Mat Newman: LIVE from Yellow Central

Lotusphere 2012, BP102 ’User Blast’ and BP105 ’tick.tick.tick.BOOM’ slides now online

Mat Newman — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 06:19:06 +1100

The slides from my Lotusphere 2012 sessions are now available online...

Lotusphere 2012: BP102, User Blast

Lotusphere 2012: BP102 'UserBlast'

Lotusphere 2012: BP105, tick.tick.tick.tick. #! It's time to Evangelise, Educate and Engergise your users to Get Productive, Get Social and Do BUSINESS!

Lotusphere 2012, BP105: tick.tick.tick.tick. #! It's time to Evangelise, Educate and Engergise your users to Get Productive, Get Social and Do BUSINESS!

View more presentations from Mat Newman

Remember:

Every journey begins with 1 step,
1 star can guide a ship across the ocean
1 voice can start a revolution
1 spark can start a fire

Be the 1 to embrace social and start the revolution in your organisation!

2011 ... what a ride!

Mat Newman — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 23:46:00 +1100

I don't just mean the roller-coasters at Lotusphere and Alton Towers :-)

What a year. It began with outstanding feedback and response from my "where is the love" session at Lotusphere and just kept on going from there!

It was the Lotusphere where "The Yellow Suit" made it's first appearance.

A year that saw everyone, including television programmes, embracing social; it was a busy time on Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, Skype and with discussions on the Bloggerverse. For the first time I made it to the UK for the famous UKLug conference where I saw first hand what an outstanding event a user group could be. Three trips to my new favourite destination, with two new customers there embracing IBM Collaboration Solutions to solve real world problems.

And the inaugural AusLUG conference. What started as a blurry discussion at Lotusphere 2011 with Barry Sanders became reality in August when Australia finally joined the rest of the world with our own BIG Lotus event.

And rumours about a 60,000 seat sale of Lotus Notes in Australia that has been kept pretty quite. I can confirm that this has happened, I did the Admin training for them, although I will leave the formal announcements to the people who are keeping it quite for one reason or another. One thing is for sure, there's life in the old girl yet :-)

With two sessions next year at Lotusphere 2012 I'm already getting excited about the year ahead. My mate, Mitch Cohen has a saying: "Lotusphere energises you, it get's you ready to face the year ahead."

I'm already energised, I feel 2012 is going to be HUGE!

Lotusphere 2012 session: User BLAST! ... Have your say

Mat Newman — Thu, 8 Dec 2011 18:10:00 +0900

I really pleased to advise that my session for Lotusphere 2012 got accepted: "User Blast".

Building on "Where is the Love?" from LS11 - where you may have seen or heard of "The 10 Minute Demo" - this session is going to be a 50 minute full-on blast, show casing of the power of Lotus Notes (I'm supposed to leave some time for questions). I have a list of items prepared, but with so much content that could be included I thought I would throw it over to you to help decide some of the tips/solutions that I can demonstrate during the session.

With a twist.

I want you to tell me what Lotus Notes CANT do!

You've heard your users complain, you've found something yourself, or you just don't believe that Lotus Notes is capable of doing ... what?

Feel free to comment here, or message me using the social media of your choice (some connect options are on http://about.me/matnewman), I can be found on most networks. Of course, you could always go Communications 1.0 and email me: mat at matnewman dot com.

Bring them on, I'm looking forward to your input, and to seeing you at Lotusphere 2012 :-)

Tip of the day: Automatically populate ACL’s of new databases by changing the Template’s ACL

Mat Newman — Thu, 8 Dec 2011 11:38:41 +0900

One of the questions that came up during last weeks Domino Admin Boot-camp was regarding ACL's on new databases.

The Admin in question wanted to know how to automatically include a standard group in the ACL of all new databases based on a Template.

