HARRIS MATCHETTE SOLUTIONS The New EZSpirits POS
CHAPTER 1 The new EZSpirits POS The new EZSpirits POS is coming. It brings a new look, a new feel, new functionality, but the same core operations that you are familiar. The EZSpirits that you will see in this book and in the months to come is not only the product of the last five years of customer requests and experiences. It is also nearly 2 years of trial and experimentation using the new tools which we will use to create it. In fact it is actually a second version already. This book is intended to introduce you to the new system before you find yourself standing in front of it. CHAPTER 1 What to expect There is a concept emerging in the software industry that makes this claim in regard to the user interface or the screens you look at. Less is more or simple is better and quicker, we have embraced this concept completely. MAJOR CHANGES TO THE SYSTEM 1. Control Center Application. 2. Auto End of..day, Month and Year. 3. Auto management of price files. 4. Data Wizards. 5. Full View screens. 6. Powerful Searches. 7. Text Alerts. 8. Transaction Tendering. 9. Increased exception tracking and security. Please be aware that as this software is still under development that it s appearance and functionality could change before it is released.
1.Control Center Application The new system will have a Control Center application that will do a lot of work in the background. Some of it duties will be the following. 1. Manage your EZSpirits License. 2.Get EZSpirits updates. 3.Get Login screen messages. 4.Close end of day, month and year. 5. Watch for new and process monthly price files. 6.Handle text alerts. 7. Transmit orders and process confirmations. * 8.Provide time sync for all other machines. 9.Transmit orders and download electronic invoices. 10.Maintain Standalone data. center will process end of day at 11:50 pm each day. It will give a 15 minute warning to all other stations and then force them to close at midnight so it can process. It will then look at each user profile and determine if they get EOD reports and which ones. Then it will process the reports and send them to the users inbox as a PDF. If after it runs end of day, if it detects that it is the last day of the month it will run end of month, and process end of month reports and deliver them in the same fashion. It will also update the cost of goods for the next month from the downloaded price files. If after running EOM it detects that it is the last day of the year it will run end of year. 3.Auto manage price files. The control center will check price files every day at 2:00 am. If it sees that there is a new one it will download it and process it. The control center will also maintain a copy of each months price book database, to make it simple to rebuild your price book if needed. 2.Auto end of.. Here is a basic explanation of how the auto end of will work. Lets start with end of day. Each EZSpirits user profile will have the option to receive end of day reports as well as selecting which reports they want to receive. The control 4.Data Wizards Data wizards are meant to help you add data to the system. They will guide you through each step ensuring that each record is complete and accurate. 2
5.Full screen views We are requiring a larger screen for this version of EZSpirits. The reason is, we want to be able to show you more data on each screen. The Inventory screen will show more data without having to switch views. the registers will show the order and the finder at the same time. Please see the photos section. 6.Powerful Searches Finding the data you want is probably the most important part of the EZSpirits POS system. We have extended this capability in several ways. Search in general If you want to put a % sign before and after your search then the list of result will be filtered to products that contain your search criteria anywhere in the product name. For example if you type %BRANDY% the list of products will be filtered down to any product with the letters BRANDY any where in the description. If you type a partial or whole product description then a $ sign then a size code the system will look for a match on both description and size. For example type JACK$1.75 the system will look for products named JACK with a size code of 1,75. Searches can now do a better job of determining wether you keyed in a item number search or a product search. However we will never be able to look for a product with numbers at the beginning in an auto search manner. Example 1800 will always look for the item number 1800 unless you enter some letters also. MEGA SEARCH This is one we are very excited about. From the main screen there is a search that looks like the search box at the top of the current inventory screen. When you type a search in it, it will look through the entire system. The UPC file, 90 days of sales, system orders, hold orders (retail and wholesale) inventory adjustments, the email system, current and next months price books. It displays its findings in a grouped tree (like my store), sales records are additionally grouped by date, then with each date grouped by retail and wholesale. As you open the results from each file you can the access the actual data by clicking on it. For example you type in BEAM, and you will see anytime BEAM appears in all the files listed above. Then if you open the results for the UPC file, you will see all products with BEAM. Click on any one of these results and the inventory form will open with that item displayed. likewise it will work in the same fashion for system or hold orders and so on. For sales records it will show you a picture of the retail or wholesale receipt. 3
7.Text Alerts Texting has become a big part of the way the world communicates today. We want to be able to take advantage of these possibilities. You will be able to set the system up to text your sales figures to your phone on a time basis. You will be able to receive a text you when voids or no sale count reach a specified count or dollar value. You will be able to receive a text when a void is over a specified amount. If we get the cooperation we need from Glazer and Standard on actual order confirmation, that confirmation can be texted to you. We may be able to do even more with the texting as we get this service up and running. We will also have to be flexible in regard to the amount of texts and stress on the system that handles them. If it works as well as I think, we may have to setup multiple text servers and that might mean additional cost. Initially the text features will be free. We will reevaluate the cost of operation when the system is in place. 8.Transaction Tendering One of the issues that we could not correct with the current system is how to handle things when an order was half way through processing then stopped because of error or failure. Whether it was receiving an order from a vendor, tendering a wholesale invoice or tendering a retail order. This issue was a hard one to resolve, you don t know which items where added to or taken from inventory. By switching to MS SQL (Microsoft Sequel Server) as our database we get a plethora of new features and capabilities. One of which is the transaction. What the transaction does is best described as a all or nothing scenario. It you go to finalize any process that will alter you inventory count the system will start a transaction. If at any time during that transaction something happens to keep it from finishing it will rollback to before the transaction started. You can then address the issues with the order then try again. This will be a major improvement to the current system. 9.Exception Tracking and security Exceptions like voids, discounts, price changes and no sales will be tracked with much more detail. When a clerk does a price adjustment you will be able to see what the price was before and after the change. 4
