News

Microsoft Security Essentials Update

imageFor our customers who have moved over to Microsoft Security Essentials, there has been an update to the software and we recommend you check that you are up to date.

For users who are running Windows XP as an Administrator, no action is required. However, if you are running as a User in XP or using Windows Vista or Windows 7, you should run through the following to ensure you are up to date.

  1. Double click on the MSE icon in your tray. It should appear as a Green, Red or Yellow building with a flag on top
  2. Ensure that your computer status is “Protected”. If not, and you see the screen to the right, click “Upgrade now”

Management Report Feedback

You should now have received your new Readysell 7 Management Reports. You can locate them on your Readysell Report Wizard screen.

Report List

For our customers that haven’t had the time to look at them yet, we would like to provide a quick summary of the information they contain. We look forward to hearing your feedback and hope that these reports prove useful to your business.

All sales by date by product detail – Sales Description

All sales by date by product detail – Sales Description

Bank Deposit Report – Summary on bank deposits

Bank Deposit Report – Summary on bank deposits

Customer Trial Balance

Customer Trial Balance

Customer Sale Summary by Rep by Period Grid

Customer Sale Summary by Rep by Period Grid

Department Sales By Period Summary – location / department sales

Department Sales By Period Summary – location / department sales

Customer Sales By Period Summary Grid

Customer Sales By Period Summary Grid

Sales Comparison Against Stock Receipts

Sales Comparison Against Stock Receipts

Top Selling Product Summary For A Range of Customers

Top Selling Product Summary For A Range of Customers

Product List

Product List

Daily Report 1 SalesByDaySummary – Daily Sales Report

Daily Report 1 SalesByDaySummary – Daily Sales Report

Sales by Period by Supplier Summary

Sales by Period by Supplier Summary

Daily Report 2 Sales Detailed By Day – Daily Sales Report

Daily Report 2 Sales Detailed By Day – Daily Sales Report

Sales Orders Outstanding – Summary of any outstanding orders

Sales Orders Outstanding – Summary of any outstanding orders

Stock On Hand Report

Stock On Hand Report

Readysell 7 Management Reports

Readysell Report WizardThe new Readysell 7 Report Writer has been available to our customers for some time now and the feedback we have received has been very good. Building on this feedback, we have released a new group of Reports called under the category “Management Reports”.  Tonight we will release a full update to all of our Readysell 7 customers to ensure all the reports are available to you.

The list of new reports that are being released includes:

  • All Sales by Date By Product Detail
  • All Sales Transactions Codes by Date Detail By TransCode
  • Bank Deposit Report
  • Customer Sales By Period Summary Grid
  • Customer Sales Summary by Rep by Period Grid
  • Customer Trial Balance
  • Daily Report 1 SalesByDaySummary
  • Daily Report 2 Sales Detailed By Day
  • Department Sales By Period Summary
  • Product List
  • Purchase Order Line Details By Transaction No Selection
  • Purchase Order Lines For One Transaction NO
  • Purchase Receipt Listing By Receipt No
  • Sale Outstanding in Details By Date Range
  • Sales By Period By Supplier Summary
  • Sales Comparison Against Stock Receipts
  • Sales Orders Outstanding
  • Stock On Hand Report
  • Top Selling Products Summary For A Range Of Customers

You can download a spreadsheet with a full list of available reports here.

Readysell to WebSphere Contract Integration

After extensive testing at a number of pilot sites, Readysell is pleased to be rolling out the contract price integration component of RObI to all Office Brands members.

We are currently in the process of installing the necessary components on each server – this should be completed shortly. However, we will not be turning on this functionality at your store until the following prerequsites are met:

  1. You have read the relevant section of the Readysell-Office Brands Integration User Guide (available in the Support Downloads section of our web site). Contract price integration requires that you understand how the process works.  In particular, only certain types of contracts are being sent to WebSphere.
  2. You have deactivated or deleted any manually created contracts in WebSphere which duplicate your Readysell contacts (and hence create the potential for conflicts).
  3. You contact Readysell and confirm that you wish to have this functionality enabled.

We believe that this functionality can save you a great deal of time and effort and hope to have this running at your store as soon a possible. If you have any questions regarding the above process, please email adam@readysell.com.au or leave a reply on this blog post.

Readysell 8 is Coming

Readysell is presently working to produce a next generation ERP package that includes all of the features required in a best of breed ERP system. We are rewriting Readysell from the ground up to utilise the latest technologies software standards.

