Stiil using the Microsoft Dynamics RMS Point of Sale Software in 2022?

 

If you don't want to listen to me ramble for 3 minutes, here are the key messages in the video: 

1) Yes, Microsoft RMS still works even though the July 2021 End Of Life date has passed 

2) Support for RMS will continue to wane over the next couple of years 

3) Something will happen that will require you to replace Microsoft RMS with a different point of sale software program 

4) If you are hanging on to Microsoft RMS, have a plan ready for when #2 or #3 happens. 

If you are a retailer in the United States who is still using the Microsoft RMS point of sale software and need some advice on replacement options for RMS, please contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com

Are you still using the Microsoft RMS point of sale software?

 Howdy! I have had quite a few retailers using the Microsoft RMS point of sale software contact me for support or advice on replacing RMS. Some highlights and notes to pass along:

• I am not able to provide in depth technical support for RMS 
• I realize that many of you want to keep using Microsoft RMS even though Microsoft ended all sales and support of RMS back on July 13th, 2021. However, you WILL need to replace RMS at some point so please have a plan in place should you need to quickly replace RMS.
• Please note that RITE has ended all sales of their various Plug Ins and Add Ons for RMS.

Have questions? Retailers in the United States are welcomed to contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com

Thanks!

 

Still Using Microsoft RMS? Just a Few Months Left Before RMS End of Life

 Just a friendly PSA that the July End of Life date for the Microsoft Dynamics RMS/HQ point of sale software is coming up quickly. You need to have a plan in place:

• Gamble and keep using RMS
• Purchase an RMS Maintenance Agreement to keep RMS support running through July 2023
• Replace RMS with either RMH or Cloud Retailer or Dynamics 365

The choice is yours!

My YouTube Channel has some demo and general advice videos specific to RMH and Cloud Retailer.

 Please contact me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632 with any RMS or point of sale related questions.

Online Resources for Retailers Using the Micrisoft Dynamics RMS Point of Sale Software

So, with only few a few months left before RMS goes end of life in July 2021, I'm still fielding calls and emails from retailers still using RMS as their point of sale software.  Since support will be very limited after July 2021 (unless you have a support contact through me/RITE), here are some general resources for "self help":

Official RMS Forum: https://community.dynamics.com/rms

RMS Database Schema: https://static.austinhartzheim.me/files/docs/microsoft-rms/microsoft-rms-database-structure.pdf

Windows 10 and RMS: http://legacy.rite.us/Support/UpgradingtoWindows10.aspx 

RMS Tutorials: http://legacy.rite.us/Support/MicrosoftRMSSupport/RMSTutorials.aspx 

My YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/kevinantosh 

Card Defender for Microsoft RMS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsjOU6jhFZM

RMS HQ User Guide: https://www.geminicomputer.com/rms/hq/RMS_HQ_Users_Guide_V2.pdf

RMS HQ Getting Started Guide: https://www.geminicomputer.com/rms/hq/RMS_HQ_GS_Guide_V2.pdf

Don't forget about the "help" option in RMS Manager as well as the user guides that came with the software. These are fairly in depth and very helpful for the average user.

RMS Replacement Options: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmvYwfJ-MeE and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzqc7gmrJ58&t=1s

 

If you have any additional resources that I should list above, please contact me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632.

 

Did You Receive This Postcard from RITE?

Did you happen to get this in the mail from RITE?

This was sent out to the majority of Microsoft RMS users in the United States as full support for the Microsoft Dynamics RMS point of sale software ends in July 2021. RITE will be offering some limited extended support past July 2021 but you need to contact them at 888-267-7483 or sales@rite.us for more details.

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.

Turning Off EDC / Native Processing in the Microsoft Dynamics RMS Point of Sale Software

Quite a few Microsoft RMS users have contacted me over the last week regarding the native EDC processing being turned off within the Microsoft Dynamics RMS point of sale software. This type of processing is not secure and no longer supported (or even compliant).  As such, these retailers asked how to turn EDC off so they can use Card Defender, Square or a stand alone payment terminal to process debit and credit card transactions.

This video only offers the highlights on how to turn off EDC in Microsoft RMS. Please refer to your users guide, on screen help, or contact me at 208-340-5632 / kevinantosh@gmail.com for paid assistance.