When a clerk does a void, that order will be assigned a ticket number ( just as if it had been tendered). So gaps in the sequence of invoice numbers will match up to voids helping you be aware of voids. Price Checks will be added to exception reports. We will be adding an all new feature of employee badges. Which will be accessible from the employee file in MY STORE. You will be able to include a photo as well as the other data about the employee. You will have the capability to print employee badges with your store name and logo, employee picture, name and if you choose a barcode with the employee login. Additionally you will be able to set it up so the employee does not even know the login password. This means they need that badge to log in and other employees can t log them in(unless of course they have their badge). We can t stop dishonesty but perhaps we can help slow it down. 5
CHAPTER 2 Pictures A good picture is always worth a thousand words, but I hope you took time to read the first part of this booklet. One of our major goals with the new version is to put explanation and training materials in your hands. Of course you will always be welcome to call for our help, but we also want you to have immediate access to the help you need to minimize disruptions in your workflow. In the pages to follow are picture of the screens from the new system. Please keep in mind that since this software in still under development the final product may be different.
The Login Screen Many things are different on the login screen. The biggest change would be that logging in now only requires a password instead of username and password. Passwords are numeric only. This ties in the the concept of employee s scanning their badge to logon. We have also made some changes to the message. It will hold more than one message. You can navigate through the messages here. It can display messages for all customers or a message specifically for your store. When a new message has important information it will expand and cover all the buttons requiring you read it and check the acknowledgment box before you can log in. 7
The Main Menu Many things about the main screen will be very familiar, here are some new things to show you. Check your mail. Internet Connection, Data Connection, Customer Display, Receipt Printer, Trash Can Personal Calendar and Schedule. Use you personal calendar for appointments, events, sales or reminders. Mega Search. email you will see the email. If it is an inventory record the inventory screen will open to that record, and likewise for vendor,retail or wholesale orders. We think Mega Search will be one of your favorite new features. Type some search criteria and Mega Search will look throughout multiple parts of the system. It will display it s results in a drop down list grouped by file. Any sales records it finds will also be grouped by date, then within that date grouped by retail and wholesale. It will even search through your in-store email. Once you have found what your looking for, double click it to open the record. If it is a sales record or received order you will see the receipt or invoice. If it s an 8
The Inventory Screen If you break this screen down into blocks you will soon see that it is not all that different than your current inventory screen. The yellow block is still your costs with the case quantity added. The light blue block is still MTD and YTD. The green block is different, instead of product details it is inventory counts. You may ask where is the old green block with the product details? It s gone, all the product detail, are in the UPC grid at the top. This gives you greater flexibility with last sold, location, category and vendor. Since these are per UPC they could be different if needed. The grey block still holds the reorder information. The dark blue block still holds the last information. However it does not show last sold because that is shown in the UPC grid. This gives you the ability to see when the product was last sold based on UPC. The pink block is the same weekly sales. The quick finder is still available at the top right, as well as the full finder. The tabs. Sold History and Receive History are mostly the same with some improvements. You can control the date range, you can also sort and group the history data. Movement History is the same as Item History. Price History is new. Anytime you change a retail price, we record the change. Adjustments is the inventory count adjustments, the same data in a new location. Positive adjustments show in black where negative adjustments are red. 9
The Finder Not many visible changes here. The sort order of the finder syncs itself to the sort order of the inventory screen. The column header turns white to show the current sort. When you search for something it does NOT change the sort order. If you change the sort in the finder, that new sort will carry back to the inventory screen when you close the finder. You change the sort order by clicking on the column header. 10
Retail Register Visually this may be the biggest change you will see. Functionally its nearly the same. You may be wondering, Why does it only fill half of the screen? The next few pages will explain. Experience has taught us that the fewer overlapping screens the better. So everything that would normally be a new overlapping screen will appear in the blank right hand portion of the screen. A quick look will show you that nearly everything is familiar. The Age Check button is gone, however age check is still available by just swiping the license( however the state has taken that away from us). The bartender button has moved to the spot where the Age Check button was. The Exit button moved to the left one position. The Finish Order button moved to the right one position, is larger and is now labeled Tender. The touch buttons have moved from the left side of the screen to the bottom next to tender. More on the Touch button later. Other than a few buttons being moved its all the same. All the F-Keys are still the same. 11
