Mozy

With temperatures set to dip to well below freezing today, and snow predicted by the end of the week, there’s a good chance that many of us will find our usual routes to work blocked as the Big Freeze sets in.

But, with more of us than ever being able to work from home, Snow Days for most people are a thing of the past.  To compound the misery, Mozy research shows that a quarter of us only work from home when we have to, leaving us rusty when it comes to making sure we’re still productive when forced to work from the spare bedroom.

For everyone who wants to minimise the frustration caused by an unavoidable day (or days) at home, here are Mozy’s top ten tips for surviving the Big Freeze.  And they’re all things you should do today before you go home!

1)   Make sure you know how to access your voicemail remotely.  You’ll normally need to set this up in advance and secure your access with a PIN.  If you can’t answer your desk phone, you’ll at least be able to listen to your messages and get back to people.

2)   Scan the stuff on your desk that you use all the time and copy it so that you can access it from home.  How many times a day do you look at the phone list on your pin board? Make sure you’ll be able to get at the info when you’re not there.  Make sure you include the sticky notes on your desk in this process too.

3)   Sync your smart phone with your computer.  If you usually only do this to update your playlist, take time to do it today to make sure your contacts and diary are up to date.

4)   Check you have the numbers you need.  Sure, you’ve copied your phone list but how many of those people are going to be at their desks if you need to contact them?  Double check you have the number for IT support – if you’ve lost VPN access, you won’t be able to look it up on the intranet.

5)   Take your charger home with you. Yes it’s heavy and, yes, most days it’s unlikely that your laptop will run out of juice overnight, even if you are checking emails into the wee small hours but there’s precious little use to be had from a flat thinkpad if you need it to run all of the following day.

6)   Check you know your passwords for everything.  If you’re not used to using the web interface for the apps you use in the office, it’s easy to forget your password or let it expire.  It can be infinitely easier to get it reset whilst you’re still on your office network.

7)   Pack your laptop carefully when take it home tonight.  It’s slippery out there and you don’t want to spend all day tomorrow squinting at a cracked screen.

8)   Find out what your suppliers/clients/partners are doing how you contact them if they’re not able to make it in either.

9)   Install a file syncing service on your computer and drop all your current work into it.  That way, whatever happens, you can get at the files you need.  You can get a free 2GB account for Mozy to use on our Stash file syncing service at www.mozy.co.uk/home/free

10)                  Lock away your chocolate digestives!  Anyone who does make it in through the snow is going to be looking for a carb and sugar hit to fend off the cold and you might not be there to defend them!

Hopefully, a little bit of preparation can help to make an unexpected day of working from home a little bit easier, so you can spend your lunch break creating snowmen rather than recreating all the work

Mozy Stash is the new synchronisation app from Mozy that puts your data everywhere you want it.  And it’s now available in a beta version in the UK and Ireland, so you can say hello to all your digital stuff anywhere you like.

When you join the beta, Mozy will enable you to install a single folder on your computer and any other Windows, Mac, iOS or Android devices you regularly use.  Save anything from your computer into that folder and, hey presto, it’s synced to all the other devices where you’ve installed the folder.

So, no more cables, no more USB sticks and no more emailing files to yourself – just your data everywhere you want it.

The Stash simple single-folder model complements your online backup so that all your data is available where and when you need it, even if you choose not to synchronise it.

The Stash beta service is available free today for all MozyHome customers worldwide with a 2 GB free, 50 GB or 125 GB plan. Stash runs on the same operating systems as MozyHome and MozyPro – Microsoft Windows (XP and later) and Apple Mac OS X (10.5 “Leopard” and later).

To register for Stash, simply log into your Mozy account page and click the Stash link you’ll find there.  It’s that simple.

We know you’re going to enjoy Stash and we’d love to hear your feedback, so why not comment below to let us know what you think?

Happy syncing!

The MozyBlog likes to think of itself as your SatNav to what lies ahead at Mozy so we’re excited to let you know that our compass is pointing straight to mobile apps followed by sync functionality a little bit further down the track.

This week, Mozy was at CeBIT speaking about its iPhone and Android apps for the first time.

Mozy’s mobile app will allow you to securely access the stuff you protect with Mozy, share select files such as photos with others, or view them on your phone. The app will also include convenience features such as photo thumbnail display which allows you to preview the files you’re looking for before downloading them in high-res.

Mozy also spoke about its beta trial for its new ‘sync’ functionality at the show.

This feature will allow users to put a Mozy sync folder on each of their computers. Any files that they put into this folder will be automatically synchronised on any other computers that they’ve installed the application on. This way, they always have the most up-to-date version of their files no matter which computer they’re using.

The sync functionality is just going into beta with a group of customers in the US, whilst the mobile functionality is set for a limited launch soon.

We think that, these new features will help our customers make more of the opportunities presented to them once their data is backed up to the Cloud.

To stay up to speed on where Mozy is with the roll out of these features, or to find out where we’re going next, follow us on Twitter or subscribe to this blog.  Or, for more information on our latest features, check out our Q&A.