. Windows98 performs automatic backups of the Registry, but you need to know how to access the backup. You can also backup the Registry manually, which can be easier to restore. Visit http://www.scheur.com/smghome.nsf/webcontent/registry.html to learn how you can do this. Be Flexible: - Learn how to use your corporate e-mail with web browser access from any generic computer with Internet access, if available. When you go to a trade show or a client's office, you can leave your computer in the hotel and still stay connected. A client's office may not have an available phone line, but there is usually a computer that has Internet access. - Learn how to access your company's corporate information services offered from a generic computer with Internet access. These useful online services may include sales information, company news or client contact data. - Have a newer cell phone? Ever receive faxes? Most newer cell phones can receive faxes and they allow you to redirect the fax to a local fax machine. - Set up accounts with free ISPs like Altavista.com and Juno.com. Set up accounts for free Internet e-mail accounts with Hotmail, Juno or anybody else for that matter. The more access you have to the internet and e-mail, the more protected and available you'll be when AOL goes down for 3 days in the middle of your trip. Beware the Unknown: - Ever plugged your computer into an outlet in your hotel room to charge the battery and, in the morning, the battery is as dead as it was the night before? Make sure that the outlet in the hotel room does not get turned off with a light switch. - Never leave your computer bag out of sight. It is estimated that 319,000 portable computer were stolen in the U.S. in 1999 ("The Disappearing Notebook," Ziff Davis Smart Business for the New Economy, September, 2000, p. 170). There are alarms and locks for the computer and the data, but it's easier to just keep the computer within sight Whether you travel regularly or just once in a while, the stress of traveling is enough. Don't complicate the process unnecessarily by worrying about your computer. Try practicing a few of these suggestions and, hopefully, you'll breath a little sigh of relief. Oh, by the way, have you got your tickets? About the author: Jeffrey Erickson combines expertise in management information systems with a background in finance, gained in a 14-year career focused on applying technology to the needs of business. As Director of Information Services for SMG, Erickson designs and develops Internet-based business solutions, analyzes internal and external systems requirements, and supervises the implementation of systems and applications for SMG and its clients. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Sites & Sounds on the Net Business Travel OnLine: A site that discusses and offers resources for travel and technology, including a newsletter (registration required) and a list of other fee resources at http://www.btnonline.com/resource/index.html Interested in travel technology? Want to find out about shows, new products and more? Try http://www.webtravelnews.com/calendar.htm For travel and technology headlines and news, visit http://www.ananova.com/news/index.html?deywords=Technology&theme=technology The world's largest travel search engine is at http://kasbah.com/ ---------------------------------------------------------------- End of PART TWO of TWO, The Managed Care Insider eNews, Volume Two, Number 9. Scheur Management Group (SMG) is one of the most experienced specialized healthcare operations management and business revitalization consulting firms in the country. Our expertise is in time-sensitive analyses, strategic business and market planning, operational re-engineering, and communications, as well as implementation of start-ups, expansions, and new products. The firm's clients cover the spectrum of insurers, managed care organizations, physician groups, integrated delivery systems, hospitals, employers, governmental entities, vendors, and other providers. Contributing to this edition is Nancy K. Belle and Jeffrey K. Erickson. Editing and Research by Judith Jaffe. Production Coordination by Nancy K. Belle. TO SUBSCRIBE: visit http://www.scheur.com/smghome.nsf/webcontent/ezine.html or send e-mail to insider@scheur.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject and name, email, company, title, and country in the message. TO UNSUBSCRIBE: send email message to insider@scheur.com with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject. Please take a minute to visit our eNews page at http://www.scheur.com/smghome.nsf/webcontent/ezine.html for archives, subscriber information and to RATE our ezine. Get up-to-the-minute health care news on-line at www.scheur.com |
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