Microsoft RMS NexGen

A quick reminder that sales of Microsoft Dynamics RMS and HQ to new users ends next 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.

Since I personally have nearly 500 customers using the Microsoft RMS Store Operations point of sale software (of which around 8 use RMS HQ as well), I have been really trying to stay on top of the new version of Microsoft RMS being released in late 2013 or early 2014.  The news has been somewhat muted but is still creating a lot of excitement since many folks have been waiting several years for a major revision to the Microsoft RMS Store Operations software.

There are still a lot of variables but here are some insights (subject to official word from Microsoft):

• Mobile (smart phone and tablets) solutions will be a part of RMS NexGen
• "Rules" will be used to provide consistency in the customer experience
• The product will still focus on the small and medium retail store market (basically stores with around $350,000 to $5,000,000 in annual gross sales per location)
• Integrated online shopping carts will be available

The other good news is that Microsoft has made it clear that they are still committed to the retail market. I'm sure that all of this is welcome news to the 30,000+ global users of Microsoft RMS Store Operations and somewhat un-welcomed news to the competition.

Note that free or low cost version upgrades will only be available to Microsoft RMS Store Operations users who are current on their software maintenance agreement so be sure to contact me or your Microsoft partner to see if you are current on maintenance.

I've worked with Microsoft RMS back to the time when the original program was QuickSell 2000 and QuickSell HQ (from Sales Management Systems).  It has been an interesting 14 years and it sounds like 2014 will be interesting as well.

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.

Clover Updates

Update July 6, 2015: no shortage of complaints against Clover specific to expensive long term contracts, costly buyout clauses, unable to transfer licensing if the business is sold, and sales reps making promises for features/functions that Clover just can't do.  I believe the overall tally is over 400 verified complaints against Clover.

Update November 9th, 2014: Clover was acquired by First Data and relaunched. Still a great point of sale program but you are required to use First Data for all credit and debit card processing services which locks you in to a contract and is something that I recommend folks avoid doing.

I have had a couple of calls now from Clover point of sale users who mentioned that Clover may be taking a different direction shortly.  The users mentioned a lack of updates and that critical functions like tracking item cost and purchasing/receiving functions are still missing from the software.

Clover has also communicated to me that they are moving in a different direction and didn't feel that they could support new customers so I am no longer offering the Clover solution. I already offer NCR Silver which is a little more advanced than Clover but lacks the button-based user interface that made Clover appealing to small food service businesses.

Aside from that, here are the changes to the most current version of Clover:

What's in this version:
1.0.56
- New Order Closeout feature for managers and admins to set every open tip to $0.00
- New Reporting tab to view and print payment, item, and discount reports for the day
- Ability to print items and modifiers in a shorthand or a different language on your kitchen receipts (alternate names option in Order Receipt setup)
- Split payments evenly up to 7 ways
1.0.55
- Enhancements for Magtek BulleT card reader
1.0.54
- Various bug fixes

*Updates 7/24/2014*

• Returned it (Clover) the next day"
• "(sales rep) couldn't even demo the system"
• "they will raise my (merchant services) rates"
• "don't want to be locked in to a credit card contract"
• "good step up from a cash register"
• "missing features"
• "went with Bindo which does more and doesn't require me to use a specific company for credit and debit card processing services"

The Bindo solution was mentioned a couple of times.  Folks noted that Bindo does more than Clover and is even offering some various incentives like free hardware currently. If you are curious about Bindo Point of Sale, check them out at www.bindopos.com.

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.

NCR Retail Online Update

Thought that I should pass along that the folks at NCR (CounterPoint point of sale software) have received an larger expected response to the new NCR Online website shopping cart application for NCR CounterPoint.  NCR Online is more advanced and very search engine friendly when compared to the older CP Online shopping cart.

Because of this larger than expected response, NCR is "provisioning" websites via a wait list. It sounds like the wait list should be cleared up by May at this point.

If you are considering NCR CounterPoint with the intent to also use NCR Online, keep the delay in mind (basically, just sign up early and then the timing should work out fine since an NCR CounterPoint user would usually start using NCR Online about 90 days after the NCR CounterPoint system is up and running).

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.