Inside This Issue:
March 2006
- Dave Black Joins TOPS as Corporate Trainer
- Meet Chris Layton - Sales Associate
- Second Annual User Group Conference
- Users and Passwords in v3.2.1
- New Classic Report Mode Option
- New Mail Server for Mgmt Company Web Site Clients
- New Online Reservation System
TOPS Comes to You:
05/4-6/06 CAI National Trade Show (Palm Springs, CA)
06/13/06 TOPS User Group (Phoenix, AZ)
10/13/06 CAI Houston Chapter (Houston, TX)
Announcements:
Best Fit Solutions, LLC provides TOPS v3.2.1™ training & accounting services. On-site or Internet-based training services available. Learn more at www.bestfitsolutions.net, or call 281-870-0404.
Use www.ReadyDOCS.com to sell documents online and turn Process into Profit. Contact us at (888) 497-8832 to find out how!
Testing Live Updates!
Please contact us if you are interested in testing our newest feature, live updates, which allow your TOPS Owner data to be submitted to your TOPS Community Web Sites instantly upon making changes in TOPS Professional™ .
The TOPS Internet Backup Service allows you to automatically back up your important TOPS Community Data from right inside TOPS Professional™ ! For More Info, see www.topsbackup.com.
We have now officially moved all of our corporate web sites to new server hardware. This should not affect functionality, but never say never :-) If you do find a missing link or broken graphic or other error on any of our corporate web sites, please report it.
The TOPS Web Admin Forum, located at admin.topswebsites.com provides resources for TOPS Community Web Site Administrators, from free web site content to direct chat with other admins. If you are not a member of this forum, be sure to request your login today.
If you have not yet checked out TOPS' Online Support Center, you should definitely do it! You can see your current usage minutes, review past tickets, and see what tickets are open for your organization. All you need is your TOPS Client ID and fill in a one-time sign-up form.
TOPS Software will be conducting our second National User Group Conference on June 13, 2006 in Phoenix Arizona.
The conference will be sponsored by US Bank, and held at their facilities in Phoenix.
Contact Sales at 1-800-760-9966 or sales@topssoft.com to register for this exciting event.
Helpful Links:
Restrictions:
The onTOPS Ezine is published by TOPS Software, LLC., 25400 US 19 N. Clearwater, FL 33763. Copyright© 2001-2006, All rights reserved. Articles may be reprinted with permission from the publisher.
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Articles from TOPS Software:
Welcome to onTOPS!
After a winter hiatus, we are back again with the onTOPS Ezine, a (mostly) monthly email publication from TOPS Software.
We've been out of the loop for a while, so there is a lot to catch up on in this issue. We hope you enjoy our ezine. All of the articles in the ezines are stored in the articles section of our web site, www.topssoft.com, which also means that ezine articles are searchable via our web site search engine! You will find the search link at the bottom of each article, along with a convenient option to send an article of interest to a friend or colleague.
Please send feedback to: insider@topssoft.com
Testing Live Updates!
Please contact us if you are interested in testing our newest feature, live updates, which allow your TOPS Owner data to be submitted to your TOPS Community Web Sites instantly upon making changes in TOPS Professional™ .
TOPS Software Expands to Phoenix, AZ
TOPS Software announced today the opening of a new office in Phoenix, Arizona. The new office, located at 2702 North 3rd Street Suite 2040 in Phoenix, is part of TOPS Software's expansion plan to better support customers in the western region of the United States.
[More...]
Bruce Gran Promoted to Vice President
Please join us in congratulating Bruce Gran, he has been promoted to the position of corporate Vice President of Sales at TOPS Software. Bruce has many years of experience in the Condo/HOA industry where he helped found and is still part owner of a successful management company-which was his first exposure to TOPS software.
[More...]
Dave Black joins TOPS as Corporate Trainer
We are honored to welcome David Black, the principle of DAB Enterprises, to the TOPS Software team. As our new Corporate Trainer, David is responsible for providing customer orientations training, on-site customer training; developing internet based training programs, customer setup, conversions and implementation. When David is not on the road assisting customer around the country he will be based in the Phoenix office.
[More...]
Chris Layton Joins TOPS as Sales Associate
Please extend a warm welcome to Chris Layton, who has joined the team in our new Phoenix office as a sales associate.
Chris has most recently been the Executive Director of the Central Arizona Chapter of the Community Associations Institute (CAI). He has an excellent understanding of the inner workings of community associations. Chris has a background in customer service and sales, which he will use to provide the quality standard of service that TOPS Software customers have come to expect.
[More...]
Second Annual User Group Conference
TOPS Software will be conducting our second annual user group conference in Phoenix, Arizona on Tuesday, June 13, 2006. The Conference will be hosted by US Bank, and will be held in their facility. The conference will include demonstrations of new functionality, discussions on the future direction of TOPS Software, and an open forum for attendees to exchange best practices and ideas for future enhancements to TOPS programs and features.
[More...]
Thanks from the Technical Support Group
Almost through with another year-end. Seems like we just did one of those!
We know you have been swamped with your year-end closings and getting all your financial reports ready for your annual board meetings, not to mention all the requirements for the IRS and tax time. And, as if that's not enough, upgrading to a new version of the software.
This is no time for things to go wrong but sometimes they do.
All of us on the TOPS Support Team want to assure you that we are striving to be as responsive as possible to your needs. As a team of seasoned professionals with a comprehensive knowledge of TOPS products, we remain committed to a high standard of customer service and are ready to help you with any issues you may have.
We feel your pain, and want to assure you that you are important to us. We would like to thank you for your confidence and patience as we work together to get through this very busy time of year.
