Microsoft just announced that it is extending the mainstream support for Microsoft Great Plains 8.0, which was originally scheduled to end on October 9th 2007.

This date has been extended to align with the other Microsoft Dynamics products' support lifecycle timeline of five years. Mainstream support for Microsoft Dynamics GP 8.0 will end October 13th 2009 (previously October 9th 2007).

Microsoft will provide a 2007 Year End Regulatory/Tax update. (U.S. and Canadian tax updates will be provided through October 31, 2008.) No additional tax or regulatory updates will be provided for 2008 Year End as well as 2009.

Customers who are current on a service plan can continue to access technical support through October 13, 2009. Customers who are not current on a service plan can access technical support via pay per incident flexible support.

Source - Microsoft Corp

 Does your business make long-distance phone calls on a regular basis? Do you have employees at multi-site offices or in remote locations? If so, you might want to consider getting Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) for your business calls. With VoIP, your calls are routed through your computer, allowing them to be conducted without long distance charges no matter where in the world you are calling. This is particularly beneficial to businesses working with international employees and contacts but it can also be useful for businesses that operate multiple locations in a more condensed area.

VoIP can be an excellent tool for communication and a great way of reducing phone costs for your business. But it's not something that is right for every business, so you'll want to look carefully at whether or not it's something that you want to invest in now. Things you'll want to consider include the amount of money currently being spent on calls, the cost of setting up and maintaining your VoIP system, and the possible drawbacks of using VoIP. A closer look at these topics can assist you in making your decisions.

Here are some things to think about before you get invested in VoIP:

• Does your company regularly make internal long distance phone calls? If so, what is your current system for doing so and what is the approximate monthly cost of that system?
• Does your current ISP have a VoIP option? VoIP is relatively new and not all ISPs are offering it yet. Those that are may or may not offer bundle packages that make the change worth its cost.
• What is the cost of VoIP offered by your ISP, including any hidden costs such as equipment, networking, training and tech support?
• What kind of equipment will be necessary for VoIP set-up?
• Is your small or midsize business already on a LAN or WAN network (which facilitates setting up VoIP and reduces initial set-up fees)?

Does Your Business Need VoIP?

Your business might benefit from VoIP services if:

• Calls to multiple numbers are often made simultaneously by your business.
• It would benefit your business to be able to receive voice mail as e-mail messages as well as to be able to forward business phone calls through to employee mobile and home phones.
• Multiple employees are located in remote locations.
• On-site employees are located in a region where it is common for personal cell phones to have different area code numbers. For example, businesses located in the San Francisco Bay Area often have employees from a number of different area codes. If regular communications occur with the far-flung employees' home or cell phones, long distance charges can be high.
• Your business has multi-site locations or remote employees who are already connected together through a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN). Companies that are already networked find that making the transition to VoIP is relatively low-cost (whereas those that aren't networked should factor in set-up fees).
• Your business already engages in many forms of remote collaboration, including conference calls, and costs may be reduced by going through a VoIP system.
• Your business deals with clients and customers in a variety of different locations, especially internationally, or your business growth plan includes marketing to such areas. While you won't get the reduced cost on calls to non-VoIP clients, you can plan to communicate through VoIP with the employees who are hired in the new locations. VoIP can facilitate those calls.

Types of VoIP

It should be noted that there are two different types of VoIP service. The first is often used by individual consumers. Also known as Internet Telephony, this type of VoIP uses a standard landline and broadband service with an adapter and a VoIP subscription to connect all calls. While there are some businesses small enough to consider use of this kind of VoIP system, most businesses will be looking at the second kind of VoIP system. This type of system, designed to link multi-site locations to a single line, uses equipment installed at the location to route phone calls through the Internet.

Additionally, you should know that there are two VoIP phone options: hosted and premise-based. Hosted VoIP uses no phone lines and has a single broadband connection for both data and voice. Calls are generally charged per use. In contrast, premise-based VoIP uses standard phone lines connected through the Internet and requires a second broadband connection (one for data and one for voice). Calls are generally charged per line. This is the route many businesses take.

Source - PC World

- Microsoft Extends Support for Dynamics GP
- Retail Hero now "Champions" of Retail
- Retail Humor
- Is VOIP Right for Your Business?
- Hero Points "Adding Up" for Retailers

Bored Wal-Mart Husband

Mr. and Mrs. Fenton are retired.  Mrs. Fenton insists that he go with her to Wal-Mart. He gets bored with all the shopping. He prefers to get in and get out, but Mrs. Fenton loves to browse. Here's a letter sent to her from the store.

 Dear Mrs. Fenton,

 Over the past six months, your husband has been causing quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and may ban both of you from our stores. We have documented all incidents on our video surveillance equipment. All complaints against Mr. Fenton are listed below.

 Things Mr. Bill Fenton has done while his spouse was shopping in Wal-Mart

 1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's carts when they weren't looking.

 2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.

3. July 7: Made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the ladies restroom.

 4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official tone, 'Code 3' in housewares... and watched what happened.

 5. Aug 4: Went to the Service Desk and asked to put a bag of M&M's on layaway.

 6. Sept 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.

 7. Sept 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told other shoppers he'd invite them in if they'll bring pillows from the bedding department.

 8. Sept 23: When a clerk asks if they can help him, he begins to cry and asks, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?'

 9. Oct 4: Looked right into the security camera; used it as a mirror, and picked his nose.

 10. Nov 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, asked the clerk if he knows where to find the antidepressants.

 11. Dec 3: Darted around the store suspiciously loudly humming the " Mission Impossible" theme.

 12. Dec 6: In the auto department, practiced his "Madonna Look" using different size funnels.

 13. Dec 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browse through, yelled "PICK ME!" "PICK ME!"

 14. Dec 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumes the fetal position and screams "NO! NO! It's those voices again!!!!"

 And last, but not least....

 15. Dec 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, "There is no toilet paper in here!"

More and more retailers are reaping the benefits of having Hero Points as an add-on to their retail management system.
Since it's initial introduction about a year ago now, sales of the popular add-on have increased 100%.

"Retailers have been looking for an inexpensive way to attract the-all-important-return-customer", says Ron Bruce VP of Business Development for Retail Hero, "and it appears that Hero Points is filling that gap".
In addition, the program is due to be upgraded to encompass "Global Hero Points" for a multi-store environment and this will become even more attractive to potential franchises who want the ability to reward their customers in any/all of their chain stores.

The release date for the HQ enabled Hero Points is said to be sometime this fall.