Honestly, this is a prime example of how it is getting more difficult to support RMS - we'll keep supporting as long as we can but little by little it will become more and more difficult over the next 3-4 years.

Comparison Video: Microsoft Dynamics RMS and Cloud Retailer

A 16 minute video showing some of the differences and similarities between the Microsoft Dynamics RMS point of sale software and the Cloud Retailer point of sale software. Designed as a replacement program for Microsoft RMS, Cloud Retailer allows RMS users to keep most of their existing data, transfer up to 2 years of customer purchase history, and take advantage of license cost discounts to help offset the up front costs from moving from RMS to Cloud Retailer.

For more information on POS options for your retail store (including Cloud Retailer), please contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com.

Travel Schedule Q3 and Q4 2018

OK, so those of you with chains and franchises are getting serious about investing in new point of sale technology come 2019 and 2020. Many of you use Microsoft Dynamics RMS with HQ while others use quite the variety of POS programs that are outdated or lacking certain features and functions. As many of you have requested assistance with needs analysis, process improvements, budgeting, wish list creation, and solution/vendor analysis, I’ve booked travel to the following areas through the end of 2018:

• Salt Lake City, Utah
• Seattle, Washington
• Portland, Oregon
• Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Multiple parts of Idaho
• Multiple parts of Oregon

I am still working on Texas, Colorado and Arizona so please contact me as needed. Same goes if you are in an area that I am visiting and wish to meet in person for unbiased consulting or sales/service related assistance.

You can reach me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632.

Can't Process Credit Cards? Comcast Outage

If your credit and debit card processing has stopped working (or generates an error message), the you may effected by a Comcast Outage.

Status updates can be found at: http://trust.cloudretailer.com/

Microsoft Dynamics RMS/HQ Annual Maintenance: Renew or Not?

A topic of debate over the last couple of months has been whether it makes sense to keep paying for annual software maintenance for the Microsoft Dynamics RMS point of sale software (applies to HQ as well).

The Con List - reasons why RMS users have not been renewing their maintenance:

• No updates will be made available and support is limited via Microsoft
• There are no patches or hotfixes being added
• Full end of life for RMS and HQ is coming up quickly (2020 and 2021)
• I have no plans to migrate to a different POS program
• I have no plans to look at any of the POS programs that are replacing Microsoft RMS
• I plan on selling my business and letting the new owner worry about the POS hardware and software

The Pro List - reasons why RMS users have been renewing their maintenance:

• We want to take advantage of the license trade / discounts for the RMS replacement programs in the next year (we need to run the numbers as it may be cheaper in the long run to go ahead and lapse if you will be hanging on to RMS for several more years)
• We still need to be able to add lane and HQ store licenses
• We do take advantage of the support directly from Microsoft

My Advice:

There is no hard and fast rule here. I would say that it makes sense to stay on annual maintenance if you will be moving to Retail Management Hero or Cloud Retailer in the next couple of years (the discounts are larger that what the annual maintenance costs in most cases). If you just plan to keep using RMS as long as possible, and tend to use little to no support, then it probably makes more sense to save the $214/year per lane license towards a new POS system down the road. 

Same if you have no interest in any of the RMS replacement programs like Retail Management Hero and Cloud Retailer - set the monies aside for a new POS system.

Just keep in mind that once you are no longer on software maintenance, you lose the following:

• Ability to add lane and/or store licenses
• License key recovery or replacement (easy fix here is to have all of your licenses keys written down for future reference)
• Free support cases directly with Microsoft (which is nice but also limited to what Microsoft can/will support)
• Free license trade to Retail Management Hero or Cloud Retailer (this would be the biggest reason to stay on software maintenance).

Need some personalized advice or help calculating the long term costs? Please contact me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632.

Key Differences Between Microsoft RMS and Retail Management Hero

Having worked with multiple retailers who replaced Microsoft Dynamics RMS with Retail Management Hero, I've been provided with some valuable feedback on the biggest feature/functions that have changed or are not presently available in Retail Management Hero.

Below is a video showing some of the key differences between the Microsoft Dynamics RMS and the Retail Management Hero point of sale software programs. This is by no means meant to scare retailers away from Retail Management Hero - just a way to help set expectations when moving from RMS to RMH:

For more information, please contact RITE at sales@rite.us or 888-267-7483.