Like most things Notes/Domino, the solution is pretty simple. Just add the entry to the Template's ACL, but include it in square brackets, ie: [YourStandardGroup]

From the FILES tab of the Domino Administrator client, Choose to show Templates Only, right-click the template you wish to modify and choose Access Control -> Manage.

With the ACL open, Add the group name you would like included in all new databases. Again; make sure you enclose the group name in Square Brackets [YourStandardGroup], then just select the ACL level and rights that you want that group to have by default.

From now on, every new database created based on that template will have it's ACL automatically populated with the entries you put in the Template's ACL that are enclosed in [SquareBrackets].

Enjoy :-)

Hilarious way to start your week, an Email marketer explaining why Lotus Notes is the ’bad guy’ :-)

Mat Newman — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:19:10 +1100

I LOVE that most of the article discusses predominantly Notes 4.6 / 5 (that's 14 year old technology right there).

And that there's a side-note cursing other applications (Outlook, Gmail, etc) blocking HTML scripts and images "for security reasons".

And "Mel" - the IT security guy - who apparently is also a big "offender". I like the sound of Mel :-)

But the best bit is that comments are closed to this well constructed, well researched and up-to-date post. Well done "Andre", whoever you are. I couldn't find anything like an about me page that discusses your credentials or how to contact you. Oh well.

Article HERE: http://emailmarketing.iparkedhere.net/1153/email-marketing/successful-html-email-marketing-campaigns-and-lotus-notes-issues

Enjoy :-)

Mobile web-sites make BRILLIANT Lotus Notes side-bar widgets, ESPECIALLY when the mobile site involved is IBM CONNECTIONS, here’s how to do it

Mat Newman — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:18:23 +1100

Yesterday's #TipOfTheDay was how to access IBM Connections in 'miniature' form by accessing your IBM Connections site with the addition of /mobile at the end of your address, like:

http://greenhouse.lotus.com/mobile

A little while ago I wrote how many sites designed for mobile/smart-phone/tablet access actually make GREAT Lotus Notes side-bar widgets.

Well, combine this concept, and the brilliant mobile version of IBM Connections and what do you have - Lotus Notes fully Connected, right there in your side-bar :-)

The following slides show the steps to setting this up:

Mat Newman IBM Connections Widget

View more presentations from Mat Newman.

Enjoy!

Why users hate Lotus Notes, Episode 3: The intuitive misconception

Mat Newman — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:08:22 +1100

That the proliferation of 'Smart' mobile devices - phones, tablets, etc - within the general consumer space has lead to a revolution in the expectations of users is undeniable.

Take the iOS experience as an example. The Mail interface has but 4 (four) buttons. "Back", "Edit", "New" and "Refresh". It doesn't take a genius to work out which button to press.

Unfortunately, it has also lead to a perception that anything with a plethora of features and options is 'un-intuitive', that the extra features lead to confusion and a lack of comprehension as to their value.

Lotus Notes has surely suffered as a result of this 'simplification' of IT.

While the acceptance of technology into the lives of many users who would previously not have considered it is a positive step, recognising that there is still a place for powerful desktop applications - especially for knowledge workers - draws a line in the sand between those who need such applications and those who do not.

A recent tweet highlighted this concept:

#Thought4TheDay Give a user Windows Paint, they're an Artist. Give them Photoshop, they're Confused. Sound Familiar? Email v Notes

For those who require 'more power', the misconception that Lotus Notes is an Email application is always the starting point of a users 'frustrations'.

But it's not that hard to turn around.

It begins with the acknowledgement that Lotus Notes is a Database application (or a client framework within which to run databases) and the software interface itself, the Menu's and tools available, are optimised for managing ANY database that is currently open within the Notes client. Demonstrate to users that the "Tool-bars" are the same whether Mail, Calendar, To-Dos, Contacts, Notebook, Blog, Forum or any Custom application that is open in Notes, and they begin to understand the consistency of the interface. Demonstrate that the "Action Bar" contains the options specific to the current application, and users stop looking within Menu's and Tool-bars for commands to perform tasks specific to the current database.

