ECi Releases DDMS® 8.12
Dear DDMS® Customer:
A new major release, Version 8.12, is available to all DDMS® customers as of Friday, May 4, 2007. Read on for more details:
What's New in This Release?
This Version 8.12 major release of DDMS® includes many software changes to hone your business' efficiency and competitive edge. Here are some highlights (more details below):
For All Dealers
- AutoComm II™ is the revamped fax/email server software for DDMS, to be installed on a separate PC with new System Requirements. Here are enhancement highlights:
- A new graphical wizard-like interface simplifies setup of DDMS server information, backgrounds and attachments, fax settings, and email settings.
- Fax functionality uses Microsoft Fax Services (an advanced component freely available in Windows® XP Pro and 2003 Server), eliminating dependence on third-party software like Symantec’s WinFax.
- The Autocomm II service runs in the background while its workstation is on, so there’s no need to launch it manually or even log in for the system to process emails and faxes.
- Using .NET architecture to authenticate emails just like Campaign Manager addresses concerns that recipients’ mail server spam controls occasionally strip attachments from the original AutoComm system.
- Reply- to address allows Webmail accounts, as long as they allow SMTP forwarding.
- Send your reports within the email body or attach as a TXT, HTML, or PDF file.
- Bundle multiple A/R batch statements for a recipient into one email attachment.
Detailed instructions will soon be posted for AutoComm II — as soon as it is available — on our Miscellaneous Documentation page, our Version 8 Documentation page, and Customer FAQs.
- Approval Link™ 4.0 for NET1 is the direct integration interface between your DDMS system and NET1 Payment Solutions, giving you an additional choice among credit card authorization vendors. NET1 serves as a one-stop shop, functioning as your gateway provider for authorization and your clearinghouse for settlement. NET1 lets you accept procurement, corporate, major, and private-label credit cards using the point-of-sale equipment or ECi Web storefronts (the DealerStation® and ecInteractive® family of products) that are integrated with your DDMS system. This new version of Approval Link gives you the following advantages:
- Eliminate middleware — there's no more need for a separate PC on your network, or any third-party software like TSYS® (formerly Vital) POS-Partner. When you install DDMS 8.12 and higher on your DDMS server, the ECi Cardlink option installs Approval Link 4.0.
- Approval Link 4.0 communicates with NET1 via Web services, so you can look up transactions on the Net1 Virtual Terminal using your Web browser.
- In addition to Level I and Level II transaction data, you can pass Level III data (including line item detail), compatible with major credit card services including Master Card and Visa (all other cards use Level II).
- You can delay capture of funds — with a streamlined process compared to Approval Link 2.0. Approval Link 2.0 ties up funds until the initial hold expires, even after the order is billed and debited, because the invoice is sent in a separate transaction. With Approval Link 4.0 and NET1, a single reference number marries the authorization with the invoice.
For more information, contact Brian Morabito (brian@net1creditcard.com) at NET1 Payment Solutions (1-800-718-8005) and see Setting Up and Using Credit Cards and Approval Link 4.0 (pdf).
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For Office Product Dealers
As the ECi Private Supply Network continues to grow, ECi and its vendor partners continue to provide money saving PSN features. In the past year, S.P. Richards has made significant investments to enhance PSN services for their dealers. Version 8.12 includes the first wave of these enhancements.
- It is now easier than ever to process S.P. Richards credits, freight charges, short ships, carton counts and tracking information via PSN:
- Credits: Using the latest invoicing enhancements from S.P. Richards' system, credits can now be posted during the electronic invoicing process. A new (L6C) parameter gives you the option to retrieve invoices, credits, or both. Instead of posting manually from the Electronic Invoice Detail report, use the (QR-I) program to post S.P. Richards credits automatically by item department at the same time that invoices reconcile with P/Os and post to Accounts Payable.
- Freight: At the same time Sparco transmits electronic invoices to you via PSN, they also transmit freight charges. These charges apply to non-billed drop ship and USA Express orders. DDMS has been enhanced to post Sparco freight costs to pick tickets in Order Entry. You can create a cost-only line on the ticket, and determine if you even want it to be visible to your customer. Or you can create a line on the ticket as a sell price, charging the freight to your customer. This uses existing third-party carrier functionality.
