News, Mass Emails and Recent Announcements

This page contains copies of the principal mass emails from ECi DDMS Technical Support in the last few months. (Mass emails may be sent to all current DDMS customers, all O/PUS customers, all ECinteractive or Dealer Station customers, or other large populations using products supported by ECi Technical Support.) The most recent communication appears at the top of the list.

1/13/2012: Update (L4) Payroll Tax Tables for 2012

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Update (L4) Payroll Tax Tables for 2012

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has published payroll tax withholding amounts that are applicable for wages paid in 2012.

If you use DDMS Payroll, update your payroll parameters now to reflect new tax withholding rates.

How Do I Update Tax Tables for 2012?

For illustrated details, see Setting (L4) Federal Payroll Taxes for 2012 (pdf). More »

Does this apply to me?

This only applies to dealers who use the DDMS Payroll application to pay employees who earn wages and pay federal taxes in the United States.

When Should I Do These Steps?

AFTER you close Payroll and print W-2s for 2011,

But BEFORE you run your first payroll for 2012.

What Are Some Key Changes for 2012?

A Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 temporarily continues the the Employee tax rate for Social Security at 4.2% until Feb. 29. On March 1, the employee tax is raised to 6.2%, equal the Employer Social Security rate.

The Maximum Social Security Amount is $110,100.

The Federal Dependent Allowance is now $3800.

For illustrated details, see Setting (L4) Federal Payroll Taxes for 2012 (pdf).

What About the Extra Row?

To comply with new tax tier introduced in 2010, DDMS 8.22 added a 9th row to the (L4) parameter screen.

However, the IRS has not used the extra tier of tax withholding rates since 2010.

Please keep the extra row filled with 9s, and use the top tax amounts and percentages in that row.

Where Can I Get More Information?

See Year-End FAQs on 2011 Tax Reports and First Payroll of 2012.

Please note, you are responsible for determining exactly how the tax laws affect your payroll.

Consult your accountant and the IRS Publication 15 (Circular E) Employer's Tax Guide for 2012 (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15.pdf).

1/10/2012: ECi Releases ECinteractive and is.D-Force 2 Version 11.1.2 Mid-Week TONIGHT

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ECi Releases ECinteractive 11.1.2 Mid-Week

ECi will load the maintenance release Version 11.1.2 live on ECinteractive® and is.D-Force® 2 Web servers TONIGHT.

This software update is scheduled between 9 PM CST TONIGHT (Tuesday), January 10, and 6 AM CST Wednesday, January 11.

This release is an exception to ECi's standard data center maintenance tasks (www.ddms.com/support/massfax/dcMtceWindow.htm). You may wish to set up or adjust your site's Automatic Scheduled Maintenance and site text, if applicable. For details, see your online help.

What's New In This Release?

This release includes the following improvements to your site's usability and flow:

14521 — Corrected the Print Invoice logic on the shopping site so that the printout and PDF display the correct Total. Previously, the printout calculation included sales tax twice (once in the items total, and once in the subtotal). The Web page view of invoices was not affected.
14401 — Enhanced the logic for storing item display information on the shopping site to speed up server response.
14549 — Enhanced the logic for storing approval information used at checkout to speed up server response.
14560 — Enhanced the logic for storing site statistics data on the Admin Control Panel's Customer Dashboard to speed up server response.

We continue to monitor the results of the current release's performance-related enhancements and will provide an update once we have an adequate sample of comparative data.

For More Info

1/10/2012: O/PUS Update: United Stationers 9W Catalog Available to Load

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United Stationers 9W File Available to Load

Dear DDMS Customers:

As we reported yesterday, United Stationers has issued an updated 9W file.

O/PUS has completed processing and testing, and the file, 9W9W, is now available for you to load into your system at your discretion.

Rest assured, 9W9W only updates the base cost on 9W items. It will not affect any other plans.

The procedure is not mandatory. It is optional. The steps are as simple and familiar as using the UpdateUNI.exe Catalog page:

Shut down DDMS and back up your DDMS files. A day-end backup will do.
Make sure the DDMS server is not running any programs, except TBL Server.
Launch the UpdateUNI.exe program, and click Start.
Click the Next button, skipping the Price Plan pages, until you reach the United Stationers Catalogs page.
Click in an empty row's Catalog name field, and enter 9W9W (all caps).
Click the Select checkbox to enable it. No other changes are needed.
Click Next until you reach the final page.
Click Download Selected Files.
Once file has been downloaded, click Start Update.

For details, see Load Multiple United Stationers Price Files At Once (pdf).

Note: Post-load procedures are not required, but may be used at your discretion based on your individual dealership's cost evaluations.

Should you have any questions related to this issue or any other price discrepancy questions please contact the United Stationers customer technical support group as listed below.

United CTS Support hours are from 7:30am to 7:00pm CST. On call is from 7:00pm to 10:00pm for emergency order entry issues: Leave a message on the 800# and the customer will be called back.

Third Party Technology Provider & Dealer Support – techsupport@ussco.com 1-800-733-5555

Bob Zwinn - Escalation Manager – zwinnro@ussco.com Direct: 1-847-627-2470

1/9/2012: O/PUS Update Notes: United Stationers Announces New 9W File

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United Stationers Announces New 9W File

Dear DDMS and Britannia Customers:

United Stationers is issuing an updated 9W file. Rest assured, ECi will provide instructions on how best to update pricing once we complete processing and testing.

United Stationers’ announcement is as follows:

It has come to our attention that the recent change in United Stationer’s 9W price logic has created confusion and potentially compromised business processes for some of our dealers. Based on feedback from our dealers and dealer technology providers United has decided to rescind the move of 9W price points to equal manufacturer list price less a penny.

United will create a new 9W price file with price points comparable to where the 9W prices previously fell. It’s important to understand that in most cases other price plans will offer lower price points than 9W and the actual billing price is likely to be less than 9W. However, we do believe this approach will return 9W price points to a level where the plan can be used for the same business processes it has been utilized for in the past.

This revised pricing will be live in United’s system no later than Tuesday January 10th and available to download from your technology provider no later than Friday January 13th. Please note that there is no need to complete another download if you are not currently experiencing any issues. If you wish to avoid a mid month reload this price file will also be available on the February monthly upload file and ongoing on the usual quarterly price files.

For dealers who are not assigned to price plan 9H, or would prefer to utilize the revised 9W cost value as their baseline cost, we recommend that you reload pricing from this revised 9W file as soon as it is available. Both DDMS and Britannia will be providing instructions on how best to load the revised 9W price plan once the Unitape file processing has been completed.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this approach may have created and do value your business relationship.

Should you have any questions related to this issue or any other price discrepancy questions please contact the United Stationers customer technical support group as listed below.

United CTS Support hours are from 7:30am to 7:00pm CST. On call is from 7:00pm to 10:00pm for emergency order entry issues: Leave a message on the 800# and the customer will be called back.

Third Party Technology Provider and Dealer Support – techsupport@ussco.com 1-800-733-5555

Bob Zwinn - Escalation Manager – zwinnro@ussco.com Direct: 1-847-627-2470

1/4/2012: Launch Your Xstamper Microsite on ECinteractive

View Message with Images | Become a Xstamper Reseller | Setup Xstamper PSN & Microsite

Xstamper Microsite: Ready to Launch!

With the Xstamper microsite now available to launch on your ECinteractive® and is.D-Force® 2, you can make it easy to shop custom stamps, refills, badges, signs, embossers, and more!

Why Xstamper?

Exclusive built-in reservoir re-inking system adds years of service to the life of each genuine Xstamper.
Unique materials and construction hold ink better and provide greater elasticity and strength.
Cost per impression is lower when comparing the cost of stamp, pad, refill ink, stamp racks, and labor.
One price — Each stamp size has one price regardless of the number of lines or copy. No extra charges for logos, signatures or borders.

Easy to Get Started!

See Setting Up & Using the Xstamper PSN (pdf) to complete your DDMS setup and take advantage of:

Automated item & pricing file import via O/PUS PSN Control software
Real-time stock/price check in Order Entry
Purchase order transmission / acknowledgement of vendor-allocated inventory
Launching the Xstamper Microsite on your site

12/29/2011: O/PUS Update Notes: 1Q2012 Installer, Data Ready to Load

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1Q2012 Installer, Data Ready to Load

We are pleased to announce that this quarter's FYI² Notes newsletter, OPUSInstall software updates, and O/PUS Opdb MultiVendor database update file are ready for download:

FYI² Notes

O/PUS has published the new quarterly newsletter "For Your Immediate Information - OPdb MultiVendor Update", also known as FYI² Notes (pdf).

In it, you will find vendor notes, the names of the vendor price files available on the O/PUS OPdb update, and other news for this quarter:

ECi Offers Complimentary Saturday Support Via Portal or Email Dec. 31

Free Remaining O/PUS Refresher 1 pm CT Jan 4

S.P. Richards, United Stationers Monthly Files Included in Q1 Load

United Stationers Retires 9W from Best Price Role

Action Pending to Remove Old References for Changed MAC Codes

Pre-Load: New Inventory File Compression Steps Using :SPCCMPJR

Download O/PUS Software Updates now via ECi Support Portal

O/PUS Vendor Multiloader Makes Supplemental Price Files a Breeze

Updated DDMS EBS SQL Steps for Quarter-End

Let ECi DDMS Professional Services Load O/PUS for You

Download OPUSInstall Software Update

O/PUS released software updates in OPUSInstall — for download now via the ECI Customer Support Portal's Software Downloads section.

This software update is ready for you to download NOW.

Each quarter, you need to download and run OPUSInstall. The quarterly release of OPUSInstall includes any enhancements, vendor parameters (described as needed in FYI² Notes) or other software changes that may be necessary to update your Item database with this quarter's data:

Updated! PSNControl Version 1.1.217 or higher.

Updated! O/PUS SIMPLE Version 1.1.591 or higher.

Updated! UpdateSPR.exe Multiloader v11213A or higher.

Updated! UpdateUNI.exe Multiloader v11213A or higher.

Contract Wizard 2.0.36 or higher (no change).

The members-only ECI Customer Support Portal's page of Software Downloads is the primary method of delivery for all DDMS software. Just log in, click Software Downloads, scroll down to the OPUSInstall, and follow the on-screen instructions.

If you do not have portal access, see the alternative method.

Load O/PUS Opdb MultiVendor Database Update

After you have updated your software, you can download the O/PUS MultiVendor Update database and your vendors' price files and catalogs for this quarter. You can even schedule your PSNControl file download.

If you are loading the standard edition of the OPdb update, see Loading O/PUS Multi-Vendor Quarterly Updates (pdf) for detailed instructions.

IS.GROUP MEMBERS: If you are an is.group member, you no longer load OPUSISG using the SIMPLE wizard. The new item and pricing instructions are available at www.isgroup.org . After you log in, navigate to "Distribution", select the drop down arrow, choose "Distribution" and click "DDMS Processing and Maintaining Info."

TRIMEGA MEMBERS:If you are a TriMega Purchasing Association member loading the TriMega Edition of the OPdb update. PSNControl instructions and the O/PUS User Direct-Buy Information Password are available at www.trimega.org in the member center, on the TriMega Catalogs page (https://www.trimega.org/members/programs/catalogs.asp).

12/29/2011: DDMS Year-End Hints: Archive the Right Way

View Message with Images | Get Your 2011 Year-End KeyOps

To help you prepare for year-end, this fourth bulletin in a series of hints is here to answer your frequently asked questions about renaming journals:

A: How Do I Archive Sales Journals?

It's a mandatory month-end step — you'll use (MIR) to rename sales journal files. Learn what steps should be complete before you begin. More »

B. Should I Sync SQL Beforehand?

Learn how easy it is to do a “changes only” (or delta) sync, and when to do it to ensure your 2011 journals are up to date. More »

C: What if I Get Errors While Renaming?

Problems with file name conventions or typos can cause errors to occur. Learn how to avoid them. More »

D: Why Use the My Renamed Journals Worksheet from Year-End KeyOps?

This handy chart shows all the files renamed at year-end, along with the parameter screens that determine whether your archived data shows up in history. More »

E: Why Merge Sales Journals?

Learn how the (MIM) step to merge last year's sales journals into a single year-to-date file makes reporting and history lookups easier. More »

F: How Do I Archive A/P, A/R, & P/O?

It's mandatory at year-end — learn updated steps to use (ZF7) to rename accounts payable, accounts receivable, and purchase order journal files. More »

G: Can We Automate Renaming Better?

Yes! ECi Professional Services can update older procs to avoid hang-ups during month-end at the end of January — and let you to search up to 10 years of history! More »

12/28/2011: DDMS Year-End Hints: Ready for Tax & Payroll

View Message with Images | Get Your 2011 Year-End KeyOps | Sign Up for Free Training

To help you prepare for year-end, this third bulletin in a series of hints is here to answer your frequently asked questions about payroll, tax tables, the vendor year-end function, and printing W-2 and 1099 forms:

What W-2 and 1099 Stock Should I Order?

To ensure you get the appropriate stock for your printer, look to your Year-End KeyOps FAQs on Preparing to Print 1099s and W-2s. More »

Can I Automate Vendor 1099-MISC?

The Vendor Remit/Settings tab has three 1099 fields to ensure your 1099-MISC tax forms print the tax IDs and YTD amounts for your contract laborers. More »

How do I Postpone Vendor Year-End?

If you have outstanding invoices to post, learn how to postpone the vendor year-end function. More »

How do I Set (LH-N) Personnel Parameters?

If any personnel records show first name first (as in “JANE DOE”), use the Swap Name parameter to print last name first, avoiding W-2 form overlap. More »

How do I Pay Employees a Bonus?

Learn how easy it is to do a “bonus check” run that does not include base pay amounts or benefit deductions, but gives you the flexibility to enter different bonuses for each payroll account. More »

How do I update Tax Withholding for 2012?

The IRS has not yet published the new tax tables for 2012. We will notify you when they are ready! After you close Payroll and print all reports and W-2s for 2011, update (L4) payroll parameters to reflect tax withholding rates for wages paid in 2012. More »

How Do I Print New Benefit Totals on W-2s?

