Thinking about going with OD -- Few Questions

[ray5100]

Hi again in 2011,

I did read a bit about OD, and thinking about it. New startup, general practice, 6 ops, networked computers, voip phones, fastest DSL connection (which is only 6 Mbps), but Comcast or others not available/ new area.

Should I get peer to peer or server-client network? We have done wiring from a "server room" to all positions for computers or voip phones with cat 5e. will have the router and a poe switch.

Will have a few computers to start with, but will go up to 13 when at full capacity. I understand if p2p (peer to peer) easier to set up, easier to maintain, and OD works with p2p; thinking about using win 7 pro that can get up to 20 p2p computers, right?

disadvantages: speed and security. What exactly is the problem with security? Can I use Microsoft Security Essentials? I know OD recommends Avast, right?

Could you give a general idea of pricing on owandy, xdr, gendex, accent. I know gendex gxs 700 is about 8 grand.

What would be good/not very expensive software? (working well with OD)

Anyone working with Tiger View, others? I did work with Dexis sensor and software and they are really good, but soooo expensive nowadays, and for a new startup... I did get an answer from an office that uses gendex and vix win and they like it.

What is best advice to train on OD? Looks like move in date will be February 28th, 2011. We will start advertising before that, and be ready to answer phones

If anyone wants to chime in along these lines or anything they have gone through, heads up, or advice, we are more than thankful.

Happy New Year

Ray

http://www.ClovisFamilyDentistry.com
http://www.Fresno-Clovis-Dentist.com

lander.dmd@gmail.com

[jclaydds]

Ray,

I'll take a stab at some of your questions. Maybe some others will chime in as well. I have used Open Dental for nearly 3 years. Established Practice of 25+ years, 2 doctors, 3 hygienists, 8 ops. We couldn't be happier. Great program, features continually enhanced, great tech support -- and the price can't be beat. Ideal for a start-up practice because you don't have a large initial cash outlay to get started with Open Dental. I am thinking $149/month for 6 month and then $99/month thereafter.

As far as server/client or peer to peer. I am thinking you are going to find a bias for server/client. I would recommend you also go over on the Dental Town Forum and hang out there a bit and post your questions. I am fairly certain those on that forum will recommend the server/client setup. My personal experience is with Lorne Lavine (Dental Technology Consultants) who happens to be based in California. They helped me get my office set up and did a great job. Lorne (gumdoc) is the moderator on most of the forums over on the Dental Town Forums and you can post questions there and usually get responses from him as well as others. He would also be happy to speak with you directly by phone if you call his office and set up an appointment. Lorne could easily give you the rationale behind his recommendations for server/client rather than peer to peer.

I have heard of a couple IT folks starting to recommend Microsoft Essentials. Problem is that 10 different IT people can often recommend 10 different anti-virus programs. Hard to get a consensus. I have just started to use Microsoft Esssentials on two of my home machines and have been pleased so far. It doesn't seem to be an overbearing resource/memory hog program like some of the antivirus programs. When I purchase a new home computer, the first thing I usually do is uninstall the trial version of the anti-virus that comes installed on the machine and install something like Microsoft Essentials or AVG Free.

My experience wtih digital sensors is with XDR. Great company and great tech support. I had an issue with a digital panorex conversion from another company that had nothing to do with XDR but the folks at XDR including the owner (Dr. Yoon) did everything possible to help resolve the problem (even though it wasn't their problem). I have been very happy with XDR, ease of use, quality of images, etc. I puchased my XDR system through Tom Birney (www.xdrsensors.com) He is based in Arizona and I am thinking he has become XDR's biggest distributor. Lorne Lavine is also a distributor for XDR and recommends them highly. With you doing a startup, I am thinking you will find their pricing more more attractive than some of the big boys.

Training Issue- Open Dental has some good online tutorials and good online help. I am thinking you get an hour of telephone training with a remote hookup included as a new user. They have the option of purchasing additional training time and it was quite reasonably priced if memory serves me correctly. You can have pay to have someone come to your office from Open Dental to help train you but I would doubt this would be necessary. I haven't heard of many doctors that have done this or consider it necessary. The best thing that you have going for you as far as training is their phone based tech support. They are easy to reach. Most of the time, a live person -- ready to help you -- answers the phone. Rarely, you might have to leave a message but you get a return call very quickly. As a new user, they realize you are going to "wear them out" in the early days and weeks but the frequency of the calls will decrease as you get more familiar with the program.

Good Luck,

Jeff

[Justin Shafer]

Server\Client and Peer to Peer...

I think were talking more about domains vs workgroups.. as in peer to peer, there is still a server, and a client. MYSql Server has to run somewhere, and its usually dedicated.

[ray5100]

Thank you Jay and Jeff

For answering my questions. I was considering a server-client setup, until someone pointed to the instructions in OD's manual that show setting up as a peer to peer network, with Windows 7 Pro, up to 20 workstations. So, I understand that in either case, I will need a dedicated computer that runs the mySQL database.

Thank you for telling me about your experiences with OD. That's really what counts.

I was considering XDR and Gendex sensors, so I am happy to hear that XDR works so well, as Jay is telling me. Any advice for the software to run XDR?