Sincerely,
The TOPS Support Team
Users and Passwords in v3.2.1
Many of the new features in TOPS Professional™ are user-based for improved flexibility, efficiency and control. Among these features is the new Users and Passwords program that has been redesigned to implement a higher standard of user accountability, system security, and procedural compliance.
The new Users and Password program requires some forethought, and planning. In the past, each time a new user was added to the system you also had to define individual permissions. With the new system each user will be assigned to a User Group that has been pre-defined by you. These new User Groups are part of the Administrative controls that will determine what menu options and modules a user will be allowed to access, as well as the level of access a user will have, will it be FULL, READ ONLY or NO ACCESS.
[More...]
TOPS Professional™ offers new Classic Report Mode option
Due to popular demand, the function to print reports in TOPS Professional™ has been updated to include a new option "Use Classic Report Mode". In addition to the standard report format currently in TOPS Professional™ , users who prefer will now have the option to use the Version 3.1 report format. If you would like to implement this option, you must first update your server and all workstations using the TOPS Internet Updater.
[More...]
New Mail Server for Management Co. Web Site Clients
TOPS Software's Internet Services group is in the final stages of implementing a new mail server solution for our Management company web site customers using TOPS hosted email.
Some of the biggest benefits of the new mail server will provide significantly more powerful SPAM and anti-virus capabilities to aid in eliminating more of those unwanted e-mail solicitations.
[More...]
TOPS Interactive Web Sites - New Online Reservation System
TOPS Software is pleased to announce the release of another new and innovative feature that demonstrates our ongoing commitment to improving the TOPS Interactive Web Site services for all customers. This new state-of-the-art Online Reservation System will enable you to feature your community's amenities and allow residents to reserve them online from your TOPS Interactive Web Site.
[More...]
Previous
News & Notes:
* Happy St. Patrick's Day! Please drive carefully.
* Congratulations to Bruce Gran for his promotion to Vice President.
* Welcome to Dave Black, our new Corporate Trainer!
* Welcome to Chris Layton, our new Sales Associate.
TOPS Program Updates:
TOPS Professional™ >
Added ability to delete messages in the phone messenger. "Deleted" messages are stored as "archived" and may be recovered if necessary by an administrator.
Corrected security issue where users with "Read Only" access to CCR module were able to gain full access through the "Reminders" feature.
Corrected a rare issue where terminal server users that had been forced to log off by the administrator were not correctly releasing the security key back to the server pool.
CABUpload.exe now creates a validation file and asks user if they want to view the folder where it was created.
Changed the Updater to ignore *.pan files in the custom#.zips. This avoids the issue of certain updates being ignored or overwritten when custom programming files are loaded on the updater.
Added a new Statement option for the Los Vegas market that has a breakdown of charge types on the bottom of the statement.
Southdata statement files can now be correctly generated when CAB Custom Plug-In is installed.
An option has been added to the Print dialog box that will allow users to continue to produce reports in the version 3.1 format. Simply check the box for "Use Classic Report Mode" at the bottom of the printer dialog box. By default it will be checked the first time, after that the system will remember the last setting selected. The options for print to email and to print to Community web sites are not available when using Classic Report Mode.
The Updater, when run will now compare server and workstation custom#.zip files to get the most recent version of custom programs, and update old ones.
Added a new automated utility that will search through user permissions and remove a 'dead' community from all users whenever a community is edited in TOPS.
CCR, Work Order, Gate Security, and Pool Pass modules have been added to the Custom Report Export Utility. This means that all module data stored in TOPS may now be exported through this program.
TOPS Web Sites Updates:
TOPS Interactive Web Sites>
The primary web site address for the TOPS Interactive Web Site Service has been changed to www.topswebsites.com. We feel that this new address more accurately reflects the service and its offerings, and will be easier to find and remember. The old address (www.topshome.com) will remain active, but will automatically forward you to the new address. Please update your bookmarks!
Changed upload program routine to accommodate for connection 'hiccups'. This prevents the upload process from aborting if the user's Internet connection regularly drops for fractions of a second.
If one user on the network has an older version of the TOPS2000.exe (often copied onto the desktop) the data structure can be damaged by each community this user connects to (causing the city name to spread to the state and zip fields). The latest update on the updater treats the symptom by correcting the city state and zip codes (after updating, run Administration, Rebuild Access Data, Rebuild Community List). This does not resolve the underlying problem, which can be identified upon updating to 3.2.1, as the workstation with an older version of the TOPS2000.exe will be instantly identified by the fact that they are unable to connect to the TOPS data.
Added “Resource View Security Level” to Reservations system to allow resources to be restricted by security level.
Games Feature updated with new games and sorted in “live” popularity order.
When announcement is added from events calendar, the announcement expire date is now automatically set to the event end date.
Added a warning notice if a document is loaded with a file name that is too long.
In Homes for Sale, pictures are now associated with particular residents to avoid overwriting images from other homes.
Added new "Reservations" feature to web sites. This feature allows administrators to set up a reservation system for tennis courts, clubhouse rooms, swimming pools, elevators, or anything else that might require time management. Residents can then log in to your web site and reserve the facility for the time block they need. Reservation requests can be emailed to the appropriate individual, who can then go online and approve or deny the reservation. Read More.
Added ability to add custom fields unique to each resource to the reservation screen.
New Themes:
Our illustrator has been hard at work creating icons for our three exciting new themes this month. They are World Traveler, Space Dust, and Animals. Be sure to check them out!
If you are looking for a holiday theme, look no further than Luck O The Irish, our St Patrick's Day theme.
Contact TOPS:
Software Sales
- 800.760.9966 xt1
Web Site Sales - 800.556.7852
Tech Support - 800.899.5689
xt2
Web Support - 800.899.5689
xt3
Backup Service - 800.899.5689
xt3
Billing Questions - 301.869.8144