- Short Ships: Once the SPR warehouse has done their actual picking, they are now reporting quantity exceptions in their advance shipping notice via PSN. Based on the exceptions, DDMS can adjust the shipped quantity in the customer's order and your purchase order. This will allow you to be more proactive with product that was originally acknowledged as in-stock, but is not being delivered.
- Carton IDs and Tracking: S.P. Richards provides carton IDs and carrier tracking numbers (such as for UPS), in their advance shipping notice via PSN. Your customer service personnel will be able to look up these special lines in O/E History for Sparco drop ship and USA Express orders. Carton IDs will also be displayed for Wrap-N-Label orders.
- Carton Counts: S.P. Richards provides carton counts in their advance shipping notice via PSN. DDMS now makes the vendor carton counts available for you to use Report Writer to add the field to your printed shipping manifest. You can then show not only how many are from your own stock, but also how many are from the vendor. Future enhancements will let you import this information for use with RouteTrak™ and RoutePerfect™ for delivery management.
Detailed instructions will soon be posted on setting up your system to use the new S.P. Richards Credits, Freight, and Advance Shipping Notice data — as soon as it is available — on our PSN Documentation page, our Version 8 Documentation page, the Electronic Invoicing section of eCommerce FAQs and the Wholesaler Communications section of Purchasing & Communications FAQs.
- You can now transfer PPI
and O Henry electronic invoices via PSN. To do so, use the new PSN fields in the
(L6F) Wholesaler Group Communications screen. For more details, see Setting Up & Using the PPI PSN (pdf) and Setting Up & Using the O Henry PSN (pdf).
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For Furniture Dealers
- The new Calculated Load Factor is a simplified way to reflect your costs on a furniture order, as an alternative to detailed job costing. You can use your experience and benchmarks to assign different cost load percentages globally, to a customer, and/or to a vendor. When you end an order, and respond as needed to the prompt for additional charges, each line item’s load factor is calculated. The load factor may be multiplied by the line item’s list price, sell price, average cost or pricing cost, depending on how you set the standard load factor parameter. The results for each line item are added together to produce a total blended cost, which is automatically charged against commission. You can choose whether the load factor is printed on the invoices.
For more information, see DDMS Office Furniture Edition Calculated Load Factor (pdf).
- A new (LA5) Prorate Deposit parameter diminishes the risk of error in handling deposits, by automatically prorating a percentage of the deposit across all of an order’s subordinate “dash number” invoices. The prorated deposit calculation uses the same ratio as the “dash number” invoice’s percentage of the order total. For example, let's say you agreed to a $500 deposit on a $1000 order, and your first delivery resulted in invoice #12345-0 billing $200, or 20 percent of the order total. Calculating 20 percent of the deposit will apply $100 of the deposit on that invoice #12345-0. It leaves $400 of the deposit to be applied automatically to subsequent invoices. The A/R Deposits application window displays the received deposit amount for an invoice number, and detail lines that show the amount applied to each invoice. The updated Invoice format displays the deposit amount applied to the ticket. Even if you purge deposits, you can reprint an invoice showing the deposit applied. For more details, see page 47 of Accounts Receivable for DDMS Office Furniture (pdf).
- Haworth uses the ECi Private Supply Network (PSN) to
let furniture dealers transmit purchase orders into the Haworth online order system and receive acknowledgements in return. For more details, see Setting Up & Using the Haworth PSN (pdf).
- Knoll Manufacturing uses the ECi Private Supply Network (PSN) to
let furniture dealers transmit purchase orders into the Knoll order
management system. Detailed instructions will soon be posted for the Knoll PSN - as soon as it is available - on our PSN Documentation page.
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For Machine Dealers
- Machine dealers can extract serialized data for analysis by BEI Services (www.beiservices.com). Using the new BEI Data Transfer window, you can set limits for the information to be
transferred. BEI offers to help participating dealers reduce service costs and
improve profitability. Their performance
benchmarking program compares the data of each serialized unit
based on the service call activity of copier dealers around the world. This information allows dealers to compare their performance with other dealers of the same type, geographical location, or other criteria. BEI also
analyzes technician performance so dealers can offer a true pay-for-performance
incentive program.