I did see some comments over on Dental Town, and I will call Lorne Lavine's office. Actually I should go hang on DT for a while reading their comments and asking questions. Maybe there are some threads with answers to this already.

Thank you again,

Ray

[teethdood]

Ray,

Dentist in Visalia here, your neck of the woods. I will be done with my office in February as well. You may want to call up Jim Archer (archerwhite.com) for a quote on XDR, which includes a nice free intra-oral camera. I went direct last time round with Dr. Yoon, but the free intra-oral camera (might as well spit it out...no tax) seals the deal. As for Open Dental, Dr. Sparks is just one amazing dentist/software artist. You can't go wrong. Heck, there's a nice and active community built around the software. Good luck with your office come February!

[ray5100]

Hi Dr Doan,

Good luck to you, too. Visalia, we are close indeed. Yes, exciting time. Thank you for the info and good feedback on OD. Hope we do well, and much success in the new office

Thank you from Ray

[irfan]

biggest noticeable differences will be:

1- server/client (domain) will be more secure, easier to manage 13 clients and users.

2- Peer-to-peer (still with a 'server' for OD but setup as workgroup) - simpler to setup to work together, cheaper since you arent paying for CALs and server 08. annoying to have to jump computer to computer to change permissions and do updates.

[ray5100]

Thank you very much, irfan.

That is pretty much what I am getting as answers. Thank you
For your input in this.

Happy and productive new year from Ray

[JrGong]

Just to chime in regarding security....Antivirus, any brand, from the moment it is updated is approximately 30% effective, and is only effective against known threats. It is trivial to bypass signature based anti-virus if you know what your doing. Also malware developers download antivirus updates and modify thier code to make it undetectable, so that 30% recognition rate drops steadily every second goes by. Now that doesn't mean that antivirus is not a viable solution, just that you need to look at what the risks to your systems and the value of them, and whether you wnat to sacrifice the increased overhead of host resident antivirus for the level of protection it provides. Also keep in mind that signature based antivirus only protects against known threats. There are a mulitude of variosu solutions to whatever security ailment you have, but you need to look at the solution rationally.

One of the easiest, and cheapest ways to secure your information systems is to focus on the basics, least privilege, awareness training, and your overall security architecture. Majority of exploits are served via the web, so by limiting or disabling web access you have drastically reduced your threat surface. Not allowing users to have the rights to install applications (least privilege). Also having a defined security policy of what is expected behavior and making sure employees agrees to it can go a long way in preventing security incidents (awareness). Also look at which machines actually require internet access (architecture). Again, this isn't saying you shouldn't use antivirus, just that antivirus is not a complete security solution.

[jordansparks]

And your 30% figure comes from where?

[JrGong]

Maybe I am coming off too strong.......

I currently work in information security in the public sector. I hold numerous industry standard IT certifications ranging from wireless administration to tactical offensive security (penetration testing). I have hands on experience developing and exploiting vulnerabilities on various operating systems as well as various antivirus evasion techniques. I am by no means an expert but I do my best to try to stand on the shoulders of giants.

The magical 30% number I pulled from was the book "The Myths of Security: What the Computer Security Industry Doesn't Want You to Know". Although I have not done a quantitative analysis of antivirus detection rates, the author John Veiga is the former Chief Security Architect at McAfee and I take his word that he knows what he is talking about. He may not, but my limited experience tells me that he is probably pretty close.

[ray5100]

Thank you, JrGong and Dr. Sparks,

My question was along the lines:

If I will go with Open Dental as Practice Management software, is it better to do server/client or peer to peer?

Keeping in mind it costs thousands more for hardware and server software licenses, (I was given less money by the bank then I asked for right now) and also fees to a company to manage the server. I am trying to start with a few computers, then add as we grow (this is a start up practice). I used to build computers for a living and I can keep track of peer to peer, and enjoy it, but I might not want to learn all that is needed to run a server right now. Can I run OD peer to peer and then once we grow add server and whatever else is needed. Am I foolish to go this route? I was pointed to OD's manual, showing that peer to peer can be set up relatively easily.

Thank you everyone for your good feedback.

Ray

[JrGong]

If you don't mind the management overhead of of a peer-to-peer network then you should be ok. Domains are usually set up to centralize management and force continuity of ACL's (security posture), single sign on, and updates for example. Only thing to keep in mind, and this is a limit in XP (although it's not a technological limitation so it is probably the same for Windows 7) to the number of inbound connections in a peer-to-peer network.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.as ... -us;314882

For example if you have a file share running on a single workstation and there are ten other workstations connecting to it simultaneously and 11th would be denied. Now this might not be an issue for you, but it's something to consider. Also you can always upgrade to a Domain with little to no issues in the future.

Another consideration to make, and there are people on this forum more knowledgeable than me regarding setting it up is using linux machines, no licensing requirements at all.

*edit* For spelling

[ray5100]

Thank you very much. I really appreciate your input
Will be using Win 7 Pro, which
O understand allows up to 20 work stations. We will have
A dedicated computer that will hold
The OD database.

Will consider all options at this time