RTM e-Newsletter, January 2009

Happy New Year!!  Here's hoping that you have a great 2009.  We want to help make this happen...

Repair the old or buy new?  Now is the perfect time for service and repair companies to take advantage of the automation and efficiency that our software offers.  Maintaining equipment can prevent premature failure and will help avoid unnecessary replacement.  Our built-in features to allow automatic scheduling of preventive maintenance can help generate revenue, while boosting customer satisfaction.  For those new orders, handling deliveries and installation is right up our alley.

Tip of the month - ServicePoint Predefined Jobs can be used to build and save activities that are done repetitively.  A predefined job can be built that has one or more tasks included, with a predetermined set of parts and/or labor hours assigned.  Notes and additional charges (or flat rate billing) can also be added.  When using a predefined job to open a service work order, the only thing that needs to be done is to choose the customer.

Online Demonstrations - If you have a sales prospect, questions about our software, or just want a better idea of how our software works, give us a call to schedule a session.  We use Citrix Online for fast, secure, and easy access.  Contact beverly@rtmcs.com if you would like to be included.

Upcoming Events - Look for us at the Radiant Partner Summit in Atlanta, January 26-28.  We'll also be attending CONNECT, the CounterPoint User Conference, March 4-6 in Baltimore.

Product News

ServicePoint - Our SQL based service management application, ServicePoint, is designed for complete integration with CounterPoint SQL from Radiant Systems and Great Plains Dynamics from Microsoft Business Solutions.  We are also in development of a ServicePoint release to interface directly to PBS from Passport Software.

The latest fully functional ServicePoint demos are available for download on our web site at http://www.rtmcs.com/downloads.htm#demo.  What have we done for ServicePoint lately?  Read on...

• "Schedule only" ServicePoint users - New licensing is available for a limited type of user in ServicePoint.  Two separate user counts are now tracked during ServicePoint login: Full users will have access to all menu items (subject to user password menu control), while the new schedule only users will only be able to access the schedule/dispatch screen and the technician time entry screen.  This option allows users to purchase a block of full users, and as many schedule only users as needed at a reduced price.
• Pictures in notes - ServicePoint stores graphics files in-line in any note.  This is a great way to catalog service issues, or to easily document the layout of a customer's site, etc.
• CounterPoint version compatibility - A note about compatibility with various version of CP SQL...  ServicePoint is "version aware", and will adjust accordingly for the build of CounterPoint present on a user's system.  The latest releases of ServicePoint will run successfully with any CP version from 8.2.8, right up through the latest version, 8.3.8.

Focus - Focus is the leading service management software for use with Passport and CounterPoint V7.  We are looking forward to working on a full Windows GUI front-end for Focus, to match the upcoming feature release for Passport's PBS software.

• 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.
• Focus version 8.5 - Focus 8.5 has shipped to users on our update service.  Be sure to download and install the latest service pack for 8.5 from our website.  The service packs can be found at http://www.rtmcs.com/downloads.htm#FocusSP
• Special note for CounterPoint users - Focus 8.5 requires the installation of a patch to run with CP version 7.5.16.  Contact us if you will be running CP version 7.5.16 with Focus.
• Highlights of the 8.5 release
  • Contract invoice reprint - A new function to allow reprinting of Contract invoices has been added.  Any contract billing, even those prior to this update, may be reprinted.
  • Export invoice history to Excel - An option has been added to the Service Invoice History report to create a tab delimited file with column headings.  The resulting data can be opened directly in Excel for detailed formatting and analysis.  
  • Focus Workgroups option - Enabling this option will allow users to process service work segregated by separate divisions, stores, geographical areas, etc.  The workgroups option will allow a user to be defined to work only in a specific group, or to see and maintain all service work in the company, depending on their setup.  This is an additionally purchased option for Focus.

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 01/07/08.  The latest compatibility information is always on our web site at http://www.rtmcs.com/support/index.htm.

Web Site Links

• Up-to-date ServicePoint and Focus information can be found by clicking on the links in the "What's new" section of our homepage, www.rtmcs.com

• Fully functional ServicePoint and Focus demos for all platforms can be downloaded from our website at http://www.rtmcs.com/downloads.htm#demo

• The latest build of ServicePoint is always available as a service pack at
   http://www.rtmcs.com/downloads.htm#ServicePointSP

• Focus service packs can be downloaded from the following link
  http://www.rtmcs.com/downloads.htm#FocusSP