Microsoft Dynamics RMS and Retail Management Hero Differences - Merchant Services

OK - not one of my more exciting videos but there are some key differences in how Microsoft Dynamics RMS and Retail Management Hero (RMH) handle credit card processing. The video highlights the differences and also touches on how Card Defender applies to both RMS and RMH.

You can always contact me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632 with questions related to RMS, RMH and/or Card Defender.

Microsoft Dynamics RMS Replacements: Retail Management Hero and Cloud Retailer

So, I had originally made the video below to help paint stores determine which retail point of sale program might be better for their business but realized that the video is also a good overview showing how to determine whether Retail Management Hero or Cloud Retailer is a better replacement point of sale program for the Microsoft Dynamics RMS software.

Here is the video:

As always, contact me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632 with any retail point of sale related questions.

The True Cost of Stand Alone Payment Terminals

Over the last couple of weeks I was asked to meet in person with retailers that are concerned about costs related to using stand alone payment terminals versus payment terminals that communicate directly with their point of sale software. To keep things simple, we only looked at the numbers and ignored other factors like reconciling two close out reports each day or whether the stand alone payment terminal was customer facing or not.

To "set the scene", each retailer is using the Microsoft Dynamics RMS point of sale software and has a single check out lane. The average transaction amount across all stores is $48.00. They are averaging two errors per month with the typical error being that the total is entered as $4.80 instead of $48.00 on the stand alone payment terminal. None of the merchants are contacting the cardholders to ask for the $43.20 difference due to the error being the employees fault and/or not having any way to track down the cardholder. They are not experiencing over-tendering costs as the cardholder does notice this and contacts the store for a refund.

So, here are the 5 year costs for a stand alone payment terminal:

1. Average purchase transaction amount: $180.00
2. Loss due to average error of $43.20/twice a month x 12 months x 5 years: $5,184.00
3. Total 5 year cost for stand alone payment terminal: $5,464.00

Now compare that to an integrated solution like Card Defender for RMS:

1. Single lane Card Defender typical complete upfront deployment cost: $1,350.00
2. Card Defender $10/terminal monthly support charge x 12 months x 5 years: $600.00
3. Total 5 year cost for Card Defender: $1,950.00

Wow - I've spent a lot of time checking and re-checking the numbers above but they are true and correct. While retailers may scoff at the up front costs of Card Defender, they fail to see the true long term costs of using a stand alone payment terminal.  

Of course each retailer is different but the above information combines data from multiple very different retail stores. Note that some of these retailers have had their stand along payment terminals in place for several months so the errors are not a training issue - just an ongoing human factor issue.

This demonstrates some of the hidden value in Card Defender that many retailers may not be aware of. If you would like more information, or for me to run through the numbers based on your store, please contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com. 

Using Dynamics RMS and RJ Reynolds Scan Data Reporting Program?

Many Microsoft Dynamics RMS point of sale software users sell tobacco products and thus have interest in the RJ Reynolds Scan Data Reporting Program which offers some rebates in exchange for tracking transaction level scan data.

To help with this, RITE is working on a way for RMS to fulfill the requirements of the Scan Data Reporting Program. More information can be found at http://www.rite.us/Support/MicrosoftRMSSupport/RMSTutorials/UsingDynamicsRMSandRJReynoldsScanData.aspx or by contacting RITE at 888-267-7483 or sales@rite.us

Is Retail Management Hero Really A New Version of Microsoft RMS?

Update July 2016, Retail Management Hero demo and overview: http://retailpospondering.blogspot.com/2016/07/new-version-of-rmsretail-management.html

So, many of you have been asking me whether the new Retail Management Hero software is really a new version of the Microsoft Dynamics RMS point of sale software.  The short answer is "yes".  Here is how this all came to be.

