SAFE/7 Two Tiny Features!
Another in our continuing series on 'the little things' in SAFE that can make life a little bit easier. As we always say, SAFE is a very deep program. It's important to really plumb the depths of the documentation and, even more so, to ask questions. There are probably at least a few things SAFE can do right now to save you time. Hopefully these include:

A/P Line Item Description Formulas
Did you know that you can have the descriptions in each A/P Line Item be automatically filled in for you in a meaningful way? The trick is the Line Item Description Formula.

Here are some examples:

Now here's the great thing: each formula is Vendor specific. So for example, formula #1 is used for your telephone company bill so your line items always display the month/year of the entry. Formula #3 is used for a trade vendor which specializes in checks so you can always see the salesperson and order ID when viewing the line item.

TIP: Since you can sort A/P Line Item reports and Export data by Description, this can be a clever way to extract the data you need. For example, if you use a formula similar to #1 for all non-trade vendors, you can print/subtotal an A/P Detail Report by Description and have a breakdown by billing period for each type of expense (All the '09' expenses, then all the '10' expenses, then all the '11' expenses, etc...)

Phone Numbers and Formatting
Traditionally, the standard formatting for all phone numbers in Simple Accounting has been:

(###)-###-####:xxxx

Now for some of you, this is inconvenient for various reasons.

1. You need longer phone numbers (for Europe, Mexico and other foreign parts.)

2. You dislike this style of formatting and prefer something else, for example:

###-###-####:xxxx

Either way, we've got you covered in the following ways:

1. The standard formatting for phone numbers in SAFE/7 is...

(###)-###-####:xxxxxxxxx

...so longer phone numbers, which include international codes are easily accommodated so you can now easily call Jolly Ol' England:

(011)-443-1090 387834591

2. You can alter the global phone number formatting in Setup|Global Options

Module	Main
Parameter	PhoneNumbers
Value	(###)-###-####:xxxxxxxxx

So the if you wanted to change formatting to omit the parentheses, you would simply change the Parameter to...

###-###-####:xxxx

WARNING: If you change phone number formatting, you risk having a bunch of crazy displays for existing phone numbers! To avoid this, please contact us before you make such a change so we can insure that existing phone numbers can be automatically re-formatted to the new formatting.

Til Next Time!

 

New Fax Laws!
Although e-mail has taken over, there are still many of you who send out bulk faxes (using Simple Accounting!). But on July 9th a new Federal law went into effect which is designed to curb 'spam' faxes. The law sets rules for how faxes should be sent to help curb 'spam'.

1. You must include an opt-out notice on all faxes:
The notice must be clear, conspicuous and give recipients a way to opt out of future faxes by fax or phone 24 hours a day

2. Offer at least one toll-free opt out option:
E-mail and web options are advised, but not required. Phone and fax lines must never be busy so there must be adequate capacity.

3. There is no time limit for the existing business relationship exemption. However Congress may establish a time limit in the future.

4. You must immediately start tracking the date on which faxers began a relationship with customers, in anticipation that a time limit may be set in the future.

5. You must cease all faxes to any phone number after you have received an opt-out request, even if you are faxing an individual in the company different from the one who originally made the request.

6. Understand that the exemption only applies to recipients who specifically requested a transaction with you. If you send material like a newsletter, the exemption does not apply.

But there will likely be more...
IN 2006 there will likely be some BIG changes to this law. These may include:

1. It may become unlawful to send an unsolicited ad to a fax machine with prior written permission.

2. The business on whose behalf the fax is sent may need to identify itself at the top or bottom margin and may need to include a phone number and date and time the fax was sent.

3. If a fax broadcaster demonstrates a 'high degree of involvement' in the sender's fax messages, such as supplying the fax numbers (a bulk marketing operation), they may be required to put their contact information on the fax as well.

4. A fax broadcaster may be liable if it supplies fax numbers to a business or entity sending unlawful fax advertisements.