Then demonstrate the integration options available via the Eclipse framework (which I wrote about the other day) and users begin to understand how much more productive and efficient they can be using the Notes client which can bring everything they need together in one place.

Finally, demonstrate the operation of the core PIM databases. Note: I always do this as the last step, once the users gain an understanding of the power of the application in front of them.

Many power users find comfort within the Notes client and recognise how productive they are with 'all the bells and whistles'. They are also the users who understand the framework, the flexibility and many of the options available to them within Notes. Again, from Twitter:

I thought I'd like going from Lotus Notes to Outlook, but I don't

A little education can have powerful results. Changing perceptions and raising understanding is part of this process.

There are always going to be users who need education to help raise their level of understanding of the power of Notes, lest they suffer from: the intuitive misconception.

The value of the Eclipse framework in a Notes environment

Mat Newman — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 07:54:58 +1100

I have a client who 'lives' in Email. But they never speak of email, they talk about Notes. They receive literally thousands of messages a day. Not bad for a site with only 12 users. When they open an email from a client their side-bar instantly identifies reference numbers/codes in the message and their side-bar widget presents that related information to them without having to cross-reference another system. That leads to efficiency.

Due to subscriptions at industry sites via RSS, their Inbox's are less cluttered by newsletters, offers and deals, which are instead delivered into their Feeds side-bar. This means their Inbox requires less monitoring, processing and filing, leading to improved productivity.

When an agent answers a phone call, they don't have to sing-out across the office to the person the call is directed to, they double click the person's name in the Sametime list and let them know a caller is on the line for them. Even if the agent is in a meeting with a client they are still aware that a call is on-line and can respond with 'please take a message' or 'ask them to hold' as appropriate.

These are just a couple of examples of features that make Notes 'more than email'. Without the eclipse overlay the agent would need to open the appropriate external application to check on the status of an order or booking. That's inefficient.

Email is a means to enable communication. Communication is just one part of the puzzle, Notes with eclipse is the enabler that allows user to get their heads out of their 'Inbox', without having to leave their 'Inbox'.

Email by itself is simply a notification mechanism to identify that work somewhere else needs to be executed.

Lotus Notes with Eclipse provides users with the ability to improve productivity, increase efficiency, and to truly Get Social and Do Business ( :-D ).

That is the value of Eclipse in a Notes environment.

(thought initiated by a discussion on THIS blog)

#TipOfTheDay: If you use categories in Lotus Notes PIM apps, you MUST upgrade to 8.5.3

Mat Newman — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 10:02:16 +1100

The good news: in Lotus Notes 8.5.3 the performance of Categorised views has VASTLY improved!

One of the features I LOVE about Lotus Notes is the "Personal Journal"/Notebook database. It it the place where I store EVERYTHING I need to remember. From passwords to user guides for devices to favourite recipes to handy hint's and tips, everything that I find useful ends up here. If you've every seen the Australian movie "The Castle" you will appreciate the phrase I use often in this office: "That's goin' straight to my Journal".

The Notebook database has the ability to Tag entries with "Categories" - a feature that has been around in Lotus Notes forever - which is a great way to add meta-data to any record in any database (including your Mail database) to enable you to quickly classify and search on that information later.

The problem with Notes 8.5.* up until now has been the performance of views in the Java overlaid applications, which include Mail, Calendar, To-Do, Contacts and Notebook, Blog's, etc. Categorised views have been just a little sluggish when compared to the non-java version. You can compare performance by holding down Ctrl+Alt while opening a Notes database to launch it in "Classic" mode, where you will see what I mean by the difference in speeds between the java and non-java variants of categorised views.

Thanks to the team involved in optimising this aspect of Lotus Notes in 8.5.3 standard - I really appreciate it!

