Getting the most from YOUR internet

Q&P Newsletter March 2004 – Contents

• A Word From Dave’s Desk


• Using Search Options for Relevant Results in Search Engines


• Support Hints & Tips


• Dealer News

A Word From Dave’s Desk
We welcome Vanessa Dillon to this edition of Quote & Print User News. Vanessa is a lecturer on web design and also has her own Web Design Company, Invisible Ink. Over the next few editions of this newsletter she will be sharing her experiences on how to get the most out of the internet for you and your business.

DRUPA. A total of five people from Quote & Print will be visiting DRUPA this year. Visits such as these let us keep up to date with the latest trends in MIS systems and how different equipment manufacturers plan to interface with MIS systems in order to transfer data backwards and forwards.

The emerging standard is JDF or Job Definition Format. The JDF file is a common repository for storing all information relating to a particular job. The format of this file has been defined by CIP4. One of the problems is that the CIP4 specifications are about 700 pages long and while different vendors may create JDF files that are compatible with the CIP4 standards, there is no guarantee that the information in them is relevant to other vendors.

The Network Graphics Production initiative is a group of vendors who are specifying a common subset of information that is required by all of them, ie MIS, Prepress, Printing and Binding Equipment vendors. This approach looks to be the most promising at least in the short term to making JDF a viable technology for transferring information between different vendors.

Using search options for relevant results in search engines
So, you need to find a specific site or some information in general in the wild world of the web.
Search engines are useful as they can search over much of the web for key words or phrases. You have a few options when trying one of the search engines.

• By typing secondhand printing equipment into a search engine such as Google www.google.com.au
  or Yahoo! www.yahoo.com.au
  the search engine will present you a list of web sites that have those key words.
  
• You have the option of using quote marks to force the search engine to look for the exact sequence of words such as “secondhand printing equipment” or “government tenders”. You need to be careful that this does not restrict your search too much though.

To help refine your search, the above mentioned search engines give you the option of clicking a button for searching within Australia. In the case of searching for Australian government tenders this is a good idea as we know they are Australian and it will eliminate unnecessary web sites from the list.

• By typing site:.au at the end of the search words this forces the engine to look at web sites which have the Australian .au ending to their web address. If you're searching for Australian Government sites this can be extended to site:.gov.au or even site:.nsw.gov.au for the specific state of NSW. This should be handy when searching for that next government tender, legislation or guidelines.
• You also have the option of specifying what NOT to include in the search by using the minus sign (-)immediately in front of the word. So for above, you could include -laser if you wanted to search for secondhand printing equipment except for those regarding laser printers.
• You may not necessarily be searching for an exact word, but rather a concept. The use of the tilde sign (~) immediately in front of the word searches not only for that word but also its synonyms. In the case of secondhand you'd be after the concept rather than the exact word so ~secondhand will also give results including “used”, “second hand” (with a space), “second-hand” (with a hyphen), etc.
• You can use a combination of the search options listed above in one search. When doing this the order that you place them in the search sequence is important – for instance ~secondhand “printing equipment” -laser site:.au will get you a different result to “printing equipment” ~secondhand -laser site:.au. The more important key words, phrases or options should be placed at the front of the search query.
  As an exercise you may like to try searching for your company's web site using the options described above with a variety of key words. This will enable you to see where you are currently placed, which key words are working in your favour and where you would like to make improvements. Ideas to assist with your search engine position will be discussed in a later newsletter.

These web tips are brought to you by Vanessa Dillon of Invisible Ink
www.invisibleink.com.au
Invisible Ink is a highly skilled and experienced company dedicated to developing the online strategy and web presence of Australian businesses.
Ph 1300 761 167 Email vdillon@invisibleink.com.au



Support Hints & Tips
Many organisations now pay their suppliers via EFT, which not only saves time, but also money. However in the past, using Q&P accounting system, you have had to still mail/fax your creditors the remittance advice.

Not anymore. Quote and Print will now email your remittance advices for you. To set this up, go into the creditors details area, into the creditors account tab, and input their BSB Number, their ACC Number, and tick the "Pay by EFT" box. Please take note of the red text at the bottom of the screen. Also set up an accounts email address.

Once these are set up for all the required creditors, you are ready to go and process your creditor remittances. BEFORE you process your creditors remittances you need to press the "Batch Remit" button, and confirm the details that appear in the next screen. At this point you process the remittances in the same way as you have always done. Once you have paid everyone you need to, then finally select the "Batch End" button. At this stage you can create your Banking File to load to your Banking Software.