While no action is required now, a U.S. mandate may require you to report the employer portion of insurance benefits on W-2 forms in January 2013. If this affects you, add your name to the list! More »

12/21/2011: DDMS Year-End Hints: Yes, Close G/L Now

View Message with Images | Get Your 2011 Year-End KeyOps | Sign Up for Free Training

To help you prepare for year-end, this third bulletin in a series of hints is here to answer your frequently asked questions about closing your books:

Should I close G/L, or wait for all postings?

Yes, close now. Thanks to the Close G/L Period feature, you can reopen any 2011 period to add or adjust postings in 2012. The only reason to wait is if you still haven't finished postings from 2010. More »

What's New in General Ledger for 2011?

To streamline closing G/L and minimize confusion, we have updated several steps and FAQs in the Year-End KeyOps. More »

How do I use the Close G/L Period feature?

Learn how easy graphical Chart of Accounts makes it to keep batches from posting to the G/L books for any period you want to keep closed. More »

Why would I want to post to a closed period?

Several changes are plausible, including an incorrect posting, late entries, new accounts, and changes to categories or budget figures. More »

How do I post to a closed G/L period?

Well, you can't actually post to a closed G/L period. But you can specify that the period prior to it is closed, which opens up your possibilities. More »

How do I reopen a period for posting?

After you close your 2011 books, let's say you want to post to fiscal 11 period 06. What do you set as the current period in the Close G/L Period window? More »

How do I protect from mis-entered postings?

You can set up a Close G/L Period Password in your parameters. Users will be prompted for this password when making a change to a closed business period. More »

What if I can't view history after closing G/L?

There are two methods to correct this issue: file compression and running the Data Dictionary utility. More »

12/19/2011: ECi DDMS Holiday Closures and Technical Support

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ECi facilities close on the nearest weekday to observe the following U.S. national holidays:

Christmas Eve & Day (shift to Friday and Monday, Dec. 23-26, 2011)
New Year's Day (shift to Monday, Jan. 2, 2012)

However, 24/7 Support will be available during the holiday when calling our standard Technical Support number, 800-366-4778.

As always, calling Technical Support during a holiday or outside of business hours (7 AM to 8:30 PM Central Time, Monday through Friday) is billable unless you subscribe to 24/7 Support services.

Meanwhile, we wish you safe and happy holidays!

Need Help? (800) 366-4778 • https://support.ecisolutions.com • ddmssupport@ecisolutions.com

12/15/2011: ECinteractive 11.1.1 Redesigns Mass Settings Page

View Message with Images | ECinteractive FAQs

ECi will load the maintenance release Version 11.1 live on ECinteractive® and is.D-Force® 2 Web servers this weekend.

This software update is scheduled between 9 PM CST Saturday, Dec. 17, and 6 AM CST Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011.

Since this falls within ECi's Standard Weekly Data Center Maintenance timeframe, no changes are required to Site Maintenance schedules.

Redesigned Mass Setting Management Admin Page! (10508)

The redesigned Mass Setting Management page gives you more control than ever over individual settings for alt/subs, checkout, communication, feature, marketing, and price.

As before, you can build the list by account, department, GL Location, Inventory Location, and Attention. Previously, the page did not filter the list, and applied your changes to all six setting groups at once.

Version 11.1.1 gives you two new ways to limit your changes:

Filter the customer list according to the values you specify, and the page will display a description of the filters you have selected.
Select a single specific setting group, and select a value to apply a new group name to the filtered list of customers.

Pick a group of customers for example, by specifying an account number, then filter the list using one of the columns. For example, you can enter "Accounting" in the Department column. Then pick a setting group from the drop-down menu, and select a new setting group name to apply to the filtered list of customers.

Other Software Changes in this Release

This release includes additional improvements to your site's usability and flow:

14408 Corrected issues with the Sort by Price feature on the shoppers site. Previously when using the Sort By Price re-sort option, the system was not properly re-sorting the item search results.
10901 Corrected the PDF printout on the end user's Order Approval page when an approver has denied an individual item, and the shopper prints a PDF. The resulting printout now has the following changes on denied items: 1) Instead of the extended price, we display the word 'Denied'. 2) Denied items are no longer included in the subtotal/total.
11537 Corrected issues when placing an order for an item using the Buy Now feature. Previously when selecting an item and requesting more than one and clicking the Buy Now option, the quantity was reverting back to one item.
13999 Corrected so shoppers assigned to an Approval Group and who also have the Over Budget Requires Approval setting activated cannot submit orders for accounts and/or departments that are over the budget limit without approval.
14046 Corrected so if an order which exceeds the budget limit requires approval, the system does not allow the budget limit to be overridden by the customer's checkout settings.
14322 Corrected issues concerning synchronizing data with S.P. Richards Enhanced Content and Etilize. Previously when synchronizing the message "Successfully Synchronized" displayed but the CCIs actually failed during the synchronization process.

12/6/2011: DDMS Year-End Hints: Get Ready Now

View Message with Images | Get Your 2011 Year-End KeyOps | Sign Up for Free Training

To help you prepare for year-end, this first bulletin in a series of hints is here to answer your frequently asked questions about new year-end procedures, training, and period-end support:

A: What Training Can I Get for Year-End?

We have O/PUS and Year-End training, plus new classes on Periodic System Maintenance, and Closing (and Reopening) General Ledger — all free! More »

B: What's New for Year-End 2011?

We updated and clarified year-end procedures with new streamlined steps in the Year-End 2011 KeyOps. This year, there are 5 notable changes. More »

C. What Do I Do First to Prepare?

Use this checklist of 7 steps. More »

D: When are ECi's Holiday Closures?

ECi closes its offices on the nearest weekdays to observe Christmas Eve and Day and New Year's Day. Support during holidays is billable. More »

E: When is DDMS Free Period-End Support?

Saturday Support is on Saturday, Dec. 31 — free via email and portal (phone calls are billable). More »

F: Can I Get a Walk-Through of My Steps?

Individualized step-by-step guidance on year-end is beyond the scope of your regular support team. Try DDMS Professional Services! More »

G: New! Why & How Do I Suspend Procs?

Automated procs can be a doube-edged sword when it comes to MK year-end steps! Do you know the best timeframe & steps to suspend procs? More »

H: What Other Year-End Hints are Coming?

Watch your email inbox for additional practical Year-End Hints. More »

12/2/2011: 5 Formidable Features in DDMS 10.2

The DDMS 10.2 release is ready for download now. It includes the five enhancements below, plus dozens of other changes to the architecture, flow and usability to help you work more efficiently, increase the speed of business, and keep pace with advances in technology:

Note: New fields in this release require sales journal compression before you resume business. See Release Notes below. More »

1. Save Credit Card Fees & Win Business with Multiple Merchant IDs

Implementing a new merchant ID no longer requires a new location to be set up in DDMS. Now, you have two new ways to apply orders to different merchant IDs. Reduce your credit card rates and win strategic sourcing contracts! More »

2. Simplify Your Customers' Payables with Item Cost Center Reporting

Some prospects and customers demand a report of their orders sorted and totaled by their general ledger cost center codes. This reporting can make it easier for your customers to post your invoices to their accounts payable — increasing your customer retention and competitive edge! More »

3. Edit Remarks to Communicate How You Applied A/R Payments

When adjusting invoice payment detail in our graphical interface, you now have the ability to edit item remarks — and communicate to the customer how you applied the payment! More »

4. Update Renewals from Graphical Machine Billing

In this third phase of development in Graphical Machine Billing, you have a new Machine Task: Update Renewals. Specify how to update renewals, set limits as needed, and review results before processing. More »

5. Email and Fax Meter Requests from Graphical Machine Billing

In this third phase of development in Graphical Machine Billing, now you can now also email or fax the customer a meter reading request. This ensures that you have the most up-to-date meter readings before you actually bill. More »

More Info On DDMS Releases

11/11/2011: Top 10 Features in Version 11.1 of ECinteractive and is.D-Force 2

Top 10 Features in ECinteractive 11.1

ECi will load the maintenance release Version 11.1 live on ECinteractive® and is.D-Force® 2 Web servers this weekend.

This software update is scheduled between 9 PM CST Saturday, Nov. 12, and 6 AM CST Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011.

Since this falls within ECi's Standard Weekly Data Center Maintenance timeframe, no changes are required to Site Maintenance schedules.

1. Let Web Shoppers Sort By Price!

With DDMS 10.0 and ECinteractive 11.1, your shoppers will be able to sort and limit search results by price. Note: a software update and full EBS synch is required. More »

2. Bulk Add Custom Catalog Items in New eContent Import

No more one-at-a-time item entries. Add spreadsheets of thousands of catalog items into an eContent Workspace in your Admin Control Panel. More »

3. Add Powerful Analytics with CXintelligence from Acsellerate

The most successful dealers use Acsellerate sales intelligence solutions to benchmark customer buying behavior. ECinteractive is now designed to integrate with Acsellerate for shopper access to their spend and usage analysis! More »

4. AutoComplete Suggests Keyword Pick List for Friendlier Search

As you begin to enter the first few characters of your search keywords in QuickSearch or S.P. Richards Enhanced Search, the system presents a drop-down pick list of matching keywords. More »

5. Microsite Items Facilitate Custom Orders Sitewide

Wherever shoppers find products like stamps that must be customized in a microsite (like Trodat's Utypia), the system will prompt for customization to be completed before adding to the shopping cart. More »

6. S.P. Richards Streamlines MyMachines Search

For sites using S.P. Richards catalogs, the newly streamlined MyMachines shopping tool allows you to search by printer or cartridge number in one text entry field, or by selecting your manufacturer from a drop-down list. More »

7. United Smart Search Content Flags Non-Returnable Items

Now for sites where United Smart Search is enabled, item lists and product detail displays a non-returnable icon where applicable. On mouseover, a popup message will show the shopper why they won't be able to return it. More »

8. Shoppers can Edit Preferences to Sort and Display Budgets

They can now select all, some, or one account/department and display all budgets continuously on a single page. More »

9. Checkout Enforces More Granular Order Dollar Limits

To control purchasing expenditures, your customers may demand a minimum and/or maximum dollar amount range that must be met in order for certain shoppers to submit each order. More »

10. Guest User Checkout Gathers More Useful Contact Information

Now, they are required to enter their first name, last name, and phone number. Their responses will print on their order confirmation emails and in Order Management on the Admin Control Panel. More »

Other Software Changes in this Release

Learn about more improvements to your site's usability and flow! More »

10/31/2011: Support During ECi Connect Conference

Dear DDMS customers:

On Tuesday through Thursday, November 1-3, some of our technicians are supporting several events, user labs and training sessions at the ECi Connect Conference.

Our reduced office staff will respond to any tickets that customers open according to their severity.

We appreciate your patience at this time.

Sincerely,

ECi DDMS Technical Support
https://support.ecisolutions.com
ddmssupport@ecisolutions.com
800-366-4778

10/27/2011: Get O/PUS Monthly Price Files for November

Get O/PUS Monthly Price Files for November

10/12/2011: Help Shoppers Find HP Printers on ECinteractive

Help Shoppers Find HP Printers on ECinteractive

10/10/2011: Introducing The Spot for HON Furniture Microsite

Introducing The Spot for HON Furniture Microsite

10/3/2011: Introducing ECi GoVideo - Promote yourself with an affordable video solution

Introducing ECi GoVideo - Promote yourself with an affordable video solution

9/29/2011: O/PUS Ready to Load

We sent O/PUS Update Notes: 4Q2011 Installer, Data Ready to Load to all O/PUS customers.

9/23/2011: Join Us for Your Free O/PUS Refresher

ECi offers free Web-Based refresher training Wednesday, September 28, 10 AM – Noon CDT — or — Tuesday, October 4, 1 – 3 PM CDT to review parameters and procedures and learn what's new for this quarter. For details and to register, see the announcement, Join Us for Your Free O/PUS Refresher.

9/2/2011: 4 New Tools in DDMS 10.1 Release

The DDMS 10.1 release is ready for download now. It includes the four enhancements below, plus nearly 200 other changes to the architecture, flow and usability to help you work more efficiently, increase the speed of business, and keep pace with advances in technology. See 4 New Tools in DDMS 10.1 Release.

8/18/2011: ECi Releases ECinteractive, is.D-Force 2 Version 11.0

New Administrative Favorites Items Management Tool. eProcurement for OCI and xCBL Compliant Systems Now in Beta Testing. See ECi Releases ECinteractive, is.D-Force 2 Version 11.0.

7/28/2011: O/PUS Update Notes: Get Monthly Price Files for August

August Monthly Price Files Available Via PSN

We are happy to announce that all standard monthly files are available now for download via PSNControl from S.P. Richards and United Stationers.

See steps in Load Multiple United Stationers Price Files At Once (pdf).

See steps in Load Multiple S.P. Richards Price Files At Once (pdf).

Some dealer-specific plans may be provided later. When you use PSNControl to download the files, the Transfer List date display will indicate when any vendor pricing file was last updated.

ProductPro™ and FurnitureAdvantage™ programs are usually ready to download on the first Monday of the month — in this case, August 1. See Special Order with S.P. Richards ProductPro and FurnitureAdvantage (pdf) and the video tutorial Using ProductPro and FurnitureAdvantage Programs.

See additional O/PUS documentation on our Web site.

7/14/2011: NET1: Sage Payment Solutions Plans Maintenance July 31

On Sunday, July 31, 2011 at 11:00 PM Eastern time, Sage Payment Solutions will be implementing a gateway infrastructure upgrade which will take no longer than 2 hours.

During this period, merchants will be unable to process transactions. Every measure has been taken to keep the system updates as short as possible. This upgrade is part of our ongoing effort to provide you the most modern, robust and secure processing systems and solutions available.

We sincerely value your business and continued partnership and remain, as always, prepared to support your success.

Please feel free to contact your Virtual Support team with any questions. Please direct your email inquiries to virtualsupport@sagepayments.com, or, for assistance by telephone, please call 1.877.470.4001.

Need Help? 817.662.3715 | net1support@net1creditcard.com

7/12/2011: Tap that Custom Stamp Market With Trodat's New Microsite

See Tap that Custom Stamp Market With Trodat's New Microsite for ECinteractive and is.D-Force 2.

