Woohoo! The Windows 8 Start Button is here!
Exciting news for those of you who’ve spent the past few months getting annoyed by the lack of a Start button on Windows 8!
Or is it?
The Start Button is back with the latest service pack (Windows 8.1). But rumour has it that the button merely takes you back to the regular Windows 8 start menu. Hmm… well we’ll have to wait and see. Windows 8.1 is on preview on 26th June with RTM expected in the Autumn.
It should also bring greater levels of personalisation letting you resize and move around your apps, the option to boot straight to desktop and of course, Internet Explorer 11 which promises better touch performance and the synchronisation of tabs across Windows 8.1 devices.
Once you’ve checked it out, we’d love to know what you think….
Microsoft Lync Links to Skype
This should interest those of you using Lync…..or those of you using Skype…
Microsoft has announced Lync-Skype connectivity. What’s that, I hear you shout. Well, it means that Skype and Lync will work together. So the Lync users amongst you can now sign into Skype with your Microsoft accounts. And Skype users will have access to a far broader network of colleagues and contacts (i.e. everybody on Lync.)
Instant messaging and voice is currently up and running with video calling set to arrive soon.
Skype are talking about it as ”the living room to the boardroom”. Check out their blog about it here.
The office move – an engineer’s eye view
Well, first week in the new office and things seem to be settling down nicely. For those of you that didn’t know, we moved late on a Friday afternoon so as to ensure as little downtime as possible. In fact, two of us went to Manchester to take an exam at lunchtime and by the time we got back around 4-ish, most of the office had been boxed up and packed away. Well, if you can’t beat them join them we thought, so the two of us managed to round up some bits and pieces that had been missed (you know, all the important stuff we use to do our work – monitors, keyboard, mouse, laptop) and threw it into the backs of our cars. Having done this, Mr Mears was still not keen on us seeing the new office until the Monday morning, so we had to take the kit home for the weekend. Tim just wouldn’t let us in yet! The new office design had been “top secret” and I was about to find out why…
Come Sunday early afternoon, I got itchy feet so I loaded up the car and went to the new offices (about five minutes away from where I live). Entering for the first time, even with all the mess the other Tim had spread around the place, it certainly had a wow factor. Not so much an office, as a new home for me and the team. I was really going to enjoy working in this new space. I then spent my Sunday afternoon making sure all the support team could come in on Monday morning and get straight to work in their new surroundings. By 9.00am Monday morning, opening time for the support desk, we had all the regular support team in their seats and ready to go. And suitably impressed they were too!
I know there were many people putting in time over the weekend to get the offices ready, and come Monday morning, I could not recognise the place from Sunday night! Trouble was, on Tuesday morning I discovered where they had hidden it all and then had to store it away properly! 
Why not pop in and see the place for yourself? I know you’ll be impressed.
Here’s my sneak peek preview…
Support for Windows XP ends in one year – then what?…
Still using Windows XP? You may want to start considering your upgrade because in just one year from now, Microsoft will end the support for this product.
You’ll need to get your business onto a more modern operating system – Windows 7 or Windows 8. And the time to do that is now, to give yourself and your IT team time to implement the changes, and your employees a chance to get to grips with the new systems.
Read the Microsoft Windows blog about it here, and if you need any help with your system upgrade, give us a call.
Our New Home! A Sneak Peek….
We have a new home! Well, you can’t have a shiny new brand and website without going the whole hog can you?
And we haven’t just moved office. Oh no. We’ve created a unique and exciting new workspace. As they say on those TV ads, this isn’t just an office, this is an Axon office.
We’ll be holding an open day in the not to distant future but in the meantime here are a few snaps to give you a glimpse of our comfy new home.
What do you think?
Welcome to Axon!
Come in…..
The meeting room
Shiny!
That’s us!
The chill out zone. Top Gear and Xbox on tap…
We love computers
If you can’t wait for the open day and fancy a nosey around, just pop in. The kettle’s always on…. We live here:-
Guildford House
Heather Close
Lyme Green Business Park
Macclesfield
Cheshire
SK11 0LR
Welcome to the New Look Axon
Welcome to the new look Axon! And it’s all change as we introduce not only a new brand, but a new website, new starters and another big announcement heading your way any minute now….
Have a look around, let us know what you think and watch this space! More news on its way soon!
Movember 2012 – The Final Results
Congratulations to Axon’s Mustachio Crew who have not only cultivated some very fine facial hair this month, but have also raised a huge £277 for Prostate Cancer UK!
Thank you to everyone who kindly donated their hard earned cash to this very worthy cause. Every penny really does make a difference. Our Mo Space is still open, so if you want to donate click here – and thank you.
Movember Two Weeks in…
The Mustachio Crew! sponsor us here to raise funds for Prostate Cancer UK.
What are the benefits of Microsoft Lync?
We’ve been talking about Microsoft Lync for quite some time now. We’ve looked at what it is, how it works, but what about some of the business benefits?
Improves productivity
Microsoft Lync enables employees to find and communicate with each other quickly and effectively. It removes the need to send lengthy emails back and forth saving time while workers use real-time messaging, conferencing and document sharing to interact when they need to, without waiting for email responses or travelling to face-to-face meetings – saving time as well as money.
Cuts costs
The Voice over IP (VoIP) functionality of Microsoft Lync lets businesses make phone calls to any location without incurring the costs associated with long distance or out of area telephone calls. Lync also provides audio, video and web conferencing which again, helps to reduce the cost of travel to face-to-face meetings and speeds up productivity allowing communication to take place quickly and easily from any location and at any time.
Provides flexibility
With Lync, your employees can communicate with each other from practically anywhere with an Internet connection and without the need for VPN (Virtual Private Network). Which means that if staff need to work from home, abroad, a hotel, conference or meeting then they can communicate with each other just as easily as if they were sat in the same office. This not only improves communication but also productivity.
Increases responsiveness
With Lync you can be more responsive to customers, partners, and employees. You can respond and react to enquiries instantly from wherever you are while one-click call routing and management features in Microsoft Lync 2010 Attendant for receptionists, and rich presence information help ensure that opportunities are routed to the right person at the right time.
To read more about Microsoft Lync click here or call one of our experts on 0845 313 0025.