Sunday at Best Buy, it took two Best Buy employees and three AT&T employees to come to the conclusion that nothing could be done to add a cell phone for my daughter to our existing Family Talk Plan, because I had Combined Billing (land and wireless lines on the same bill), and the Combined Billing department was not open on Sunday.

Alison and I arrived back at Best Buy at 3:45 pm Monday, and started over. Really started over, because neither Best Buy employee we had dealt with on Sunday was there, and the person who was didn’t seem to pay attention to anything I said and so repeated all the same issues we had Sunday, instead of starting with the Combined Billing department. It appeared that I was more familiar with the web interface to AT&T than she was. After about 20 minutes on hold, she finally got through to a person at Combined Billing. They spent the next five minutes arguing over whose system made more things impossible, until I finally mentioned the concept from the day before of “unbundling” the billing so the line could be added. In the midst of this, we once again changed Best Buy employees, this time for the better.

With the Combined Billing rep on hold, she then contacted another AT&T rep as the multitude of false starts on this seemed to have scrambled their credit approval process. We were finally thinking that my daughter might have her phone AND be on time for work, when the contract appeared on the screen. Instead of being an additional line on the existing plan for $9.99, it was a whole new plan at $39.99. At this point I took Alison to work, and when I got back to the store 30 minutes later, the Best Buy rep was just hanging up with the AT&T rep and printing out the THIRD version of the contract. She also showed me the credits that had been applied to my account to correct the mistaken charges from the first two contracts.

So, over two days, we had four Best Buy Employees, seven AT&T employees, and the two of us. Thirteen!

Oh, and I still have to call Combined Billing back tomorrow and get the billing bundled again…

If you have a customer who already purchases most of your services on a regular basis, you’d want to make it as easy as possible for them to purchase more, right? And you would want them to be quoted the same price no matter who picked up the phone, correct? You certainly wouldn’t want your internal business processes to make it impossible to place another order, would you?

Not the wireless division of the New AT&T, formerly known as Cingular.

My daughter is 15, has had a part-time job for several months, and wanted her own cell phone (that she will be paying for) added to our our Family Plan. We checked the web site and then Alison said she wanted to go to a store and actually look at the phones before deciding on a model. Prices in the store were about $50 higher than online, but the stores would waive the $26 activation fee and offred a $20 rebate if you added a text message package, which Alison wanted. She was about ready to order a RAZR, when she found that the store only stocked them in black. So we decided we would order online from home.

First we made a stop at Best Buy to pick up a gift card for a family birthday party that evening. Best Buy was offering the RAZR FREE with 2 year contract, plus a $50 gift card by mail. The salesperson pointed Alison at the most recent RAZR model which had several additional features and was the color she wanted. Alas, they did not actually have any in stock.

The salesperson returned from the stock cabinet with a Samsung Sync phone with the same colors and features as the RAZR, with the added advantage of being of sturdier construction. I’ve had a Samsung phone for about a year and it has survived many drops with no adverse effects, while Alison has several friends who are on their second and even third RAZRs in that time.

I gave my phone account info to the salesperson, who started the “add a line” procedure on the AT&T web site. The procedure got stuck at step 3 of 6. After several phone calls to AT&T, the problem was determined to be that I had “combined billing”. My landlines, cell phones and DSL service are all on one bill. According to AT&T, I could not add a cell phone line without calling Combined Billing, having them “unbundle” the billing, add the line, and then redo the bundling. After calling that number and winding through a number of menus, the Best Buy salesperson was informed that the Combined Billing office was CLOSED on Sundays.

So we will have to go back to Best Buy on Monday or pay $50 more for the same phone online from AT&T. Or maybe take all 3 cell phones to Sprint and the land lines and internet sevice to Comcast.

Stay tuned…

The Sage MAS 90 & MAS 200 Sales Order module has been enhancing the reporting of Miscellaneous Code item sales in their recent versions. Miscellaneous codes are used for a variety of things, including special labor or service charges, non-stocked items, and fees.

In versions up to 4.05, the Miscellaneous Charge Maintenance program on the Sales Order Setup menu reported Sales, Cost and Gross Profit% for Current-period, YTD and Prior Year. The report option did not allow you to export the data to an excel spreadsheet.

Beginning in version 4.10, the same program has added “returns” figures, and allows you to view these figures by year (2006,2007,etc) and period. Of course, since version 4.10 didn’t arrive until 2006, figures for years prior to 2006 were consolidated into period 12 on the screen or report. You can select the year to review figures by period on the screen or a report. Click the Print icon, and check the Print History Information box for a report version of the information. This version allows you to export the data to an excel spreadsheet.

