Welcome to the First new Customers of 2021!

A quick shout out to retailers that have signed on recently for point of sale hardware, software and services. I am so grateful for all of you putting your trust in me!

• CJ Eateries - 22 location chain in Oregon - moving from Microsoft RMS/HQ to Cloud Retailer
• Owasso Liquor - Oklahoma - moving from Microsoft RMS to Cloud Retailer
• Total Health - Idaho -support and services to upgrade their Microsoft RMS point of sale system
  

Limited Extended Support Offered for Microsoft Dynamics RMS and HQ Version 2.x

While July 2021 marks the end of all support from Microsoft for the Dynamics RMS and RMS HQ products, support will still be available for a few more years from RITE. RITE has 14 support techs and offers 24/7 support to retailers using the Microsoft RMS and RMS HQ point of sale software programs.

Of course, there are a few restrictions:

• You must be located in the US or Canada
• You must stay current on a maintenance agreement (prices start at only $214 a year)
• You must be on version 2.0 or higher of RMS
• New or replacement lane license keys are NOT available 
• EDC is NOT supported - you must be using Card Defender, a supported RMS payment processing plug in, or stand alone payment terminals

Since each retailers situation is unique, please contact RITE at 888-267-7483 for more information.

Upcoming 2020 Changes to the Retail Management Hero Point of Sale Software

Wanted to pass along some important upcoming changes the the Retail Management Hero (RMH) point of sale software. Most of this will take effect in September 2020 unless otherwise noted.

1. Retailers using the Microsoft Dynamics RMS point of sale software can take advantage of a 10% discount on RMH licenses through June 30th, 2021. You do not have to be current on an RMS maintenance agreement to take advantage of this discount.
2. RMH Central is officially in general release now. Cost is $8/month per user plus $30/month per store.
3. Perpetual pricing for RMH will be made available in September 2020. Plan on a lane license to cost around $65/lane per month ($3900 over the course of 5 years).
4. How payment processing is handled in RMH will change. Newer versions of RMH will require a MAX Pay license and staying current on an RMH Enhancement Plan. Sounds like the cost for MAX Pay will be $8/lane ($480 over the course of 5 years) with the first year being free for RMH users on an Enhancement Plan.

The perceptual pricing will help retailers who are looking to put in a POS system (or replace RMS) at a low up front cost. However, the up front cost works out to be a better value over time - even with the annual cost for the RMH Enhancement Plan.

As always, the above information is subject to change - be sure to contact an RMH Reseller for more information.

 PS - I'm feeling much better about RMH and the future of RMH thanks to some positive feedback from retailers who put in RMH over the last month or two. Hopefully the new update in September 2020 will solidify RMH as a solid POS solution for RMS and Non-RMS users.

RITE Waives Contactless Payment Change Fees for Cloud Retailer and Card Defender Customers.

July 7th, 2020: RITE (Retail Information Technology Enterprises) is now waiving change fee's for customers who want to adjust their Cloud Retailer POS software or their Card Defender for Microsoft RMS software to accept contactless payments. This is a great way for retailers to reduce a common touch point in their store to help mitigate the spread of COVID 19.

Retailers using Card Defender or Cloud Retailer can reach RITE tech support at support@rite.us or by calling 888-267-7483. Note that RITE is only able to assist retailers whose payment terminals are under RITE's control.

If you want to learn more about Card Defender for Microsoft RMS or the new Cloud Retailer point of sale software (including what contactless payments are accepted), please contact RITE at sales@rite.us or by calling 888-267-7483.

Letter from Retail Realm About RMS End of Life

I've had multiple calls and emails this week from retailers who received an email from Retail Realm about the July 2021 end of life date for the Microsoft RMS point of sale software.  