7/1/2011: California's New Sales Tax Rates Require New DDMS Tax Districts

In light of new California sales tax rates effective July 1, ECi DDMS Support has received a number of questions about DDMS tax districts.

There is one important thing to remember:

If your state sales tax rate changes, or if the rate changes for a particular tax district, you must create a new tax district on your system — you should not change or delete an existing tax district.

Your system recalculates the tax rate as needed, so the old tax district must be kept as is. If you credit an invoice, for example, the tax district used to create it must be unchanged, or the credit’s tax will be incorrect.

For dealers who operate a store in a state or district where sales tax rates are changing, choose the best course of action for your business:

If you leave the State Tax % field blank in (LØ) Global Parameters, but do not use combined tax districts, see Changing Tax Rates for States or Districts (www.DDMS.com/Resources/Support/faq/accounting/tax-chg.pdf).

If you use combined tax districts (including tiered sale price taxing, nesting combined taxing districts, and taxing single items at different percentage rates based on categories, see Taxing Enhancements
(www.DDMS.com/Resources/Support/faq/customer/TaxTierCombo.pdf)

If your situation does not meet the above conditions, call your ECi DDMS Support team for assistance.

New! View our online tutorial

http://www.ddms.com/support/tutorial/taxdistricts.htm

Please note: You are responsible for determining exactly how the tax laws affect your business. Please consult your accountant and your tax authorities as needed.

Mass Changing Selected Customer Tax Districts

You can make mass changes on tax districts for selected customer records in the (+A) Special Customer screen.

Note: Before making any mass changes, we recommend that you perform a backup. The specific file being modified is C-DISC.

1. Go to the (+A) screen and select the [C] Change action code.

2. The cursor moves to the By Cust field, type N.

3. Tab to the ‘Tax district’ field in the Select On column, specify the old district. In the fields in the Change To column specify the new district. Press Enter.

4. After you specify changes, or move the cursor past the limit fields, the Are You Sure prompt appears. To change all specified customer records, type Y.

The system displays each customer record that meets the limits you set.

5. When all of the customer records have been displayed, the End of Records Any Key to Continue prompt appears.

Automating Sales Tax Updates With CCH Taxing Services

In DDMS 8.15 and higher, you can take advantage of the CCH Taxing feature, and use just the right tax rate according to your customer's tax jurisdiction.

The CCH Taxing Service provides you greater flexibility of maintaining tax information for customers nationwide — without having to do the state-by-state research yourself.

You can subscribe to services from CCH Group (cchgroup.com), to update your DDMS Server's tax tables on a periodic or monthly basis. The CCH Taxing feature allows you to set up individual items so that they can be taxed correctly by category, within each tax jurisdiction.

For more information on authorizing CCH Taxing and subscribing to CCH Tax Services, please contact ECi Sales (eciamsales@ecisolutions.com or 877-957-4672).

For detailed instructions, see your online help topic, "About CCH Taxing," under Customer Concepts (in DDMS 8.15 or higher).

6/30/2011: Closed Monday July 4 for Independence Day

ECi will be closed Monday, July 4, 2011, to observe Independence Day.

However, 24/7 Support will be available during the holiday when calling our standard Technical Support number, 800-366-4778.

As always, calling Technical Support during a holiday or outside of business hours (7 AM to 8:30 PM Central Time, Monday through Friday) is billable unless you subscribe to 24/7 Support services.

Meanwhile, we wish you a safe and happy holiday!

6/30/2011: 16 Reasons to Install DDMS 10.0.5 Major Release

June 29, 2011 — The DDMS 10.0.5 major release is ready for download now. It includes more than 100 software changes to the architecture, flow and usability to help you work more efficiently, increase the speed of business, and keep pace with advances in technology:

Release Notes

If your DDMS server is running Windows 2003 64-bit, do not install DDMS 10.
If you use a Terminal Server that is running Windows 2000, it cannot support the .NET Framework 4, and will limit client workstations connecting via terminal services into your DDMS server to older, non-EBS functions. More »
ACTION REQUIRED: If you are using a Microsoft Window 2000 terminal server for client connections, before installing version 10.0, contact ECi DDMS Support for assistance.

For All Dealers

Click the links below for more detail:

1. Security. Performance. Integration. Extensibility. Usability. Scalability.

2. New Interface for Text-Based Apps! (DDMS Client Install Required)

3. 150 Percent More Data Space for EBS/SQL Business Reporting!

4. Four New SQL Reports Now Available For All Dealers!

5. Use Order History and Analysis With Greater Intelligence!

6. Is Your Terminal Server Load Balanced? Now Save User Settings!

7. Order Route Field Streamlines Delivery Service Workflows

For Supplies Dealers

1. Web Shoppers on ECinteractive Can Soon Sort By Price!

2. Trodat's uTypia: Stamps Made to Order by Customizer of Your Choice

3. Auto Short-Buy's Order Code Extended to Text-Based Apps!

For Furniture Dealers

1. Three New SQL Reports Specialized for Furniture Dealers!

2. Customize SQL Reports with Item Bin, P/O Status, and Load Factor!

3. Order Entry Notes Which Vendor for Building a Purchase Order

4. Improved Direct Shipping With Kimball Office and National

For Machine and Equipment Dealers

1. New Graphical SQL/EBS Look & Feel for Machine Meter Billing!

2. Set Default Call Priority By Machine!

More Info On DDMS Releases

6/28/2011: O/PUS Ready to Load

We sent O/PUS Update Notes: 3Q2011 Ready to Load to all O/PUS customers.

6/23/2011: ECi Releases ECinteractive 10.4 June 26

ECi Releases ECinteractive 10.4 June 26

ECi will load the maintenance release Version 10.4 live on ECinteractive® and is.D-Force® 2 Web servers this weekend.

This software update is scheduled between 9 PM CST Saturday, June 25, and 6 AM CST Sunday, June 26.

Since this falls within ECi's Standard Weekly Data Center Maintenance timeframe, no changes are required to Site Maintenance schedules.

In addition to some custom development projects both for dealers and for suppliers (to be announced soon), this release includes the following improvements to your site's usability and flow:

1. Order History Pared to Rolling Year June 28; Check Saved Orders Now

To improve server responsiveness, the Order Management databases are being pared down to a rolling 12-month history the evening of June 28. Rest assured, you still have access to order history from your business system. However, you may wish to notify shoppers as follows: Effective June 28, 2011, Saved Orders older than one year will now expire monthly, as part of continual enhancements to site performance. In the rare case that you still have an order saved prior to June 2010, it will no longer appear in Saved Orders. In July of this year, orders saved in June of last year will expire, and so on. ACTION RECOMMENDED: If you have older Saved Orders, re-save now or add the items to MyFavorites.

2. eProcurement for OCI Now Beta Testing; Ariba/cXML Now Live!

Enhanced the eProcurement PunchOut feature by adding the ability to beta test Open Catalog Interface (OCI) compliant licenses where the customer's eProcurement system launches your site just for shopping and checkout (QC #13274). In related news, watch your inbox for a special message announcing eProcurement for Ariba and cXML-compliant systems!

3. User Usage Now Refreshes Nightly for Next-Day Reporting

Enhanced the logic behind the User Usage Report to refresh the data nightly to improve the responsiveness of the report page (QC #13472). As a result, Web orders will appear on the User Usage Report the day after they are submitted.

4. Admin Control of Reset Password Now Accepts Enter Key

Enhanced the Reset Password function in the Admin Control Panel to allow the Enter key to activate the Change Password button (QC #13372). Previously, the Enter key would reset the fields to blank, and you would have to use the mouse to change the user's password. This is an enhancement for usability.

5. After Password Change, "Continue Shopping" Links Shopper Home

We've enhanced the Edit Profile/Update My Information page of your Web storefront site so that after shoppers change their password, the "Continue Shopping" link takes them to the Home page (QC #13315). Previously, the link inadvertently redirected to MyShoppingCart.

6/1/2011: ECi Launches New ECommerce Support Menus June 6

View Message with Images | Log In to the Support Portal


ECi Launches New ECommerce Support Menus Monday ECi provides the highest degree of support in the industry, and continues to invest resources to drive continued improvement in serving you. Between your phenomenal growth in Web sales through ECinteractive and exciting developments that are launching in the coming year — New videos to aid your marketing! High-demand features like eProcurement, Acsellerate, and Machine service integration! Revamped user interface themes! — the market demands a specialized team to support ECi Web storefronts. To meet this need, we are adjusting our team structure: We are shifting technicians with the most expertise in our Web storefronts to the new specialized team just for ECommerce support. We are realigning our teams who support DDMS back-end business systems. 2 Benefits This Change Gives You Quicker Turnaround: Platform-specific teams, whether specializing in Web storefronts or back-end business systems, will quickly be able to answer your questions. Specialized Expertise: We have fine-tuned team structure to ensure customers who need specific vertical market expertise will continue to get it through their team assignments. New Options to Request Technical Support To provide the highest level of service possible to your company, effective Monday, June 6, you will have new options to request technical support: When you call toll-free 800-366-4778: If calling about back-end software (DDMS, PSN, O/PUS, C2, Mobile) Press 1. Based on your phone number, we will route your call to your team. If the phone you use does not match your account, please select 2 for Team Synergy or 4 for Team Alliance. If calling about Web storefronts (ECinteractive, D-Force, Dealer Station) Press 2. When you log in to on our online portal (support.ecisolutions.com): If you are creating a new ticket about back end software (DDMS, PSN, O/PUS, C2, or Mobile products) click Business System Support. If you are creating a new ticket about e-commerce software (ECinteractive, D-Force, or Dealer Station products), click Web Storefront Support. Email ddmssupport@ecisolutions.com (no change; your email request will automatically be routed to your team) Fax 682-831-9909 (no change; your pages automatically go to your team) Rest assured, only your contact options have changed. You should expect the same professional, personalized service from your team's experienced technicians, versed in both our software and how our customers run their businesses.

5/26/2011: OPUSInstall Required to Get Monthly Pricing for June

We are happy to announce that all standard monthly files are available now for download via PSNControl from S.P. Richards and United Stationers.

Action Required: Download and Run OPUSInstall Now

To accommodate recent changes to wholesalers' monthly pricing update data files, O/PUS has enhanced the software in several places.

Your multiloader program's main screen has a starburst badge that you can click to learn about enhancements related to monthly updates for your wholesaler, once your software is completely updated. Related changes were required throughout O/PUS software.

To load your monthly pricing updates properly, you must:

	From your DDMS Server, log into the ECI Customer Support Portal (https://support.ecisolutions.com).
	Click Software Downloads from the top menu.
	Scroll down to click OPUSInstall and follow the on-screen instructions to complete installation.
	Load your wholesalers' monthly update files. All files can be processed using the U_SPR and U_UNI loading programs via graphical multiloaders (UpdateSPR.exe and UpdateUNI.exe) or text-based (+IFP).

Additional Details

See steps in Load Multiple United Stationers Price Files At Once (pdf).

See steps in Load Multiple S.P. Richards Price Files At Once (pdf).

Some dealer-specific plans may be provided later. When you use PSNControl to download the files, the Transfer List date display will indicate when any vendor pricing file was last updated.

ProductPro™ and FurnitureAdvantage™ programs are usually ready to download on the first Monday of the month — in this case, June 6. See Special Order with S.P. Richards ProductPro and FurnitureAdvantage (pdf) and the video tutorial Using ProductPro and FurnitureAdvantage Programs.

See additional O/PUS documentation on our Web site.

5/12/2011: ECi Releases Version 10.3 of ECinteractive and is.D-Force2

ECi Releases Version 10.3 of ECinteractive and is.D-Force2

5/6/2011: Alert: DDMS 10.0 Requires Clients to Run Microsoft .NET Framework 4

View Message with Images |Download Client Microsoft .NET Framework

DDMS Alert: DDMS 10.0 Requires Clients to Run Microsoft .NET Framework 4

Dear ECi DDMS Customer:

In a matter of weeks, we will announce the release of DDMS Version 10.0 for Windows 2003 or higher.

If your DDMS server is still running Windows 2000, refer to our previous alert that DDMS 10.0 and higher will not install on Windows 2000: "DDMS 8.26 Will Be Last to Load on Windows 2000."

This DDMS 10.0 release (to be announced in a few weeks) will include substantial upgrades that take advantage of the Microsoft SQL/.NET framework used with Windows Server 2003 and 2008 to enhance security, performance, integration, extensibility, usability, and scalability.

Prepare for Client Workstation .NET Framework 4 Updates

To run EBS applications such as Customer Price Plans, Preview Reports, Furniture Project Management, and Graphical Machine Billing on DDMS 10.0, client PCs must have Microsoft .NET Framework version 4 loaded. On each client workstation, you must meet system requirements and install .NET Framework 4 software.

You have a choice:

Load .NET 4 on Clients Now (RECOMMENDED)

The process of downloading and installing the .NET Framework 4 may take about 10 minutes per workstation, depending on its Internet connection, network bandwidth, and client hardware.
This way, after you load Version 10.0 on your server (to be announced in a few weeks), your existing client workstations will be ready to run DDMS 10.0 EBS applications with no further action on your part.
Rest assured, adding this update does not affect current operations. Previous versions of DDMS do not yet use scripts from .NET Framework 4.

Run a Full DDMS 10.0 Client Install on Every Client Workstation While You Load DDMS 10.0 On Your Server

We anticipate announcing the release of DDMS 10.0 in a few weeks.
The process of running the DDMS 10.0 Client Install will also load the NET Framework 4, and may take about 15 minutes per workstation, depending on its Internet connection, network bandwidth, and client hardware.

Consequences of Inaction

If your DDMS Server is running Version 10.0, client workstations without the new .NET Framework 4 will be unable to run EBS applications, and will instead generate an error.

To recover from this error, you can simply 1) make sure your PC meets minimum requirements, and 2) download the DDMS Version 10.0 or higher Client Install, which will load both DDMS and Microsoft's .NET Framework 4.

How to Update Clients to Microsoft .NET Framework 4

The Microsoft .NET Framework 4 client software update is available in a familiar place: the ECi DDMS Customer Support Portal.

Make sure each client meets the minimum hardware and software requirements, including free disk space, memory, Microsoft security updates, patches, and service packs. (See System Requirements, below.)

