This month BizNet puts TINA to the test.

If you are looking for a way to make your SOHO (small office/home office) more professional or are looking to get away from computer based answering systems have we got something for you.

TINA is a small free standing telephone answering system. At a street price of under $200.00 she bets the competition hands down. A good answering machine with pager notification and separate mailboxes is not much less, and TINA does so much more. The small price deference is worth it.

My first experience with TINA was very frustrating. The product was great and had great promise. Unfortunately the way the user interfaced with the unit and the poorly written manual made TINA almost useless. It is nice to say that the company that makes TINA (Datacom) knows the value of listening to their customers.

Datacom completely re-engineered the user interface and rewrote the instruction manual. Now TINA is extremely easy to use. The manual is well written and laid out. The only complaints I have about TINA amount
to nit-picking. On remote calling a voice message interface would be nice, instead of the beep codes. However a voice interface would raise the cost factor and that would not make TINA the bargain she is. Most of TINA’s competition is in the $300.00 and up price range.

So lets talk about TINA the BizNet way. What do you use TINA for and why would you want to buy her?

As TINA is an extremely versatile devise I have taken the following examples direct from Datacom’s home page at http://www.dcint.com/products.html

Examples one:
Karen is a sales rep for a pharmaceutical company. She would like only certain clients to be forwarded to her cell phone. Karen gives these very important callers a Pin Code number so only they will be forwarded to her cell phone. Once the call has been forwarded, Karen still has the option to accept or reject the call. If the call does not get through, the caller will go back to TINA and leave a message - ensuring that Karen never misses a call. Selective Call Forwarding not only saves Karen money on cellular airtime, but it also ensures that she receives only the calls that she wants. TINA gives Karen complete control over her calls.

Example two:
Mary's job requires that she commutes between home and office several times a week. She is a frequent user of long distance calling cards. Like many calling card users, Mary incurs high long distance bills. With
TINA and an 800#, Mary eliminates the need for long distance calling cards by calling TINA on her 800# and having TINA dial phone numbers for her. In doing so, Mary taps into her low office long distance rate. Instantly, Mary eliminates the per/call usage fee and the per/minute charges associated with long distance calling cards.

In closing if you have any need to have you phone or phones answered for you, wither your in or out of the office it is hard to go wrong with TINA. For more information surf on over to
http://www.dcint.com/coolapps.html

Up Coming Tests

Color Printers
Laser and Ink Jet
Software to take advantage of all the above.

Visual Presentation Equipment
Large screen monitors and projection displays

Digital Camera's And Photographic Equipment
From the basic point and shoot to professional Digital imaging systems

Scanners
From stand alone to multi-function

Ergonomic Office Necessities
From mice to office chairs

And Any Software That We Can Find That Will Make Your Day Go Easier

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Last modified: December 30, 2003