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Greetings!
If you would like to get more out of your software
investment, then welcome to the first issue of our
new-look bulletin. We hope you like it and find it
helpful. It has hints, tips and comment designed to
help you get the very best out of Daybook products.
Happy reading!
We would really appreciate your feedback: if there is
anything you would like us to cover in future issues,
weould like to know; or if you would like to share
information or experiences with other users, then this
is a way you can do it. So let us know what you think.
SupportPlan powers service
When London PC and Mac support company
SupportPlan (www.supportplan.com) wanted a service
package, it considered a range of options. No existing
programme could mirror its processes for progressing
and escalating service calls, nor handle its charging
structure. There were only two options: one was to
have a bespoke application written from scratch; the
other to use Daybook Enterprise's scripting language to
bring about the same result.
The decision was simple. With Daybook Enterprise the
call centre could integrate with marketing, sales and
accounts, giving one enterprise-wide solution.
SupportPlan needed a system to handle everything
through a diary interface. The Enterprise diary
provided the basic functionality, with its scheduling,
workflow and task management. All that was needed
now were procedures to record calls, site visits,
timesheets, parts and when calls were closed and
guarantee that the right paperwork and invoicing was
automatically sent to the client.
SupportPlan's contracts were unusual. Having spent
years creating plans tailored to the needs of its clients
- a major strategic advantage-nothing in the wonderful
world of software could cope with them, except
Daybook Enterprise. Custom reports ensured that
customers buying SupportUnits could have a monthly
statement showing unit usage and balance. Procedures
were written to handle contract billing: contracts are
based on a wide variety of criteria, and can be billed
monthly, quarterly or yearly; billing is done a month
before previous payment expires, so that money can
be received in time to keep the plan active.
Systems play a vital role in guaranteeing quality
service. 'We never miss a deadline,' says SupportPlan's
General Manager, Derek Bennett 'and we never have
missed one. We have a perfect record of everything
that has happened and our invoicing and paperwork
are about as good as you could get. I am quite sure
that we could never have done this without our
specially-written procedures incorporated into Daybook
Enterprise.'
Find out more....
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Reconciling your ledgers |
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When your control accounts refuse to balance with the
ledgers, it can be a real problem. One that will annoy
your book-keepers and accountants. And one that can
take a long time to resolve.
There are a number of reasons why it can happen. One
of the commonest is that manual journals have been
posted to the control account, bypassing the ledger.
Others may be of a more technical nature, such as bad
data caused by a system crash or bad power supply,
or corrupt indexes.
Whatever the cause is, it is vital to fix it. The Daybook
website has technical notes telling you how to tackle
this problem and how to pinpoint where the problem
lies. We have now also produced a macro that does a
lot of the analysis automatically and produces a
spreadsheet, showing what data does not match.
If you would like a copy of the macro, email
support@daybook.co.uk.
Read on... »
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Had a healthcheck recently? |
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We have instigated the Daybook Healthcheck, a
regular service that casts an experienced eye over
your server, carries out tests and makes sure that it is
being properly administered.
Even experienced system administrators can be
intimidated by keeping a large database, such as those
produced by Modulus and Daybook Enterprise, in top
condition. Moreover, given that the vast majority of
serious problems arise from poorly maintained data
files, this is a major issue.
Data files need to be regularly checked for integrity,
backups need to be done rigorously and 4D backup log
files maintained. Hard discs need to be checked, data
files segmented before they get too large, adequate
space kept on the server and the server operating
system kept clean. These are just some of the tasks of
good server management.
The cost of getting it wrong can be very high indeed.
Inadequate backing up can result in months of data
having to be re-entered and in the most serious cases
can cause a company to go into liquidation.
More details »
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4D Backup could save you |
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A system crash should be a rare event on 4D systems,
such as Modulus, Daybook Enterprise or Daybook
Publisher. However, if one happens, you can be
unlucky and find yourself with a corrupted data file.
That's when you are glad that you set up that backup
strategy-or, if you did not, it's when you vow that you
will never ever get into this situation again.
4D Backup is our only recommended solution for
backing up Daybook products. As well as automating
your backup strategy, it also lets you mirror servers
and keeps a log of all changes to your data. This
should be active on every data server. Why? Because
it means that you will never, ever lose any data
through a crash. If your system goes down, you can
simply restore your last backup and reimport all the
changes you have made since.
Setting up 4D Backup is straightforward for technicians
who are prepared to follow the 4D documentation. In
practice, clients often prefer us to do this for them. If
you would like us to quote for doing this, contact
Balinder at balinder@daybook.co.uk. By the way, if
you would like us to remotely check your backups on
an ongoing basis, to make sure that everything is
happening correctly, we can do so. Contact
info@daybook.co.uk for further information.
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Catalogue publishing? |
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Did you know that you can publish data from your
system ready formatted to Quark, InDesign,
FrameMaker, XML and in various other formats?
Daybook Publisher lets you predefine styles and apply
them to any range of data you like, automating a very
tedious and error-prone task. It's a massive saving of
time and money.
If you publish data in print or on the web, call Steve
Gibson or Pat Bensky and let us tell you how we could
help.
More on this topic »
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Do business on the web. |
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If you are a Daybook Enterprise or Modulus user, then
you could be using your system as a 'back end' to your
website. Your clients could be checking and pulling off
statements, you could be taking orders, adding to your
mailing lists-just about any task that could enhance
the way you do business.
I you would like to discuss what we could do for you,
call Steve Gibson or Nigel Greenlee on 020 7371 7161.
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Daybook website redesigned |
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The Daybook website has changed a lot. We are adding
content to it on an ongoing basis - so do keep going
back. Our aim is to keep improving it and to have
content that you find really useful, so let us know what
you would like to see.
There are lots of technical notes, dealing with Daybook
Enterprise and Modulus issues, and we keep adding to
them. If there are issues that you think should be
covered in a technical note, please do let us know.
Finally, don't forget that the website is the way we ask
you to log all support calls - and not just call your
favourite technician. It's not that we don't want to talk
to you: it is simply that going via the website ensures
that your call is correctly logged on the system. It also
means that your issue gets dealt with by the person
best suited to do so and gets handled as promptly as
possible.
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Feedback please! |
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We have said this several times above, but we will
now say it again: WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK.
If we know the sort of things you would find helpful,
we will try to provide them, either in this bulletin, on
the website, or by other means - but we can't do it by
telepathy: you need to tell us.
So we will look forward to hearing from you.
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