From the client PC, log in to your DDMS Support Portal https://support.ecisolutions.com and click Software Downloads from the top menu.

Click Client Microsoft .NET Framework 4 and follow the on-screen instructions.

System Requirements

Between ECi DDMS system requirements and Microsoft .NET Framework 4 system requirements, the following operating systems and hardware are supported:

Client Operating System:

Microsoft Windows 7 Pro

Microsoft Windows Vista Business Edition

Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP3

Microsoft recommends that you make sure each client workstation has the latest Windows service pack and critical updates. To find security updates, visit Windows Update.

Client Hardware:

Pentium IV 2.0 GHz or higher processor, 32- or 64-bit

1 GB RAM or more

Availabile hard disk space of 1 GB on 32-bit system (2 GB on 64-bit system)

4/28/2011: Get Monthly Price Files for May Via O/PUS PSN

We are happy to announce that all standard monthly files are available now for download via PSNControl from S.P. Richards and United Stationers.

Some dealer-specific plans may be provided later. When you use PSNControl to download the files, the Transfer List date display will indicate when any vendor pricing file was last updated.

ProductPro™ and FurnitureAdvantage™ programs are usually ready to download on the first Monday of the month — in this case, May 2.

All files can be processed using the U_SPR and U_UNI loading programs via graphical multiloaders (UpdateSPR.exe and UpdateUNI.exe) or text-based (+IFP).

For additional details, see:

3/25/2011: O/PUS Ready to Load

We sent O/PUS Update Notes: 2Q2011 Ready to Load to all O/PUS customers.

3/25/2011: More Alluring eMarketing, Search in ECinteractive 10.2

View Message with Images | ECinteractive FAQs

More Alluring eMarketing, Search in ECinteractive 10.2
ECi will load the maintenance release Version 10.2 live on ECinteractive® and is.D-Force® 2 Web servers this weekend. This software update is scheduled between 9 PM CST Saturday, March 26, and 6 AM CST Sunday, March 27. Since this falls within ECi's Standard Weekly Data Center Maintenance timeframe, no changes are required to Site Maintenance schedules. Get Creative with Image Map Hotspots in eMarketing Flyers eMarketing flyers now link from more images than "Buy Now" buttons and product shots. The Image Map Editor in Flyer Maintenance lets you upload your own (or vendors') images, and make hotspots link to any item or URL you like! More » Upsell with More Compelling S.P. Richards Enhanced Search Search results are more persuasive. Enhanced product detail promotes item benefits, brand loyalty, accessories, and more. Even peer pressure helps you upsell. Learn what else S.P. Richards Enhanced Content has now! More » Add Powerful Usage Analytics with Acsellerate (reserved: future use) The most successful dealers use Acsellerate sales intelligence solutions to benchmark customer buying behavior. ECinteractive is now designed to integrate with Acsellerate for shopper access to their spend and usage analysis! More » eProcurement PunchOut Now Beta Testing Soon, you'll have a new competitive edge to win large corporations and agencies — the ECinteractive eProcurement PunchOut is now in beta. More » Other Software Changes in this Release Learn about more improvements to your site's usability and flow! More »
Need Help? (800) 366-4778 • https://support.ecisolutions.com • ddmssupport@ecisolutions.com

3/16/2011: DDMS 8.26.3 Expands PSN Into Managed Print with Supplies Network

March 16, 2011 — The DDMS 8.26.3 maintenance release is ready for download now with the following changes:

Expand Business with Auto Toner Replenishment Orders via PSN (57609)

To expand business into the Managed Print Services arena, regular office supply dealers can take advantage of the Auto Toner Replenishment System (ATRS), a new service provided by Supplies Network (a DMI company). (QC# 57609)

Qualify your customers using the ATRS marketing package to prospect and strategically promote your program through multiple channels.

Gain "Hands Off" efficiency, and eliminate emergency/overnight shipments — printers and copiers essentially order their own supplies based on unique usage metrics!

Minimize customer downtime with automated orders for not only toner — fusers, maintenance kits and more!

Eliminate mis-orders with Auto Supply Routing Label® — direct to user/device/desktop delivery!

Add up to 10% margin to your program via a simple monthly credit memo rebate — no separate price list to manage!

This illustration shows how orders flow through the Supplies Network Auto Toner Replenishment System (ATRS) and the dealer's business system.

To get started with the ATRS program, contact Bob Mondschein, eBusiness Manager at Supplies Network at 1-636-720-3131 or mondschein@suppliesnetwork.com.

In DDMS, the major steps are as follows:

Retrieve ATRS orders using Electronic Invoicing tools.
Release the electronic invoices to orders in DDMS Order Entry.
Build a Supplies Network ATRS purchase order using the Automated Short-Buy.
Switch to drop ship as needed before transmitting the P/O to Supplies Network.
Retrieve the acknowledgement and pre-receive the order.

For detailed instructions, see Setting Up & Using the Supplies Network PSN for use with ATRS (pdf).

Other Changes in This Release

57593: Corrected the process of posting freight charges from S.P. Richards invoices. Previously, if the purchase order was not found in the journal files, the system was inadvertently posting freight lines to the previous tickets.
57536: Corrected both Commercial and Furniture Order Entry so that when the order contains both taxable and non-taxable items, opening the F6 Change Mode dialog box, clicking Yes as prompted, and closing without changing settings does not result in any changes to the order. In versions 8.23 – 8.26.2, tax district logic would inadvertently change all items on the order to non-taxable.

More Info in Recent DDMS Version 8 Releases

Need Help? (800) 366-4778 • https://support.ecisolutions.com • ddmssupport@ecisolutions.com

3/11/2011: Join Us For Your Free O/PUS Refresher!

Are You Ready for Quarter-End?

Updating your DDMS® item database and contracts with the O/PUS® Multi-Vendor Catalog — it's not a task you do every day.

Choose From Two Dates - FREE

Register now online for your free refresher of key O/PUS steps, and get answers from your friendly DDMS instructors, Mimi Kintli and Sheila Nolan.

Tuesday, March 29, 10 AM – Noon CDT

OR

Tuesday, April 5, 1 – 3 PM CDT

Ten Hot Topics in Two Hours

Learn what's new this quarter
Download OPUSInstall software updates
Check your SQL EBS Import Schedule
Use PSNControl to get the data files
Review SIMPLE parameters for this quarter
Load price plans in two easy ways
Finish with vital Post-Load steps
Full EBS SQL Import
Compete best with Super Store Data Updates
Load monthly wholesaler updates

To reserve your seat on this popular class, register now on our Virtual Class System!

3/10/2011: New Login Page on ECi Portal Friday

View Message with Images | Log In to the Support Portal Friday and Pick DDMS


New Login Page on ECi Support Portal Effective Friday Effective Friday, March 11, 2011, the login page for ECi Customer Support Portal (https://support.ecisolutions.com) will prompt you to specify the ECi Division that supports your software. "ECi Software Solutions continues to expand implementation of the Customer Support Portal to all of our divisions," said Andrew Koebbe, Internal Business Systems Manager for ECi Operations. "The new login page will streamline login while making password reset easier for you. "You only have to pick DDMS once," Andrew added. "After you log in, it will remember your division and your email address next time you visit the portal." Pick DDMS from the ECi Division drop-down list. The portal will remember* it. The portal will remember* the email address you use to log in. If you pick the wrong division, your email/password is invalid for that division. If you don't wish to see the Introduction panel, click the link to Hide it. To get a new password, click I forgot my password. The portal will email you. If our system does not yet have your email address, ask Support to add it. 4 Reasons to Use ECi's Support Portal The portal will never replace your friendly support team, who still operate during normal business hours 7 am - 7 pm CST. The portal simply: Provides best-in-class, convenient access to support for your ECi software. Consolidates in one secure place all your ticket attachments & conversations. Streamlines the way you manage your support tickets and check status. Offers you easy access to our latest software downloads. Our Support portal is part of our continual efforts to improve service levels and make ECi Technical Support more convenient, responsive, and knowledgeable. Need Help? (800) 366-4778 • https://support.ecisolutions.com • ddmssupport@ecisolutions.com

3/8/2011: Virtual Classes: Can DDMS Machine Edition Do More For You?

Office equipment staff need training or refresher?

Still using serialized text screens, but want to explore graphical?

Just branched into this market?

ECi DDMS is offering a week of Virtual Classes just for service managers, service reps, keyops, and technicians!

March 21 — Machine Concepts and Setup

In this beginner class, you'll learn how the ideal machine dealership has set up their database of machines, related products, machine salespeople and technicians, and related settings.

Don't miss the tricks of using stock classes and departments to streamline time and materials billings! Register Now for Machine Concepts and Setup March 21!

March 22 — Machine Master and Contract Setup

In this beginner class, you'll learn how to navigate a Machine record (including the master, depreciation, critical parts, accessories, order entry, meters, and more)!

You'll also learn how to set up Machine Disposition to identify whether equipment is available for delivery, undergoing repair, out for demonstration, and more.

Don't miss exclusive secrets to setting up contract types and contracts, as well as what it takes to track and meter clicks properly. Register Now for Machine Master and Contract Setup March 22!

March 23 — Machine Order Entry, Work Orders and Monitor

In this intermediate class, you'll learn how to sell machines using DDMS Order Entry, and how to manage machine and equipment service through Work Orders, Machine Monitor, and Dispatching.

Don't miss best practices for when you are waiting on parts, transferring Items and managing service vehicle stock! Register Now for Machine Order Entry, Work Orders, and Monitor March 23!

March 24 — Machine, Contract, and Supply Sales

In this intermediate class, you'll learn how to manage the sales of machines, contracts, and supplies through DDMS Order Entry.

Don't miss the inside scoop on advanced topics such as contract cycle billing, third party billing, and credits! Register Now for Machine, Contract, and Supply Sales March 24!

March 25 — Machine Purchasing and New Features

In this intermediate class, you'll learn how to use DDMS Purchase Order Entry, Short-Buy, and Low-Stock applications to purchase of machines, their accessories and critical parts.

Don't miss special considerations for rentals, leases, demos, trade-ins, and technician vehicle stock! Register Now for Machine Purchasing and New Features March 25.

More Of Your People Can Save On Any Class
With Our March Machine Madness Discount!

Each class is offered at a discounted $100!

Save even more! Register one staff member, and invite multiple colleagues to attend from one workstation!

Subject to cancellation if we do not meet the minimum of 5 per class.

If you no longer see a link on the Virtual Class Calendar, the class is full.

As a courtesy to other customers who wish to join us, register your company only once, and let us know if you cannot attend as planned.

Need Help? (800) 366-4778 • https://support.ecisolutions.com • ddms_training@ecisolutions.com

3/4/2011: DDMS 8.26.2 Speeds Up Order Entry History

DDMS 8.26.2 Speeds Up Order Entry History

March 4, 2011 — The DDMS 8.26.2 maintenance release is ready for download now. It includes one change:

57553 - Significantly speeds up the display of results in Order Entry History when the query involves large orders or multiple yearly journals, by streamlining queries for P-LINE and P-LINE2 just like the queries for specials.

More Info On Recent DDMS Version 8 Releases

2/23/2011: Get Monthly Price Files for March Via O/PUS PSN

We are happy to announce that all standard monthly files are available now for download via PSNControl from S.P. Richards and United Stationers.

Some dealer-specific plans may be provided later. When you use PSNControl to download the files, the Transfer List date display will indicate when any vendor pricing file was last updated.

ProductPro™ and FurnitureAdvantage™ programs are usually ready to download on the first Monday of the month — in this case, March 7.

All files can be processed using the U_SPR and U_UNI loading programs via graphical multiloaders (UpdateSPR.exe and UpdateUNI.exe) or text-based (+IFP).

For additional details, see:

2/22/2011: DDMS 8.26.1 Ready for Download

February 22, 2011 — The DDMS 8.26 maintenance release is ready for download now. It includes dozens of software changes to flow and usability to help you work more efficiently and increase the speed of business to keep pace with advances in technology. Click the links below for more details.

DDMS Supports 64-Bit Servers or Clients (# 57464) »

DDMS Supports XNET Text-Based Client Software for Win'08 »

Automate ECinteractive Guest User Account Creation in DDMS (57310) »

Dealer-Requested Updates to BEI Reports (57383 and 57425) »

2/8/2011: Alert: DDMS 8.26 Will Be Last to Load on Windows 2000

DDMS Alert: DDMS 8.26 Will Be Last to Load on Windows 2000

Dear ECi DDMS Customer:

In June, we notified you that Microsoft was discontinuing support and patches for Windows 2000, and advised you of several risks involved in continuing to run DDMS on Windows 2000.

The constraints that Microsoft has imposed on developers limit the support that ECi DDMS can provide for the older operating system. SQL development must follow the rules that Microsoft has set for the SQL/.NET architecture.

These Microsoft rules now force our developers to leverage the technology and security enhancements that are ONLY available in Windows 2003 and 2008.

Due to these constraints, ECi DDMS must move toward its own Windows 2000 "sunset." The last version that you will be able to install on Windows 2000 will be DDMS 8.26, due for release in mid-February.

We Will Support DDMS 8.26 on Windows 2000 (for a while)

Rest assured, we will continue to support DDMS 8.26 on Windows 2000 for some time. We want to give you plenty of time to budget for a server upgrade.

Windows 2000 Misses Out on Features in DDMS 10.0+

However, if you are still on the Windows 2000 platform, you will not be able to take advantage of new features in DDMS 10.0 and subsequent releases, which will only be able to be installed on Windows 2003 or 2008.

Here are a few examples of upcoming features:

SQL 2008 Express expands your server's capacity to use all your business data!

Go paperless more than ever with EBS SQL Order Analysis. Quickly look up profitability on screen by customer, contract, or salesperson without having to print out reams of paper! Drill down usage per item and class, and view everything in Order History plus a whole lot more!

Displaying S.P. Richards On-Hand Quantities in real time on your ECinteractive site lets shoppers know what's ready for next-day delivery, minimizing backorders and boosting buy-now urgency!

Graphical Machine Billing will streamline contract renewals, meter readings, and lease and meter billings — and make exceptions easier to handle!

Order Entry will soon allow Coupon Codes, no longer limited to Web orders!

