Christmas Opening Times

On behalf of everyone here at CD Team, I would like to thank you all for your continued support and I look forward to working with you in 2010.
Best wishes, Emma.

Instead of sending Christmas cards this year we ran a Competition for our customers with a chance to win a PS3, an iPod Touch or a Ticketmaster Giftcard. The Competition is now closed.

THE WINNERS ARE:
1st Prize - Tony Clarke
2nd Prize - John Sowerby
3rd Prize - Sarah Timbers
Congratulations and thank you to everyone who entered.
You raised £232 for Children in Need.


As you all enjoyed our Christmas cards in the past, here's a look back over the years with our Card montage:


CD Team will be closed for Christmas and New Year as follows:

• Thursday 24th (Christmas Eve) - CLOSED from mid-day
• Friday 25th (Christmas Day) - CLOSED
• Monday 28th (Bank Holiday) - CLOSED
• Tuesday 29th - OPEN
• Wednesday 30th - OPEN
• Thursday 31st (New Years Eve) - CLOSED
• Friday 1st (New Years Day) - CLOSED
• Monday 4th January - RE-OPEN for business as usual

Christmas Wishes
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from us all and thank you to everyone who has sent us a Christmas Message. Here are just some of the kind messages we received:

• Hope that everyone has a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year, with many thanks for a really good product and great support.
• Wishing everyone at CD TEAM a fantastic Christmas and a Happy New Year! It's been an absolute pleasure (as always) working with you and I look forward to seeing you in the New Year! Best Wishes Sam
• Have a great Christmas and I look forward to working with you again in the New Year. P.S. The quiz is a great idea!!
• Wishing you all a Cool Yule and Many Thanks for all of your help and cooperation throughout the year.
• Merry Christmas! Can I please have the PS3!?!
• Just want to say thank you for bailing us out of a hole this year - the speed and quality of your service is superb! Have a wonderful Christmas and a successful and prosperous 2010! Ben
• Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everybody - thanks for your support in 2009!
• Thanks for all your help, and Have a great xmas, hope your all drink loads and fall over.thanks xx
• Thanks for all your help this year with our digital storage needs. Have a Happy Christmas and a Great New Year.
• Merry Christmas from us all, thanks for your support, and the bit of fun with the quiz too!
• Merry Christmas ...keep up the good work !!
• Best Xmas Wishes go to a very helpful and friendly team and we wish you good business and happiness for 2010.
• Thanks to the whole team for the personal and cheerful service. Hope all your stockings are full this Christmas.
• HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! AND THANKS EVER SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD-WORK FOR US THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE YEAR. MANY THANKS. X
• Thank you very much for your help in creating CDs for one of our clients this year. It was much appreciated and we hope to be in touch soon with more work for you. Merry Christmas!
• Thanks for the Christmas Competition invite and thanks for your hard work throughout the year. I'll be in touch for our next order very soon!
• Thank you for all your excellent work over the year!
• Merry Christmas Merry Christmas Gang. Great idea this (so long as I win!)
• Happy Christmas! Thank you to Dom especially for dealing with all my last minute orders and getting them all delivered as promised. I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and New Year x
• Thanks for your help over the last 2 years. Have a Merry Christmas everyone, and a Happy New Year.
• Merry Christmas everyone and thanks for all the tips and quizzes!
• Merry Christmas to one and all. And thanks for all your help with our monthly duplications this year, the turn around times have been great, cheers
• Merry Christmas from My team and myself. A Great first year of this partnership. Congratulations to Jan Collins and the CD Team.
• To the C-hristmas D-ream Team, wishing you lots of Christmas cheer.
• Happy Xmas, Thank you for been a good help, great service from yourself, unlike many other company's! Have a great new year!

CD Team on Digital Distribution

In preperation for the London Games Conference 2009, Tim Ingham from MCV magazine asked Jo Fone and Richard Dearing the following questions regarding Digital Distribution and the Future of the European Games Market.

How will digital distribution impact the business of a disc replication company?

CD Team offers services and equipment which support the games development community before the release of the title to the consumer so the effect on our business will be different to that of a disc replication company which is tied into the mass production of discs for retail distribution.
Before a title is released the development and marketing budgets are under constant scrutiny so providing a cost effective method for testing and pre-release marketing, including short run distribution, is critical to the success of any project. The current generation of consoles utilise optical media as the primary method to deliver the content so our multi-platform Games Development Xpress which supports Blu-ray, dual-layer DVD and RVT-R* (*available to Authorised Nintendo Developers only) is the perfect solution for today’s development requirements.