If you too use Categorised views in your PIM apps frequently, it's another reason you MUST upgrade to 8.5.3

Why users hate Lotus Notes, Episode 2: The administrative inhibitions

Mat Newman — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 07:24:00 +1100

FACT: IBM Lotus Domino IS more efficient at storing data than Microsoft Exchange.

I recently did a migration for a small business of 4 users (note IBM - that IS a small business!) that began with 11gb of data in their SBS/Exchange data store. After migrating to Domino, the total size of the Domino mail databases was 9.2gb. For the math inclined, that's a 16% saving in disk space. And then I enabled DAOS. After running compact on the mail databases, the mail files and DAOS storage totalled 5.6gb. Again for the math inclined, that is a 49% disk saving by switching to Notes/Domino from Exchange.

What has storage got to do with users?

This twitter post says it all really:

Since I've #gonegoogle from Lotus Notes and VPN and 100MB size limit, everybody in the 2000+ company is :-)

Or from a users perspective:

Outlook is SO much better than Lotus, no more sucky 100meg restriction!

Users DO NOT care WHY they have a mail quota, or why they can't send an email that contains a 5mb attachment. A quote from TWiL 72 is relevant here (paraphrased): "The computer on the users desk at work is no longer the most powerful machine they use". The same goes for the messaging infrastructure users deal with. Users no longer use email only at work. Users have a plethora of options available to them - especially in the personal space - none of which have a 100 megabyte limit on their storage, or a restriction of 5 megabytes on the size of attachments they can send.

What they DO see, is a Lotus Notes client that fails to send a 6mb attachment, or that bugs them every two seconds because they've exceeded their 100mb quota.

This is - of course - nothing to do with the capabilities of Lotus Notes. I have a number of clients who carry around multi-gigabyte mail database replica's with them. One client has a 13 gigabyte "active" mail database, which has auto-archiving enabled for everything older than 9 months.

From their perspective, users who complain that Lotus Notes's "sucks" due to the limit's imposed upon them ARE complaining about the Lotus Notes client. They do not differentiate that it's the restrictions placed upon them by their IT department that are actually the root of the problem.

The first quote above would indicate that the storage available to that company for messaging was restricted to only 200 gigabytes. That may have been justified 10 years ago when the company implemented Notes/Domino 6 and 200 gigabytes was a big deal, but today I can spend less than a hundred bucks and get a pocket drive with the same capacity.

Similarly for attachments. Surely your internet pipe is no longer the 1mb link that you implemented 10 years ago (unless you're in Timor-Leste!) and a 6mb data transfer is no longer a significant concern.

If you ARE worried about large attachments leaving your organisation, check out the EXCELLENT FileSendR utility by Declan Lynch on OpenNTF. You could also implement Notes/Domino 8.5.3 and take advantage of the amazing Connections Files entitlement now available to you.

Your users are not really complaining about Lotus Notes.

Users believe that Lotus Notes is the problem because it has pathetic storage restrictions, and is incapable of sending attachments of any significant size.

You and I know different.

It's time to review the restrictions you are placing on your users.

Preferably before the new CEO arrives and demands you give them Outlook, since the CEO had Outlook at their last post and knows that Outlook doesn't have a stupid 100 megabyte limit.

Perception is everything.

It's time to review the administrative inhibitions.

Tip of the day: #GetProductive by setting Flags WITH alarms in Lotus Notes

Mat Newman — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 11:35:49 +1100

Lotus Notes not only enables users to "Flag" a message, it also allows users to set an Alarm on that flag to go off at a specific time. Using Flags with Follow-up alarms is a really useful way of tracking your "To Action" items in Lotus Notes generated by incoming email, especially when you are not able to action that message immediately.

A great feature of using Flags with Alarms is that you can then get these messages OUT of your Inbox - which reduces the clutter - while still allowing you to keep track of messages that require you to "Action" them in some way.