Only on Windows 2003 and 2008 will you be able to use future enhancements in DDMS 10.0 and above, designed to speed up your system's responsiveness, streamline operations, save costs, increase margins, and keep you competitive in the marketplace.

Plan Ahead for Your Server Upgrade to Windows 2003 or 2008

Leveraging the latest technology will overcome the limitations of the older operating systems. Our development teams will be able to tap into pre-built logic and tools so we don't have to reinvent the wheel.

As a result, DDMS customers on Windows 2003 and 2008 will be able to enjoy:

Faster throughput of increasing amounts of data!

Increased security for sensitive customer transactions, and compliance with ever evolving industry standards!

Closer integration with multiple wholesaler and manufacturer systems and third party services that add value to your system!

Speedier release to market for all the features our customers demand!

Evaluating Server Needs

If you suffer from an older server, our associates can help you evaluate your needs.

Click here to evaluate your needs and options on upgrading your server. Special pricing and financing options are available to you.

For more details, see our updated System Requirements.

Need More Info? 866-374-3221 • info@ecisolutions.com

2/4/2011: More Flexibility With Approvals in ECinteractive 10.1

ECi will load the major release Version 10.1 live on ECinteractive® and is.D-Force® 2 Web servers this weekend.

This software update is scheduled between 9 PM CST Saturday, Feb. 5, and 6 AM CST Sunday, Feb 6.

Since this falls within ECi's Standard Weekly Data Center Maintenance timeframe, no changes are required to Site Maintenance schedules.

Version 10.1 gives your customers the freedom to delegate authority for approving orders, gives shoppers a chance at checkout to change orders that exceed budgetary and approval limits, and makes it simpler than ever to track the status of orders.

Delegate Authority in Approval Forwarding

What if the manager at the top of the approval chain goes on vacation? Or leaves the organization? Now approval users — or admin users — can delegate approval authority for a set or indefinite time! More »

Transfer Order Approval Among Users

Now you can help more when your customers need it on order approvals! In Order Management, transfer an approval order to a higher-level approval user in the current chain. Unlock orders and view logs, too! More »

Checkout Warns if Over Budget/Approval

The checkout page now indicates to what extent the order meets or exceeds budgetary and approval limits. Shoppers can change their order as needed! More »

Toggle Approval Chain Quick/Detail View

In Approval Chains, now you can toggle between the original Quick View and the new Detail View released in Version 10.0, and still expand/collapse as needed! More »

New Order Detail Lists Changes, Items

You and your customers can now see the entire history of an order, including reasons why it was held up (such as for approval), and change details (such as approvers' changes to quantities or items)! More »

Consistency Rules #1 Best Seller Rank

The #1 Best Sellers item is now first, instead of #9999. This rank order is automatically adjusted for all dealers, so all merchandising ranks are consistent. More »

1/28/2011: Learn About 5 Fab Features for ECinteractive 10.1

Learn About 5 Fab Features for ECinteractive 10.1
Ta-Da! It's coming the first weekend of February — a new version of ECinteractive and is.D-Force 2. Version 10.1 gives your customers the freedom to delegate authority for approving orders, gives shoppers a chance at checkout to change orders that exceed budgetary and approval limits, and makes it simpler than ever to track the status of orders. Delegate Approval Authority What if the manager at the top of the approval chain goes on vacation? Or leaves the organization? Now approval users — or admin users — can delegate approval authority for a set or indefinite time! Transfer Order Approval Among Users Now you can help more when your customers need it on order approvals! In Order Management, transfer an approval order to a higher-level approval user in the current chain. Unlock orders and view logs, too! Prompt Budget/Approval Limits at Checkout The checkout page now indicates to what extent the order meets or exceeds budgetary and approval limits. Shoppers can change their order as needed! Toggle Approval Chain Quick/Detail View In Approval Chains, now you can toggle between the original Quick View and the new Detail View released in Version 10.0, and still expand/collapse as needed! New Order Detail Page Lists Changes, Items You and your customers can now see the entire history of an order, including reasons why it was held up (such as for approval), and details of changes (such as approvers' changes to quantities or items)! Consistency Rules #1 Best Seller Rank The #1 Best Sellers item is now first, instead of #9999. This rank order is automatically adjusted for all dealers, so all merchandising ranks are consistent.	Join your ECi Technical Support Team in a one-hour tour of the new features in Version 10.1. Pick a session: Wednesday, February 9, 2011 1:00-2:00 pm CT Thursday, February 10, 2011 10:00-11:00 am CT Friday, February 11, 2011 10:00-11:00 am CT These sessions are limited to 48 seats. Invite colleagues to attend from one workstation. If you no longer see a link on the Virtual Class Calendar, the class is full. As a courtesy to other customers who wish to join us, register your company only once, and let us know if you cannot attend as planned.

1/19/2011: 7 Super New Features in DDMS 8.25.0

January 19, 2011 — The DDMS 8.25 major release helps you expand your business and work more efficiently with technology both familiar and new.

This major release includes seven super software enhancements (below) and dozens of other software changes (see detail):

Shortcuts for: All Dealers | Supplies | Furniture | Machines

For All Dealers

1. Two New SQL Reports Ease Receiving Purchase Orders

Purchasing gurus will love our two new SQL reports — PO Receiving Report by Vendor and POs Received not Posted by Vendor. Both reports include both current and journal files and can be limited to date range. More »

2. New Due Date Limit Helps You Look Up Custom & Refill Orders

Do you sell custom printing, engraving, stamps, furniture, or machines? What about regular refills of coffee, water, or janitorial and sanitation supplies? When browsing Order Entry, it's easy to limit to a specific due date. More »

3. Eliminate A/R Re-Keying — Import Remittance Spreadsheets

The main efficiency driver of DDMS is how it handles data without the need for your staff to re-key it. What if you receive check remittance information from a customer or bank in an Excel spreadsheet? More »

4. New XNET Text Based Interface for Windows 2008 Servers

If you are running DDMS on a Windows 2008 Server, the new XNET Server and Client software is required in order to access certain text-based parameters, reports, and applications. (This XNET software can also be used on Windows 2003 Servers running DDMS.) Learn how to install this new software. More »

For Supplies Dealers

5. Import Offline Adjustments to Customer Price Plan Spreadsheets

Offline? Fine! When salespeople and execs are not logged in to DDMS, they can use a spreadsheet to adjust prices on multiple items on multiple price plans by percent, dollar change, or new dollar amount. Import it later! More »

For Furniture Dealers

6. Simplify Herman Miller Ordering Via PSN (Free!)

Herman Miller furniture dealers who previously had to manually upload files to KIOSK can streamline the task using the ECi Private Supply Network (PSN). Behind-the-Scenes Transfer Eliminates Manual Upload. Functional Acknowledgement Via PSN — New to KIOSK. Override Redirects Orders For Special Handling. More »

7. Assign Dealer Sales Representative Email, Percent of Order

New data will be required to communicate purchase orders with Allsteel, HON, Gunlocke, and Paoli. For seamless communication, set up DSR email addresses now, and know your salesperson order percentage options! More »

More Info On Recent DDMS Version 8 Releases

Need Help? (800) 366-4778 • https://support.ecisolutions.com • ddmssupport@ecisolutions.com

1/14/2011: SP Richards Price Corrections Ready to Load

Friday, Jan. 14, 2011 — Updated files are available to load S.P. Richards' price corrections on several hundred items that you may have loaded for Q1 2011.

OPUS, OPUSTPA — Dealers who have not yet run SIMPLE can download the new OPUS and price plan files that include the changes. For instructions, see your O/PUS Quick Reference Checklist (pdf).

SPR-JAN and individual price files — Dealers who have already run SIMPLE need only use the U_SPR loading program via graphical multiloader (UpdateSPR.exe) or text-based (+IFP). For instructions, see S.P. Richards Monthly Price Plan Update.

S.P. Richards Reduces Prices, Removes a Contract

Downloading and processing the updated files resolves four issues that S.P. Richards discovered last week in their Q1 2011 price file after it was already released to us:

Acco's decision to rescind a previously announced price increase

A reduction in pricing on Basyx by HON seating

Changes to S.P. Richards' Business Source pricing, resulting in lower costs on this product line

S.P. Richards' decision to remove the DCC contract from the Q1 contract offering

Changes Result in Lower Product Costs For You

According to S.P. Richards' recent Note About Q1 2011 Price Files,

"We recognize this represents an abnormal number of changes to our Q1 price files and this is not, and will not become our standard practice.

However, in almost every case noted above, the changes will ultimately result in lower product cost to our dealers.

That lower cost is currently being passed along to our dealers upon invoicing as our system has been updated to reflect correct pricing, however most dealers want the cost in their system to match the cost in the SPR system. It is with that in mind that we are taking this course. ...

We apologize for any inconvenience and additional work this action causes and wanted to make sure to communicate this as soon as possible.

Please contact our Helpdesk at 888-763-2615 or helpdesk@sprich.com as soon as possible with any questions or concerns."

1/7/2011: ECi Loads Quarterly Web Content THIS WEEKEND

Dear ECi Customers:

Friday, Jan. 7, 2011 — ECi Content Services and Operations will update your Web storefront servers with new quarterly catalog images and content THIS WEEKEND:

Starting at 11 pm CST Friday, Jan. 7
Ending by 8 pm CST Sunday, Jan. 9

This maintenance affects the following sites:

ECinteractive®
is.D-Force® 2
Original is.D-Force®
Dealer Station®
Dealer Station® Xtended

The content load is in addition to ECi's standard data center maintenance tasks (www.ddms.com/support/massfax/dcMtceWindow.htm). As a result, this weekend requires an extended maintenance window.

You may wish to set up or adjust your site's Automatic Scheduled Maintenance and site text, if applicable. For details, see your online help.

While the Web server is offline, you and your customers will be unable to connect to your storefront site. We will notify you via email with any updates on Sunday.

Sincerely,

ECi Technical Support

1/4/2011: Update (L4) Federal Tax Tables for 2011 Payroll Now

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has published payroll tax withholding amounts that are applicable for wages paid in 2011.

If you use DDMS Payroll, update your payroll parameters now to reflect new tax withholding rates.

How Do I Update Tax Tables for 2011?

For illustrated instructions, see Setting (L4) Federal Payroll Taxes for 2011 (pdf). More »

Does this apply to me?

This only applies to dealers who use the DDMS Payroll application to pay employees who earn wages and pay federal taxes in the United States.

When Should I Do These Steps?

AFTER you close Payroll and print W-2s for 2010,

But BEFORE you run your first payroll for 2011.

What Are Some Key Changes?

For 2011, the Employee tax rate for Social Security is 4.2% (which differs from the Employer Social Security rate that remains at 6.2%).

The Federal Dependent Allowance is now $3700.

For illustrated details, see Setting (L4) Federal Payroll Taxes for 2011 (pdf).

What About the Extra Row?

To comply with new rates introduced last year for those grossing more than $375,000 (single) or $381,400 (married) in 2010, DDMS 8.22 added a 9th tier to the (L4) parameter screen.

However, the 2011 tax tables do not use the 9th tier of tax withholding rates.

Please fill the extra row with 9s, and use the top tax amounts and percentages in that row.

You may need to reverse a workaround published prior to the DDMS 8.22 software update.

For illustrated details, see Setting (L4) Federal Payroll Taxes for 2011 (pdf).

Where Can I Get More Information?

See Year-End FAQs on 2010 Tax Reports and First Payroll of 2011.

Please note, you are responsible for determining exactly how the tax laws affect your payroll.

Consult your accountant and the IRS Publication 15 (Circular E) Employer's Tax Guide for 2011 (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15.pdf).

12/28/2010: O/PUS Super Store Data Update Files Ready to Load

O/PUS has completed processing and testing the Super Store item and pricing update files from Trade Service, and made them available to download via PSNControl.

Using your PSNControl software, you can download either of two super store data files:

The standard edition (filename SSDitems) includes super store name and SKU -- FREE as part of your O/PUS subscription.
The premium edition (filename SSDpricing) includes everything in the standard edition, but also includes pricing, units of measure, and packaging information. When you download the SSDpricing file in PSNControl each quarter, the software will prompt for a new authorization code.

PRICING AUTHORIZATION NOTE: The premium SSDpricing update is offered by Trade Service for an additional fee and requires a new authorization code each quarter(*); last quarter's authorization code has expired. To authorize the pricing update for this quarter, you must give Trade Service the "request" code that you may obtain while downloading the file in PSNControl, or when you attempt to begin the SSD Update.

Dealers who signed up for an annual subscription to SSDpricing updates should have received their authorization codes for four quarters if you have called Trade Service at least one time. If you haven't called them or have misplaced your codes please contact Trade Service at 866-561-5940, Monday through Friday 8 am to 5 pm PST.

The SSD Update is a completely optional post-load procedure. We recommend that you run the SSD Update only after you have completed all your other O/PUS quarter-end and post-load procedures. Although your SSD Update settings take only a few seconds, data processing may take an estimated 90 minutes.

Trade Service recommends using the Super Store pricing data as a "benchmark" position from which to develop your own customer-specific pricing. The Office Depot and Office Max pricing represent a single national price, while the Staples pricing has been broken down into three broad U.S. regions (Western, Mid-Western, and Eastern). Please be aware that the pricing data may not reflect your exact geographic location nor any variance that may be due to special or temporary promotional pricing.

Note: Quill and Corporate Express only provide item cross-reference data; they do NOT provide pricing data. In addition to item cross-references, Trade Service obtains "Single National Pricing" data for Office Depot and Office Max, and "Regional Pricing" (West, Midwest, and East) for Staples.

For detailed instructions on using the Super Store Data, see Super Store Data Update (pdf).

12/28/2010: Closed December 31 Except for Period-End Support

Closed December 31 Except for Period-End Support

ECi offices are closed Friday, December 31, to observe the New Year's Holiday.

However, 24/7 Support will be available during the holiday when calling our standard Technical Support number, 800-366-4778.

As always, calling Technical Support during a holiday or outside of business hours (7 AM to 8:30 PM Central Time, Monday through Friday) is billable unless you subscribe to 24/7 Support services.

When Do You Offer Complimentary Period-End Support?

