HI-TECH TALK Newsletter: December 1999                    Newsletter Index

© Copyright 2000 HI-Tech Smart Systems, Inc.

 

Y2K Notice: Not on version 3.5? It's Not Too Late to Get Your MSP Update!   

Early versions of Mini-StoragePlus (prior to version 3.5) must be upgraded. Most MSP customers upgraded months ago, but a few have waited.

If you are using a version of Mini-StoragePlus that is prior to version 3.5, you must update your system to be Y2K compliant. To determine your version, from the Mini-StoragePlus Main Menu, select Help | About. The version number will be displayed. If it is less than 3.5, call HI-TECH to order your update immediately.

Updates to Version 3.5

Updates after version 3.5 are known as "Service Packs". If the version number displayed in Help | About is 3.5 and there is a code after it like "SP3" , then you have installed one of the Service Pack updates (SP3 means Service Pack 3). If there is no code after the version number, then you have not installed any Service Pack updates.

Service Packs are available on-line on the HI-TECH Web Site. The latest is Service Pack 4 (SP4). Service Pack 4 includes everything that was in any of the previous three Service Packs.  Top

Make an extra backup on December 31st

Not just Y2K - every year on December 31st.

It is a good idea to keep an extra backup of your data at each year-end. With this year being "Y2K", it is an especially good idea. You may need to use the backup to run reports that will recreate your exact year end status, for example. In fact, having a number of years of these backups could allow you to recreate a number of reports comparing previous years even when you may not have run the reports at previous year ends.

Check the backup to see that it is okay by restoring the backup to a different computer. Label the backup carefully and keep it in a safe place that is off-site.   Top

User Forum 2000...Join us!

February 22-26, Sheraton Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii
Details at www.hitechsoftware.com/userforum2000

Chase away those winter blues and escape to paradise-while learning more about your HI-TECH software! Take a peek at our special User Forum 2000 Web Site (hitechsoftware.com/userforum2000) for just a glimpse of what our beautiful islands have to offer. Tentative class schedules, hotel information, rates, and more are all available on-line.

Get the most out of your HI-TECH software and take hold of this opportunity to learn more about our products during four days of seminars and open computer labs.

Of course, you don't want to forget the Welcome Reception, Dinner Party and a Day at the Beach for fun and relaxation Hawaiian style.

Send in the enclosed User Forum 2000 registration form or call 1-800-551-8324 for more information.   Top

New Tech Support Call Center Opening

New call center in Columbia, Missouri to provide 9 am EST service

HI-TECH will soon be opening a new tech support call center in Columbia, Missouri. The new call center will work in tandem with the existing Hawaii-based call center and is scheduled to be opened in late 1999 or early 2000.

Monte Ellis has been named director of the new call center. Monte was formerly the head of information systems for Storage Trust, the self-storage REIT purchased by Public Storage earlier this year. "With his background in computers and self storage, and his intimate knowledge of Mini-StoragePlus, Monte is perfect for the position," stated Michael Richards, president of HI-TECH. "The best thing is that Monte has experienced our software as a user, and our users will benefit from that experience."  Top

HI-TECH to Participate in Technology Workshop

Inside Self Storage Expo, February 2, 2000, Las Vegas

HI-TECH will be participating in a unique "Hands-On Technology Lab" at the Inside Self Storage Expo in Las Vegas on February 2, 2000. According to Troy Bix, publisher of Inside Self Storage, shopping for computer software is one of the top priorities for attendees of self-storage expositions. The Hands-On Technology Lab is designed to help attendees get the information they need to make an informed decision. The workshop will give a few of the self-storage software and security companies, including HI-TECH, a chance to talk about and demonstrate their products, and to offer advise on how to choose systems.

The Inside Self Storage Expo, held annually in February in Las Vegas, is the largest self-storage convention year after year. A record number of exhibitors are signed up for this year's show, and it could well be a record year for attendees as well. For additional information on the Technology Workshop or the Inside Self Storage Expo, call Virgo Publishing at (602) 990-1101  Top

1st Annual Web Site of the Year Awards

Sponsored by Self-Storage On-Line, HI-Tech's web site for the self-storage industry.

The judges are currently reviewing the web sites that were submitted for the 1st Annual Web Site of the Year awards. The number of sites submitted was less than anticipated, but a number of the sites that were submitted were very unique and interesting. Not bad for a first year, but folks, you can do better! Start getting your company's web sites ready to enter next year's contest!

The winners of this year's contest will be announced on our web site on December 15, 1999. Results will also be published in the next issue of this newsletter and in Inside Self Storage magazine.  Top

Education Seminar Season Completed

RentPlus training sessions given in six cities in September and October

HI-TECH conducted a series of education seminars in six cities in September and October. Seminars were held in Las Vegas, New York, Massachusetts in the United States, and Sydney, Melbourne, and Surfer's Paradise in Australia. The seminars were geared toward new users of RentPlus and to Mini-StoragePlus users considering making the switch to RentPlus. The seminars were conducted by Michael Richards, president of HI-TECH, and provided attendees with an excellent opportunity to see and learn about the program, and to ask questions.

