Tech Companies Help Survivors of the Haiti Earthquake

Several tech companies have stepped up to help survivors of the Haiti earthquake. Notably, Google has donated $1 Million and is offering free Google Voice calls to US families with relatives in Haiti. Also, if you're looking for a way to contribute, check the link "Information, resources, and ways you can help survivors of the Haiti earthquake" on the Google Home Page for many different ways you can help.

Is Your Business Ready for the New Massachusetts Data Protection Law?

The countdown to March 1, 2010 goes on!

After a number of extensions, the new MA Data Protection Law goes into effect March 1, 2009. Are you prepared to help your organization get into compliance with the new data security regulations? Massachusetts has enacted one of the most onerous data protection laws in the country. The regulations apply to every individual or entity, including those outside Massachusetts, that maintain personal information regarding Massachusetts residents, and regardless of whether the information is stored in paper or electronic form. To be in compliance, covered entities must ensure that such data is maintained securely, and develop Comprehensive Written Information Security Policies (CWISPs).

Take our quick poll (10 seconds!) and find how your business readiness compares to others.

Windows 7 is leaving the Microsoft Help Desk Quiet

One of the measures of success of Windows 7 is that call volume to Microsoft's help desk is down. According to Barbara Gordon, Vice President of Customer Support for Microsoft: "Overall we are finding our call center volume is down significantly more than we expected." Most Microsoft watchers would say this is because Windows 7 is a big improvement over Vista (definitely true!), but Microsoft also points out that two new support channels (worth checking out!) are also making a difference: Microsoft Answers and MicrosoftHelps on Twitter.

With Microsoft Answers, users can submit questions to the help community, and Microsoft employees validate answers. So far, Microsoft has validated about 60,000 inquiries.

The Microsoft Twitter help site went live in October. Users can post a tweet with "@microsofthelps" in the message and Microsoft will respond. Seven employees work full time on creating responses by either providing a simple answer (hard to do in 140 characters!) or pointing to a place where people can get a more detailed answer. The goal is to answer a question that 1000s of users may have with one response. "It's really like a customer megaphone," Gordon said.