For more details, see Sending Data to Business Equipment Information Services (pdf)
- ServiceTrak™ is the new mobile dispatching interface between your DDMS system
and a field service technician’s handheld unit. It provides field service technicians
with real-time access to service call and customer information via the
Internet. Technicians can complete calls and receive new assignments electronically
before they even leave a customer’s site, eliminating paperwork.
Technicians can view the Call Monitor or Call Detail, dispatch calls, update their calls (with times, problem and solution codes, meter readings, parts, and call status), and close their calls. ServiceTrak supports all types of Internet access, including Wi-Fi and conventional
network connections, as well as the integrated cellular phones available
in many markets.
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Highlights of Previous Maintenance Releases
- This release also includes all software changes made available in maintenance releases 8.11.20, 8.11.40, and 8.11.41, and 8.11.42. Here are some highlights
- For EnsiteEBS applications like Price Modeling, Customer Price Plans, and SQL reporting, Version 8.11.40 has streamlined more of the synchronization process between DBF and SQL files. Version 8.11.42 will no longer leave unused temporary files in your Windows\Temp\ directory; to learn how to clean up remaining unnecessary temp files and streamline system performance, see Deleting Temp Files On Your DDMS Windows Server (pdf).
Version 8.11.42 also modifies the SQL import of P-USAGE data to properly convert unusually low or high gross profit percentage values. In previous versions, those types of Gross Profit Percentages did not comply with the SQL datatype and caused an error resulting in a failed import of P-USAGE data. For more information, see Preparing for DDMS® Applications
That Use the EnsiteEBS Architecture.
- For dealers to take advantage of ecInteractive® and is.D-Force2® Version 6.8 enhancements, Version 8.11.20 and higher include a Gateway update that eliminates an issue with department synchronization while setting up customer accounts in the Web storefront Admin Control Panel. Additional Gateway updates enable the use of the Online Accounts Receivable feature recently released in Version 6.8 of ecInteractive and is.D-Force2.
For more details, see eCommerce FAQS on ecInteractive and is.D-Force2.
- DDMS® Office Furniture Edition has several enhancements. The SIF option numbers that your system can handle has been increased from 10 characters to 25 characters. Also, the Furniture Modify Order dialog box includes a new Margin column. You can also change the general ledger location and inventory location for created Furniture orders and any attached P/Os. For more information on these features, see your online help after installing Version 8.11.40 or higher.
- DDMS® Machines & Equipment Edition has undergone hundreds of hours of graphical interface development in Versions 8.11.20 – 8.11.42. The focus of this effort has been to improve the overall usability of machine applications. The work addresses numerous cosmetic issues, design modifications, and defect resolutions. For more information on these applications, see Program Updates for the Serialized Inventory software category in Version 8.11.20 and for Version 8.11.40.
- Version 8.11.41 corrects an issue discovered in Version 8.11.40 in the Accounts Receivable Payments tab. When it did not properly display debit values that included a comma, it prevented retrieval of affected customers' A/R records. Now, invoices properly display in this application. (52437)
- Version 8.11.41 corrects an issue discovered in Version 8.11.40 in the Order Entry Totals tab. After an order was placed on hold, the "Don't Print" checkbox continued to stay marked by default on subsequent orders. As a result, shipped and billed orders were not being printed in the warehouse for delivery. The system now defaults to print the next order in the Order Totals tab (52353).
Program Updates of Other Software Changes
The list of changes above is not exhaustive. For information about all released changes, refer to general Program Updates or the more specific Version 8.12 Program Updates on our Web site to look up all corrections and enhancements. For information and documentation about enhancements we've released, see "What's New in Version 8".
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How Do I Get My Software Update?
Major Release. If you want to take advantage of the software changes in this major release, we will be happy to ship it to you via United Parcel Service (UPS) Ground. Please send a software update request to ddmssupport@ecisolutions.com, and include your DDMS account number, contact name, company name, shipping address, and phone number. |