Don't forget, in Lotus Notes it DOES NOT matter where a message has been filed (If you put messages into folders), once you have flagged a message for "Follow-Up", ALL of these messages are visible from your Mail database's Navigator using the "Follow-Up" view. (note: Unless you deleted the message!)

Get Productive, use Follow-Up flags with Alarms in Lotus Notes to keep track of Actionable items!

New Features for Lotus Traveler 8.5.3 client on Symbian

Mat Newman — Sun, 9 Oct 2011 17:30:00 +1100

Lotus Traveler - the server add-in for Lotus Domino that supports mobile client access - has a number of new features for both Administrators and Users in the latest release, 8.5.3. Today I'm reviewing the new messaging options on Nokia/Symbian.

For Nokia/Symbian users the Mail client on the mobile device is the built-in default messaging application. Until now, this has meant rendering messages on the device has been a simplified text version of incoming mail. While the mail client has not changed in 8.5.3 on the device, IBM/Lotus have gotten their hooks into the Nokia messaging application and changed the rendering behaviour for messages to HTML by default.

This means a better reading experience, and for me (Nokia E7 running Symbian Anna) I can now scroll, and pinch-to-zoom on messages within the Lotus Traveler messaging section on the device. The extended messaging menu features are still the same, with full options for details/reply/forward/file/etc available from either a "hold" touch on the message list, or by touching the "Options" button with a message open.

Tip of the Day: I previously had the Traveler settings on the device retrieving only 2K of data per message, I upped this to 5K and now receive most messages in full "rich text", rather than just the text content. Either way, the messages will still be rendered using the new message interface, rather than the default Nokia Messaging basic-text.

Once the Traveler "installer" on my device detected the new version on my Traveler server it notified me and just a few clicks and a download later the new features were available. This should be a seamless and pain-free upgrade for your users.

Voting Buttons in Lotus Notes

Mat Newman — Sun, 9 Oct 2011 07:32:29 +1100

One of the questions about Lotus Notes I see frequently is about Voting buttons. While it is certainly possible to modify the mail database template to include this functionality, a simpler implementation is to use a shared database that enables users to ask questions, choose some recipients and then have an email message sent to those people that contains a doc-link directing the recipient to their answer document.

A couple of years ago I knocked up a sample application for a customer to demonstrate this functionality, I've enclosed it here so you can customise and share.

Just change the ACL to include your own users group as Authors so the default security is enabled. Sign the application with an ID that's trusted to execute code. Then share with your users.

The database could easily be customised to modify the type of questions and responses required, eg: Yes/No, multiple choice, etc...

Voting Buttons in Lotus Notes? Sure ... it's Notes! Enjoy.

Download sample database: VoteInNotes.nsf

Tip of the day: It’s easier to use the new Lotus Notes 8.5.3 entitlement to bulk upload files to Connections

Mat Newman — Wed, 5 Oct 2011 16:09:52 +1100

With the new entitlements to IBM Connections now available in Lotus Notes 8.5.3 I have been doing some 'playing' to see exactly what sort of benefits this will give the average user. If you have ever used IBM Connections Files through a browser you will know that you can only upload one file at a time.

However - once you have the "Files" (or Connections Files) plug-in (available HERE) installed in your Notes client, you will see a LOVELY little "+" button on the plug-in's tool bar (Upload to My Files). This enables you to add files to Connections. And NOT just one at a time :-)

The dialog that presents itself after you click the "Upload to my files" button may say: "Select a file to Upload", but it doesn't prevent you from using the good ol' "Ctrl+Click" or "Shift+Click" keyboard short-cuts to select multiple files. Once you choose OPEN, you are then prompted whether you wish to share those files with:

No one (private - for yourself only)
People/Communities (give specific file permissions to others), or
Public (visible to everyone)

What will this mean for users who now have this entitlement? Moving from File-server 1.0 (disk-drives and network shares) to IBM Connections and Lotus Notes is going to be VERY EASY!