While the next generation of consoles will undoubtedly continue the move towards online distribution as either the primary or secondary means of delivering content there will still be the opportunity for the development and marketing teams to use physical media to provide instant access to pre-release content and marketing materials.

Removing the optical disc drive from the hardware will reduce cost but it also removes a proven content delivery method and a range of ‘backwards compatible’ entertainment features. USB has become the standard for peripheral connections so it is likely that Secure USB flash drives will be supported and support for Secure Digital memory cards has also become a standard feature of home entertainment devices.

The services and equipment CD Team offers to the games development community is a vital part of the process. The methods of delivery, physical and online, will change when the next generation of consoles are released but we believe there will be a requirement for both. 

What's attracted CD Team to support LGC?

In partnership with Imation TDK it was clear to see that sponsorship of this event was an excellent opportunity to demonstrate our continued commitment to the games development community and to enable CD Team to be part of the ongoing discussion regarding its future.

We're into our 15th year in business and have been working very closely with the games industry since the company was formed in 1995. We supported customers in the early days of CD then the transition from CD to DVD and were the first in Europe to sell a Blu-ray publishing system. We will continue to support our customers with our services and products, today, tomorrow and in the years to come. We see this as an ideal event at which the industry can come together as a whole to discuss and debate the opportunities for all of us in the future of digital distribution.

Why is digital distribution such an important issue to address right now?

The media industry is in turmoil. New platforms, such as online, mobile, and social networking, are driving major shifts in consumer behaviour and advertising. Companies are rethinking their business models. In this environment, all media companies and the games industry must address some critical questions. We also need to be sure we work on practical solutions for today’s business. The consumer experience must be the focus and whilst we can’t say exactly what the future will look like, we are supporting customers today – developers and publishers, pre-release titles, PR and Marketing materials with reliable digital delivery on disc, flash memory and USB formats.

Has the games industry explored everything there is to know about digital distribution? Which business models are still to be investigated properly? (e.g. in-game ads for online games, microtransactions, etc.)

Far from it, our industry has so much to be proud of as one of the most creative and innovative, I am confident it will constantly evolve to enhance the consumer experience whilst maximizing revenue streams. CD Team specialise in delivering content, securely and on time with our range of services, and providing solutions in the form of duplicator hardware, software and discs to enable developers to do themselves so in-house. We work with pre-release content however we don’t influence what that content is. We do ensure companies can share and test their content in-house, and journalists across the world receive their marketing and review titles on time.

How do CD Team see the relationship between physical goods and digital sales developing in the years to come?

Downloading has been around now for several years and consumer demand will continue to shape how content is delivered, the PSP GO for example makes perfect sense as games content is small. The all important Q4 when the vast majority of disc based sales are bought as gifts, with titles already reaching 25GB and soon to be 50GB downloads on current broadband speeds, even with the planned improvements, will not appeal to all consumers and even less so as gifts. We’re certain the retailers will agree, it will be more than 3 years before the boxed disc based product is dead.

Anyone who plays games online at peak times will already be aware of the limitations, restrictions and priorities imposed by various ISPs. Large content patches can also be extremely frustrating even if you have the latest high speed broadband connection because of the number of users accessing the content at the same time.

It is also difficult to compare the delivery of compressed audio files, mobile games and streamed media to the download and decompression of high definition game content for the latest generation consoles. The former is measured in megabytes and the latter is measured in gigabytes with a typical high definition console game weighing in at 4 to 24 GB. 

So the games development community needs to focus on the consumer experience, in the same way that CD Team focuses on pre-release development and marketing for our customers, and we believe this is best served by using a combination of physical and online digital delivery methods. 

The edited article, published in MCV issue 561 (on page 42), can be found here.

Submitted by Richard Dearing, Operations Director

Your Opinion Counts

CD Team would like to thank all of you who took part in our survey.

The winner of the £20 Amazon Voucher has been contacted.