This year, we offer complimentary Period-End Support via fax and e-mail on FRIDAY the 31st of December:

Friday, December 31, 2010
9 AM - 4 PM Central Time

Why Friday? (What Happened to Saturday Support?) At the end of every quarter, we typically offer complimentary support on a Saturday. It is part of our effort to better serve DDMS customers with quarter-end catalog updates and day-end, month-end, and year-end reporting.

The two Saturdays that we would normally consider this year fall on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The ECi family understands that the time we all spend during this holiday season with friends and family is priceless.

On Friday, December 31st, ECi offices will be closed along with many businesses and wholesalers to observe New Year's Eve. However, we have heard from many dealers that this is the day they planned to work on year-end.

We left the choice up to you, our customers. In an online poll Oct. 8-15, we gave all DDMS customers a voice in choosing which day would be most helpful to you. An overwhelming majority ruled in selecting Friday, December 31st over Saturday, January 1.

Contact Methods. During this time, you can send questions relating to day-end, month-end, year-end, and quarter-end O/PUS procedures three ways:

Email: ddmssupport@ecisolutions.com
Fax: 682-831-9909
Online: https://support.ECiSolutions.com

There is no charge for period-end support requests submitted via fax or email during the scheduled hours.

Limited Topics for Free Support. However, this support is available only for questions about your period-end procedures, including day-end, month-end, year-end, and quarter-end O/PUS procedures. All other issues must be referred to our standard Saturday or 24/7 support services, which may be billable.

All phone calls during the special Period-End Support period will be routed to the 24/7 service and are billable if you do not subscribe to the 24/7 service.

Meanwhile, we wish you a safe and happy holiday!

12/27/2010: O/PUS Ready to Load

We sent O/PUS Update Notes: 1Q2011 Ready to Load to all O/PUS customers.

12/20/2010 — Year-End Hints: Ready for 2010 Tax and First Payroll of 2011

To help you prepare for year-end, this fourth bulletin in a series of hints is here to answer your frequently asked questions about payroll, tax tables, the vendor year-end function, and printing W-2 and 1099 forms:

What W-2 and 1099 Stock Should I Order?

To ensure you get the appropriate stock for your printer, look to your Year-End KeyOps FAQs on Preparing to Print 1099s and W-2s. More »

Can I Automate Vendor 1099-MISC?

The Vendor Remit/Settings tab has three 1099 fields to ensure your 1099-MISC tax forms print the tax IDs and YTD amounts for your contract laborers. More »

How do I Postpone Vendor Year-End?

If you have outstanding invoices to post, learn how to postpone the vendor year-end function. More »

How do I Set (LH-N) Personnel Parameters?

If any personnel records show first name first (as in “JANE DOE”), use the Swap Name parameter to print last name first, avoiding W-2 form overlap. More »

How do I Pay Employees a Bonus?

How do I update Tax Withholding for 2011?

The IRS has not yet published the new tax tables for 2011. We will notify you when they are ready! After you close Payroll and print all reports and W-2s for 2010, update (L4) payroll parameters to reflect tax withholding rates for wages paid in 2011. More »

12/17/2010 — Parameters to Review for 1st Quarter Load

Friday, Dec. 17, 2010 — With the release of the vendors' 2011 printed catalogs, vendors typically make significant changes to units of measures, unit of measure names, as well as addition or deletion of items. Because of the amount of changes the vendors will make this quarter, we would like to highlight a few parameters that are especially helpful for your 1st quarter load. As in all other quarter loads, we recommend that you always review all your SIMPLE parameters to ensure they are set to best fit your business's needs.

Anticipated O/PUS Release Dates

OPUSInstall.exe, OPUS, OPUSTPA, and the FYI² Notes newsletter are all slated for release the week of December 27.

First Page of SIMPLE Global Parameters

ADD NEW ITEMS TO MY INVENTORY
With the release of a new year's printed catalog, vendors take the opportunity to add new product lines and additional SKUs. Selecting this parameter allows new items, carried by your selected vendors, to be added to your DDMS Inventory database.
RETAIL, LIST, BUY — UNIT OF MEASURE SHOULD BE USED FOR NEW ITEMS
This parameter is used in conjunction with the previous "add items" parameter to determine which unit of measure is used when new items are added to your inventory database (this does not change your existing items' unit of measure).
- RETAIL is the smallest unit of measure possible — many times the RETAIL unit is an EACH, which can be much smaller than the unit of measure carried by the wholesaler.
- LIST is based on the manufacturers' packaging unit and sometimes will be larger than the unit of measure carried by the wholesaler.
- BUY is equal to the unit of measure in which your wholesaler sells the item to their dealers. Most dealers prefer to add new items using the BUY unit as the master selling unit, because they want to sell the new items in the same unit in which they must purchase them from their wholesaler.
[ ] IS THE STOCK CLASS FOR NEW ITEMS ADDED TO MY INVENTORY
This parameter is used to determine which item stock class is used when new items are created in your inventory database (this does not change your existing items' stock classes). Some dealers prefer to use a unique stock class, which they are not currently utilizing to classify items in their DDMS system, to make it easier to identify the new items added to their inventory. Or, you may choose to specify the same stock class you are currently using to identify the items that are fulfilled by your wholesaler.
UPDATE ITEM NUMBER CHANGES FROM VENDORS

This prompt allows SIMPLE to change old stock numbers in your files to the new stock numbers the vendor is now using. The simple load will automatically convert the keys of related files, (such as on-hand quantities, history, contracts etc) from the old number to the new number.

NOTE: The third page of the Global parameters gives you the option to exclude certain items, based on their stock class, from being changed by OPUS. You may enter stock classes that you DO NOT want OPUS to update specific fields or you can choose for specified stock classes to not be updated at all.

Second Page of SIMPLE Global Parameters

UPDATE CONSUMER CATALOG PAGE NUMBERS

With the release of the new 2011 catalogs, most dealers will want to update their Primary Wholesaler’s page numbers in their DDMS database. The SIMPLE Wizard will prompt you, “This Update Contains NEW CATALOG Page Numbers. The UPDATE CONSUMER CATALOG PAGE NUMBERS prompt has been set to [Y]. Do you want Your Page Numbers to be UPDATED? Yes/No.” Choosing this prompt will allow you to reset the catalog page numbers to match those provided by the vendors for their 2011 catalog.

NOTE: By default, SIMPLE loads the page numbers from the vendor's General Line List Price Catalog. The page numbers field in the item's Primary Wholesaler's record will be updated with this information. For dealers that do not use the General Line List Price Catalog at all, may choose to use the +IU after SIMPLE to replace the General Line List Price catalog page numbers with an alternative catalog's page numbers. See details on using the +IU in Viewing Page Numbers from Special Catalogs
www.ddms.com/resources/support/faq/opus/OECatPgNum.pdf
RESET MY SELLING UNIT WHEN UPDATING LIST PRICE

Selecting this option will allow changes to be made to the name of the unit to match its pricing category. For example, a vendor might change a unit of measure name for a package of 2 batteries from card [CD] to pack [PK]. The unit in which they sell it has not changed (2 batteries), only the name of the unit.

NOTE: This parameter does not change your selling Unit of Measure — only the name.
RUN MAKE-BUYS AFTER THE UPDATE

Selecting this parameter will allow the SIMPLE program to convert your DDMS Master selling UOM to match your primary wholesaler's buy unit. By default, this option will convert your selling unit of measure when the wholesaler's BUY UOM is larger than your DDMS master selling UOM. You also have control over which items are converted by listing the item stock classes you DO want to convert.

The Make-Buy function does more than just convert your selling units to buy units. It also:
- Adjusts your costs and prices to reflect the new selling units
- Adjusts the relevant inventory quantities: on-hand, backorders, on-order, allocated, month-to-date sold, and so forth
- Recalculates the weight for the new selling unit
- Recalculates your contracts in the [ET] screen, or Customer Price Plans Program, based on the new selling units
NOTE: A separate parameter gives you the option to also convert your selling UOM when it is larger than the wholesaler's BUY UOM. See parameter below - "Convert your items with Larger Sell UOM to Match the Whlsrs Smaller Buy UOM"
Make-Buys - ENTER UP TO 10 STOCK CLASSES YOU DO WANT TO CHANGE THE SELLING UNIT OF MEASURE
This parameter allows you to control which items are converted. Only the items that match the stock classes you enter in these spaces will have their selling unit converted by the Make-Buys program. You may enter individual stock classes, or using the first three spaces, enter a range of stock classes. To enter a range, use the first space as the stock class to specify the "From" portion of the range, place a dash in the second space, and use the third space for the stock class specifying the "To" portion of the range. When using the first three spaces for a range, stock classes entered in the fourth through tenth spaces will be in addition to those within the range specified. Examples:
[2] [Y] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] = updates the 2 and Y stock class
[Ø] [-] [Z] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] = updates ALL classes
[A] [-] [L] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] = updates classes A thru L
[A] [-] [L] [O] [P] [U] [S] [ ] [ ] = updates classes A thru L, and classes O, P, U, S
Note: You must specify at least ONE stock class if using the Make-Buys program. Leaving the stock ranges blank will NOT convert any items.
CONVERT YOUR ITEMS WITH LARGER SELL UOM TO MATCH THE WHLSRS SMALLER BUY UOM
By default, the Make-Buys program adjusts your selling UOM to match your primary wholesaler's buy unit when the buy UOM is larger than your DDMS master selling UOM. By selecting this parameter, you may choose for the Make-Buys program to also adjust your selling UOM when it is larger than the wholesaler's BUY UOM.
For more details on running the Make Buys program, see Handling Vendor UOM Changes with Make-Buys
http://www.ddms.com/resources/support/faq/opus/uomchanges.pdf

Parameters in the Vendor Specific Screens

ADD ITEMS SHOWN IN THE [VENDOR] CONSUMER CATALOG ONLY
Some of the vendor specific parameter screens in SIMPLE give you the option to only add the new items if they are included in the vendor's General Line List Price catalog. If you select this parameter, there will be some items that are carried by the vendor that will not be added to your database.

For documentation covering all of the basic quarterly catalog update concepts and procedures for DDMS, see Loading O/PUS
www.ddms.com/Resources/Support/faq/opus/OPUSload.pdf

12/17/2010: Year-End Hints: Yes You Can Close G/L Now!

To help you prepare for year-end, this third bulletin in a series of hints is here to answer your frequently asked questions about closing your books:

Should I close G/L, or wait for all postings?

Yes, close now. Thanks to the Close G/L Period feature, you can reopen any 2009 period to add or adjust postings in 2010. The only reason to wait is if you still haven't finished postings from 2008. More »

What's New in General Ledger for 2010?

To streamline closing G/L and minimize confusion, we have updated several steps and FAQs in the Year-End KeyOps. More »

How do I use the Close G/L Period feature?

Learn how easy graphical Chart of Accounts makes it to keep batches from posting to the G/L books for any period you want to keep closed. More »

Why would I want to post to a closed period?

Several changes are plausible, including an incorrect posting, late entries, new accounts, and changes to categories or budget figures. More »

How do I post to a closed G/L period?

Well, you can't actually post to a closed G/L period. But you can specify that the period prior to it is closed, which opens up your possibilities. More »

How do I reopen a period for posting?

Let's say after closing G/L for 2010, you want to post to fiscal 10 period 06. What do you set as the current period in the Close G/L Period window? More »

How do I protect from mis-entered postings?

You can set up a Close G/L Period Password in your parameters. Users will be prompted for this password when making a change to a closed business period. More »

What if I can't view history after closing G/L?

There are two methods to correct this issue: file compression and running the Data Dictionary utility. More »

12/13/2010: Year-End Hints: Archiving 2010 Journals

To help you prepare for year-end, this second bulletin in a series of hints is here to answer your frequently asked questions about renaming journals:

A: How Do I Archive Sales Journals?

It's a mandatory month-end step — you'll use (MIR) to rename sales journal files. Learn what steps should be complete before you begin. More »

B. Should I Sync SQL Beforehand?

Learn how easy it is to do a “changes only” (or delta) sync, and when to do it to ensure your 2009 journals are up to date. More »

C: What if I Get Errors While Renaming?

Problems with file name conventions or typos can cause errors to occur. Learn how to avoid them. More »

D: Why Use the My Renamed Journals Worksheet from Year-End KeyOps?

This handy chart shows all the files renamed at year-end, along with the parameter screens that determine whether your archived data shows up in history. More »

E: Why Merge Sales Journals?

Learn how the (MIM) step to merge last year's sales journals into a single year-to-date file makes reporting and history lookups easier. More »

F: How Do I Archive A/P, A/R, & P/O?

It's mandatory at year-end —learn how to use (ZF7) to rename accounts payable, accounts receivable, and purchase order journal files. More »

G: Can We Automate Renaming Better?

Yes! ECi Professional Services can update older procs to avoid hang-ups during month-end at the end of January — and let you to search up to 10 years of history! More »

12/3/2010: Announcing ECinteractive, is.D-Force 2 Version 10.0

ECi will soon load the major release Version 10.0 live on ECinteractive® and is.D-Force® 2 Web servers.

This software update is scheduled between 9 PM CST Saturday, Dec. 4, and 6 AM CST Sunday, Dec. 5.

Since this falls within ECi's Standard Weekly Data Center Maintenance timeframe, no changes are required to Site Maintenance schedules.

Version 10.0 lets you boost shopping urgency, and makes it simpler than ever to manage your Web shopping site preferences, custom catalog items, and customer approval chains.

Show Your Quantity On Hand in Item Detail

To minimize backorders and boost buy-now urgency, you can let your shoppers know if the item they are ordering is currently on your shelves (#3219). More »

Dashboard Streamlines Site Preferences

Find it fast, and tweak your site in a snap! The new dashboard groups your Site Preference settings. (#12033, 11982, 12041) More »

Confirm Orders Per Your Local Time Zone

No more "server time" discrepancies in order confirmations and other emails. Select your local time zone, and update Auto Scheduled Maintenance. (#9336) More »

Customize Your Error Messages

"No Results Found?" "Items Not Allowed?" "Unexpected Error?" Now you can get creative with your own custom message with our HTML-ready WYSIWYG Editor. (#10534, #10535) More »

Expand & Print Approval Chains With Ease

New drill-down views make it easy to review approval group settings, and report to customers. (#5589, #11050) More »

Augment United Web Catalog Details

Now you can get truly creative and promotional in describing products in United Stationers , without creating a redundant custom catalog entry. (#11451) More »

Upsell & Go Green with United Smart Search

Gain those compliance-minded national accounts: Smart Search now has a "Green" filter and Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS). You'll also upsell more with the enhanced Products to Consider! (#11455) More »

12/1/2010: ECi Closes Early Friday Dec. 3

See ECi Closes Early Friday Dec. 3.

