Yes, ASW10 is a significant upgrade to ASW 9, and yes, all DPP subscribers ( including rentals ) can get the upgrade, and have it installed, FREE … but we didn’t stop there.  Here are some things you may not have know about:

Welcome Infusionsoft CRM – While other follow up systems have built their systems and tell our clients to adapt to their way of doing things, a new company worked with us to build a follow up system that is different.  They have focused on the needs of the individual client, and done the design in response to their specific needs.  It’s been a pleasure working with them.

Take Photos Within ASW 10 -  Now you can take your photos within ASW 10, and save them to the proper folder on the server.  This can be done using a tablet computer with a built in camera, or with a USB cable connected camera.

Take Photos From The Viewer – In the past you needed to store all your photos from the main menu, and apply them to parts, vehicles, clients, employees, etc.  Now, any place you view photos can also be used to take, and store, photos, so you don’t have to leave where you are currently working.

We’ve also done smaller enhancements, a lot of fine tuning based on input from our clients, and laid the foundation for the following new features which will be added before the end of the 1st quarter 2017:

Revised P/M Scheduler – Currently the PM Scheduler limits you to 8 services which can be tracked by mileage or days passed.  The new PM Scheduler has no limit to how many services it can track.  In addition, a new button in labor makes it very easy to add items for tracking.  Simply press the button, a new PM record is created, and you will be asked for the mileage and days intervals.  The system automatically projects the date and mileage when the service is due, and saves the data.

Auto Follow Up – Enhancements – For over a year, many of our clients have been using the fully automated, auto follow up system.  This sends emails to the clients automatically, and of course is FREE to use.  The first follow up goes out the night the service is completed, and is a thank you letter.  Then, auto follow ups are sent 30, 60, 90, and 120 days after the service.  Soon, auto follow ups will also be generated to remind clients of appointments.  They will go out 48 hours in advance, giving ample notice.  Also, the auto follow up system will be linked to the new PM Scheduler, and will automatically send follow up reminders as the services approach their due dates.  These reminders will be service specific.

And that is not all  Many people have realized that we have internal links to Office 365 programs like Word ( word processing ), Excel ( spreadsheet ) and Outlook ( extended email capabilities ).  These are all to be enhanced to provide greater functionality in there integration features.  You can do a lot now, but even more is coming.

Finally, there are some videos at www.AutoShopWriter.com specific to ASW 10, and more will be added shortly.  They are short training videos but you can see how the program will work for you.  Our experience so far shows shops can successfully make the transition from 9 to 10 without delay.  Those who have made the move are fully functional right after the update is performed, and most have very few questions. 

Many of our clients are using the Advantage Database Server for true client-server operations ( faster and more secure processing ).  In fact, many still use old versions 7 or 8 and they were doing just fine … until the last few days.  Then the software stopped working on the “server”.

Here is the problem.  ADS 7 & 8 only came in 32 bit versions.  The newer ones had 32 and 64 bit versions.  Some people have moved to Windows 10 as their server, and we have reinstalled ADS on those new machines.  If it was ADS 7 or 8, and 32 bit, it still ran fine … until recently.

Microsoft has been releasing updates to Windows 10 called the Anniversary Edition.  Within those updates, they have added many new bugs, including issues with the networking and security.  Once installed, the ADS 32 bit servers will no longer work.  New versions of ADS, with the 64bit install, seem to be unaffected.  Also, ADS 7, or 8, on pre-Windows 10 computers will continue to work without a problem.

There is nothing we can do in ASW to make the ADS server work.  However, you can stop using it by doing the following on each workstation:

1)  Click on the folder displayed on the taskbar ( System Explorer ), and when it displays, open the C drive.  Find the ASW9c folder.

2) Right click on the CONFIG.CBA file and select Open With:  Notepad.

3)  When displayed, you will see a line that says ADS=C.  Change it to read ADS=S.

4)  Click on File, then Save, and then exit.  You can now access the server in Peer to Peer mode.

If you are using version 7 or 8 ADS, we can sell you a new, current license.  The cost is $650 per 5 users.  We are only resellers of this product.  Since those versions are at least 10 years old, we do not expect there will be any fixes by SAP to them, nor can we see Microsoft addressing the problem.

We are concerned that Microsoft continues to release very buggy upgrades to the software, and this has been a major problem around this anniversary edition.  It appears to be the new acceptable standard in the tech industry where young, creative, people implement new ideas with no concern for compatibility, quality assurance, testing, or documentation.  Our voice has been heard on your behalf at the highest levels of that corporation.  Sadly, it’s a behavior replicated at every other tech company out there today. 

Feel free to email or call with any questions.