100% of you were either very satisfied or satisfied that:

• your enquiry was dealt with in a timely, professional and friendly manner
• your account manager was knowledgeable and helpful
• your order was well managed throughout and delivered on time
• our range of products and services met your requirements

99% of you were either very satisfied or satisfied that:

• the speed and condition in which your product was delivered met your expectations
• our technical support team was knowlegeable and responsive (when contacted)
• that every team member showed an interest in you and treated you as a valued customer

100% of you would recommend us and 96.4% would use us again

However, only 60% of you use our website
We hope this is because you think we're a lovely bunch of knowlegeable people and prefer picking up the phone and contacting us directly for information. However, we really do make every effort to ensure our website shows the most up to date news items, product information and downloads and we want it to be a useful resource for you. Therefore, our main priority for the following year is to make our website even more informative and beneficial to you, our customers. We will be working on the site design, navigation and usability in order to attract more of you to the site and keep you returning.

Any suggestions on how we could improve the website or any other aspects of our business in order to better our service to you are greatly appreciated.

Optional Survey Comments included:

"In all dealings with CD Team, I am always left with the impression of a professional, well organised company, with a courteous and knowledgeable team."

"You are always efficient and communicate well, which makes my job that bit easier since I know I can rely on you."

You don't have to wait until our next survey to make a difference... you can add a comment about your account manager or the products and services you receive from CD Team any time, just click here »

 

Thank you for your continued business and support

CD Team has been awarded ISO 14001 certification. This certification has only been achieved by less than 1% of UK businesses and this prestigious award is supported by the Government and recognised worldwide. Nigel Griffiths, who undertook the assessment for QMS Quality Management Systems, paid particular tribute to "the investment in people and training that enables CD Team to provide an efficient and environmentally friendly service to their customers".

Dinner is served!

Yesterday, every member of CD Team lent a hand to pack an urgent project which needed to be despatched the same day. This is a service which is critical to many of our customers and vital to us. I took pride in seeing the couriers and post leave our building on time knowing it was a job well done and within the deadline, and I spared a thought for the amazing fulfilment I was priveledged to see in India a couple of years ago. If you have never heard of the incredible tiffinwallah courier service, it is Indian efficiency at its best…

These are the men who deliver 175,000 lunches (or "tiffin") every day to offices and schools throughout Mumbai, the business capital of India. Lunch is transported in a tin container consisting of a number of bowls, each containing a separate dish, held together in a supporting frame. The meals are prepared each morning in the commuter's home by their family once (s)he has left for his commute into Mumbai. It is then collected by the tiffinwallah later that morning and delivered to their place of work or study in time for lunch. Afterwards, the process is reversed and the tin container returned to the commuter's home address.

The process is amazing despite the complexity. The 5,000 tiffinwallahs working today make a mistake on average of only once every two months, according to the President of the Mumbai Tiffinmen's Association. That's only one error in every 8 million deliveries, or 16 million if you include the return trip. "If we made 10 mistakes a month, no one would use our service" he says.

How do they do it?

The meals are picked up from commuters' homes in suburbs around central Mumbai long after the commuters have left for work, delivered to them on time, then picked up and delivered home before the commuters return.

Each tiffin carrier has, painted on its top, a number of symbols which identify where the carrier was picked up, the originating and destination stations and the address to which it is to be delivered.

After the tiffin carriers are picked up, they are taken to the nearest railway station, where they are sorted according to the destination station. Between 10:15 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. they are loaded in crates onto the baggage cars of trains.

At the destination station they are unloaded by other tiffinwallahs and re-sorted, this time according to street address and floor. The 100- kilogram crates of carriers, carried on tiffinwallahs' heads, hand- wagons and cycles are delivered at 12:30 p.m., picked up at 1:30 p.m., and returned whence they came.

The charge for this extraordinary service is just 150 rupees per month, enough for the tiffinwallahs, who are mostly self-employed, to make a good living. After paying Rs60 per crate and Rs120 per man per month to the Western Railway for transport, the average tiffinwallah clears about Rs3,250 a month.

Of that sum, Rs10 goes to the Tiffinmen's Association. After minimal expenses, the rest of the Rs50,000 a month that the Association collects go to a charitable trust that feeds the poor.

Although we don’t have the same daily volumes, ours is a far more varied service. In any one day we might be producing 8,000 DVD’s, packing them into PVC wallets and dispatching those with letters into jiffy bags with labels to 8,000 destinations Nationally. The same day we could be packing promotional materials such as key rings, blow up chairs, t-shirts or books with, CD’s and Blu-ray discs, across multiple language skus and dispatched Worldwide. The complexity should not be underestimated and nor should the skills required to ensure we do an accurate job.

