IT Committee Meeting Minutes

July 18, 2016

Present:  Anne Bell, Mike Borfitz, Jon MacGowan, Bill Pappas, Steve Yovan, Hans Zassenhaus

Absent: Jay Busa, Dick Hartley, Wil Rivers, John Scott, Jim Spallone

1.      The May 3rd minutes were accepted with a correction of Sequel to SQL14.

2.      Follow-up on May 3 items:

a.      No further information on ADT check-in possibilities.

b.      Quicken Cloud Version possibilities will be explored when Doug Parks returns to The Villages.

c.       Windows 10 has been installed on the computers capable of adopting it.  Rather than buy additional hardware for computers that are unable to handle Windows 10, the decision was made to wait until such date as each computer is replaced, at which time Windows 10 will be part of the purchase.  The check-in computer has been replaced.

d.      Bill Pappas has purchased a DVD reader for the laptop.

e.      Hans continues to work the website improvements.

f.        The study to better understand the hits and population trends will be conducted in the fall.

3.      New Topics

a.      An interim meeting was called in June to assess the purchase of a new printer for the back office, rather than repairing the unit.  Consensus was reached and a new HP printer has been installed.  After problems with the first one received, a second printer was procured, which appears to be working well.  An additional paper tray was ordered.  Bill will contact the Computer Club to donate the old printer to them. 

b.      Discussion on replacing the front office printer which is giving misprint errors took place.  While we possess ink for the existing printer amounting to approximately $400, the general consensus was to buy a new printer if monies are available.  A suggestion was made to identify the print cartridges and “sell” them to interested members at a savings over general purchase price.

c.       Bill agreed to work with Anne to track down the reason the monitor where members can check the accuracy of their data and pick monitor dates, is not reflecting the screen that is on the main desk monitor.

d.      Dick Hartley sent a new application for the front desk with a new camera button.  Anne is testing.

e.      Very slow speed on launching and shutting down the Access program used by the front desk prompted discussion on replacing Buffalo with a more reliable and faster networking option.  Hans will check out a dedicated computer to serve as a server (no pun intended!).  There was also discussion of buying an actual server to cover our needs. The estimated cost is approximately $1600.  Given the role that the computer plays in keeping the Club up and running, a new server might be more economical in the long run.   The committee will continue to investigate.

4.   Next Meeting -The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, August 2 at 4:30.