11/30/2010: Free Training: What To Know For Year-End

See Free Training: What To Know For Year-End.

11/24/2010: Get Monthly Price Files for December Via O/PUS PSN

We are happy to announce that all standard monthly files are available now for download via PSNControl from S.P. Richards and United Stationers.

The master O/PUS files (OPUS and OPUSTPA) will be updated for download the evening of Tuesday, November 30.

Some dealer-specific plans may be provided later. When you use PSNControl to download the files, the Transfer List date display will indicate when any vendor pricing file was last updated.

ProductPro™ and FurnitureAdvantage™ programs are usually ready to download on the first Monday of the month — in this case, December 6.

All files can be processed using the U_SPR and U_UNI loading programs via graphical multiloaders (UpdateSPR.exe and UpdateUNI.exe) or text-based (+IFP).

For additional details, see:

11/18/2010: Learn What's New in ECinteractive 10.0

It's coming the first weekend of December — a new version of ECinteractive and is.D-Force 2. Version 10.0 lets you boost shopping urgency, and makes it simpler than ever to manage your Web shopping site preferences, error text, United Smart Search items, and customer approval chains.

Join your ECi Technical Support Team in a one-hour tour of the new features in Version 10.0.

For more details, see the original announcement: Learn What's New in ECinteractive 10.0

11/18/2010: Your RoadMap-Specific 2010 Year-End KeyOps Is Online Now

Your RoadMap-Specific 2010 Year-End KeyOps Is Online Now

To help you prepare for year-end, this first bulletin in a series of hints is here to answer your frequently asked questions about new year-end procedures, training, and period-end support:

A: What's New for Year-End 2010?

We completely updated year-end procedures with new streamlined steps in the Year-End 2010 KeyOps. This year, there are 10 notable changes. More »

B. What Do I Do First to Prepare?

Use this checklist of 7 steps. More »

C: When are ECi's Holiday Closures?

ECi closes its offices on the nearest weekdays to observe Christmas Eve and Day and New Year's Day. Support during holidays is billable. More »

D: When is DDMS Free Period-End Support?

Majority rules on our Saturday Support survey: you'd rather have us available — free via email and portal — on Friday, Dec. 31, not New Year's Day . More »

E: What Training Can I Get for Year-End?

We have O/PUS and Year-End training, plus new classes on Periodic System Maintenance, and Closing (and Reopening) General Ledger — all free! More »

F: Can I Get a Walk-Through of My Steps?

Individualized step-by-step guidance on year-end is beyond the scope of your regular support team. Try DDMS Professional Services! More »

G: What Other Year-End Hints are Coming?

We will email you practical Year-End Hints every week in December. More »

11/15/2010: Get Unplugged: Phase Out Dumb Terminals, Specialix

Because of the march of technology and lack of availability of Specialix support, ECi must suspend its attempts to keep dying serial technology alive. Plan now to phase out dumb terminals and serial printers — before you need a replacement or upgrade server. See Get Unplugged: Phase Out Dumb Terminals, Specialix.

11/2/2010: 17 Prime New Features in DDMS 8.24.21 Major Release

New! 17 Prime New Features in DDMS 8.24.21 Major Release ECi DDMS Version 8.23.20 is now available for download from the ECi Customer Support Portal. This major release includes 17 new features and dozens of other software changes: Auto-Send Email Order Confirmation, Expand Format IDs, Electronic Invoicing Ties Customer Contact to Attention, Monitor Open A/P Vendor Deposits, New Warning Against Vendor MisMatch When Applying Deposits, Easier Lookup of ShipTo Addresses in the Customer Window, Control Priority of Print Jobs (No waiting!), New Warning Against Incorrectly Specifying a P/O Range, EDI Orders Now Split Lines to Automate Fulfillment of EDI Backorders, Additional Customer Limits in ASB Free Up Route Codes, Export and Import Customer Price Plans, Report GSA FSSI Credit Card Authorization Code to is.group, Scheduler Shows Shipped, UnInvoiced Orders for Delivery/Install, Exclude Items from Being Repriced in Third Party Billing, Read Meters Remotely Via PrintFleet or FM Audit, Automatically Track Meter History in Contract & Machine Detail, Update Machine G/L Location on Sale, Loan, Lease, or Demo, and Browse Machines From Contract and Machine Detail.

10/28/2010: Get Monthly Price Files for November Via O/PUS PSN

We are happy to announce that all standard monthly files are available now for download via PSNControl from S.P. Richards and United Stationers.

Some dealer-specific plans may be provided later. When you use PSNControl to download the files, the Transfer List date display will indicate when any vendor pricing file was last updated.

ProductPro™ and FurnitureAdvantage™ programs are usually ready to download on the first Monday of the month — in this case, November 1.

All files can be processed using the U_SPR and U_UNI loading programs via graphical multiloaders (UpdateSPR.exe and UpdateUNI.exe) or text-based (+IFP).

For additional details, see:

10/21/2010: ECi Data Center Gears Up for Growth This Weekend

As we anticipate this year's record-breaking growth to continue, we are upgrading hardware, increasing redundancy, expanding disk capacity, accelerating processing power, and strengthening availability in our network. Each affected server will temporarily be down on a staggered schedule of backup, switchover, and configuration testing, beginning 10 pm CDT Friday, Oct. 22, and ending by 3 pm CDT Saturday, Oct. 23.

You and your customers will be temporarily unable to connect to your Web storefronts or transmit purchasing transactions. All hosted services are affected, as are all ECi communications, including Web sites, support portals, email, and voice mail, on a staggered schedule during this maintenance.

See ECi Data Center Gears Up for Growth This Weekend.

9/30/2010: Period End Saturday Support

Period-End Saturday Support October 2

ECi DDMS again offers Saturday support for period-end and O/PUS quarter-end procedures:

Saturday, October 2

9 am – 4 pm Central Daylight Time.

No Phone Calls during Saturday Support.

For assistance at no charge on day-end, month-end and quarter-end O/PUS procedures, please send your question via portal or email.

As always on regular Saturday Support dates, PHONE CALLS ARE BILLABLE, AS THEY GO TO OUR 24/7 SERVICE.

When using our Online Portal (fastest https://support.ecisolutions.com), your contact information is in our system, so you merely describe the issue and attach any files that may be helpful.

When emailing (ddmssupport@ecisolutions.com) a Saturday Support request, please include a detailed problem description, your company name and account number, your first and last name, your e-mail address or phone number (and extension), and any relevant log files you can attach — to help us reach you and resolve the issue quickly.

During the scheduled hours for Quarter-End Saturday Support, there will be no charge for questions about your quarter-end O/PUS procedures. However, if your inquiry is received AFTER SCHEDULED HOURS, via PHONE, or ON A TOPIC UNRELATED to quarter-end O/PUS issues or period-end issues, you may be billed for 24/7 support.

9/24/2010: O/PUS Ready to Load

We sent O/PUS Update Notes: 4Q2010 Ready to Load to all O/PUS customers.

9/15/2010: Announcing DDMS 8.23.20 Maintenance Release

ECi DDMS Version 8.23.20 is now available for download from the ECi Customer Support Portal. This maintenance release includes 17 software changes. For details, see Announcing DDMS 8.23.20 Maintenance Release

8/26/2010: Get Get Monthly Price Files for September Via O/PUS PSN

We are happy to announce that all standard monthly files are available now for download via PSNControl from S.P. Richards and United Stationers.

Some dealer-specific plans may be provided later. When you use PSNControl to download the files, the Transfer List date display will indicate when any vendor pricing file was last updated.

ProductPro™ and FurnitureAdvantage™ programs is usually ready to download on the first Monday of the month — in this case, due to the Labor Day holiday, S.P. Richards plans to release them Tuesday, August 7.

All files can be processed using the U_SPR and U_UNI loading programs via graphical multiloaders (UpdateSPR.exe and UpdateUNI.exe) or text-based (+IFP).

For additional details, see:

7/30/2010: Announcing Version 9.2 ECinteractive and is.D-Force 2

ECi will soon load the major release Version 9.2 live on ECinteractive® and is.D-Force® 2 Web servers. This software update is currently slated 9 PM CST Saturday, July 31, to 6 AM CST Sunday, August 1.

Since this falls within ECi's Standard Weekly Data Center Maintenance timeframe, it does not require any changes to Site Maintenance schedule.

In this release, you'll find the following software changes:

Admin Enhancements:
1. Customer Management Revamped with Dashboard, Wizard
2. Customer Settings Redesigned To Make Exceptions Easy to Manage
3. Approval Group Pages Revamped Into Wizard
4. Account Administrator (Formerly Super User) in Domain Management
5. Admin Favorites Redesigned to Import Lists, Streamline Assignment
6. Import Rich Content for United Non-Catalog Items in Smart Search
7. CCI Viewer - Monitor Status of Catalog Combination Index
8. Itemless Email Marketing Flyers — Share News Without Having to Attach Items
Shopping Site Enhancements
1. Let Shoppers Go Social with Shared Favorites
2. Shopper's Account Administration (Formerly Super User)
3. Online Chat via ProvideSupport
4. Print Invoices on the Pay Invoices Page
Other Software Changes in This Release

For details, see Sneak Peek at What's New in Version 9.2 ECinteractive and is.D-Force 2

7/29/2010: Get Get Monthly Price Files for August Via O/PUS PSN

We are happy to announce that all standard monthly files are available now for download via PSNControl from S.P. Richards and United Stationers.

Some dealer-specific plans may be provided later. When you use PSNControl to download the files, the Transfer List date display will indicate when any vendor pricing file was last updated.

ProductPro™ and FurnitureAdvantage™ programs should be be ready to download on the first Monday of the month — in this case, August 2.

All files can be processed using the U_SPR and U_UNI loading programs via graphical multiloaders (UpdateSPR.exe and UpdateUNI.exe) or text-based (+IFP).

For additional details, see:

7/26/2010: Announcing Top 20+ New Features of DDMS 8.23.0 Major Release

Top 20+ New Features of DDMS 8.23

To help you take advantage of new technology, work more efficiently, and grow your business, ECi announces the DDMS 8.23 major release of 20+ new features and over 70 other software changes.

ECi Remote Server Backup Solution for DDMS
Level III Item Detail for A/R Postings Lowers Credit Card Processing Fees
Display Partial Credit Card Number in Order Entry
Global Return Reason Streamlines Credit Returns & Fee Calculations
Specify Preferred Vendor for any Backordered Item in Order Entry
Flag items to Ship Direct in Order Entry, Manual Short Buy
System Warning Before Deleting Orders With A/R Deposits
Set Vending Delivery Date for Picking Manifest
New SQL Report: Customer Shipto w/Tax District
Canadian Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) in Accounts Payable Invoice
Export Monthly sales data to CCH for ease in sales tax reporting
Gross Profit Refigure Option Helps Manage Margins in Customer Price Plans
Password Protect Customer Price Plans — and keep confidential data secure
Add Supplies Network PSN Advance Ship Notice, Electronic Invoicing
Deliver to National Accounts for TriMega Point Nationwide
New Imaging Solutions Via PSN with West Point Products
Allsteel and HNI (HON, Gunlocke and Paoli) Dealers:
Specify Multiple Ship To IDs per Bill To ID
HNI & Allsteel Dealers: Specify Deliver On/By Date with Ship Condition field
View Meter Readings in Call Detail tab of Last Ten Calls
Search for known calls in Machine Monitor Calls or Schedule tabs' Call Number
Improved Machine Work Orders Cursor Flow from Call Code to Text
System Warning Before Deleting Contracts With Machines

For details, see Announcing Top 20+ New Features of DDMS 8.23.

To get your software update, log in to https://support.ecisolutions.com,

click Software Downloads, and
follow the on-screen steps.

7/23/2010: Sneak Peek at What's New in Version 9.2 ECinteractive and is.D-Force 2

Since this falls within ECi's Standard Weekly Data Center Maintenance timeframe, it does not require any changes to Site Maintenance schedule.

In this release, you'll find the following software changes:

Admin Enhancements:
1. Customer Management Revamped with Dashboard, Wizard
2. Customer Settings Redesigned To Make Exceptions Easy to Manage
3. Approval Group Pages Revamped Into Wizard
4. Account Administrator (Formerly Super User) in Domain Management
5. Admin Favorites Redesigned to Import Lists, Streamline Assignment
6. Import Rich Content for United Non-Catalog Items in Smart Search
7. CCI Viewer - Monitor Status of Catalog Combination Index
8. Itemless Email Marketing Flyers — Share News Without Having to Attach Items
Shopping Site Enhancements
1. Let Shoppers Go Social with Shared Favorites
2. Shopper's Account Administration (Formerly Super User)
3. Online Chat via ProvideSupport
4. Print Invoices on the Pay Invoices Page
Other Software Changes in This Release

For details, see Sneak Peek at What's New in Version 9.2 ECinteractive and is.D-Force 2

7/7/2010: Quarterly Web Storefront Catalog Updates July 9-11

ECi Content Services and Operations will update your Web storefront servers with new quarterly catalog images and content THIS WEEKEND:

Starting at 11 pm CDT Friday, July 9
Ending by 8 pm CDT Sunday, July 11

This maintenance affects the following sites:

ECinteractive®
is.D-Force® 2
Original is.D-Force®
Dealer Station®
Dealer Station® Xtended

The content load is in addition to ECi's standard data center maintenance tasks
(www.DDMS.com/support/massfax/dcMtceWindow.htm). As a result, this weekend requires an extended maintenance window.

You may wish to set up or adjust your site's Automatic Scheduled Maintenance and site text, if applicable. For details, see your online help.

While the Web server is offline, you and your customers will be unable to connect to your storefront site. We will notify you via email with any updates on Sunday, when you may test item searches or resume administration of your site.