Every box and all packing material is re-cycled and re-used immediately on the same job where possible. Or, stored and re-used over the course of the next few days, or weeks. Our waste management processes are all measured and recorded for our ISO14000.

We can’t claim to deliver by bicycle to save on fuel, but our couriers and the postal service all work to ensure efficiency, and are measured against care for the environment too.

I’m certain there are still many lessons that can be learned from the Tiffinmen's Association, perhaps I am just trying to convince myself that in name of commitment to continuous improvement I should visit Mumbai again.

Submitted by Jo Fone, Managing Director

The best and worst of the World Wide Web

There are tens of billions of websites out there to choose from so we've saved you some surfing time and compiled a list of the lesser known sites that we find most useful with our 10 of the Best.

Most sites serve some kind of purpose but there are also those sites that seem to have absolutely no point at all, like those on our 10 of the Worst list. Despite being utterly pointless, The Sheep Market site does make me chuckle : )

Why not sign up to our blog and add your favourites to the list?

10 of the Best:

1. iStockphoto - Royalty free photographs, vector illustrations, video footage, audio tracks & Flash files to buy online with iStock credits. You'll never be stuck for artwork ideas again www.istockphoto.com


2. DaFont - More than 7,500 free fonts for Mac and PC www.dafont.com


3. Whatsonwhen - Events, attractions, openings and exhibitions from around the world. Enter a location and dates and the site will show listings www.whatsonwhen.com


4. Sporting Life - Live scores and results from a UK perspective. All major sports including football, racing, cricket and golf www.sportinglife.com


5. Engadget - A (digital) finger on the pulse of the technology world. All the newest developments, discoveries, gadgets and toys before they hit the shops www.engadget.com


6. XE - Currency converter covering every world currency. Azerbaijan new manats to Cayman Island dollars? Just a click away www.xe.com


7. Kelkoo - There are plenty of price comparison sites on the web, but this one seems to get it right more often than most www.kelkoo.co.uk


8. COCO2 - Increase site visits and offset your website's CO2. Make your website carbon neutral from only £6/annum www.coco2.org


9. GiftGen - Gift ideas for the hard to buy for. Just enter their age, sex and interests and how much you want to pay and it searches the net for ideas www.giftgen.co.uk


10. Zoopla - Zoopla gives sale prices of recently sold and rented homes and - the tricky bit - estimates the value of the rest www.zoopla.co.uk

10 of the Worst:

1. The Sheep Market - More than 10,000 sketched sheep to choose from www.thesheepmarket.com


2. The Dullest Blog - Who knew life could be so exciting, NOT! www.dullestblog.com


3. The Rolf Harris Jukebox - Listen to the musical stylings of Rolf Harris, an animated figure that sings (badly) while playing some kind of....saw? WARNING: has sound www.rolfharrisjukebox.com


4. Toilet Paper - Unroll a roll of toilet paper as long as you want without having to clean it up - no blaming the puppy this time! www.papertoilet.com


5. Purple - It's purple. That's it. Whatever this site is doing, it's doing it RIGHT NOW www.purple.com


6. Human Clock - It's a clock. A big clock. Made out of people www.billychasen.com


7. How to open a coconut - Neglects to mention you have to buy the coconut first unless you're Robinson Crusoe www.howtoopenacoconut.com


8. David Bowie is... - Find out for yourself www.davidbowieis.com


9. A day in the life of... A MacDonalds Employee. How would you spend it? www.conceptlab.com


10. The End of the Internet - Somehow, against all odds, you've reached the End of the Internet. www.shibumi.org/eoti/

Submitted by Emma Freke, Marketing Manager with reference sources from The Telegraph and About.com

Disco down in history

Is where you were born important to you? Does it really matter where you're from? Or is it enough to be simply a "citizen of the world"? Why shouldn't these same questions apply to a business? Whilst investigating our roots, we found out some interesting facts that even we didn't know...

Question 1: What was the first audio title produced on CD and when did it go on sale?
Answer: ABBA's 'The Visitors' released in 1982.