It's one of the little gems available from the Lotus Notes plug-in that actually gives you ADDITIONAL functionality, and that's my tip of the day; If you want to quickly upload a whole heap of files into IBM Connections - use the "Files" plug-in for Lotus Notes.

Enjoy :-)

IBM XWork Server ... the cover’s blown, now ... what’s under the hood

Mat Newman — Mon, 3 Oct 2011 16:23:45 +1100

I was pretty interested to hear more when the IBM XWork server was announced a month ago during AusLUG. Today Ed Brill blew the covers off the IBM XWork server, and I note his comment "(and you can talk about this new server now, too)", so here it is.

What it IS:

A Lotus Domino 8.5.3 server.
Restricted to 4 individual "Applications" where each of those applications may comprise up to 4 separate databases.
Costs US$2000 per server (ie: No PVU Licensing! No CAL's!)
An additional licence can double the number of applications on the same server instance.

What it ISN'T:

Notice the Lotus and Domino missing from the name!

WHY?

As Ed points out in his post:

"I said earlier that the IBM XWork Server is designed to grow the ISV market for Domino." So before anyone starts shouting "Lotus is dead" (and I would be one of the first to stand on the roof-tops for that!) the IBM XWork server has one specific purpose in mind:

To allow an ISV to write an "Application" using .nsf based technology and deploy it within an organisation without having to sell the customer "Lotus" or "Domino".

The phrase "It runs on an IBM server" will be utilised often and accurately to describe a solution running on this platform.

The icon is even identical to the IBM Lotus Domino application icon, except that it's BLUE instead of YELLOW.

And yes, if you look hard enough, you will find a Domino console in there somewhere!

Can it...?

I asked a lot of questions during my preview last week, and all of them were answered to my satisfaction. What you have here is - for all intents - an "Enterprise" Domino Server, you can send and receive email from the IBM XWork server, you can even create a mail-in database record if your Application requires that functionality. Be aware, a mail-in database IS included as one of the 4 databases that make up the 4-databases-per-application limits if you use a separate database for that purpose. What you CAN'T do is host "Mail" on the IBM XWork server.

You can create a self-registration system on an IBM XWork server to host an unlimited number of external authenticated users. You can even replicate an existing Domino directory to an IBM XWork server and configure it using Directory assistance to authenticate with your application for the purpose of interacting with external users. IBM did, however, state that they did not expect an existing Domino shop to be the target market for IBM XWork server, instead suggesting that existing shops compare pricing for IBM Lotus Domino 'Utility Server' licensing.

An XWork application is allowed to talk to anything, yes ... ANYTHING (including a Domino database on another system if required).

IBM XWork server (I have a really hard time not putting the 's' on the end of that name!) is Administered via an IBM Domino Administrator client, or through a browser via Webadmin.nsf

You can even cluster IBM XWork servers, since - again - under the hood it's all Domino! To create an XWork cluster, you simply purchase an additional IBM XWork server licence, do the Domino Seven-Click-To-Cluster steps, and you're away!

So it Replicates like Domino, Clusters like Domino, Routes like Domino, HTMLs and XPages like Domino - but it ain't Domino.

If you are an ISV and you have built a product based on .nsf technology, it just got a WHOLE lot easier to bundle and sell your solution. It's the new IBM XWork server, and what's under the hood is all Yellow :-)

Why users hate Lotus Notes, Episode 1: The customisation debacle

Mat Newman — Mon, 3 Oct 2011 05:02:22 +1100

For the last few months I've been following a Twitter search on "Lotus Notes". The purpose has been to track the comments people are making about the product, and to offer my advice and assistance when I could. I've found lots of general posts following the lines of the "I hate Lotus Notes" sites - which really offer nothing other than a general comment - but every now and again a tweet appears that gives a specific reason that the user is frustrated with the product.

In this case, it was "the customisation debacle". The poor user in question not only tweeted their experience, they also took the time to record a video of the situation; watch it and cringe:

Ode to Lotus Notes from Steve Peck on Vimeo.

