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New
registration
Version
8.0 of Focus requires the entry of a new registration key, as provided by
RTM. The utility focusreg.exe,
installed with version 8, is used to enter the new key for Windows systems.
UNIX/Linux systems are shipped with an installable serialized module.
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Improved
installation routine
For systems that need modification to the accounting startup files, the
installation routine will now offer to make these changes automatically.
Formerly, Windows systems could require manual editing of startup
files to add the line “COBSW=-F”.
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Electronic
documentation
The Focus User’s Manual will now be supplied as an electronic document
on the CD. This allows searches
to be performed on the manual text, and will result in the availability of
manual revisions quickly and easily.
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Service
contract categories
Functionality has been added to Focus to allow definition of contract
category codes for assignment to service contracts.
I.e. commercial, residential, etc.
The new category codes are defined under Setup/Contract categories.
The codes are assigned to contracts, and can then be used to
segregate contracts by type during processing, including: billing,
expiration reporting, and profit analysis.
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Technician
notes
Free-form notes may now be attached to service call labor.
Each labor record entered onto a call can have it’s own note.
These can be used to describe, in detail, the sequence and/or purpose
of the work performed. Text
entered into the labor notes can be viewed or printed out, both before and
after service call billing has occurred.
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Prevent
extraneous page during form printing
When using third party software to redirect printing of Focus “special
forms” (such as printing
directly to a fax or email), an extra blank page could be sent.
The term “special forms” applies to Focus work orders, service
call invoices, contract invoices, credit memos, and invoice reprints.
A new procedure will allow printing to a fax or email printer without
the extraneous page.
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Compatibility
with RW32 version 10 from Passport Software
Focus is now integrated with Passport’s RW32 accounting software. A
proven suite of accounting modules, RW32 builds upon the excellence of
previous versions of RealWorld Classic Accounting Software.
Visit the RTM web site, www.rtmcs.com,
for the most complete, up to date listing of product compatibility.
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Compatibility
with Great Plains Classic version 9.1
GP Classic only - Focus version 8.0 is completely integrated with Great
Plains Classic version 9.1 and supports the new functionality for using
Windows printers. Visit the RTM
web site, www.rtmcs.com, for the most
complete, up to date listing of product compatibility.
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Compatibility
with CounterPoint, version 7.5.3
CounterPoint only - Focus version 8.0 has been certified to run with
CounterPoint version 7.5.3, for Windows and Unix/Linux systems.
Visit the RTM web site, www.rtmcs.com,
for the most complete, up-to-date listing of product compatibility.
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Contract
profit analysis – new selection option
A new selection condition has been added to the Contract profit analysis
report. The new option allows
exclusion of contracts that did not have any billing activity during the
selected reporting period. Previously,
all contracts would be included on the report with zero totals for those
with no invoices during the period.
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Correction:
invoicing code maintenance
When specifying a sales account number to be used for service call
parts, the option to “Use each item’s sub account” could not be
entered. This has been
corrected in this release.
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Scrolling
notes in “view only” mode
The functionality in the program that displays service call and contract
notes has been enhanced in “view only” mode.
This state occurs when displaying history, or when viewing a call or
contract that is in the process of being billed.
If the note being displayed is larger than the viewable area of the
screen, the arrow keys may now be used to scroll through the entire text.
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Invoice
History report selection
When using the user-defined fields as selection criteria for printing
service call history, the comparison has been made “case insensitive”. Previously, the combination of upper and lower case letters
had to be entered exactly as it appears in the service call data.
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Correction:
file utility restore
The information for call and contract notes that determines if a note
should be printed on an invoice was not being properly restored by the Focus
file utilities. The service tax
default records were not being restored when reloading the service codes
file. These errors have been corrected in this version.
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Service
call equipment PM/Repair flags
GP Classic, version 9.x only – When changing an existing piece of
service call equipment, the PM and Repair performed flags were not always
maintained properly. This could
occur only when using the down arrow key to pass through these data entry
fields. A correction has been made to ensure that this information is
preserved properly.
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Browse
system history for equipment
Improvements made to the function that allows browsing of system sales
history (Order Entry, AR sales, Point of Sale) to pick customer equipment
for service. This function is
accessed from the customer equipment maintenance screen, by pressing F5
after filling in the customer and service address fields.
Selecting a piece of equipment from the browse window will now use
the sale date as the equipment’s warranty start date, by default.
Also, if multiple serial numbers were sold on a single ticket/order
line, the browse function will now allow selection of a specific serial
number.
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Correction:
service call invoice printing
Under certain conditions, the printing of an invoice note on a service call
invoice could produce multiple excess page feeds.
This has been corrected in this release.
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Customer
equipment listing
The F9 lookup has been made available for the service address field.
Previously, the pop-up address search window was not available during
the entry of selection criteria for this report.
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Inventory
usage at satellite location
CounterPoint multi-site only - When
posting service call parts used at a satellite, inventory adjustment
transactions are now created for transmission to the hub.
Since inventory quantities are masked at the hub, changes made in
Focus to relieve inventory at the satellite were not being sent up to the
main location. During overnight
processing, the hub then sends it's inventory quantities back to the
satellite - any changes made from Focus posting were effectively erased.
This has been corrected through the use of these adjustments.
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Service
call history note processing
All service call notes are now assigned a proper sequence number as they
are being moved to Focus history. Duplicate
call numbers can exist in Focus history due to manual entry of call numbers,
credit memo processing, or re-billing of service work.
Previously, the notes for all calls with the same number could be
shared, once in history. Proper
separation of notes will now occur.
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Popup
window for browsing of existing customer equipment
In view customer equipment, allow the F6 key to display a window listing
the equipment on file for a customer. Equipment
may be selected for detail display from the lines displayed in the popup.
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Correction:
problem with profit analysis
The new procedures for representing service credit memos, introduced in
Focus version 7, were creating errors in the profit analysis reports.
Affected reports include the Service call profit analysis, Service
contract profit analysis, and the Referral source analysis.
In some cases, the billing amounts or the labor hours could be
incorrectly stated, due to the potential for these values to become
negative. Also corrected a
rounding error that could cause the Service call profit analysis report to
not add properly across column totals.
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New
option for displayed schedule board calls
A new option is available when selecting from available calls, while in
the Scheduling/Dispatching function. Instead
of choosing a date for display of calls available for dispatching, the new
option allows calls to be filtered by “current date”.
This option may be saved in the user’s profile information, so that
the system date is used each time the user enters this function
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Correction:
PM & Repair performed flag in call equipment
GP Classic version 9.x only – In service call equipment maintenance,
using the down arrow key to pass through the PM performed and Repair
performed fields may not have properly updated the field value in the call
equipment record under certain conditions.
This has been corrected in this version.
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Usage
billing code list
A new program has been added to Focus to allow printing of the usage
billing codes. Usage billing
codes are used for metered (overage) billing.
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Contract
billing adjustments
The GL account to which the sales are posted during accrual processing
may now be adjusted under Contract invoicing/Adjustments.
Any subsequent accrual amounts processed for the changed invoice will
be accrued into the new sales account.
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Service
history purge
A new function has been added to purge service call history.
Service history can be permanently removed from the system, using
selection of a range of values for service call number, customer number,
invoice number, and invoice date.
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