Up until this point, the discs most people were familiar with had been made of vinyl. The Abba CD was a pathfinder, the first disc to use the brand new format of CD. The members of ABBA and their personnel have memories of the recording sessions for this album being rather difficult. To begin with, their sound engineer Michale Tretow had to become accustomed to using the new 32-track digital recorder. He said, "Digital recording cut out all the hiss, but it also meant that sounds were sharply cut off below a certain level. The sound simply became too clean, so I had to find ways of compensating for that." But all their hard work certainly paid off and Music Melody were quoted as saying "Music like this is a juke box dream, golden sparkle and inspiration that's instantly singable yet lasts a virtual lifetime".

Since then, more than 200 billion CDs have been sold throughout the world and the CD, along with it's larger capacity product family of DVD and Blu-ray, have become the world's most widely used method to store, transfer and play large quantities of data, images or music. The format continues to dominate with 36 billion units manufactured worldwide in 2008.

Question 2: Who invented the CD - Sony or Philips ?
Answer: Neither.

You may have joined me in thinking it was one or the other of these mighty corporations, but the actual answer is James T Russell. This name may be unfamiliar to most people, but back in 1965 he joined Battelle Laboratories of America. As a music lover he knew that each time he listened to a vinyl record, the friction from the needle degraded the recording material. Russell, a qualified engineer, knew the solution was to create a recording device that would never touch the playing surface and at the same time deliver great quality that would last and last. From a technological perspective he was successful and patented the first optical recording playback system in 1970. In spite of adding another 25 patents for himself and Battelle over the next 12 years the invention hardly progressed and they were unable to convince the market to listen to the possibilities offered by this new compact disc product.

A venture capitalist, Eli S Jacobs was intrigued and formed a company called Digital Recording Corporation (DRC) which continued to fund Battelle's research and development and also, during that time adapted the technology to store and play video images. It was not until Philips and Sony got involved that credibility was added and an industry standard established around Russells CD format that extended the technology into the computer storage industry. Today the disc is in common use throughout our lives; not only in the home, but also whilst traveling and at work.

Submitted by Clive Wilkinson, with reference sources from IMD, Business Life and Wikipedia.

New technology shouldn't scare small businesses

Investing in technology is an unavoidable cost for businesses today but also the means of gaining competitive advantage. Every week there are new machines, networks, software and systems out there that we need to get our heads around. Understandably businesses are inclined to shy away from new technology in current times, however whilst cost efficiencies can be derived from existing IT, with proper research and a long term plan, new systems can add value. Making effective and efficient technology purchases results in your business doing things faster, smarter and better in the long run.

We have devised a number of recommendations and questions to ask vendors when implementing new technology. The vendors should always be happy to answer any questions to help ensure a good return on your investment. Technology can, and should, help your business reduce costs and become more competitive.

Identify an area that needs improving
It is important to make sure your business is operating in the most efficient way possible, new techologies could improve production or administration processes so keeping an eye and ear out for ways to improve operations is highly beneficial. In the same breath, however, you must also make sure that you don't pay out for systems that are not entirely necessary. Do your research beforehand and ask for impartial opinions.

Are you going to make me the systems integrator?
If you have made a decision to buy new machinery or integrate a new system, smaller organisations may not have the skills or desire to put together a complicated network so it is important to ask this question. A competent supplier will offer full integration and implementation as well as components. The idea is to make the business easier to run, not harder so this will ensure greater efficiency.

Have you any strategic partners?
This may sound like waffle but asking this question will help you find out, for example, whether the hardware seller has a direct relationship with the manufacturer and has tested their systems in a working environment. Certified that it conforms to recognised industry standards such as Recording standards e.g. ISO 9660.

Is there a product strategy?
Technology improves and speeds up all the time. You need to know whether the networking product you are about to buy is a "spot" product designed to be a one off purchase or whether a better option is expected to come along in a few months time. Depending upon the product, look for a solution which can be upgraded with a three year contract.

Can I see a reference site?
Vendors should be prepared to demonstrate their product in a working lab. They may also be willing to put you in contact with customers who have already bought the product and be able to provide case studies.

Research the vendor?
Any after sales service or warranty work is going to be honoured only if the company selling the goods or service is still in business. Are they a solid company?

Investing in new technology can, and should, help your business reduce costs and become more competitive. With thorough research your decision should maximise the company's ROI on its technology investment but make sure you ask the right questions.

British Academy Video Game Award Winners

It was a successful night for the games industry. Nintendo walked away with a smile as Super Mario Galaxy was announced as Best Game.

