DM2 U 0 4

JUNE 2004
VOLUME 2 ISSUE 3
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DM2 users from all over the United States gathered
from June 16th to June 19th at the Heathman Lodge in
Vancouver WA for the fourth annual DM2 user
conference, Connections 04. This year s conference
was billed as the best to date, and by all accounts lived
up to everyone s expectations. Attendance was the
highest ever, and attendees are already lining up for
next year s conference, Connections 05 !
from Kelley-Williamson showed how improving their
back-order processing and inventory management
helped the bottom line.
We re glad we didn t have to give out awards for best
presenters, because all three sessions were smash
hits. Everyone deserves a hearty Well Done and
Thanks from DM2 and all the attendees for making the
conference so very interesting and valuable.
Connections 04 built on last year s format where we
moved from all-round-table discussions to formal
presentation sessions on a variety of topics. The more
organized and prepared format really has made the
conference more valuable for attendees and helps
them know their time will be well invested.
Connections 04 also expanded on a concept
introduced last year: User Presentations. This year we
had three, and they were the most heavily attended
and enthusiastically received sessions of the
conference.
Plans are already in the works for Connections 05, and
we ll be keeping you up to date via this newsletter and
announcements at www.dm2.com and DM2 s new
customer discussion area: forum.dm2.com. We
already have volunteers for 6 user presentations and
more great ideas are already brewing for next year !
Laurie Burgess from Vancouver Oil discussed their
move towards a paperless operation via the DM2
Outbox for faxing and emailing invoices to customers.
Bob Houser from Eddins-Walcher flexed his Visual
Integrator muscles to rip through bulk edits and imports
in a fraction of the time. Kim Schmidt and June Jensen
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DM2 Connections Vol 2 Issue 2
DM2 ADDS NEW CUSTOMER SUPPORT BENEFIT: FORUM.DM2.COM
At Connections 04, DM2 announced a new benefit for
customers enrolled in the Unlimited Assistance Plan
(UAP). The DM2 Connections Forum is a web-based
online meeting hall where users can share best
practices, exchange ideas for new custom programs or
software enhancement requests, and even swap
Crystal Reports they ve developed.
Located at forum.dm2.com, the online discussion
group is open to the authorized contacts on any
current valid UAP enrollment. As part of launching the
forum, DM2 has also enrolled all attendees of the
Connections 04 conference.
DM2 is already using the forum to post the
presentation materials and electronic copies of the
handouts from the Connections 04 conference. And
we ve created a special News and Announcements
area where we ll post notices and announcements
affecting the customer community.
The DM2 Support team will be monitoring the forum to
watch for any issues that need to be addressed by
DM2 as a support issue. We ll also jump in with our
own ideas and suggestions, and when appropriate,
advise the user of when they should be working with a
DM2 Consultant or Trainer.
Visit forum.dm2.com today, and be a part of the
community ! Registration is quick and easy. As always,
DM2 will not share your contact information, and it will
only be used to administer the forum and other support
programs.
End of Life Announced for Version 3.51 and Older
DM2 made a number of important announcements at Connections 04, and none was more important than the End of
Life Announcement for versions 3.51 and earlier. To help our customers understand the reasons behind the
announcement and how it affects them, we prepared a 2-page document which was sent to all our customers by US
Mail. Attendees to Connections 04 also received the announcement, and we have posted it on forum.dm2.com.
The announcement can be summed up as follows: in approximately 18 months, as of December 31, 2005, DM2 will no
longer be able to commit to providing support for any MAS 90 version numbered 3.51 or less. For any customers who
have not upgraded by that time, or begun the upgrade process, we will assume they are not planning to upgrade and
are proceeding without support from DM2. We will not renew their Unlimited Assistance Plan or invoice them, and we
will not be able to provide any assistance in the event that they call.
The announcement document discusses in detail the effects this announcement will have on customers with these
versions. The full announcement can be downloaded and read in the News and Announcements section of the DM2
Connections Forum at forum.dm2.com. Please call DM2 Support at 800.866.5151 option 2 or email us at
[email protected] if you have any questions or concerns. We can also help you get scheduled to upgrade to the
latest version.
Version 4.0 Programming Underway
Attendees at Connections 04 got to see and hear lots of information about recent and upcoming development projects
for the standard DM2 product. Much of the funding for this development comes from the DM2 Subscription you pay
annually, and these become features that are added to the product for no extra charge. One of the most visible
examples of this is moving forward with a release based on MAS 90 version 4.0. The target for DM2 s release is Q4,
and we have several other development projects aimed to finish together, including the graphical version of CardLink,
which we expect to make available under 3.71 as well as 4.0.
If you are upgrading from 3.51 or earlier, keep in mind that other than General Ledger, Version 4.0 is mainly an
infrastructure release, rather than a functionality release. That is, the work is focused on making the programs more
stable, and easier to add features to in the future. So for all practical purposes, there is no major functionality
difference between 3.71 and 4.0, and you should not worry about waiting until 4.0 before upgrading. The major
feature additions will start rolling out with 4.1 and beyond. Also, keep in mind that 3.71 has been in use for over a year,
and has proven to be very stable, while 4.0 is brand new and still being worked on by Best Software themselves.
