Announcing DDMS Version 8.15.20 Major Release

This message covers the following timely topics:

What’s New In This Release?
How do I get this version?

What’s New In This Release?

July 16, 2008 — The ECi DDMS Version 8.15.20 major release is available now at your request. This release is chock full of enhancements, designed to make it easier for you to take full advantage of new technology, work more efficiently, and grow your business:

For all dealers:

• Formerly Known As Ensite Pro, Re-Branded as ECi DDMS. Instead of the previous blue square ddms icon and the ECI², ddms, Ensite™, Ensite Pro™, or Ensite EBS name and logo, you'll see our new red logo for ECi DDMS. (53971)
• Modern Installation Wizard. The DDMS installation wizard has a modern look and feel, with streamlined options (Install Server, Install Client, and Optional Products) making the process of installing DDMS software and update releases smoother than ever. It also sets the stage for software to be updated via the Web in a later phase of this initiative.(53771) See Installing Version 8 DDMS
  (www.ddms.com/Resources/Support/faq/sw_updates/ensiteproinstall.pdf)
• Windows Vista Client Compatibility. DDMS has been enhanced to ensure compatibility with the Microsoft Windows Vista® Business Edition¹ operating system for client workstations. If you are loading the software for the first time² on a new client workstation running Vista, use the new installation wizard and select Install Client. (53773)

¹ Windows Vista is not a server-caliber operating system; it is meant only for client workstations. DDMS is not supported on Vista Home editions (neither Basic nor Premium).

² If you previously loaded DDMS software on a Vista workstation when it was not yet supported, please contact support for assistance in uninstalling DDMS from that client to avoid potential problems with the software update.

• Upgrade to SQL 2005 Express. The installation wizard will automatically uninstall SQL Server 2000 MSDE on your DDMS server, in favor of loading the latest free version of SQL Server 2005 Express, which gives you more space for your growing sales data. SQL 2000 MSDE was limited to 2 gigabytes of data, while SQL 2005 Express allows up to 4 GB. (53772)

Note: For optimum performance, please  make sure your hardware meets
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express system requirements
(www.microsoft.com/sql/editions/express/sysreqs.mspx) along with the
ECi DDMS business system software software requirements
(www.ddms.com/products/win_requirements.htm). Our installation wizard includes the .NET framework required by Microsoft. For assistance in upgrading your DDMS server hardware, please contact ECi Sales (sales@eci2.com or 877-957-4672).

• Modern SQL Report Preview. One of the goals of our SQL initiative is to provide a modern reporting tool with options for presenting and saving data that could never be possible in the previous text-based DBF architecture. (53617)
  • The Report List displays a last run date for each report on the list. As we've added more information about each report on this list, we've given you the option to Customize the Grid, and move columns as needed.
    
  • When running any SQL report, you can customize the page header from the Limits and Sorts page. The Options tab lets you specify a different Location for displaying your dealership's address at the top of the page. You can also include a line of free-form text to describe the report. And you can opt to include a list of the limits you have set for the report.
  • When limiting a report to dates, not only can you specify a past date, but also look up by a certain number of relative days, weeks, months, and years.
  • In Set Up Reports, you can select multiple reports or report groups, and set allowed users or remove selected users, and restrict user modifications. When allowed users open the SQL Report Preview window, they will see only the reports assigned to them, rather than having to scroll through multiple pages of reports.
  • When you set new limits, sorts, and options for a report, you can save them for your user ID, and set allowed users.

  For detailed instructions, see Setting Up & Using SQL Preview Reports
  (www.ddms.com/Resources/Support/faq/utilities/SQLReports.pdf)

• Sorting Purchase Order Postings. A new Sort field column, in the Item Detail of the Post P/O tab, allows the user to resequence the list by the existing sort code. This puts the line of the P/O in the same order as the manufacturer or vendor acknowledgment, which makes it easier to find items and compare costs. You can also select multiple rows (control-click to highlight/unhighlight single row in separate multi-row selections, shift-click to highlight contiguous rows) to highlight the lines that need to be removed from posting. (54031)
• CCH Taxing Service. Tax rates not only differ from state to state, and city to city, but may also vary within an individual zip code or city limit. Some jurisdictions even tax different products and services differently by category. For instance, certain coffee, sweetener, snack, paper, school supply, educational material, computer media and hardware products may be taxable in one state but not another.

The CCH Taxing feature 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 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. As a result, CCH subscribers can use just the right tax rate according to the buyer's tax jurisdiction.

For more information on authorizing CCH Taxing and subscribing to CCH Tax Services, please contact sales (sales@eci2.com or 877-957-4672).

For detailed instructions, see your DDMS 8.15 online help topic, "About CCH Taxing," under Order Entry Concepts.

For office supply dealers:

• Customer Price Plans. This release includes enhancements for Quick Edit and revamped Limits. (53843)
  • A new task below Edit an Existing Price Plan is the Quick Item Edit, which lets you specify the item, view a detail grid of all the price plans where the item exists, make changes, save, and print or export. You no longer have to navigate through all the limits options just to inquire on a single item. All matching detail lines from all price plans immediately appear on one screen to edit as you wish.
  • Previously, it was difficult to report all the price plans for a customer; it was a task of limiting to four different slots from the Customer Order Entry tab. But now, the Edit an Existing Price Plan task lets you set limits to pull all price plans for an account, a group of accounts, or salesperson(s). It will find all all the contracts for the customer(s) or salesperson(s) specified, and immediately let you edit the detail lines on one screen.
  • Also, the special Vendor limits for Mfg, Whl, and Cat were moved out of the Item category, into their own groups. New limits include “Exclude Price Plan X” and "SpecialtyType."