Another big winner was Call of Duty 4:Modern Warfare who collected awards for Gameplay, and Story & Character. Little Big Planet scooped the award for Artistic Achievement and Fable II came first in the Action and adventure category.

Other winners included Boom Blox, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Left 4 Dead, Dead Space, Race Driver: Grid, Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution, Spore and Boro-Toro.

The 2009 British Academy Video Game Awards (BAFTAs)

The games industry is set to be catapulted into the spotlight once again when the British Academy Video Game Awards holds a captivated audience on Tuesday 10th March 2009 from the London Hilton, Park Lane.

The Awards are a fantastic opportunity to show appreciation to an industry where so much hard work goes into creating original gameplay, advanced graphics and a smooth user experience which, more often than not gets taken for granted.

As such, all areas of expertise are acknowledged in the following award categories:
Technical Achievement, Best Game, Hand Held, Sports, Strategy, Original Score, Artistic Achievement, Multiplayer, Casual, Story and Character, Use of Audio, Action and Adventure, Gameplay, BAFTA One’s To Watch Award in association with Dare to Be Digital and the Game award of 2008.

Set to be an exciting awards ceremony with fierce competition, you can expect to see Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare up for no less than 8 awards, Grand Theft Auto IV up for 6 awards, and Little Big Planet up for 5 awards. Other popular games up for awards include Rock Band, Assassin's Creed, Mario Kart Wii, FIFA 09, Ninjatown, and Wii Fit, to name just a few.

We enjoy working successfully with the games industry, providing services such as duplication, packaging and fulfilment so we will be following the awards with bated breath!

For more information and a full list of the nominees, visit the official website here...

The importance of data security for small businesses

In recent months we have heard stories about large corporations losing CDs and USBs containing confidential details of millions of customers, including bank details, health records and other sensitive information. The general public are understandably worried about the safety of their confidential information, and the companies that store this data have a duty to keep it from falling into the wrong hands.

The stories that dominate the news relate primarily to larger businesses, however this does not mean the same security lapses aren’t happening in smaller enterprises. In fact, the possibilities of data loss are just as likely, if not more so, because of budget and personnel constraints. But this shouldn’t be an excuse.

In the current economic climate, businesses should treat their customers like gold dust. Repeat business is vital to the prosperity of most SMEs and confidential information should be protected in an appropriate manner.

Human error is always an added risk and unfortunately mistakes are made despite best efforts to avoid them. However, if SMEs become more vigilant and follow simple rules to protect their data, even in the event of piracy or theft, they can reduce the chances of data loss dramatically. Both they and their customers will be safe in the knowledge that their data is protected from unauthorised access.

A new product on the data protection market reaches out to smaller businesses helping them password protect, encrypt and record their data. It is ideal for those needing to backup or distribute sensitive data quickly and very simply without compromising the level of security.

AutoSave Encrypt contains a pioneering embedded technology (CDSoft-R Cryptex) which means you won’t need to install any software in order to burn and encrypt your files to disc. The files are password protected when the data is initially transferred onto the disc. If your Cryptex disc is lost or stolen, it will become totally useless without the original disc or the password to access it.

For more information on this product and other security products visit this website: www.storeandprotect.co.uk

By increasing the awareness of the importance of data security, we hope SMEs and corporations take responsibility for protecting private information.

From a business and personal perspective, it is the right thing to do.

Turning up the volume on your ipod

We have all sorts of discussions here in the office and amongst a lot of rather insignificant trivia we thought this was one worth sharing!

There are many hacks and utilities to increase the volume on your ipod but what most people miss is the fact that in itunes all tracks are set to play at half volume. This is fine if sat at home or listening to music quietly on your own but if you're on a plane or outside running, then sometimes it would be nice to drown out that background noise.

If you right click on a track in itunes and select Get Info. Then in the Options tab you will see the volume adjustment which you can increase accordingly. If you wish you can highlight your whole library and then repeat that process and this will update them all.

Now you'll be able to run your ipod at half volume and turn it up accordingly if needed rather than always running at max volume and it not being enough.

This will also resolve the issue with tracks being set at different volumes when you download them. Even in itunes the volume can be different from track to track so you're forever making adjustments when listening back but to listen to those quiet acoustic tracks on the plane, this is the easiest and quickest fix available.