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TIPS AND TRICKS
Prompt for Accounting Date
One of the most frequent questions we get at the DM2
Support team concerns the system prompting for the
accounting date. By default, MAS 90 prompts for the
accounting date every time you open a module. This is
very helpful when you are doing work in more than one
accounting period. For instance, you may be catching
up on paperwork or transactions/batches that should
have been posted earlier like payments or statements,
yet still want to take in real-time data like new will-call
orders.
include the Case # and Support Agent s name if you
know it. If it is a new case, mark that on it as well.
However, having the system prompt you for a data
over and over again can get very tedious, especially
when you are always working in the current day. So
many people turn this feature off by telling MAS 90 to
always use today s date as the accounting date. And
they go on to lead happy and fulfilling lives until they
need to change the accounting date and they ve
forgotten how to do it. So here s how.
Do not install any CD s from Best Software until
you have checked with DM2 Support !
The setting you are looking for is Prompt for
Accounting Date , and you turn it on/off by checking
or un-checking that field in the MAS 90 User
Preferences screen, located in the menu at
File > Preferences, then under the System Prefs tab.
The setting only affects the current user who checks or
un-checks it.
Dedicated FAX Number for DM2 Support
The DM2 Support Team recently got our own
dedicated FAX number to help get your faxes in our
hands more quickly. The new number is 360.823.1178
and was announced in the previous issue of the
Connections newsletter.
You can still send faxes to us at the main DM2 fax
number, but it will take longer to reach us than if you
use our dedicated line. Also, when sending a fax,
please mark it clearly to the attention of Support, and
Better yet, use our new Technical
Worksheet (see below) as a cover letter !
Support
MAS 90 v4.0
By the time you receive this newsletter, Best Software
will have released version 4.0 and may have sent you
a CD.
We will send out announcements to let you know when
DM2 is ready for version 4.0 of MAS 90 and MAS 200.
If you have any questions, please contact the DM2
Support Team at 800.866.5151 option 2 , or by e-mail
at [email protected]
New Forms for Support
The DM2 Support team has created two new forms to
make your life easier. The first is a new Support
Contacts Form, and should be used whenever you
change your authorized contacts for the Unlimited
Assistance Plan. The new form also contains the
legalese needed for DM2 to comply with new Federal
regulations regarding the use of FAX and e-Mail to
contact our customers. We will need everyone to fill
out this form by January 1, 2005 to be in
compliance. After that, you only need to fill it out if your
contacts or their information changes.
The second form is something you will use more often.
The Technical Support Worksheet was created to
help you organize the information your support agent
will need when working on a new case. We designed
the form so that you could make copies of the blank
form to fill it out and FAX to us. But it also contains all
the information we d want to see if you sent us an email, or called us on the phone.
So, if you are about to open a new support case,
please take a moment to fill out the worksheet so that
you have the answers to all our initial questions
immediately at hand. And when e-mailing us, please
try to provide as much of the information from the
worksheet as possible. It will help us help you that
much faster.
Both these forms can be found in the News and
Announcements section of the DM2 Connections
Forum at forum.dm2.com.
Page 3
UPCOMING EVENTS
DM2 CONTACTS
DM2 Software will be attending the following events.
Please call Sales for more information or stop by our
booths and pay us a visit.
Sales
Phone
800.866.5151 x410
Fax
360.574.9620
Attn: Cathy
Food & Fuel Expo
Steadman
Savannah, GA
July 18, 2004
Support
E- mail
[email protected]
Phone
800.866.5151
Option 2
FPMA
Orlando, FL
July 25 & 26, 2004
POC
Reno, NV
September 21
360.574.6984 x410
Fax
Attn: Support
Billing
E- mail
[email protected]
Phone
800.866.5151 Ext.
453
23, 2004
NACS
Las Vegas, NV
October 17 20, 2004
360.823.1178 (new !)
DM² University
E- mail
[email protected]
Marketing
Phone
800.866.5151 x451
Fax
360.574.9620
Attn: Marketing
NEW CUSTOMERS
We would like to extend a warm welcome and our
Thanks to our newest clients:
Central Oil of VA
Cherry Oil Co.
Inland Oil Co., Inc.
Meteor Marketing, Inc.
Veterans Oil, Inc.
7700 NE Greenwood Drive
Suite 200
Vancouver, WA 98662
800.866.5151
360.574.9620 FAX
Wallis Lubricants LLC
Upcoming Training Dates:
July 12-16:
Portland Setups and Daily
Transaction Processing
October 11-15: Portland Setups and Daily
Transaction Processing
Visit the Training area on forum.dm2.com for class
details and schedules.
DM2 Connections is a Quarterly Publication of DM2
Software, Inc. Copyright 2004 DM2 Software, Inc.
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