Thursday, July 30, 2015

Local Retail POS Installation Help - Idaho, Utah, and Oregon

As I am now part of the RITE team, I am happy to let folks know that local sales, installation, training, and support for retail point of sale systems is again available to businesses and organizations in the states of Idaho, Utah, and Oregon (Montana, Wyoming, Washington State, and Nevada can be coordinated as needed).

This is great as these states lacked companies that focused on retail point of sale solutions ever since DirectPOS/RVP Business Systems closed their offices in Boise, ID, Spokane, WA and Salt Lake City, UT.

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

New XR7 From NCR

While NCR has been known for providing tough computers to be used in specialty retail situations like garden centers and nurseries (which I have personally worked with in the past), these computers looked like something out of the 1980's in size and design.

NCR recently released the new XR7 computer which looks more like a sleek tablet but retains the functionality of a computer. The XR7 also has gone through durability testing to ensure that the computer can handle tough retail environments.

More information about rhe XR7 can be found on this webpage: http://www.retailcontrolsystems.com/the-all-new-xr7/

You can also visit my contact page for information on how to reach me if you have questions or are in need of some free and unbiased point of sale advice.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Age of Posts - Outdated Information

While I do my best to keep all my blog site and YouTube Channel content updated, some of the posts contain information from more than 2 years ago and the information may be outdated.  I'm working on cleaning up or adding notes if the information is outdated.

You can always contact me directly if you want to make sure that the information is correct and current. Visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

POS Tip for Long Term Success

From time to time over the years I have been contacted by organizations and businesses who have had one employee with complete ownership of the POS system.  While this may seem like a good idea from a security and procedure standpoint, when that employee moves on, these organizations and businesses realize that no one else knows how to run the POS system and now they have to spend some money on training.

I've also found that this encourages bad habits as the sole employee in charge of the POS system may not be using the POS system correctly when it comes to inventory control, security, etc.

Point being that when you invest in a POS system, make sure that cross training takes place so more then one employee knows the entire POS system and then these employees can also cross check each other to ensure that proper procedures and security measures are in place.

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Hosted Version of NCR CounterPoint SQL

So I had the opportunity to spend some time recently with one the largest NCR CounterPoint SQL point of sale software partners/dealers in the United States recently. The partner has come up with a way to help reduce some costs related to NCR CounterPoint by hosting the software's database on their own servers.

This helps reduce some of the initial costs related to technology costs for the computer used to host the database. Very helpful not only in reducing costs, but also helpful for businesses and organizations with multiple locations and/or that do not have technical expertise.

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Why Bindo Point of Sale is so Popular

Over the years I have sold, supported or reviewed well over 40 different point of sale programs designed for retail stores, museums, and restaurants. Over the last year, a large percentage of folks who contact me for free and unbiased point of sale advice are already considering Bindo Point of Sale (POS) or go on to select Bindo POS as the point of sale program for their business or organization.

So, it made me wonder, why is Bindo POS so popular?  Here is what I uncovered:
  1. Bindo "Gets It": from the leadership to sales staff to support and admin staff, they all understand retail and point of sale systems. You can see this in Bindo POS as well as when you are talking to anyone that works at Bindo.
  2. Scale-able Solution: whether you have 1 location or 500 locations, Bindo POS can be sized accordingly with no need for expensive servers.
  3. Right Mix of Features and Functions: Bindo has the best mix of features and functions that businesses and organizations want in a point of sale system. 
  4. Merchant Services Agnostic: Unlike many point of sale programs, Bindo does not force you to use one company for merchant services which lets you avoid costly long term merchant services contracts.
  5. Helpful but not Aggressive: I've found that the sales and marketing team at Bindo is focused on helping you choose the best point of sale program and are not the type of people who will be calling and emailing every 4 hours to see "if you are ready to sign up".
  6. Steady Growth and not "Turn and Burn": Bindo has proven to be focused on building long term relationships and not quickly closing sales just for the sake of increasing the number of Bindo users.
  7. Rock Star Support and Development: The customer service staff, support staff, and programmers all know they play a critical role in Bindo's success and the success of those using Bindo.
Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

Monday, July 13, 2015

Upcoming Events and Speaking Engagements

A quick update on my upcoming speaking engagements specific point of sale and EMV workshops:

Boise State University location of the Idaho Small Business Development Center.  September 22nd, 2015, 2:00pm to 4:00pm. Registration link and more details: https://business.idahosbdc.org/workshop.aspx?ekey=40350090

Envision Retail Conference - Denver, CO. September 17th and 18th at the Denver Marriott City Center.  I will likely have a workshop designed for businesses searching for a new point of sale system or wanting to replace and older system on both days. Time and further details to follow. Link to more information about the Envision Retail Conference can be found here: https://www.retailcontrolsystems.com/envision-conference/

I'll post more details  on other events as they become available.  

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

Thursday, July 9, 2015

National Retail Point of Sale Solution Provider Expanding to Utah, Idaho, and Surrounding Areas

Update April 10th, 2016: this is still a work in progress but I am doing some ground work for the rest of April to see if this can be finalized by the end of May, 2016.  I've tallied around 600 businesses in the areas mentioned below that would benefit from having a local company for point of sale software, hardware, installation, training, and on-going support.

While Idaho and many of states surrounding Idaho contain multiple local companies that specialize in Restaurant point of sale systems, no one has stepped up to replace the local sales and service void left by the closure of DirectPOS and RVP Businesses Systems when it comes to a local company providing point of sale systems for retail stores and museums.  There are a few local companies in these areas that offer some retail point of sale solutions but it is not a primary part of their business.

To early to say for sure but it appears that a well respected  national retail point of sale solution provider is considering some level of expansion to offer sales and support to retail stores and museums located in Idaho, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Northern Nevada, Eastern Oregon, and Eastern Washington State.

I will pass along further details as they become available as this would be welcomed news to retail stores and museums located in these areas!

Please visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

What are Support "Incidents" and How Do They Work

With some Microsoft Dynamics RMS and HQ partners fading away, I've been contacted by several businesses searching for support related to RMS and HQ.  While I am happy to assist as best I can or arrange for a certified RMS/HQ support person to contact you, I wanted you to know that you also have the option of obtaining support direct from Microsoft.

If you have stayed current on your annual software maintenance for RMS/HQ then you normally receive a limited number of free support incidents directly with Microsoft. If you are not current on your maintenance then a fee per incident applies.

So what does an incident mean?  In my experience it means that one issue per incident will be dealt with until all parties agree the issue is resolved.  So if you need help reconnecting your database to a POS station, that counts as one incident. If you need help reconnecting your database to a POS station and need help installing a OPOS driver for a receipt printer on the same POS station then that counts as 2 support incidents.

You can contact Microsoft for RMS and HQ support at 888-477-7877 for Dynamics RMS and HQ support. You can also visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.


Thursday, July 2, 2015

Thank-You for Your Patience!

Just a quick note to say thanks to everyone for your patience in waiting for me to call or email you back with information and advice related to point of sale systems. In June 2015 I had over 40 businesses and organizations contact me for unbiased point of sale advice and information.

Between this blog site and my YouTube Channel, the sites are averaging over 150 unique visitors a day (not counting people from obscure countries raiding content).

As a reminder, I do my best to respond within 4 business hours to all requests unless I am traveling. Best times to reach me via phone are 9am-3pm Mountain Time. Otherwise, texts, emails, and using the contact form to the right can be done at anytime.  You can always visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.