1. Sales Management Systems (SMS) sold a point of sale program called QuickSell 2000 in the late 1990's via resellers and point of sale value added resellers (including myself).
2. SMS released QuickSell Commerce 
3. SMS's products (and some of their employee's) are acquired by Microsoft
4. Microsoft released RMS version 1.3 which offered a direct low cost upgrade from QuickSell 2000 and QuickSell Commerce
5. Microsoft released RMS version 2.0 (and various updates and service packs)
6. Microsoft shifts distribution of RMS to Scan Source and then Retail Realm
7. Microsoft announces in 2014 that RMS is "end of life"
8. Microsoft sells the coding and rights of RMS to Retail Hero in Canada 
9. Retail Hero in Canada and Retail Realm partner together to update RMS 
10. June 14th, 2016 Version 3 of RMS is released under the new name of Retail Management Hero

Probably boring stuff but you can see that RMS has a long history - as well as a user base exceeding 40,000 stores.  The new version is of high interest to RMS users as well as retailers searching for a POS system due to the following:

• EMV compliant out of the box
• Low cost upgrade from RMS (starting at $232.00/computer)
• RMS users (in most cases) can keep their existing data and computers, cash drawers, etc
• New customer loyalty module
• Adaptable to nearly any type of retail store
• Overall investment cost will likely be around 30% less that similar systems
• Speed and reliability of an on-site POS system (not cloud based or "pay as you use")

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.

What Microsoft Dynamics RMS POS Users Are Doing

Update July 2016, Retail Management Hero demo and overview: http://retailpospondering.blogspot.com/2016/07/new-version-of-rmsretail-management.html

As we get closer to the May 2016 launch of the Retail Management Hero (RMH) of sale software, I figured that now was a good time to check in with the 1000+ stores using the Microsoft Dynamics RMS point of sale software that I am in contact with to so see how many of you have already replaced RMS and how many are waiting to see that RMH might offer.

The unofficial results are as follows - note this only applies to non-HQ users:

• About 20% of you have already replaced RMS with a different POS system like Bindo, NCR CounterPoint, LightSpeed, etc. The driving force for the change appears that you needed to do something sooner than later due to aging or outdated computer equipment. Lack of support for RMS was also cited as a reason for switching away from RMS.
• About 10% of you plan to keep using RMS until it completely dies - for various reasons you have no need to upgrade and are willing to risk losing data by waiting until a major failure takes place before replacing your POS system.
• The rest of you are taking a "wait and see" approach to see if RMH is a viable solution. You are planning on replacing RMS within the next 6-12 months but are in a position to research and compare different POS solutions before making a purchase.

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.

Retail Management Hero as a Replacement for Microsoft Dynamics RMS

Updated information on Retail Management Hero as a direct replacement for RMS as of December 3rd, 2015: http://retailpospondering.blogspot.com/2015/12/updated-information-on-new-retail.html

New video discussing options for Dynamics RMS and HQ users as of December 5th, 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evVWS7dj0Bs

A video highlighting what we know about the new Retail Management Hero point of sale software as a direct replacement for the Microsoft Dynamics RMS point of sale software. Subject to change of course!  Also included is my advice for Microsoft Dynamics RMS point of sale software users who have made it past the EMV deadline and are now planning for the end of life of Dynamics RMS.

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.

True Cost of Payment Gateways

Update July 2016: Since many Microsoft RMS point of sale software would like to keep using RMS for another couple of years but still need to deal with the EMV Liability Shift Date, visit this post for more information on the Card Defender EMV add-on for Microsoft RMS versions 1.3 and higher (and HQ as well): http://retailpospondering.blogspot.com/2016/06/card-defender-emv-add-on-for-microsoft.html

One of the various options for Microsoft Dynamics RMS users to meet the upcoming October 1st, 2015 EMV Liability Shift Date for card present transactions in the US is to use a payment gateway to process chip based credit and debit card transactions. While this may seem like an easy fix, here are a few things that you need to be aware of:

1. Cost Over Time: As an example, if the payment gate costs 2 cents per transaction, your business averages 500 transactions per day, and your business is open 300 days per year, then your cost over 5 years for using the payment gateway is $15,000 (2 cents X 500 transactions per day X 300 days open per year X 5 years).
2. Note that there are variables with #1 as the payment gateway provider may discount your merchant services rates for credit and debit card processing - you have to to the math and see what works be for your business in the long run (5 to 7 years).
3. You are still investing in a point of sale system whose sales end in July 2016 to new customers and extended support ends in July of 2021. What other new requirements will come out in the upcoming years that will require an additional investment?

While payment gateways in general are secure ways to processing chip cards, meet the EMV Liability Shift Date, and use added security like tokenization, some businesses and organizations may find the costs to be too high versus investing in a new point of sale system.

Confused? Have Clarifications or Questions? In need of free and unbiased point of sale advice? Then please visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.