Command Control Power: Apple Tech Support & Business Talk

-This week we welcome Jon Brown of Grove Technologies and VIP sponsor of Command Control Power!

-Jon takes us through his path of leaving a 9-to-5 job and starting a consultancy to fill a visible void.

-Grove Technologies started by focusing on organizations that had internal IT and could use supplemental support.

-Joe knows the feeling of not being able to take time off when you are a team of one.

-Grove Technologies is currently a team of 3 full time people and additional 1099 contractors.

-A problem we know all too well - customers reaching out to Jon personally. He turned to Apple Business Chat.

-Joe & Jon swap stories about taking over another consultancy’s business/client list.

-Their sweet spot of size of client is between 5 and 25 users.

-When transitioning a new client away from a PC MSP, it started them down a path of a partnership acquisition opportunity.

-Jon is very forthcoming about the talks about selling his company.

-He also reelizes his bookkeeping practices and business hygiene wasn’t where he wanted them to be.

-Once presented with a business valuation, he ultimately decided to continue building his business. He also learned a few key things that they were looking for.

-We learn about the EBITDA method of a business valuation.

-We discuss the race to the bottom that seems to be the model of PC MSPs. 

-Jon talks about needing to contribute to the community in order to be able to reap the benefits of that community. 

-Part of a value of a company is how much clients rely on the actual person selling. 

-Jon also discusses an opportunity to join forces with fellow Apple consultancies. 

-After the acquisition didn’t move forward, Jon was approached about an “acqui-hire”. 

-Sam proposes joining forces in CT and become Command Control Power Consulting. 

-Sam had an incident with salted spoons that will come back to haunt him someday.

-Quick Tips! Get your quick tips! Sam discusses converting the typical HEIC photo format when sites cannot understand that extension. 

-Joe’s process for device setup and consistency is helping him in planning for future employees. 

-Documentation is key. Not only for your staff, but for clients to see your professionalism. 

-We get a peek into Jerry’s origins as an Apple consultant. 

-Letting clients know that you have a plan or standard procedures gives them a sense of ease.

-Joe uses tools like Text Expander for his check lists. 

-Photos libraries are dark and mysterious. 

-Duplicate Annihilator and Power Photos are  recommended de-duplicator apps for Photos. 

-Do your clients know the difference between kilobytes, megabytes, and gigabytes?

-The hosts provide an update on COVID in the state of Connecticut and with their respective businesses. -Joe has to make decision for his staff from another part of the country. -The weather will definitely have an impact on things as people move indoors. -Jerry has more close interactions with clients and he shares his thoughts on his comfort level. -Joe is looking for an app that can provide a safety rating based on current COVID data. 

-Sam is happy with TeamViewer for iOS but Joe & Jerry are less enthused. 

-Jerry loves the fish that leads a user through steps for Full Disk Access in Carbon Copy Cloner.  Sam is clueless. 

-Jerry has jumped from the TeamViewer ship and moved to Splashtop. One of his gripes had to do with speed and clipboard issues. 

-TeamViewer advertisements are infuriating. 

-Working with Surveillance Station, Jerry has a heck of a time with cameras. The issue was related to the H.265 codec. 

-Joe is finally ditching CrashPlan PROe. 

-Microsoft pro tip from Joe...or is it?

Special Thanks to our friends:

-Jerry recalls an amusing call into his smith.ai service. 

-Is it Apple Pay, Apple Cash, Apple Card, or “paying with a credit card inside your watch”?

-“We have one more season before 2020 is hindsight” -Joe Saponare

-Joe wants to know how each of our businesses are doing. 

-Joe considers network projects. 

-Some A/V projects can get extremely costly. Are we in the wrong business?

-There is more of a wow factor with A/V installations whereas Wi-Fi is supposed to just work. 

-Safari Password Suggestion creates conversation with end users about security. 

-PsiMac has developed good verbiage and documentation regarding passwords, iCloud Keychain, and overall security. 

-Sam worked on a job to replace an entire Ruckus installation with Ubiquiti UniFi APs.  Not surprisingly, the cost was a lot lower for UniFi.

-He decided to initially only use the 5GHz frequency since 2.4GHz has few options for channels and many other devices operate on that frequency.

-Jerry grills Sam on his decisions for the UniFi installation.

-Sam explains how he made adjustments by creating different WLAN groups in the UniFi controller.

-Joe reminds us of a PSA Jerry put out to the group in relation to the latest UniFi controller version and the issues it was causing.

-While on the topic of UniFi, Joe revisits a job he did with outdoor Mesh Pro access points and outdoor waterproof electric outlets.

-Pro tip! Take photos of your work to show future clients what your company is capable off.

-Another Pro Tip! Don’t use hidden SSIDs. They do not offer any security benefit and can also cause a device to use more power.