There are a few comments and clarifications that need to be shared about the email:

1. That was a great video - well done! I remember the days of QuickSell 2000 and QuickSell HQ very well!
2. Only Microsoft is ending support for RMS in July 2021. RMS will not cease to function come July 2021 and you will still have support via various RMS Partners across the US for several more years.
3. What will end is the ability to issue new or replacement license keys for RMS. If you lose your license key - you will likely not be able to obtain a new license key.
4. Using native EDC in RMS for payment processing is no longer supported. You need to be using stand alone payment terminals or a third party plug in like Card Defender.
5. Over the next 2-4 years, it will become more and more difficult to fully support RMS. As I have recommended multiple times, you should look at RMS replacement options even if you want to keep using RMS for a few more years.
6. The email mentions Dynamics 365 (D365) as a potential replacement for RMS. Keep in mind that D365 has a monthly software cost starting around $70/month per user (that adds up to $4200 for one user over the course of 5 years).
7. Another replacement program, Retail Management Hero (RMH), is potential RMS replacement and RMS to RMH discounts have been extended through June 2020. I've personally upgraded around 20 retailers from RMS to RMH and you are welcomed to contact me for personal experiences in working with RMH.
8. There is also the Cloud Retailer software that is designed as a direct replacement for RMS and carries a much lower cost than D365 or RMH since the licensing is lane based (not per user and no charge for manager licenses like D365 and RMH require).
9. Here is a video comparing RMS, RMH and Cloud Retailer:
   

That about covers the questions that retailers have been asking me about RMS end of life and the email from Retail Realm. If I can be of further assistance, please contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com

Yes Microsoft RMS Users - Card Defender is Still Available (and fully supported by RITE)!

 

Quick Update: Card Defender is no longer available for Microsoft RMS unless you are a beer, wine, or liquor store that will be moving to the Cloud Retailer point of sale software in the near future. 

With Microsoft RMS coming up on the end of extended support, I wanted to let retailers using the Microsoft RMS point of sale software know that the Card Defender plug in for RMS is still being actively sold and supported by RITE (approx 1700 installations as of 6/2020).

A general overview video can be viewed below:

If you would like more information about Card Defender for Microsoft RMS, please contact RITE at sales@rite.us or 888-267-7483.

If you would like a Card Defender quote/proposal, please complete this questionnaire.

Note that Card Defender is only available to RMS Users with stores in the United States.

Microsoft Retail Software Conference

A quick reminder that sales of Microsoft Dynamics RMS and HQ to new users ends nest year (2016) so please keep that in mind if you are thinking of purchasing RMS or HQ as point of sale software for your business or organization.

I just received communication that Retail Realm and Microsoft will be hosting a conference in Las Vegas, NV on April 24th to April 26th, 2014.  The conference is slated to be dedicated to just the Microsoft family of point of sale solutions (RMS Store Operations, HQ, Nex Gen RMS, POS 2009, and AX for Retail).  Hopefully this will finally clear up what the future holds for current Microsoft RMS/HQ/POS 2009 customers.

You can read more about the conference by clicking here: http://www.rrdisti.com/blog/why-you-should-attend-the-retail-realm-2014-conference

In addition, it will be critical for Microsoft to communicate how they plan to update current software users for the upcoming MasterCard unique terminal ID requirement (being enforced in 2014) and the EMV requirements (being enforced in Oct 2015).

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 (mountain time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com.

Point of Sale Software Updates

Clover, our Android-based retail, museum and restaurant point of sale solution, now includes the ability to record customer information. This customer information  includes email addresses. We are also offering some flex-pricing on Clover for retail stores and restaurants who want to purchase the hardware versus paying an ongoing monthly fee.

NCR CounterPoint, our Windows and iOS based retail and museum point of sale solution, now offers a much more advanced online shopping cart (information can be found here: http://www.counterpointpos.com/ecommerce/pos-integrated-ecommerce.htm) and there are free trial offers for Customer Connect (automated/proactive email marketing) and Smart Alerts (email and texts alerts based on user-defined operation criteria).

Silver, our iOS based retail, museum and restaurant point of sale solution, has no major changes to announce.

QuickBooks Point of Sale, a Windows based retail point of sale software, has no major changes to announce.

Aldelo, our Windows-based restaurant/bar point of sale solution, has no major changes to announce.

Micros, our proprietary restaurant/bar/hotel point of sale solution, has no major changes to announce.

Microsoft RMS/HQ/POS 2009, our Windows based retail and museum point of sale solution, all have new enhancements and new features but I am waiting on definitive release dates.