Summer is finally with us and we hope you are all enjoying the fine weather. Please don't forget in the excitement of going on holiday to leave sensible instructions for your poor colleagues who have the unenviable task of manning the fort for you.
Most of you will have realised that Dominique was back with us for a month over Easter. She is doing well in the second year of her degree course, and is on track for a first class honours degree.
March was a ‘red-letter’ month for JB, as he finally reached the big 40, and Emma is still making a lot of noise on her accordion, some of it quite nice allegedly!
All of us at R.E.D. are as busy and as productive as ever, and we hope that things are going well for you too! As we are so busy, it would be a great help if you are planning to book some training, new transfer work, or program extensions, to book it as far ahead as possible. Then we will find it easier to allocate the dates that would suit you the best. We are currently booking about 4 weeks ahead !
Updates
R.E.D. is releasing Updates that reflect the work that has gone into our programming environment. This is designed to keep the software as efficient as possible, and to continue the improvement of file management and memory handling. This all paves the way for the future development of ALL our programs.
One nice new facility is being able to change the background colour of your screen used by R.E.D. software. This is especially useful if you have more than one program each can now be a different colour! There are more serious extensions included of course, but this one gets our vote!
Combinations!
Much of the recent development work has been aiming to produce ‘combinations’, but don't worry, this is nothing to do with haute couture, we have not diversified into fashion design! No, a Combination is where the whole of one of our programs is placed inside another. This sounds complicated but imagine the Subs program with additional menu options for the whole of the Mail Order program. Then imagine that all the reporting for subs and mailorder could be combined together. Then imagine that all the income can be accounted for together, and you begin to get an idea of the possibilities!
New BACS Module
There is now an integrated BACS module. We have had a stand-alone module available for a long time, but now is the time for one which draws directly from information entered into the subs program.
Help
We at R.E.D. are looking at re-implementing the on-screen help facility, and would like to issue an invitation to any user who would like to contribute.
If you feel that you have some useful comments or advice on the use of a particular part of any program, don't keep it to yourself, but send us your words, (including the program and menu path to which they apply).
We are considering a small reward scheme for any ‘help’ notes that are finally implemented in the help system.
Database 96
A reminder for any of you that are using Mailsort and/or Presstream - the Post Office is issuing a new Database for use from August onwards.
The Post Office should have been in touch already to confirm the format you require - this should be the FIXED FORMAT option. If this is the first you have heard of this update, we suggest you contact your post office for more information!
Data Protection Act
There are changes afoot at the Data Protection Registrar, with a new EU directive and Parliament changes to the rulings over what behaviour is covered. We all want and need to use our data for promotions, etc, this is much of the benefit of databases, but if you are in any way unsure of the regulations, there are several leaflets available from The Registrar, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, Tel: 01625-545745 or on http://www.open.gov.uk./dpr/dpr home.htm
Electronic Interchange
There is much interest in the Internet at present and we are often asked if R.E.D. is going to get on the Internet. We do not think it would be worthwhile setting up a ‘home page’ on the Web, but are very interested in getting an E-Mail address for use in making updates available and also to act as a forum for users and support. More on this next time.
R.E.D. does have access to CIX and Compuserve and we use this from time-to-time to down load system software updates (or ‘patches’).
Useful technical information is also gained from accessing the technical forums. We have found that CIX in particular is a useful source of technical information, especially on Netware.
For those of our clients who also have access to Compuserve, it would be possible to exchange messages and data (for example small data files or program updates).
Do get in touch with JB for more information if you are interested.
Talking of which..
A number of our Subs clients have been in touch recently because they are considering offering products on CD-ROM, by E-mail, or as a fax service alongside normal paper products. If you are also considering this you will need to check with your accountants, as these services may attract VAT!!
Future plans- but not sci-fi! .
We have experienced a very increased interest in in-house subs and address management - in fact the highest for 5 years. The upshot of this is that we are now considering producing a new module giving extended list-management facilities. Naturally, we have ideas about what should go into it, but there is really nothing quite like having input from users themselves. So, if you have any thoughts of comments, please do get in contact with us.