At HTS, we've been using Microsoft Lync for internal communication since 2007 – and we love it! In a single platform, we can instant message, video conference, share screens and presentations, arrange conference calls, transfer files, and track each other's availability.

So how do we use Lync on a daily basis?

Instant messaging

We have staff in seven locations in five states – so as you can imagine, email and instant message are vital to our internal communication. For short conversations and quick questions, Lync's instant messaging is perfect.

Before we launched Windows 7, we envisioned what the next version of Windows would need to deliver. We made a bet that the PC landscape and industry would undergo a significant transformation driven by an increase in mobility. That bet underscores the changes we made with Windows 8 – it’s a generational leap forward. We built Windows 8 for a world where touch is a first class interaction model, the same as mouse and keyboard; and where there’s a proliferation of innovative and diverse devices that are highly mobile, always on the go and always connected. Windows 8 was built on the reality that the lines between our work and personal lives have blurred.

If the rumors are to be believed, 2013 will be the year that worldwide sales of tablet PCs overtake notebooks. The second half of 2012 saw increasing demands for tablets as new screen sizes and price points were introduced. In fact, tablets have already outsold notebooks in China and North America.

So, where does this leave notebooks? When notebooks first entered the market, their mobility was heralded as being a technological breakthrough.

Online fraud is a type of cybercrime that uses email, web sites, chat rooms or message boards. There are many different types of online fraud, including phishing and pharming scams, which use forged e-mails and Web sites to trick recipients into giving out personal information such as credit card data, social security numbers, and passwords.

When armed with a little technical advice and common sense, you can prevent online fraud. Symantec recommends following these basic steps to avoid becoming a victim of online fraud:

We have become flush with data very quickly. In the past two years alone, the world has generated 90 percent of the data in existence today. And in that short period of time, our ability to analyze this information has streamlined operations, reduced fraud and predicted consumer behavior. Large and small companies alike are experiencing an increase in the volume of data coming into the organization and are eager to leverage the subsequent insight to make smarter, more informed business decisions.