RTM e-Newsletter, December 2009

We hope you are enjoying this holiday season and that new business opportunities are on the horizon.  As busy as this time can be, there always seems to be a flurry of sales before year's end.  In this newsletter, we have some compatibility news and some exciting new development items to report.  We are confident that our added functionality can help close new sales for you in the wide-reaching service industry.

Contact CCS to see how we and they can help.  We look forward to hearing from you!

RTM Computer Solutions and CCS Retail Systems, Inc.
 

Tip of the Month - Service Contracts are another great way for service based businesses to produce a regular, predicable income.  All releases of our software allow entry of service contracts for customers, and for the user to specify billing amount to be invoiced on a preset schedule.  The recurring billing of service contracts can cover routine maintenance of equipment, offer special pricing of services to customers, and even allow for the billing of resource usage during the billing period.

Compatibility News - We've recently certified compatibility of our products with some new versions of accounting software.  ServicePoint has been tested to be compatible with CounterPoint SQL up through the version 8.3.9 November service pack.  Focus is compatible with the latest CounterPoint V7 release, 7.5.17.  There is both a Focus and ServicePoint version that interfaces with Passport software, up through the new graphical release, PBS version 12.

Software Trial Period - A program is now available to allow prospective users to try our live software before buying.  A temporary registration will be issued to users committed to testing an implementation of Focus or ServicePoint.  At the expiration of the trial period, a full registration may be purchased and all existing data will be preserved.

Online Demonstrations - If you have a sales prospect, questions about our software, or just want a better idea of how our products work, give us a call to schedule a session.  We use Citrix Online for fast, secure, and easy access.  Contact us if you are interested.

Product News

ServicePoint - Our SQL based service management application, ServicePoint, is designed for seamless integration with CounterPoint SQL from Radiant Systems, Great Plains Dynamics from Microsoft Business Solutions, and for Passport Business Solutions.  The latest fully functional ServicePoint demos are available for download on our web site. 

Here's what's new in ServicePoint...

• Data driven screen labels - Users may now custom-tailor any menu selection or screen label within SericePoint to suit their specific needs.  Want to call "Service techs" "Groomers"?  Fine!  Re-label "Serial #" as "VIN #"?  Easily done.  Using custom labels can help make ServicePoint much more specific to a certain vertical market.  "Model" can become "Vehicle", "Customer" can change to "Owner", "Service address" can now read "Boat".  "Work Order" becomes "Appointment".  You get the idea.  Contact us for suggestions on specific industries!
• ServicePoint as a scheduling tool - Earlier this year, we implemented special licensing for a limited type of user in ServicePoint.  We then also added a component to allow the scheduling of CounterPoint tickets and orders in ServicePoint's schedule screen.  These features, combined with our new data driven screen labels, make the perfect scheduling tool for many businesses.  Schedules may be looked up and maintained for any type of resource.  Changing the tech labels for a particular market makes a customized schedule calendar that is easy to use and adds significant value, all for a low entry price.  Sample businesses include salons, groomers, conference centers, tour reservations, and rentals.
• Integration to Passport's PBS! - We are happy to announce that we now have available an interface to allow ServicePoint to work with Passport Business Systems software.  PBS is a full-featured accounting system for which we have had a successful Focus version for many years.  With the introduction of ServicePoint for PBS, users will have a choice of using Focus or using the improved interface and functionality of ServicePoint to manage their service business.
• Industry-specific demo data -  We have developed an improved demonstration data install routine for ServicePoint.  This utility allows the selection of customized data for a particular industry to be chosen.  Download the new data install utility from our web site - there's a link on our home page in the "What's New" section.  Currently available business types are listed below.  Please contact us if you have a specific need and we will gladly create a demonstration based on your requirement.
  • Bicycle shop
  • Lawn and Garden center
  • Heating and Air
  • Pool & Spa
  • Computer and POS equipment
  • Vehicle maintenance

Focus - Focus is the leading service management software for use with CounterPoint V7 and Passport.

• Passport Windows printing - There is a patch available for Focus 8.5 that will correct some pagination issues when printing to a Windows printer in the PBS version of Focus.  The corrected programs will allow use of the full page, as supported by the printer, and will be integrated into the 8.6 release.
• 8.6 Preview...
  • We've added attachment of pictures to Focus service calls.  The 8.6 release of Focus will support multiple pictures, able to be viewed and printed, for service calls, customer equipment, and service addresses.
  • Auto-attach customer equipment notes.  If a customer equipment note has an ID matching the "auto-attach" ID set up in Focus, bring the note automatically into a new service call at entry time, or when generated during PM's due processing.
  • Addition of Route, Truck, and Stop to customer equipment.  This allows printing of a routing report, helpful for routine maintenance to equipment at customer's sites.
• CPScheduler - Focus users on a CP Windows platform can take advantage of our graphic scheduling program.  A calendar is used to allocate time for service items, and/or for CP orders to be delivered or installed.  Any updates made through the graphical scheduler are made directly to the Focus files, and appear in the Focus service database.

PartSmart - Our PartSmart interface application creates a seamless interface from this popular electronic parts catalog and lookup program to CP SQL and ServicePoint.  PartSmart allows a user to call up diagrams and parts lists for equipment models.  Inventory levels can be checked for selected components, and parts pick lists can easily be created simply by dragging and dropping from the illustrated diagram.  Our interface program lets PartSmart retrieve inventory information from CounterPoint SQL, including item status information, quantities on hand, bin location, pricing, and more.  With the push of a button, a parts list created in PartSmart can be easily transferred to a CounterPoint order, or to a ServicePoint work order task.

Accounting Platform Compatibility - Want to know what versions of our Software are compatible with various versions of accounting?  Take a look at the chart below.  Effective as of 09/24/09.  The latest compatibility information is always on the web site at http://www.rtmcs.com/support/index.htm.

Merry Christmas,  CCS Retail Systems, Inc.