5. Faxes sent to fax servers and personal computers are covered by the faxing rules.

6. Just because your fax number is published or distributed it does not mean that you have given permission to others to send you unsolicited advertisements.

Further information from the government may be found at 1-888-225-5322 or www.fcc.gov/cqb/complaints.html.

Final Comment...
For whatever reason, the government has seemed to seriously try to curb unsolicited faxes over the past decade. Perhaps we are somewhat cynical, but we think it is because it has been easier for officials to see the cost to tele-communications companies and general business of all those unwanted 'Free Trip To Cancun!' offers.

What is confusing to us is that no such similar conviction seems to exist in stopping e-mail spam. If our above analysis holds true, it may be because your representatives don't see the hard costs in e-mail spam. They don't fully realize (yet) both the hard and soft costs of spam. One of our employees reminded us recently that this is quite similar to previous attitudes towards repetitive stress injuries (carpal tunnel syndrome) where it took a lot of damaged people and expensive losses for business before being taken seriously in discussions of public policy.

Spam e-mail is many times more onerous to business than spam faxes ever were. Therefore, we once again urge you to contact your Senator and Congressman and encourage them to act with the same decisiveness towards e-mail spam as the government has shown itself capable of towards unsolicited faxes.

Til Next Time!

 

Security Check: Media Players!
It's becoming clear that a serious security threat for PCs is now lurking in your friendly music player. It turns out that the bad guys have discovered literally dozens of ways to get into your PC while you listen to or view tunes, podcasts or videos. The cures are the ones you hear us harp on about ad nauseum:

• Anti-Virus

• Anti-spam

• Anti-spyware

• Keep your copies of Windows updated.

But one other thing: When you update Windows, many of you neglect to update 'applications' such as Windows Media Player or check for updates to RealPlayer, Shockwave or WinAMP. Bad move! The evildoers realize that a lot of you don't think about media players and have found great ways to inject viruses inside various MP3s and movies. Some of these are undetectable to your anti-virus program! Fortunately, each of the major media player companies already have patches to protect against these intruders, but how many of you are actually applying them?

Also, don't assume that, because you only use Windows Media Player that someone else in your office doesn't have another type of player. Check! Most computers end up having a copy of Shockwave or RealPlayer installed sooner or later.

So... Right now. Go to the web site where your media players are located and get the latest updates!

Til Next Time!
 

Ciaran's Corner: You Could Be In New Orleans!
Could it get any worse for customers of ours along the Gulf? I don't see how.

First of all, our prayers go out to everyone affected there.

If you're reading this and your phones aren't working, please know that we have been trying to reach you! Let us know IMMEDIATELY if there is anything we can do to help. Yeah, I/T isn't probably your first concern right now, but when you can, let us know you're OK!

From where we sit, although it seems like everyone is trying their best, many towns were caught with their pants down. All the disaster movie stuff that we think of as sci-fi seems to have come true. If you didn't lose your life, you lost property. Or some looter is about to try and take it. Ridiculous. But it can happen. It has happened.

This is eerily similar to 9/11/2001, where one day we came into the office and businesses we had dealt with for years simply no longer existed. I mean they really didn't exist anymore.

Last time, I wrote the following:

If this place burned down, we'd find another. However, if we lost our data, we'd be screwed. Totally, almost unrecoverably, screwed.

I had -no- idea how soon those words would have real meaning for some of you. Every day I drive home past a sign that says 'Tsunami Watch Zone!'. For whatever reason, it seems that, sooner or later, every place will have it's time and it's moment. For those of you unaffected by Katrina, I hope you'll start thinking, as have I, that, like Scrooge, I'm being given a warning to be prepared. It could soon be our turn.

No more ranting today. If this makes you think about your own state of preparedness, please contact us now to see if we can help. That's what we're here for.

Till Next Time!

Ciarān Marron
Technical Support Manager
cm@suntowersystems.com

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End of E-News From The Suntower, Volume VII #17