HI-TECH has been the only self-storage software company to consistently provide education seminars to users. In the past decade, HI-TECH has given more than 50 seminars in 30 different locations to hundreds of customers.

What's ahead?

HI-TECH will continue to offer seminars throughout 2000, starting with our User Forum 2000 in Honolulu February 22-26. Seminars for 2000 are currently being planned for Atlanta, Nashville and perhaps Denver. A tentative seminar schedule should be in our next newsletter (February, 2000).   Top

Holiday Support Schedule

Urgent Support Only: December 24-27.
Regular Support: December 28-January 3.

Because Christmas and New Years fall on Saturdays this year, official Federal holidays are Monday, December 27th and Monday, January 3rd. In order to ensure the availability of technical support over the year-end, HI-TECH will be open on January 3rd. Instead, HI-TECH will be closed Friday, December 24th through Monday, December 27th.

In addition, HI-TECH will have extra staff on hand throughout the weekend of January 1 and 2 to assist any customers who may have problems associated with Y2K.  Top

TechTip for RentPlus

Question: I have a customer with multiple contracts and the ledger has charges and payments for all of the contracts. Is there a way to view the charges for a single contract?

RentPlus version 1.3 has an option to select only the transactions you wish to view on the customer's ledger and to exclude all others. This option is called Filter and you filter the ledger for a single contract's transactions. You may also filter the ledger to display only payments and credits, charges and debits, or to exclude non-financial transactions (notices and statements) or a combination of these options. To filter a ledger select the appropriate customer from the Explorer screen | Click Ledger Tab | Click Filter (located below the ledger) | Click the appropriate option(s). The Contract # field has a drop down menu that will list all of the contracts for this customer. To access this menu Click the downward arrow to the right of the field. | Click Ok when done. To print this filtered ledger Click on Print.

Click Close to return to the Explorer screen. The ledger will return to its unfiltered state.  Top

Need Help? You can help us, too!

Our help desk now helps dozens of people every day answering questions, resolving problems, and helping customers get the very most from their HI-TECH software. Here are some tips on helping us help you:

 

  • Before calling, look in Help for the answer. From within MSP or RentPlus, press F1 to display the help.
  • Please do not use Caller ID to get a phone number to call a technician back. If calling from the office, the number you dial will reach a line designed for outgoing calls only. If a technician is calling you back from home or a personal cell phone, it is only right to respect that technician's privacy.
  • Backup your data regularly and check your backups.
  • Setup your computer for Internet access and E-mail and install PCAnywhere remote control software.
  • Most important, invest in Windows classes. Computers and technology are constantly changing and your self-storage software is constantly changing, too. Training will reduce frustration and help you understand and keep up with both.  Top

Payroll Tables to be Posted on Web Site

Year 2000 IRS withholding tables for Mini-StoragePlus Payroll

Each year, the payroll withholding tables in Mini-StoragePlus Payroll must be adjusted to match the new rates published in IRS Circular "E" for Employers. You will probably receive this in the mail from the IRS in mid-December. To assist you, HI-TECH will post the year 2000 tables on our web site (www.hitechsoftware.com) as soon as we receive the tables ourselves. Note that you must update the tables AFTER the last payroll for 1999 and BEFORE the first payroll for 2000.  Top

More Tips? Visit www.hitechsoftware.com

All the tips from previous newsletters are now on-line for both RentPlus and Mini-StoragePlus

The HI-TECH web site includes all of the tech tips that have been published in this newsletter for the past two years. Additional information and frequency asked questions are also available. Visit the HI-TECH web site today (www.hitechsoftware.com) to learn to get the most from your HI-TECH software.  Top

TechTip for Mini-StoragePlus

Print preview in Mini-StoragePlus

Question: I noticed Windows has a Print Preview function. How can I do a Print Preview in MSP?

Answer: In MSP you may preview reports, notices, labels or checks by using the Print-to-Disk feature. The Print-to-Disk feature allows you to view, print, and save a file.

Using Print-to-Disk

Select a report to print. When the system prompts "Is the Printer Ready?", press *. At "Disk Filename:" enter the name of the file you wish to give to this report (see below). After the file has been saved, the message "Printing complete. Press any key." will usually be displayed.

 

  • To View the file, Press , Select "Print-to-Disk", press and enter the name of the file. The report will be displayed on screen.
  • To Print the file, press , Select "Print-to-Disk", press and enter the name of the file. The report will be printed.

Print-to-Disk File Names

For best results (and to make it easy to review previous reports), you can use logical names to describe your files. For example, the Occupancy Statistics report run on December 31, 1999 might be saved as AR991231. If you reuse a filename, the old file will be overwritten.

More You Can Do With Print-To-Disk Files

  • Reprint reports, including printing multiple copies.
  • E-mail reports to others (send files as attachments).
  • Open using a word processor for additional formatting.
  • Open using Excel spreadsheet for additional analysis and to create graphs.
  • Create an archive of past data.

*If the message "Is the Printer Ready" does not appear, you have the "Pause to Print" feature turned off. To change this setting, select Tools | Setup | System Settings | Miscellaneous Setup Information | move the cursor to option 7-No pause to check if printer is ready. Enter 0 to pause, or 1 for no pause and then Press F9 to save the new setting.  Top