What we see here is obviously a customised Mail database. The platform is irrelevant, although it appears to be Mac. How can we tell it's a custom design? The "Out of Office" and "Delegate Access" buttons on the Action Bar are additions not in the standard Mail database templates.

Am I suggesting that customising the Mail template is a bad thing? Absolutely not! In many situations customising the Mail database template adds features and functionality that IBM do not include in their standard install that enhance the users experience. One of the first things I do with any new release is to put the 'Categorize' functionality BACK into the standard template so that I can use Categories instead of Folders.

What I am strongly recommending is that any functionality developers add into the template needs to be thoroughly tested to ensure the users have a first class experience.

Otherwise, you will have users justifiably expressing a negative opinion about Lotus Notes based on: The customisation debacle.

How to Convert Outlook PST to Lotus Notes using the built-in tools

Mat Newman — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:53:06 +1100

A question I get asked frequently is how to convert an Outlook file to Lotus Notes. It is a really easy process, here are the steps:

During the Lotus Notes installation, there is an option to install the Migration tools. If you did not include those, you will need to run the software install again and make sure they are selected.

Once you have the migration tools installed, open a command prompt (Start -> Run -> "CMD") and then navigate to your Lotus Notes install directory. By default this will be

c:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus\Notes

You can get there by typing:

cd progra~1\ibm\lotus\notes [Enter]

Then type the command

Nupgrade 3 [Enter]

Don't forget the number 3 at the end of the command!

Follow the prompts to have your Outlook data converted to Lotus Notes (note: ignore that the dialog says "Exchange"):

Also, make sure of the following:

You still have Outlook thinking it's the system default Mail application, and
Make sure you have already configured Lotus Notes.

Enjoy your conversion from Outlook to Lotus Notes using the built-in tools!

Plantronics Savi 740 - one VERY cool piece of Kit

Mat Newman — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 21:39:30 +1100

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to receive a Plantronics Savi 740 courtesy of Karen Jarvis, an ex-pat Aussie who is the Strategic Partner Marketing Manager at Plantronics.

Until you've used one of these devices, you truly don't appreciate how a 'simple' piece of desk equipment can revolutionise your in-the-office time. What do I mean? Have you ever fumbled in your pocket to pull out your mobile (cell) phone's headset? While Handling a desktop phone? While removing your computer's headset because you've just been on a computer based internet call?

Prior to the Savi, I had a great headset/microphone combo for my laptop, a bluetooth headset for my mobile, and a desktop phone with a handset that I had never bothered to get a headset for. Before the Savi arrived, I never realised how much time I spent swapping between these devices to communicate on mobile, land-line and computer based calls.

The Savi 740 changed all that, and I will never go back.

Unboxing took just a few moments, and following the quick-start sheet included in the box I had the Savi connected to my desktop phone, plugged into my computer via USB and then paired with my mobile phone via bluetooth in just a few minutes.

What took a little longer was deciding which of the 3 (three) headset adapters I was going to use, as the box includes wrap-around, head-set and over ear versions, with different in-ear plugs to suit each of the options.

For me, the decision went with the head-set option, which felt most comfortable.

I was then interrupted in my geeking as my mobile phone rang, which meant my normal ring-tone, while the desktop unit started flashing the mobile phone light and the head-set chirped gently in my ear. A quick touch of the head-set button to answer the call and the Savi was connected.

Leaving my mobile next to the Savi on my desk, I then began wandering around the office to test out the range on the wireless headset (the headset connects to the desktop unit via RF, not bluetooth). I walked up three flights of stairs, out the front door, through the car-park and two houses down the street before the device started loosing signal. It was only Adam on the phone, so I wasn't too worried about loosing the call :-) Needless to say I was impressed that I could now answer a call anywhere in the office that originated on my mobile, land-line or computer while they are connected to the Savi 740.