Set your iPod volume to a safe level.
If you experience ringing in your ears, reduce the volume or discontinue use of your iPod.
Warning: Permanent hearing loss may occur if earbuds or headphones are used at high volume. You can adapt over time to a higher volume of sound that may sound normal but can be damaging to your hearing. If you experience ringing in your ears or muffled speech, stop listening and have your hearing checked.

The louder the volume, the less time is required before your hearing could be affected. Hearing experts suggest that to protect your hearing:

• Limit the amount of time you use earbuds or headphones at high volume.


• Avoid turning up the volume to block out noisy surroundings.


• Turn the volume down if you can’t hear people speaking near you.

The Benefits of Microsites

Our most successful marketing direction to date has been the implementation of microsites for product specific content. The following sites have all been designed with the customer in mind, providing more detailed information on each subject than we are able to provide on our main website. They are proving a valuable resource for attracting new customers, guiding existing customers through specific product details and increasing traffic to our main site:

www.disc-printers.co.uk
www.macduplicators.co.uk
www.storeandprotect.co.uk
www.blu-rayduplicators.co.uk
www.microtechx100.co.uk

Microsites may be something that could benefit you and your business. Read on to see how...

Microsite Benefits
Microsites are mini-sites consisting of one main promotional page with the option of a contact page and a form request or a promotion page. They give you the opportunity to include more detailed information on the core subject and therefore become a valuable resource to your customers. These multi-purpose sites are ideal for online marketing promotion campaigns and can encompass a wide range of traffic-generating and business-building solutions.

Microsites can be used for:
* Landing sites for email campaigns
* Marketing vehicles for brands, products or services
* Targeted satellites of larger web presences
* Dedicated sites for time-sensitive initiatives
* Effective stand-alone web presences
* Variations on themes for different audiences

Features can include:
* Content optimised specifically for search engine purposes.
* Various marketing-related elements (eg Quick Questionnaire, Free Contest, Event attendance confirmation)
* Products/Services/Promotions at a glance.
* Focused calls to action.

Microsite designs can be developed as an addition to a current web site design theme or be uniquely customised to specific services and products. If you would like advice regarding website design our expert web team will be happy to help.

The importance of getting value in difficult times….

We are all facing big challenges and businesses face a bumpy ride in 2009.

The downturn in the economy has many of us reading advice from business press on steps we can take in order to help us through these times. The advice given follows a similar theme regardless of which publication or website you are reading. This article gives our take on the situation and the measures we are taking to safeguard our success:

1. Watch cash flow
 
A daily task we are in control of on a long and short term basis and one we appreciate the value of.

2. Review head count
 
We run a very tight ship and have the right team for our needs to run an efficient and productive business.

3. Review supplier contracts and costs
 
Our strong supplier relationships and regular negotiations with them ensure win-win results

4. Remain positive - there is still business to be done
 
By continuing to deliver great service, our quality products and services continue to offer a return on investment and we remain confident of doing business

5. Focus on specialist areas of your market
 
Grow and adapt. Our expertise, originally in CD and DVD, has grown as technology has to now include Blu-ray and flash memory such as USB.

6. Find new markets
 
Much like watching cash flow this seems to be stating the very obvious, it is something we do on a daily basis.

7. Hold onto existing customers
 
Nothing could be more important to us right now. We view customer service as the series of activities before, during and after an order is placed. Whether that order is for a product or service, that experience is the key to keeping existing customers and attracting new ones.

8. Be open and honest with staff

We have always had a policy of sharing our targets and results with the entire company . If we all have the same goals and measure against them, it makes it easier to achieve objectives and work together as a team.

9. Form alliances and partnerships
 
We will continue to evaluate the market and consider mutually beneficial opportunities that build on our current offering and make us stronger.

10. Proceed with caution
 
We will be sure to do so, there is no other way right now.

We at CD Team, will be heeding this advice and ensuring we remain a very strong and successful business coming out of this recession. Many of our customers have relied on us for the entire 14 years we have been trading, others for less time however, their reliance is just as great. When placing an order with us, they know they can trust in us to deliver on time and within budget. At times like this we all need to know we are getting the best value for money, when budgets are squeezed we want to know that every pound spent is necessary and done so wisely.

Call to speak with one of our Account Managers to get the best advice today on how to store, share and protect your data - you can be sure of getting professional, friendly service from one of our team.

Jo Fone

Managing Director