In version 4.20, another report was added called Miscellaneous Item History by Period. Where is it? Not on the Sales Order Setup menu, but on the new Common Information menu (below Library Master). See the Reports menu under Common Information. It’s the only report on that menu. Selection options for this report allow you to select which figures are printed. It also allows you to select only items with figures above, below, or within a range of units, dollars, gross profit amount, or gross profit %. Now you can export this selected data to an excel spreadsheet.

An Australian study has found that many laser printers emit high levels of small particles that can be harmful to human health, with the highest-emitting machines rivaling the small-particle pollution of cigarette smoke. Some printers are better than others, and even newer models are included. The study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, found that particle emissions varied enormously depending on make, model, and age of the printer, as well as the type and age of the toner cartridge. Newer cartridges emit more particles, as does printing graphic-heavy files. They give a list of printer models tested listing high, mid and non-emitting printers. If you have health concerns or you work in a small enclosed space with a laser printer, you should be aware of this. Try an internet search for “lungs” + “laser printer” and see various articles on this issue.

Sage Mas90/200 version 4.20 has some nice new features for AP Vendors.

* You can set the remit-to-address to be updated automatically when the matching Vendor address is changed. See the AP Options Additional screen on the AP setup menu to activate this option. You may choose to make the changes automatically, or choose the “prompt” option if you want operators to be prompted before the address is changed.

* Prevent Incorrect Entry of Invoices for Goods Received. If invoices for some vendors will be received in Purchase Order Receipt of Invoice Entry instead of AP Invoice Data Entry, you can now select to be prompted during AP Invoice Data Entry to prevent double entry of invoices for goods received. See the right side of the Vendor Maintenance Additional screen for the checkbox which activates this option.

* View Invoice Transfer information from the originating Vendor. You can view the credit-card vendor information for transferred invoices. Previously only the receiving vendor displayed the originating vendor’s information. Now references from both the originating and receiving vendors simplify reconciliation. In Vendor maintenance or Inquiry, drill down on an invoice and select the payments tab. Click on a payment line and look for the additional icon displayed on the right. That will tell you the credit-card or payment-agent used to make the payment. It’s a helpful feature to have.

Sage Software invited all of its customer and resellers and prospects that use or were considering using Sage MAS 90 ERP or Sage MAS 200 ERP to a free event in Atlanta June 21. I attended and met James Mapes, the guest speaker, who talked about “Quantum Leap Thinking”. James is a popular speaker who specializes in teaching skills to organizations and individuals that stimulate innovation, enhance creativity and increases productivity. James teaches individuals how to allow organizations and those in them, to allow more change.

His main message is that by changing how we “see” what is going on in our lives, we can lower our anxieties and become motivated to choose to do whatever we want! Quite a proclamation. Yet the rewards for living such a life are so great that ignoring the message is done at one’s own peril. I recommend James Mope’s book “Quantum Leap Thinking” to you.

Friendly Systems encourages “Quantum Leap Thinking” by all its employees. Our job is to help our allies to become more creative about the way they use their Sage MAS 90 ERP, Sage MAS 200 ERP, Sage Businessworks and Sage Accpac ERP. We do that by suspending judgment and listening real hard to what you need. We help our allies to envision and then implement their goals.

Let Friendly Systems’ staff help you to make a “Quantum Leap” in the way your business uses your Sage Businessworks, Sage MAS90, Sage MAS 200 or Sage Accpac ERP software.

One of the major changes in Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 version 4.2 is the Accounts Payable module moving to the new framework. All AP forms and reports are now in Crystal Reports. After upgrading several allies to version 4.2, I have found a couple of things which need to change in the standard check form supplied by Sage (click the Designer button in the top right corner of the check printing screen on a workstation which has Crystal Reports 10 installed.):

First, the Vendor Number should be moved from the check face to the check stubs. You can slide the Vendor Name to the right to make room. This needs to be done in detail sections a, b, d and e.

One of our allies even reported that, using the standard form, several checks had been returned by the Post Office as their scanners thought the vendor number was a non-existent zip code!

Second, the @AddressBlock in the default form does not have the “Can Grow” box checked. As a result, if you write a check to a vendor that uses AddressLine1, AddressLine2, and AddressLine3, the City/State/Zip line will NOT print on the check. This was probably so that it wouldn’t overwite the Vendor Number field that was placed below the address. Somebody should have had a V8!

If you have not yet customized your 4.2 AP check form, and use preprinted laser checks, you can download a file with these issues fixed. In your 4.2 installation, save it to ..\MAS90\Reports. If you have already modified your check form to fit your preprinted checks, you will need to make these changes to the modified forms in Crystal Reports. This must be done for each form setting in each company.