Outside of regular support, completing Readysell 8 is our core priority for 2010. As a result, as much as practical, we will not be adding new features to the existing Readysell 7 software. We will still be fixing bugs and supporting all existing Readysell 7 features as usual. We believe this is focus will be in the medium term interest of all members.

Below you will find a brief outline of some of the new features and improvements coming in Readysell 8. We are confident you will find value in what’s coming and are able to cooperate with us as we focus more of our attention at our upcoming product.

Latest Technologies

Readysell 8 is built using the latest Microsoft .NET technology. This provides Readysell with a clear technology path backed by the world’s most prominent software vendor.

Our development platform keeps the Readysell 8 business rules separate from the Windows and web technologies currently being used to deploy them.  As a result Readysell 8 currently has parallel versions for Windows and the web. In the future we will have additional versions utilizing the best emerging technologies.  The Windows version is most suitable to local workstations where it gives the best user experience. Sales reps and remote staff can work on the same system using the included web version.

Readysell 8 can be substantially standardized across the group and tailored for members without having to request program changes.  All the screens and reports can be redesigned using a drag and drop report and screen designers included in the program. Those changes can be made centrally and deployed to member’s systems.

Readysell 8 can run on almost any database engine. Our current database engine has also been upgraded to provide unparalleled transaction-based data integrity.

Extensive Service and Photocopier Module

Readysell 8 features a full service module. Our service module includes photocopier service, support and automatic billing. Meter readings and service requests can be entered in many ways. For example, customers can enter meter readings via the web.  Each photocopier can have any number of meters. Meter readings associated with each meter are retained as drill down history.  Readings are used to generate billing, schedule service jobs and to chase up missing meter readings. Warranty and service contracts are associated with photocopiers. Service jobs can be created for photocopiers or any other service work. Jobs track the goods they are waiting for as well as time and materials used.  Service billing and profitability reporting is automatically calculated for all service jobs.

The system monitors your service operations just like the rest of the business. Alerts are automatically generated and the relevant staff are emailed when actions are required. Such as when service is due, meter reading required, invoice generation overdue etc. Repeat requests for action are automatically generated for your staff in respect to all jobs that are late until the job is successfully completed.

Enhanced General Ledger

Readysell 8 features a simple yet powerful real-time General Ledger module. As any transaction is entered you can immediately drill up to the summary accounts. Accounts staff can also drill down on screen through daily summaries to the individual lines that make up each account posting. There is a transparent association of all financial summaries to their source transactions and all source transactions to their financial summaries. This gives an excellent real time audit trail with a high degree of usability and integrity.

Business Intelligence for Staff and Operations Management

Readysell 8 monitors the health of your business minute by minute. The system watches to see if something needs to be done. Like a product needs to be reordered, a low margin sale needs to be investigated or a shipment is overdue. It then lets the relevant staff know what needs to be done via email or a on screen notification. If they still don’t do the job Readysell can keep reminding them and inform management once a task too overdue. A operations dashboard shows the problems that are arising and being resolved in the business during the day. Keeping management and staff aware of the workflow for their area of the business.

Business health monitoring rules and responsibilities can be adjusted like any other data in the system. As a result rules to be deployed across the group to encourage best practice. Also allowing rules to be tailored for each member to suit local conditions.

Business Intelligence for Business Owners

Readysell 8 allows you to take tactical and strategic control of your business by giving you a Business Intelligence Dashboard. This window provides an overview of what is happening as it happens. The Dashboard shows all the key indicators for your business one page. Without needing any reports you can drill down into the graphics and charts (widgets) to identify the causes of problems and successes. Easy to understand colour coded graphics highlight areas of improvement and areas that need attention. There will be a list of key indicators which will be deployed out to customers as standard dashboards. You can also then drag and drop additional charts and tables onto your dashboard.

Relationship Management

Readysell 8 features a new relationship management system that will allow you to track your interactions with customers, suppliers, prospects and other business contacts. Our case-based relationship management system will allow you to keep track of your entire business interactions one place. The contacts system like the rest of the Readysell system links with business health monitoring. New cases can be derived from automatic business rules. For example if a call is overdue or a customer buys less categories than expected in a month a case for follow-up can be generated in the relationship management system.