7/1/2010: O/PUS Update: Superstore Data Update Files Ready to Load

We sent O/PUS Update: Superstore Data Update Files Ready to Load to all O/PUS customers.

6/30/2010: Period End, Independence Day and Technical Support July 3

Period-End Saturday Support July 3

ECi DDMS again offers Saturday support for period-end and O/PUS quarter-end procedures:

Saturday, July 3

9 am – 4 pm Central Daylight Time.

No Phone Calls during Saturday Support.

For assistance at no charge on day-end, month-end and quarter-end O/PUS procedures, please send your question via portal or email

Closed for Independence Day July 5

ECi will be closed Monday, July 5, to observe Independence Day.

However, 24/7 Support will be available during the holiday when calling our standard Technical Support number, 800-366-4778.

As always, calling Technical Support during a holiday or outside of business hours (7 AM to 8:30 PM Central Time, Monday through Friday) is billable unless you subscribe to 24/7 Support services.

Meanwhile, we wish you a safe and happy holiday!

Need Help? (800) 366-4778 • https://support.ecisolutions.com • ddmssupport@ecisolutions.com

6/25/2010: O/PUS Ready to Load

We sent O/PUS Update Notes: 3Q2010 Ready to Load to all O/PUS customers.

6/15/2010 — Free O/PUS Refresher Training Friday, June 25 or Tuesday, June 29

ECi offers free Web-Based refresher training to review parameters and procedures and learn what's new for this quarter. For details and to register, see the announcement, Join Us for Your Free O/PUS Refresher!

6/11/2010: Announcing DDMS 8.22.20 Maintenance Release

Announcing DDMS 8.22.20 The ECi DDMS Version 8.22.20 maintenance release is available now for Software Download via the ECi Support Portal. In this release announcement, you'll find features like Nine New SQL Limit Fields for Sales Tax Reporting By Address, Canadian Harmonized Sales Tax Added to Payables for July 1, and more than 20 other improvements to the usability of DDMS sales tax calculations, EDI communications, machine dealer BEI exports, and software upgrades.

6/9/2010 — DDMS 8.22.20 Adds Canadian Harmonized Sales Tax to Payables for July 1

For compliance with Canadian sales tax changes effective July 1, we have enhanced graphical Accounts Payable Posting to remit the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). We emailed implementation instructions to our Canadian dealers.

5/28/2010: Memorial Day Closure and Technical Support

ECi will be closed Monday, May 31, 2010, to observe Memorial Day.

However, 24/7 Support will be available during the holiday when calling our standard Technical Support number, 800-366-4778.

As always, calling Technical Support during a holiday or outside of business hours (7 AM to 8:30 PM Central Time, Monday through Friday) is billable unless you subscribe to 24/7 Support services. Read the announcement »

5/28/2010: Ready to Sell S.P. Richards' Special Order Items?

SP Richards has announced that the new ProductPro™ and FurnitureAdvantage™ program price files will be available for download via O/PUS PSNControl again on the first Monday of the month — June 7, 2010. Read the announcement »

5/27/2010: Get Get Monthly Price Files for June Via O/PUS PSN

We are happy to announce that all standard monthly files are available now for download via PSNControl from S.P. Richards and United Stationers.

Some dealer-specific plans may be provided later. When you use PSNControl to download the files, the Transfer List date display will indicate when any vendor pricing file was last updated.

All files can be processed using the U_SPR and U_UNI loading programs via graphical multiloaders (UpdateSPR.exe and UpdateUNI.exe) or text-based (+IFP).

For additional details, see:

4/29/2010: Is Your System Ready to Sell S.P. Richards' Special Order Items?

SP Richards has announced that the new productpro™ and furnitureadvantage™ program price files will be available for download via O/PUS PSNControl on the first Monday of the month — May 3, 2010.

Since these special-order items are not stocked, their delivery timeframe may differ from the norm. To accommodate a new Shipping Table with a 2-character shipping code and a 20-character description, such as "ships in 2-3 days," we've enhanced several applications, including:

DDMS 8.22
ECinteractive and is.D-Force 2 Version 9.1
O/PUS PSNControl 1.1.196 and UpdateSPR.exe Multiloader v00407a

Most dealers will need to update O/PUS and DDMS software in order to sell productpro™ and furnitureadvantage™. To get the new OPUSInstall and DDMS software updates, log into the ECI Customer Support Portal.and click Software Downloads.

For detailed instructions on updating your inventory database and contracts and using the special order features in DDMS, see Special Order with S.P. Richards productpro™ and furnitureadvantage™ Programs (pdf).

Note: Special Order Web Content Delayed
You may notice that some of the photos or graphics are missing on some furnitureadvantage™ items. SP Richards assures us they are working as fast as they can to publish the Web images and catalog content so that it will be available in Web storefronts using S.P. Richards Enhanced Content. With over 4,000 items. there is a large amount of time needed to produce all of the e-content and graphics.

S. P. Richards thanks you in advance for your patience and understanding as we roll out these exciting new programs.

4/22/2010: Announcing ECinteractive and is.D-Force 2 Version 9.1.7.2

Announcing ECinteractive and is.D-Force 2 Version 9.1.7.2

4/20/2010: Launch the HP Supplies Finder in ECinteractive

Launch the HP Supplies Finder in ECinteractive

4/20/2010: Announcing DDMS 8.22.0 Major Release

Top 10 New Features of DDMS 8.22

To take advantage of new technology, work more efficiently, and grow your business, get ECi DDMS Version 8.22.0 — a major release of 10 new features:

graphical Delivery Manifest
SQL Sales Tax Per Customer Address
password-protecting A/R (Customer) Deposits in Order Entry
expanding (L4) Federal Withholding Tiers
Order Notes for Furniture Manufacturer Options
Searching Multiple Staging Bins
using 3rd Party Bill's Taxable setting to determine tax
Call Monitor Print Preview
Work Orders Caption Bar and Last 10 Calls
streamlined BEI Export installation

For details, see Announcing DDMS 8.22. Log in to the ECi Customer Support Portal (https://support.ecisolutions.com) to get your software download.

2/24/2010: Announcing DDMS 8.21.60 Maintenance Release

Announcing DDMS 8.21.60

2/17/2010: Announcing DDMS 8.21.40 Maintenance Release

Announcing DDMS 8.21.40 The ECi DDMS Version 8.21.40 maintenance release is available now for Download via the ECi Support Portal. In this release announcement, you'll find enhancements accommodate new requirements for new VISA Level 3 Government/Corporate Purchasing Card Requirements via Approval Link™, and for new HON® furniture ordering system logins via the ECi PSN (Private Supply Network).

2/4/2010: Announcing ECinteractive and is.D-Force 2 Version 9.1.6.2.2976 Maintenance Release

See Announcing ECinteractive and is.D-Force 2 Version 9.1.6.2.2976 Maintenance Release

1/21/2010: Announcing DDMS 8.21.20 Major Release

Announcing DDMS 8.21 The ECi DDMS Version 8.21.20 major release is available now for Download via the ECi Support Portal. In this release, you'll find Windows 7 Pro compliant client workstation installation, enhanced sync between text-based and SQL period-end reports, location-specific sales tax improvements (formerly called CCH Taxing), furniture project management user security templates, machine Work Order Warranty Detail, ServiceTrak for Windows laptops, and over a hundred other high-priority improvements to the usability and flow of your DDMS business system software.

1/12/2010: Upgrade Approval Link Before TSYS Scraps POS-partner Feb. 1

POS-partner's holding company, TSYS Acquiring Solutions, is suspending its support for POS-partner credit card transactions effective Monday, Feb. 1.

ECi Technical Support wanted to inform you of the migration options that DDMS supports:

Approval Link™ 4.0 for NET1 (ECi Preferred Vendor)
Approval Link™ 3.0 for for VeriSign™ PayFlo Pro^® (see clarification note)

See Upgrade Approval Link Before TSYS Scraps POS-partner Feb. 1.

12/31/2009: Last Minute Year-End Hints for a Happy 2010!

Last Minute Year-End Hints for a Happy 2010!

12/29/2009: Year-End Hints: Ready for 2009 Tax Reports & First Payroll of 2010

Year-End Hints: Ready for 2009 Tax Reports & First Payroll of 2010

12/23/2009: Holiday Closures and Period-End Saturday Support

ECi Holiday Closures and Period-End Saturday Support

12/23/2009: Year-End Hints: Yes, You Can Close 2009 General Ledger Now

ECi DDMS Year-End Hints: Yes, You Can Close 2009 General Ledger Now To help you prepare for year-end, this third bulletin in a series of hints is here to answer your frequently asked questions about closing your books.

12/11/2009: Year-End Hints: Archiving Journals for Year-End 2009

Archiving Journals for Year-End 2009 To help you prepare for year-end, this second bulletin in a series of hints is here to answer your frequently asked questions about renaming journals.

12/11/2009: Announcing ECinteractive and is.D-Force 2 Version 9.1.6 Maintenance Release

See Announcing ECinteractive and is.D-Force 2 Version 9.1.6 Maintenance Release

12/1/2009: Announcing DDMS 8.20.40 Maintenance Release

Announcing DDMS 8.20.40 The ECi DDMS Version 8.20.40 maintenance release is available now for Download via the ECi Support Portal. In this release announcement, you'll find a short list of software changes.

10/20/2009: Announcing DDMS 8.20.0 Major Release

Announcing DDMS 8.20.0 The ECi DDMS Version 8.20.0 major release is available now for Download via the ECi Support Portal. In this release announcement, you'll find a new Protect Date Limit on Customer Price Plans, an Option to Stop Updating Cost on United Stationers Pre-Receive, Contract Renewal in Graphical Serialized Order Entry, significant usability corrections to Bank Reconciliation. This release also includes dozens of improvements to the usability and flow of the installation program, EBS imports, CCH Taxing, order entry credits, short-buy and low-stock purchase orders, P/O Vendor Listings, P/O Receiving, AutoComm II, third party billing, SQL A/R Trial Balance, graphical order entry, quotes, Knoll PSN, HMI Communications, HNI communications, Job Costing Analysis, delivery tickets, graphical serialized work orders, accessories management, order entry, toner yield analysis, call monitor, machine detail, and more.

6/17/2009: ECinteractive Tips: Coupons, Categories, Demo v. Guest, Gain more Accounts

ECinteractive Tips: Coupons, Categories, Demo v. Guest, Gain more Accounts

6/15/2009: Download DDMS Software Updates From ECi's Support Portal

Download DDMS Software Updates From ECi's Support Portal

6/11/2009: ECi Shipping Notices Link to Delivery Tracker

ECi Shipping Notices Link to Delivery Tracker

To unsubscribe, change your e-mail address, or add additional recipients to this subscription, please e-mail your request to emailchg@eci2.com. Please include your correct e-mail address, company name, account number and phone number for validation purposes.

ERP Business Management Software for for Office Products, Furniture, Equipment and More

ERP Business Management Software for Office Products, Furniture, Equipment and More

News, Mass Emails and Recent Announcements

Update (L4) Payroll Tax Tables for 2012

Does this apply to me?

When Should I Do These Steps?

What Are Some Key Changes for 2012?

What About the Extra Row?

Where Can I Get More Information?

ECi Releases ECinteractive 11.1.2 Mid-Week

What's New In This Release?

For More Info

United Stationers 9W File Available to Load

United Stationers Announces New 9W File

Xstamper Microsite: Ready to Launch!

Why Xstamper?

Easy to Get Started!

1Q2012 Installer, Data Ready to Load

FYI² Notes

In it, you will find vendor notes, the names of the vendor price files available on the O/PUS OPdb update, and other news for this quarter:

Download OPUSInstall Software Update

Load O/PUS Opdb MultiVendor Database Update

Redesigned Mass Setting Management Admin Page! (10508)

Other Software Changes in this Release

More Info On DDMS Releases

Top 10 Features in ECinteractive 11.1

August Monthly Price Files Available Via PSN

New! View our online tutorial

Mass Changing Selected Customer Tax Districts

Automating Sales Tax Updates With CCH Taxing Services

Release Notes

For All Dealers

For Supplies Dealers

For Furniture Dealers

For Machine and Equipment Dealers

More Info On DDMS Releases

ECi Releases ECinteractive 10.4 June 26

1. Order History Pared to Rolling Year June 28; Check Saved Orders Now

2. eProcurement for OCI Now Beta Testing; Ariba/cXML Now Live!

3. User Usage Now Refreshes Nightly for Next-Day Reporting

4. Admin Control of Reset Password Now Accepts Enter Key

5. After Password Change, "Continue Shopping" Links Shopper Home

ECi Launches New ECommerce Support Menus Monday

2 Benefits This Change Gives You

New Options to Request Technical Support

Action Required: Download and Run OPUSInstall Now

Additional Details

Prepare for Client Workstation .NET Framework 4 Updates

Consequences of Inaction

How to Update Clients to Microsoft .NET Framework 4

System Requirements

More Alluring eMarketing, Search in ECinteractive 10.2

Add Powerful Usage Analytics with Acsellerate (reserved: future use)

Expand Business with Auto Toner Replenishment Orders via PSN (57609)

Other Changes in This Release

More Info in Recent DDMS Version 8 Releases

Are You Ready for Quarter-End?

Choose From Two Dates - FREE

Ten Hot Topics in Two Hours

New Login Page on ECi Support Portal Effective Friday

4 Reasons to Use ECi's Support Portal

March 21 — Machine Concepts and Setup

March 22 — Machine Master and Contract Setup

March 23 — Machine Order Entry, Work Orders and Monitor

March 24 — Machine, Contract, and Supply Sales

March 25 — Machine Purchasing and New Features

More Of Your People Can Save On Any Class With Our March Machine Madness Discount!

DDMS 8.26.2 Speeds Up Order Entry History

More Info On Recent DDMS Version 8 Releases

We Will Support DDMS 8.26 on Windows 2000 (for a while)

Windows 2000 Misses Out on Features in DDMS 10.0+

Plan Ahead for Your Server Upgrade to Windows 2003 or 2008

Evaluating Server Needs

ERP Business Management Software for for
Office Products, Furniture, Equipment and More

ERP Business Management Software for
Office Products, Furniture, Equipment and More

More Of Your People Can Save On Any Class
With Our March Machine Madness Discount!