You’ve probably already noticed that you can’t find a computer in a retail store these days that doesn’t have Vista installed. Microsoft has written into their OEM licencse agreements that as of 1/1/2008, even Dell and HP won’t be able to ship you a computer with Windows XP installed.

Why should you care? Well, among other reasons not to use Vista posted in previous blogs, Microsoft has designed Vista to collect enough personal information about its users to make even our Warrantless Spymaster in Chief happy. And there is no choice in the matter - the license agreement says if you use the feature you agree to share the data with Microsoft. Want to use Parental Controls on your home computer? Not only will you be able to see every URL your kids went to, but so will Microsoft. Want to browse the web? Don’t use Internet Explorer 7. Play some music? Don’t use Windows Media Player.

More details on the Big Brother features of Vista

Want an alternative for home use? Dell is now offering computers with Ubuntu Linux preinstalled. OpenOffice.org provides a free equivalent to Microsft Office, available for Windows as well as Linux. It can read and write files in Office formats. You could use Linux at work as well, if your Windows apps (such as MAS 90) are set up on a Terminal Server - Ubuntu includes a Terminal Server Client.

It’s Independence Day. What better time to break the monopoly?

By the way, Sage ACCPAC ERP can run on a Linux server. There is even a preconfigured turnkey package of server and software available.

Sage Software has posted their future support plans for Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 version 3.71.
December 2007 – Customers will receive the final 3.71 Year-End Tax Table updates in December 2007, and any mandated year-end changes to Accounts Payable, Payroll, and Electronic Reporting (formerly known as Magnetic Media Reporting) for calendar year 2008 processing.
December 2008 - Sage Telephone Support will continue for version 3.71 through the end of December 2008
Friendly Systems will continue to offer support for 3.71 and older versions of MAS 90/200 if you make arrangements with us. Payroll tax table changes can be made by getting the tables from state and IRS agencies, and entering the rate changes into MAS 90 Payroll table setup. If you have questions regarding your MAS 90/200 3.71 or earlier software support, or would like to upgrade your software to a newer version, contact our support line at: 678-273-4010.

The answer to the ultimate question of Life the Universe and Everything, is 42! (From “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams).

And now on to more mundane questions to ask yourself about whether you need Friendly Systems to help you to be more profitable and happy.

1. Are you entering the same data into two or more places in your computer system?

This results in lower employee productivity AND introduces errors that could be avoided if entered only once. . .. very costly stuff to leave the way it is. Friendly will be happy to come out and do a Return on Investment (ROI) calculation to help determine whether fixing the issue(s) involved with entering the same data in multiple places is worth changing.

2. Do you have spreadsheets that are key to the company’s functioning still being used by your organization?

Spreadsheets, while easy to set up, don’t usually have many internal controls in them. It is also difficult to have an audit trail in such a system, so that makes it hard to identify where the errors in the spreadsheet came from. Usually, only the person who created the spreadsheet really knows how it works and if they leave, so does the knowledge that is required to keep the spreadsheet working.

3. Are you happy with the level of service that your current business software ally provides or do you have to wait very long to get answers to your questions? And when you get answers, do they make sense?

Friendly Systems customers rave about the great service they get from us. See some letters from our allies.

Many of our customers already had their Sage MAS 90 ERP or Sage MAS 200 ERP software installed and running for several years before they gave up on their current resellers and called us and asked us to replace their software vendor. Better late than never, they finally realized that they were not really buying business software. They should have been shopping for a reseller that could ADD VALUE to their purchase.

We give business software orphans a Friendly hand that they can count on being there when needed. And not there when not needed.

4. Does your current business software vendor say “No, You Can’t Do that on your system!”?

Then call Friendly Systems. We think it’s Friendly to say “Yes, we can do that for you!” As Master Developers for Sage MAS 90 ERP and Sage MAS 200 ERP, we are authorized by Sage Software to add enhancements to their software for you!

5. Do you wish that your warehouse or make to order manufacturing operation had a bar code system that worked with your Financial/ERP software system?

Then let us speak with you. Friendly can get your warehouse automated the way you want it to work. Yest it comes out of the box with integration to Sage MAS 90 ERP and Sage MAS 200 ERP, but we can also tweak it so it can work the way YOU want it to.

6. Do you have a way to be alerted by your computer system as soon as key events occur in your organization, just like in the really big companies?

Friendly Systems knows how to easily create business alerts that can help easy your worries about what is going on at the company. We call it the “Worrying Module”.

Bottom Line - if you are unhappy with your current reseller, call us for a free on site visit. You’ll be glad you did.