  For detailed instructions, see Customer Price Plans
  (www.ddms.com/Resources/Support/faq/customer/CustPricePlan.pdf)

• United Stationers/Azerty Credits and Additional Charges. Now you can receive electronic data via the ECi Private Supply Network (PSN) about your United Stationers and Azerty credits and additional charges. These enhancements eliminate several labor-intensive steps. When you receive Azerty or United Stationers electronic invoices via PSN, DDMS can automatically post the vendor credits to Accounts Payable, and post Freight charges to customer pick tickets in Order Entry. You can automatically pass on additional charges to customers, or report them for cost/commission purposes. You can choose which charges to pass to the ticket for cost or cost/sell price. This allows you to track freight and delivery costs on a per order basis. This is valuable information to have when analyzing your gross profit on regular and national drop ship orders. (54017) See Processing Credits and Freight Charges United Stationers
  (www.ddms.com/Resources/Support/faq/ecommerce/elinvUniCredFrt.pdf)
• United Stationers Substitutions. On national accounts, many times your online shoppers are ordering for both local deliveries and for locations outside of your local delivery zone. For example, if your online shopper orders a less costly item that's in stock at your warehouse, the UNV item may pop up for out of town NED account deliveries. Now you can create your own item-specific substitute list for your United Stationers account. You and United can also specify items to substitute when you are out of stock. In DDMS, the system will:
• Replace the original on the Pick ticket and Purchase Order with the subbed item from United.
• Retain the sell price of the original item on the Pick Ticket.
• Replace the Cost on the Purchase Order and Pick Ticket with the cost of the United subbed item.
• Display the original item entered for usage and when printing Pick Tickets, Invoices, and Purchase Orders, using the new "oi" line item special.

To implement this feature, see pages 7, 8, and 12 of Setting Up and Using the United Stationers PSN
(www.ddms.com/Resources/Doc/PSN/unitedpsn.pdf)

NOTE (added 7/16/2008): Most dealers list multiple accounts in the (L6F) Parameter screen. Since the parameters do not allow you to specify which account number uses the substitution list, contact United Stationers technical support (800-733-5555 or ctscntr@ussco.com) to assign the substitution list you specify to the account you wish to use it in the United Stationers system. This substitution list will work with both National Drop Ship (NDS) accounts as well as any of their other standard delivery accounts.

Note: You can modify your custom usage reports to reflect the United Substitutions. In Report Writer, when selecting the “query item #” from P-LINE or JO-LINE, use the text “TYPEOI” in order to print the oi special, "Vendor Sub: [original item key]". In SQL Reports for usage, the new oi special populates the "OrderedAsSKU" and "OrderedAsMACCode" fields in the SalesOrderDetail table.

• LaGasse PSN Services. Those who do business with this janitorial/sanitation wholesaler, a United Stationers subsidiary, will now be able to transmit purchase orders and receive acknowledgments via the ECi Private Supply Network. (54299 and 54301) For instructions, see Setting Up and Using the Lagasse PSN
  (www.ddms.com/Resources/Doc/PSN/lagassepsn.pdf)

For office furniture dealers:

• Exceptions from Manufacturer Acknowledgements. No more manually comparing line-by-line from your original purchase order to your furniture manufacturer's acknowledgment, with all the room for error that implies. With the newly revamped Communicate P/O window, new exceptions reporting options, automated reconciliation, and streamlined purging, you can manage just the items that require your attention. (53899)
  

For instructions, see the PSN Documentation for your manufacturer (www.ddms.com/support/doc/psn.htm). Once you have set up your furniture manufacturer communications parameters, see Phase III: Setting Up and Using Furniture Acknowledgments
(www.ddms.com/Resources/Doc/PSN/furnackpsn.pdf)

• Exclude Tags from SIF Import. Furniture Profile, tab one, has been enhanced with the ability to exclude all, some, or no furniture tags from being imported to an order during a SIF import. (53916)

For machine and equipment dealers:

• Toner Yield Enhancements. We are releasing the first phase of DDMS enhancements in preparation to offer Machine & Equipment dealers a Toner Yield analysis tool. The Toner Yield enhancements will help you track toner cartridge performance and compare it to the manufacturer’s claimed yield. This information will be invaluable for renewing service contracts and pricing your supply-inclusive contracts.  With this release, you can begin collecting information using the Item Machine Defaults Consumables tab, the Machine Detail Consumables tab, and the Consumables Confirmation dialog box. When you complete a work order billing or a supply billing, the system prompts for toner on hand quantities and order quantities. The system also automatically calculates the projected next reading and date. Customer service reps can easily see how much toner has been shipped for a particular machine. (53994) For details, see Toner Yield
  (www.ddms.com/Resources/Support/faq/machine/MachTonerYield.pdf):
• Customer Machines Service Times. Enhanced so the user can view and edit Start/End Service times in the Machines tab of the Customer window. Previously, this could only be done in text-based. (54050)
• Meter Reading Updates. Corrected so calls completed and billed in Work Orders update Last Service Call and Current Reading, but not Used. (54134)

The list of changes above is not exhaustive. To look up all released corrections and enhancements in this release, see Program Updates for Version 8.15.0 (www.ddms.com/updates/searchresult2.asp?swversion=240&search=Search),

For more information about new features in DDMS software, see What's New in Version 8 (pdf) and other Version 8 Documentation.

How do I get this version?

If you report an issue, you automatically receive the software update that provides a resolution. If you have not reported an issue but want to take advantage of the software changes in this release, we will be happy to ship it to you via United Parcel Service (UPS) Ground. You can request a software update by email support@eci2.com, including your DDMS account number, contact name, company name, shipping address, and phone number. Or log in to submit a ticket for the latest software online at https://support.eci2.com.