Inventory and Sales Management

Catalogue and flyer spreadsheets are deployed to members but applied by the members at an appropriate time. Readysell 8 automatically builds up suggested purchase orders as goods are sold or repaired.  We track customer orders from Websphere through all shipments and back orders to the final statement. Readysell 8 includes the ability to utilize state of the art wireless paperless picking devices to improve the efficiency of the warehouse.

One Stop Solution

Readysell 8 provides all the accounting, inventory control, customer relationship tracking and business intelligence needs of the group in a single software package. As customer needs change over time Readysell will adjust our software to satisfy all ERP needs in a single consistent package. Readysell also works with the group to provide training, install assistance and support in a shared and easily accessible form.

What’s Next?

We hope you are as excited about Readysell 8 as we are. We look forward to providing you with more details as they arrive. We are also interested in hearing your valued feedback – if there’s something you think is crucial and want to make sure doesn’t get missed, please email us with your thoughts or leave a comment on our blog.

Readysell Backup Updated

ReadysellBackup ScreenshotReadysell has recently updated its off-site backup service, “Readysell Backup” to offer even better value and peace of mind to our customers.

The service has been updated to include fully automated testing and daily alerts for failed backups, automated monthly consolidation and reporting as well as a new web interface to easily access past backup statuses and to download backups back to your site.

If you are a Readysell Backup user, you can access the portal using your existing username/password at https://backup.readysell.com.au. If you have lost your username/password, please contact adam@readysell.com.au to have it reset.

As has always been the case, this service is an optional addition to your regular Readysell licensing and is fully automated and managed by Readysell. If you are interested in Readysell Backup, please contact Greg for more information.

Readysell-Office Brands Integration User Guide

We have now completed our comprehensive documentation for the Readysell-Office Brands Integration and it is available for download on the Support Downloads area of the Readysell web site. The user guide covers all of the interactions between Readysell and WebSphere, how to set up your customers, the various modes of operation available to you as well as technical aspects.

Please review the documentation if you have any queries about RObI or how to use Readysell effectively in conjunction with WebSphere. If you have any questions or suggestions, please email Adam to have the clarifications or amendments added to the document.

RObI Update

A couple of months ago, we introduced you to RObI – the Readysell/Office Brands Interface. Today, I’d like to send a quick update to ensure you are aware of what RObI is doing.

RObI is importing customer orders from WebSphere into Readysell

When a customer places an order on your WebSphere site, WebSphere send that order directly to RObI and this is saved as a “SALWEB” or “SALHLD” in your Readysell automatically. Once this is done, you can review the order and continue processing it as normal. There is also an option to automatically print picking slips when the orders arrive in your system.

RObI is uploading customer invoices to WebSphere

When you create an invoice for a customer with a Web ID defined, the invoice will be automatically uploaded to WebSphere and the customer will be able to view it when they log into their account.

RObI is uploading your store (non-catalogue) products and prices to WebSphere

Every night, RObI will upload any new or updated store products to WebSphere. You can choose to show or remove a product by toggling the “Display on Website” flag in Readysell. You can get a report with a list of these products by following the instructions we supplied earlier.

If any of the functionality covered is not working for you, please contact us so that we can investigate the issue.

In the coming weeks, RObI will also be able to upload your Readysell contract prices to WebSphere. I will cover this in more detail once we are ready to start piloting this new feature.

Mass Updating Contract Price End Dates

We are currently testing the ability to mass update the ends dates of contract prices at a number of sites. We have composed a document covering this new functionality that can be accessed at our Support Downloads site. If you are interested in receiving this functionality before the end of the year, please contact us and we will arrange an accelerated deployment. Otherwise, the new functionality will be made available as part of a regular Readysell release early next year.

Categorising Your Store Products

You may have noticed that your non-catalogue website products are all piling up in a folder called “Store Products” on your WebSphere site. This is the default folder for your non-catalogue products. If you are happy with this arrangement, you are welcome to leave all your products as they are, however, if you want to place your products (or a subset of your products) inside another category instead, this is available.

Firstly, you must find the lowest level WebSphere category. This may be a catalogue category, or a category you created yourself. To find the lowest level category, you can simply navigate through your WebSphere site until there are no more subcategories. In the example below, “Duracell Batteries” is the lowest level category.

Lowest Level Category

Once you have found this category, copy its name and open up the relevant product in Readysell. Go to the “Notes 2” tab and then paste the category name into the “Category” field. If there is any other data in the “Sub Category” fields, remove it.

Product Screen

Once you are done, click “OK”. Your product should be moved to the new category overnight.