For the contractors who responded to last month’s survey, you reported having an average of 3 computers in your offices, with a range between 1 and 7 computers. Computer crashes, unresponsive Internet, and the slowness of QuickBooks (when several people are using it at the same time) are among the things you find most frustrating about your current computer systems.

Here are the rest of the technology survey results:

• 25% of you have set up a network to share files and/or a printer among your office computers.
• 62.5% of you back up your computer files daily, 12.5% weekly, while 25% report no set back up schedule.
• To keep track of prospects, 50% of you use paper files, 37.5% use contact management software (e.g. ACT!) and 12.5% use Excel worksheets.
• As far as accounting software, 50% report using QuickBooks, 12.5% use Quicken, 12.5% use other software, while 25% do not use any accounting software.
• To manage job scheduling, 25% use notepads or printed forms, 25% use spreadsheets like Excel, and 50% reported using other methods.

Thank you to all who filled out this survey. We will use your responses to focus future newsletter articles on ways to best address the technology challenges you face in your daily business operations.