Register Finder The register finder (F5) still functions basically the same. However it does not cover the order up, instead it displays itself right next to the order. New Features in the register finder. In the Search here.., box on the finder you can.. Enter %brandy% and the finder will be filtered to only products with the word brandy in the description. Enter % by its self to clear the filter. Enter JACK$1.75 and the finder will search for JACK in the product field and 1.75 in the size field at the same time. 12
Register Tender Tendering or finishing an order will remain the same other than the various tender methods and screens will not cover up the order. When you press Tender(F9) the tender methods will show up to the right of the order. The appropriate input needed for the tender method you choose will show in the blank space to the right of the tender method buttons. 13
Register Touch The Touch Buttons will work slightly different than before. When you first press the Touch Button at the bottom of the register screen the touch Panel will show up to the right of the order The first 5 buttons on the top row are the multiplier buttons. Touch a multiplier button then a product to ring up more than one of that product. The X button allows you to key in any quantity. The <- button is for going back to the last touch page, more in just a moment. The X button closes the touch panel. System options allow you to have the touch panel close after you ring a product or stay open until you close it with the X button. folder buttons that open another touch panel. So you could have some buttons for your best selling items on the main touch panel and folder buttons for 30 Packs,Lottery and Wines with no UPC code. Also, any touch page can contain a folder button to a new page. Each Touch page can hold 30 buttons. You may also notice the second row has two different types of buttons. The green ones are product buttons, used to ring the product indicated by the button label. The white buttons are 14
Register Customer Accounts Customer accounts will work the same as before. When you click the Customer Accounts button it will ask you for the account number. If you know it you can enter the account number or scan or swipe their card. If you leave it blank and press enter you will get the list of accounts shown in the picture. When you type in the search box the contents of the list will be filtered down to names with your search criteria in the name. It searches first and last name so either one will work. When you see the one you want arrow down to it and press enter. 15
Register Get & Hold Orders Holding retail orders will not change very much. The top image is get or open an order on hold. You can type in the search box to filter the list of orders. When you see the one you want double click on it in the list to open it. The bottom image is hold or save order. When you click hold order you will see this screen. If the order has been on hold before it will already be filled out, if not you can start filling the customer information out. As you type the first and last name the list of customers or contacts will filter down, if you see the customer name in the list you can double click it to finish filling out the hold order data. Add to Contacts will add the customer data you have entered into a contacts database. This will be a list of customers you have served before, these may or may not be included in your customer accounts database. More on Contacts later. 16
My Store My Store is another screen that will be a significant change. It will still be your access point for Category, Vendor, Family Codes, Employee, and now Mix & Match Codes. In the next few pages we will look at Category, Vendor, Size and Employee. Family, size and Mix & Match will have the same features and capabilities. Like the current software my store uses a tree view approach to accessing the data. Expand any tree to see the individual items. Only one branch can be expanded at a time. 17
My Store Category From here you can add, edit and delete categories, as well as move items from one category to another. All categories can have an icon or image assigned to it. This icon will also show up at the top of the inventory screen. You can click a button to see any items without a category. You can also click a button to see all items in the selected category. From this list you can actually edit size, vendor, category, Family and Mix Match code right from the grid. 18
My Store Vendor All the new features described on the previous page apply to vendors. ( as well as Size, Family and Mix Match) Fix Vendor Names is a utility that steps through your product file and adjusts the vendor name for each product to match the vendor name in the vendor file. When finished it will also display a list of products that have a vendor name that does not exists in the vendor file. 19
My Store Employee Although were not sure how much this feature is used in the current software, we plan to incorporate several features that will make it more valuable in this new version. The image is an obvious addition. It can be used to print out employee badges. 20
This is only a small portion of the new features we will be bringing with this new version. Here is a testimonial regarding touch screens from Bob Lightner of Lightner Liquor in Wichita. Here is what Bob has to say. We are very excited to be approaching the POS system we have always envisioned. We value your input and ideas. However if I am on the phone talking to you, then I am NOT writing code. So we have set up an email address you can use to get your ideas to us. suggestions@ezspirits.com The two hardware issues I would pass on the you at this point are as follows. They have been fantastic. They speed up the check out process greatly with less effort and less stress when the lines are long. The presets(or touch buttons) for items like 30 packs are also very customer friendly. The customer doesn't have to lift the heavy package up onto the counter. We just touch the buttons on the screen before the customer gets to the register. They love it. I personally use it a lot for inventory work. It would say that they are the most valuable upgrade to our POS system since when began using it back in 1998. CPU - if you replace any machines at this point make sure to get a quad core processor. Monitor - You will need to get monitors that can display 1920 X 1080. Your hardware provider will know what this means. If you use touch screen I will suggest the Elo 2201L it has proved to be a good unit, and Elo has long been a trusted name in POC touch solutions. If you don t use touch screens, please consider them. I don t think you can image how it will impact your front end until you try them. 21