I run Vista for my operating system at work and have had my share of 'growing pains'. Here is a quick article from the folks at the MSD2D (MSD2D is the premier resource for the Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, .NET and server security communities.) .NET Newsletter that sums it up pretty good.

Derek Hatchard and I have had similar experiences with Windows Vista: It's pretty and pretty cool, but some of your peripherals just might not function. Derek mentions his Samsung ML-4500 printer and TASCAM microphone don't work. For me, my HP Photosmart 3300 printer doesn't work. I just have to guess that a lot of hardware vendors simply aren't going to port "old" drivers over to Vista, ever [weeping noises]. This is just another nail in the coffin of the Vista upgrade scenario, if you ask me.

Just a word of caution. Make sure your POS Software and Hardware will work with Vista before you make the move. At ProphetLine, we have tested our software with Vista. It works well, however, we too are still waiting on drivers for some of the things typically used in a retail business such as printers, customer displays, etc.

In a prior blog, Greetings - Honest or Duty, I mention how it can easily seem employees can say 'hello' to customers and only seem to be doing so because the manager or store owner told them to do so. Well, I recently had another experience with the reverse effect of this.

I went to pick my truck up from the local Ford dealership. They always greet me when I come in (and when we meet out in public) so it is normal to hear the honest 'hello Randy' from them. The service manager I typically deal with was helping another customer and so I waited. After a while another manager asked if I was being helped (nice move on his part and showed he was aware of what was going on). I stated I was and thanked him.

Another customer walked in and I greeted her and told her the desk managers would be right back (why make her wonder). Shortly thereafter, a lady employee walk within three feet of both of us standing at a counter with no one behind it. Her response. She turned without saying a word and disappeared into the nether regions.

Remember, customers are people too and even if you aren't the person that can help them, you could be the person to get them assistance. If you see customers standing or looking like they need assistance, ask them. You might be the difference in a one time shopper and a repeat customer.

With all the ice, power outages and flooding happening around the country, people are thinking about Emergency Preparedness & Response. We all know the drill - you should have non-perishable food, fresh water, battery operated radio, fresh batteries, light, but how often do we think about these before the emergency happens? What about in business? Do you have guidelines in place stating clearly - If this happens, do this?

Emergency Preparedness & Response is more than just a life saver, it can be a business saver as well. At ProphetLine POS Software, we understand how important you business is. ProphetLine POS has built in backup software. Can be re-installed and functional on a new computer in a very short amount of time. We understand because we have been there. The other side of the emergency is what it if is only a small problem? Does your business have clear procedures for"¦

Power Outages

Do you write hand tickets or close down

Do you have power backup so computers can shut down gracefully

Do you have power backups to run critical systems

Computer Crashes

What problems are critical

Do employees know how to tell if it is a hardware or a POS software problem

Do employees know who to call for hardware and/or POS software problems (they could be different companies)

Do you have backup/extra terminals that could be used

Customer problems

What can the clerk/sales person offer if any thing to resolve issues

What management personal handles what type of complaints/issues

Having clearly outlined procedures in place will enable you business to run more smoothly even in times when things are not going as planned. Procedures should be reviewed and changed on an annual basis. Employees should be notified of the changes and new employees trained to efficiently know what and when to do in the event of an issue.

At ProphetLine we understand and can help. We've been there!

Crystal Reports is a full featured report creation and development application, although it not always the most user friendly tool. Crystal Reports and ProphetLine POS Software work well together as ProphetLine data is available via ODBC to report writers and/or applications such as Microsoft Work, Excel, Access, etc. As with most reporting, there are typically two major hurdles to overcome when creating reports.

The first is understanding the report creation software. In the case of Crystal Reports, there are many books available as well as some free resources such as Crystal Reports Book.com. The author, Brian Bischof, is currently working on a book for Crystal Reports XI and has made chapters available online for free at Crystal Reports Free Book.

The second is understanding the data and how it is stored. This can be a major set back with many applications as the companies will do most anything but tell you the data structures. With ProphetLine, we are here to help you. We will typically ask what type of report you are wanting and the data to be displayed just in case we already have the report in our 200+ built in ones and you just haven't found it. If we don't have the report, it may be we will add it as a standard/built-in report in a future release or we can tell you where and how the data is stored and you can write your custom report.

With ProphetLine POS software, we are here to assist you in growing your business and providing you the information you need to better manage your assets.

Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliancy has been a big topic over the past year. In layman's terms, it states merchants whom except credit cards should take certain precautions to ensure the security of card holder data. These precautions include but are not limited to, the use of firewalls, security protocols, updated anti-virus and intrusion software. Most companies typically do well with these, however, the place they often fall behind is with the storage of data in their POS Software or backups that should not be stored. Data such as credit card track data, CVV2 data, debit card PINs is not needed after the transaction has been run/approved and should not be stored.

Visa, MasterCard and American Express have been urging companies to become complaint in their protection of data over the past year, but are now adding incentives and larger fines for non-compliance. The push is to get all 'acquiring' financial institutions to be fully compliant with PCI requirements by August 31, 2007. Banks that fail to become compliant could face fines starting at $5,000 a month for each non-compliant merchant and the fines increase to $25,000 per month after December 31, 2007. In addition to the fines, merchant rates will also be effected by non-compliance. Merchants who fail to become complaint will see higher rates and fees for each credit card transaction.

As you can see, it is very important to make sure your POS Software is PCI complaint and if not, find out their plans to become complaint. ProphetLine POS Software has been compliant with PCI standards even prior to them being formally announced by Visa and continues to ensure card holder data is protected at all phases of the transaction and/or storage of data. If your POS software is not complaint and has no finalized plans they can tell you about, it may be time to consider a new POS package.

For more on this subject, you can read an article at Computer World by clicking here.

I recently found an article (source withheld until approval granted) which stated the following"¦

The biggest limitation (that you should be concerned about) is desktop databases generally only allow one concurrent user to open the database.

Attempting to use a desktop database in a multi-user environment could lead to disastrous consequences - like data corruptions and errors. Generally speaking, if more than one person will be modifying the data, you might have problems that require maintenance.

Now this doesn't mean you shouldn't use a desktop database. If you have a single user or small network and it will stay that way, you might be better off with some of the more affordable POS systems using desktop databases. You'll probably never know the difference.

There are plenty of businesses that push their desktop database limits on 5, 10 or 15 user networks. They just learn to live with the errors and common maintenance requirements.

While the statements are true in themselves, there is much more to be looked at in order to determine the real 'biggest limitation' of a POS Software application.

While some database manufactures do put a limit on the number of concurrent connections - Microsoft's SQL Desktop Edition (MSDE) greatly degraded performance after 5 connections - databases can just as easily (if not more so) become un-useful due to poor design and/or poor programming in the application. Experienced programmers can (and should) build software to include safety precautions and self-data validation.

Don't be fooled into thinking that just because you have a 'server' database, the application will run like a champ or just because you have a 'desktop' database, you are limited to 1 or 2 terminals or must live with 'errors and common maintenance requirements'.