Clean Living

Many of us receive a daunting number of emails each day. They may come from co-workers, clients, vendors, or even the home office. This inflow of emails can lead to a cluttered email inbox that makes it difficult to sort out what is urgent, what can wait a little bit, and what can be put on the back-burner until you get some time. Fortunately, there are tools that can help you organize those emails in your inbox to help you determine importance, while still being able to focus on day-to-day activities like managing accounts and advising clients. Read more

Get in Touch with Your Computer

I’ve been a Windows computer user for years now, first growing accustomed using a mouse with desktop systems, and then using a trackpad as laptops became more convenient. Laptop trackpads are often small, have terrible multi-touch capability, and typically are just not very good. The upside is that they allow the machine to be used where using a mouse would be impractical. I would never have considered a trackpad as the ideal interface method for a PC—until this Christmas when my fellow Cambridge Technology Consultant, Gabriel Cooper, gave me a Logitech T650 wireless touchpad as a gift. Read more

No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

Today, more than ever, advisors are trying to watch their bottom line by cutting unnecessary costs. Very few offices have an unlimited technology budget, which makes “free” software and services appear attractive.

The problem with “free” software or services is that they are rarely, if ever, truly free. Companies need to make money in order to exist so it is important to understand how a company makes money. Let’s take a look at some common business models for “free” software/services.

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An Apple a Day…

“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”  This old saying may be good advice, but it doesn’t mean you should forego immunizations and regular checkups. The same goes for your computer, no matter what operating system it has. Read more

Of Mice and Mobility

I’ve received several calls lately from advisors asking whether they should get a digital tablet for use in their practice.

It’s easy to be drawn to this technology trend. Tablets are mobile, easy to use, and have a long battery life (often 8-10 hours). They also offer significant “cool factor” that some clients may appreciate. Often, the challenge with tablets is that they don’t offer the flexibility or power that is required for many advisors’ day-to-day activities, such as advanced trading and forms population. Typing on the “on-screen” keyboards is unpleasant and slow. Not all systems offer apps for mobile devices and many sites do not work properly on mobile web browsers. For most advisors, a traditional computer is still required to properly service client needs, which requires carrying around a bulky laptop. Read more

Worth a pound of Cure

An advisor called me the other day after the hard drive on his computer had crashed. Everything from basic client information to meeting notes had been lost. He wanted to know what technology was available to prevent this from happening to him again in the future. It got me thinking that this might be a good topic to cover in this blog to prevent this from happening to someone else. Read more