Whenever any of our Dynamics RMS customers raise a technical support call to Microsoft, we are cc’d on all the email correspondence going back and forth. Most of the time, the picture is the same.

Microsoft processes the calls online with a “4-hour guaranteed response time”. What it really means in actual fact, is that (as your online help request most likely does not have all necessary information) in 4 hours you receive a response requesting to clarify the problem. After you’ve done that, it may take them another 4 hours to suggest a solution which you will try and it will not work and it will take another 4 hours, and then they will request you submit your files and will analyze them and will give you another solution which may not work again and so on.

Just recently we witnessed similar situation. A customer had been corresponding with Microsoft back and forth for a couple of days only to figure out (by himself!) that he was using a wrong password to connect to the RMS database!

Tell you what. If he had called Retail Hero instead, his problem would have been solved within 15 minutes (and would have cost him as little as $20 [i]).

 Retail Hero uses unique, state-of-the-art remote access technology that allows us to seamlessly connect with the customer’s computer. Our trained technicians immediately see what’s happening on the screen. We can control the mouse and keyboard, transfer files if necessary, remotely install programs and diagnostic tools etc. All that is done with bullet-proof security in place. The customer controls every aspect of our actions and can even download a video recording of the session after its finished! No need for configuring firewalls and so on, the customers connect to us (and not vice versa) so help is just a mouse-click away!

Why would you waste a call to Microsoft? (You only have 2 with each of your Support contracts or additional at extra charge)  Experience quality customer service in a timely manner. Call Retail Hero’s helpdesk instead!

Microsoft phasing out of XP dictates hardware selection for future PC’s

Microsoft Corp. is extending the time it will allow original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and retail outlets to sell PCs with Windows XP as customers continue to balk on upgrading to Windows Vista.

Microsoft had planned to stop selling XP through OEMs and retailers on Jan. 31, 2008, while custom system builders have until Jan. 31, 2009, to pre-install XP on machines. But because sales of Vista PCs have not been as strong as expected, OEMs and retailers have asked Microsoft to extend XP's availability. OEMs and retailers will now have until June 30, 2008, to sell PCs with Vista preinstalled on machines, Microsoft said. Retailers also can sell XP out of the box until that time if they choose, the company said.

Microsoft had high expectations for customer adoption of Vista, and claimed the launch would be one of the most successful in Windows history. Unfortunately for the company, those predictions so far haven't panned out, and in July, Microsoft lowered its projections for customer adoption of Vista. The company had said the split between XP and Vista sales in its fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, would be 15 percent to 85 percent; now the company is saying the split will be 22 percent XP and 78 percent Vista.

Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), a rollup of updates for the OS that Microsoft has said will be available in the first quarter of 2008, should make Vista more market-worthy. In fact, many consumers and businesses have said they would wait for the update before moving from XP to Vista.

That move from XP to Vista won’t go without complications. Consumers are already aware that the resource intensive Vista will require hardware specifications that are considerably higher than the PC’s they currently use for XP. This means that an upgrade to Vista will also require a hardware upgrade, unless consumers are smart about their technology purchases today and purchase the more powerful processors now, in anticipation of an upgrade to Vista in a couple of years. A strong argument for resellers that are trying to convince their current prospects that the hardware they invest in today needs to be strong enough for the operating systems of tomorrow.

Source - IDG News Service

- The Truth About Technical Support
- Calling All Canadian Store Owners
- Retail Humor
- Microsoft Phasing out of XP
- Retail Champion Gets Published
- Retailers Seek Seamless Transition
- RFID Technology Comes to RMS
- Q-Rewards Saves the Data

Retailers Seek Seamless Transition from Stores to Web

Picture this, thirty years ago if you wanted to buy something you would have to go to you local retail store, browse through their merchandise and then buy it in the store.
Today you can order whatever you want from online web stores and have it either shipped to your home or pick it up at the closet retail outlet nearest you. 

As a result, retailers are now looking for ways to to integrate the virtual and the brick and mortar shopping worlds to better server customers' needs and drive sales in the process

Online stores continue to grow at double digit rates and stores are looking to kiosks to help build add-on sales, especially now that the crucial Christmas holiday shopping season is nearing. Recently, the National Retail Federation (NRF) predicted that sales for the holiday season would grow by an average of 4 percent.

A number of retailers are testing in-store kiosks to address out-of-stock situations, offer merchandise not carried in stores and even help shoppers get their shopping lists in order.

Source - Retail Wire