Who among us enjoys standing in line at the DMV every year to renew vehicle license plates?  All that time to get a sticker and registration, oh, and write a check—the most important part.

Speaking for my own state, Ohio, it is now so easy to renew plates online that I cannot imagine anyone with a computer NOT doing so.  I renewed four vehicles recently, authorized an ACH, and recorded the debit in my accounting software–all in the span of five minutes.  No gas, no waiting, no lines, no frustration.

This is another example of compuFiciency—chronic awareness of all the ways to save time by using technology. 

Suppose a text message arrives on your phone while you’re sitting at your desk. Do you really have to peck out the reply on the phone’s tiny keypad? Not if you know the recipient’s phone number and carrier. Just fire up Outlook or any other mail client and compose your reply like an ordinary e-mail. The trick lies in knowing the proper way to address the message.

For example, e-mails sent to phones on the Sprint network must be formatted like this: phonenumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com. To send e-mail-via-SMS to a Verizon customer, use phonenumber@vtext.com. You can find a full list of carriers and their text-message addresses at SMS 411.

If you don’t know the recipient’s carrier or can’t remember all those different suffixes, take a shortcut: Send your e-mail to phonenumber@teleflip.com. The free Teleflip service does the legwork for you, routing your message to the appropriate carrier. Whatever method you use, keep in mind that replies will come to your e-mail inbox, not to your cell phone–which can be a good thing if you’re spending the day at your desk anyway.

See PC Magazine full article

Click here for the latest eBook I’ve created for CompuFiciency 101.  This is a FREE goldmine of helpful tips, tricks, etc.

SSCU CompuFiciency 101 Training Manual.pdf

Business road warriors frequently place calls to numbers they do not have in their cell phone contacts.  Verizon 411 (aka ‘directory service’) calls are very handy, but also very expensive.  Waste money no more!  Try 1-800-GOOG-411 to get the same results entirely for free.

It’s very simple.  Create an entry for Google (or whatever you wish to know it by) and enter the number 800-GOOG-411 or 800-466-4411.  An automated voice will answer the call and ask for city and state (same as 411) and the business type (pizza) or business name (Peacock Cleaners).  Then you will have it dialed and connected automatically for you!! How cool is that.

Follow this link [click here] to see the actual Google page, or press play below to get a better idea of this service.

If you are a shortcut key junkie like me (or if you seek to become more compuFicient!!) then visit this link to scan for Excel key combinations to speed up your work even more: [click here]