Now here comes the best bit. Once the Bank File has been uploaded and approved at the Bank go to the toolbar at the top left hand corner of your screen, and go to the "FILE" menu, and select "GROUP EMAIL" you will come to a screen with the button "Email Batch Remittance Advices". By pressing this button, and then selecting the relevant batch that you created earlier, you can then email everyone you paid a remittance advice by hitting the Send button. Too easy. If you need to know more, then please contact your local distributor.

Dealer News
Quote & Print Solutions has got off to a busy start with training for 2004. With all the new sites setting their training plans, existing sites adding new modules, staff changes at other sites and people upskilling, the trainers have been kept busy.
Praneeta Narayan has joined Quote & Print Solutions in the Customer Support role and will also be handling Accounts and Payroll training in consultation with Judy Bell. Praneeta has relevant experience and a degree in IT and joined us in January 2004.

Amongst the newer sites with training goals firmly set for 2004 are:

Penrith Art and Print,

Veritage Press,

Jarvis Print,

Masterprint,

QBE/Mercantile Mutual and

Mounting & Diecutting.

Some of the existing sites upgrading skills include:

Chippendale Printing,

Print Media and

Pettaras Press

to name a few. We have also been clocking up the kilometres and frequent flyer points with travels to Wagga, Bathurst, Lithgow, Wollongong, Newcastle and Lisarow.

We had a good response to suggestions of specialty courses and hope to get some of them going in the coming months.
If you do have new staff at your establishment, it is a proven investment to have them shown how to use Q&P properly by a qualified trainer. Older users will only pass on their bad habits and consequently when you try to run effective reports the information is not there. Some of these older users also benefit from training sessions, “I did not know you could do that with Quote & Print” or “I never knew that” are most common remarks.

Because Training Bookings are currently so popular, there is usually at least a three week lead time for any new bookings. If you need training for any staff member it is advisable that you contact by email or by phoning the office as early as possible. Especially if you have new staff starting please plan ahead to arrange training - the motto is “Book Early”.

Data Dictionary Conversion. As mentioned in the previous issue of the User News, Quote & Print will undergo a change to the Data Dictionary which requires the running of a conversion program to make the existing data files compatible with the new data format. This is an essential step to enable you to take advantage of the additional features. This is a major undertaking for us as we need to visit all of our supported customers to run the conversion.

We expect the conversion process will usually take between one and two hours to complete, depending on the size of your data files. Q&P cannot be used during the conversion process. We will contact you in advance as to when we intend to visit you for the conversion, to allow you time to prepare and advise staff.

Real Business-to-Business Solutions. Commencing in late March, we will be providing the opportunity for individual companies to come and learn more about our real and proven Quote & Print Business-to-Business Internet Solutions. We will have a simulation environment set up so you can try it from both your customers’ viewpoint and your own perspective.

You will also be able to ask any questions that you may have and discuss your particular issues. These sessions will be for you as a single company and will take usually one to two hours. If you are interested in attending one of these sessions, please contact Robyn Lane by phone on (02) 9747 9088.

PRINT MIS SA Ph (08) 8261 9917 An important date to set aside for all Q&P users is March 22nd, we are having a ‘User Day’ here in Adelaide. It will be held that afternoon at the PIAA offices in Halifax Street. Both Judy and Dave Bell will be here and we look forward to you all coming along. Light refreshments will be served.
So look out for the formal invites with session details soon as they are heading your way.

PRINTEC SOLUTIONS VIC & TAS Ph (03) 5967 2488 A reminder that all users are invited to Printec Solutions User Day on 18th March, at the Clarion On Canterbury Hotel, cnr of Springvale Rd and Canterbury Rd in Forest Hill.
Throughout the day, we will be having four sessions of information broken down into

Accounting Functions,

Management Costing Session,

Internet Interface,

Production Session.

Session two will be handled by CPA Management Accountants, who will deal with the necessity of management to analyse costings. This session is essential for all owners/managers.

Refreshments will be provided throughout the day. For more information, or to book in your attendance, please call our office on (03) 5967 2488.

TAYLORED SYSTEMS NZ Ph 64 9 812 8506 Mob 64 274 954 848 Rob & Jenny Taylor welcome Wellington’s Scitronic Colour Systems to the Quote & Print family.