-While on a job with a WatchGuard firewall, Jerry describes how he uses MAC addresses to allow staff devices to bypass content filters. However, a new feature of iOS 14 is MAC address randomization. This could have completely sent his work into a tailspin but fortunately he found his answer quickly. He was able to relay the changes necessary to staff: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211227

-Sam finds that app age restrictions in MDM affects the ability to deploy a browser like Google Chrome, since it technically has the ability to access inappropriate websites.

-Jerry wants to know Sam’s method for competing in the PC market.

“I make the mistakes so you don’t have to” - Jerry Zigmont

“He spun a good yarn until the very end” - Joe Saponare

“I do not enjoy supporting PC clients….at all” - Sam Valencia

-Joe has been in the Pacific Northwest recently and shares some of his experiences being in areas affected by the recent wildfires. -After being in Colorado for two months, he went to Washington, where he hiked North Cascades National Park. -The haze of smoke and smell of fire on a regular basis became a worry.

-We learn a lot about air quality index measurements and how to observe it in Apple Maps. In the Seattle area, they saw an AQI of 220, a considerably unhealthy number. -They eventually made it to Montana -As they drove through Spokane, they experienced an AQI of 492. -We think of our friends that live in those areas that are affected and they don’t have the luxury of leaving the area. -While in safer territory, Joe experiences a comically opposite situation when a sprinkler system goes off in the middle of a work day. -Sam has an uncomfortable conversation with a neighbor that invades his personal space. -The hosts get political and discuss their feelings on the current state of affairs and who to vote for president.

-A big shout out to Adam Engst of TidBITS Content Network and his endorsement of Joe Biden.

-Sam has a rough start to a phishing campaign he was preparing.

-A recent visit to the dentist left Jerry thinking more about cleanliness.

-A round table discussion brews about protection measures.

-While working with a client, Jerry has some issues dealing with an OWC ThunderBay and SoftRAID. Meanwhile his client becomes confused about how the technology works together.

-Not surprisingly, another client becomes confused about mail storage vs local disk storage.

-Sometimes people’s computer habits can get in the way of when we need to troubleshoot issues.

-Do you use tabs or new windows in your browser?

-Sam has really struggled with setup and working with Sonos. 

-Sam mysteriously disappears!

-Sam has one heck of a bad day and is quite salty...

-His first client of the day is not ready for his visit. 

-Wires were not run, software was not purchased, and people were late. 

-In the meantime, an unexpected rain storm leaves him with a wet car. 

-A second client called with a serious attitude problem. 

-Joe has questions about how Sam quoted and will ultimately bill the job. 

-Sam shouldn’t have even been there: https://youtu.be/A1yX9O1D68s

-Where Sam sees frustration, Joe sees potential dollar signs. 

-Sam is growing tired of playing the same old hits. 

-Not surprisingly, the topic of hiring someone starts to bubble up again.

-Using trustworthy clients and/or on the job testing is a key component to the hiring process. 

-365 admin portals confound Sam. 

-Do we have the ability to multi task well?

-As Sam helps his buddy with a restaurant, he came across a situation where Ubiquiti was reporting a “rogue” access point. He describes a way to deal with it. 

Special Thanks to our friends:

-Joe starts with a classic Watchman Monitoring corner. He uses the volumes plugin to view storage history. 

-For producing a heat map, Sam uses a tool called NetSpot. 

-Domotz gets another shoutout from Jerry for network monitoring and reporting. 

-While we sing the praises of Watchman Monitoring, Sam has a difficult experience dealing with an Eero Pro account.

-One of Joe’s clients took it upon themselves to use the LAN port on their gateway to plug in a computer. -Joe talks about opportunities like this to sell IT management services. 

-Some clients will use buzz words that they hear to sound like they know more than they do. 

-Jerry is going to be first in line Elon Musk’s Starlink space internet company. 

-Jerry has to school another tech in how the MAC address of an external Ethernet adapter can cause trouble with MAC address filtering. 

-After pushing Apple Business Manager to a particular client, Sam receives a frustrated response. 

-Can you receive text messages via email? Joe talks about “tech articles with fluff”. 

-Jerry gets called to do a tough Wi-Fi job. Double masking, rubber gloves, and humidity don’t mix. 

-Jerry turns to listener and friend of the show John Moder for advice on the job. 

-after a big storm in our area, some have been left without power and internet. Even cellular was affected due to cell towers losing power. 

-Jerry realizes just how tied to the grid he is. 

-As Sam realizes the same, he describes how he could no longer manage his Philips Hue lights using his HomePod due to a lack of internet connectivity. 

-Both Joe & Jerry have done some research on backup ISP options. 

-Jerry learned about HomeBridge for Synology, which is supposed to make more devices HomeKit compatible.  His experience was not a positive one. 

-One of Jerry’s clients jumps the gun and hard restarted just SonicWall. Jerry had to go onsite and correct the issue. 

-Somehow we end up sharing stories about trying to have a conversation while at the dentist. 

-Small Cubed makes some great add ons for apple Mail. Jerry has a PSA about Send Later. 

-To wrap up, Jerry has a rant about people traveling during current times. Joe shares a rant on masks.