The Savi automatically switches sources when it detects an incoming call, so there's no messing about switching headsets or hand-sets, you just touch the button on the Savi head-set and it answers for you. The range and clarity of the wireless headset is extremely good, in fact crystal clear even in a multi-story office where the base unit is located on my desk in the basement.

If you spend a lot of time talking to anyone - whether it's land-line, mobile or computer based - you seriously need to consider one of these. Easy to use, connects to everything, great reception, hassle free.

The Plantronics Savi 740 - one VERY cool piece of kit.

Preventing users sending messages to >X number of recipients without approval - quick’n’easy

Mat Newman — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:17:59 +1100

The great black witch of the dark art of networking (Scott Headlam) and I were collaborating the other day on a very simple method of preventing a user sending a message to more than 'X' number of recipients. The request came from a customer who had a couple of simple restrictions:

No plug-ins, and
No third-party tools.

Ok, so a pure Domino solution ... Easy :-)

It came down to a combination of Domino Rules, and a creative use for the Domino White-list feature. It is VERY easy to implement.

What you will need:

A Database to "quarantine" the messages into
An agent in that database to "Approve" the messages for delivery, and put them back into the mail.box, and
A Couple of mail rules.

The extended description is below:

1. Create a new database on the server, for the sake of this exercise I used the mail template, and the file name "admin/toomanyrecipients.nsf"
2. Create a mail rule on the Domino Server(s) that route mail.
a) Open the server's config document: Admin Client -> Configuration Tab -> Server -> Configurations
b) Show the mail rules: "Router/SMTP" Tab -> "Restrictions and Controls" Tab -> Rules Tab
c) New Rule (You need to be in edit mode to add new rules)
d) Conditions to add: Recipient count is greater than X (Add your own number here) AND Whitelist tag contains "Authorised" (Add your own Word Here) -> Perform the Action: Stop processing Further Rules:
MailRoutingRule1.jpg

What this does: it looks at every message which has greater than "X" number of recipients, checks to see if the Domino whitelist field contains the word (in this case) "Authorised", and if it does, it stops processing any additional mail rules, and delivers the message.

GREAT!

But what about if the message ISN'T "Authorised"

You add a second rule - follow the steps up to (c) above, and in the next rule, you put new step (d):

d) Recipient count is greater than X (Add your own number here) -> Perform the Action: move to Database, AND don't Deliver Message:
MailRoutingRule2.jpg

What this does: It moves the message to a database that you can monitor, stops the messages being delivered, and deletes the message from mail.box.

3) Open the database you created at step (1), and add an agent/action/etc that:
a) Creates a new field in the email called "$DNSWLSite" And apply the value "Authorised" (or whatever phrase you used at 2 (d)).
b) Copies the document back to the server's Mail.box
c) Deletes the message from the Quarantine database

3(a) is the critical step for this process, as it flags the record with the Domino Whitelist Tag field containing the text you are using to let the message through, before putting the message back into the server's mail.box.

You might also want to create a notification agent in this database that alerts an appropriate person that a message sent to more than "X" number of people needs approval for delivery.

Finally, I used the Mail template for the Quarantine database so that you can simply use the standard "Reply" action to create an email to the sender explaining why you didn't allow the message to be delivered to "X" number of users.

Enjoy :-)

Lotusphere 2012 - YES ... there WILL be Lotusphere next year!

Mat Newman — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:07:23 +1100

For those who haven't seen the News, the advisory on registrations for LOTUSPHERE 2012 has been published!

Check back periodically to read more!

http://www-304.ibm.com/jct03001c/services/learning/ites.wss?pageType=page&c=a0011789

I especially like the event overview:

Save the date for the premier event for the Lotus community worldwide - developers, administrators , IT and business professionals looking for collaborative software and solutions. From presentations on the latest innovations to hands-on training to interactive networking discussions, it's all about getting the latest word on Lotus products and strategy that you can't get anywhere else! ...