This post is a place for newsagents to comment about iServices the data management platform from News Corp, what they think of it, whether it is useful for their business.
iServices is an essential part of Distributors in SA business’s for New’s product.
Now that News has fixed the coding error, which hampered downloads of the Stop/Start Report, we are back to a quick smooth process where, Log on, Stop/Starts, Supplies and Subs list are downloaded into our Newagency Business System at the click of a button.
I would prefer News dumped iServices for Returns entry and they (returns) were sent via XIT. If no other reason than Returns entry accuracy.
XIT and G&G accept the accuracy of returns sent, so why can’t New’s?
John
1 likes
Chris
It is the most useless web service I use. It is as if they created it with the sole purpose of making it as hard to use as it possibly could be!
3 likes
May First
Reading John’s comments, the use of iServices is obviously quite different depending on the sort of business you run. We are a small rural newsagency and as such mainly use it (when we have to) as a portal into the News Corp system, we don’t import or export between ourselves and iServices.
As Chris says, as a website it is the worst I have ever used. It has obviously been developed into an outward facing portal by making small changes to the News Corp operations platform, as you would expect, that doesn’t work.
What we need here is a simple interface to basic functions that work. You should not need special instructions (via 40 billion emails) to return a dog calendar! Yet everytime an item (other than newspapers) is to be returned, News Corp has to send instructions to allow us to perform this routine task. Surprisingly enough the connect website does almost exactly what we require, no wonder they ditched that!
Changing supply allocations is also a nightmare, it seems impossible to make simple changes without getting error messages, you are then left wondering whether your changes will take effect or not.
I would love to talk in depth to a News Corp IT rep about iServices functionality but I won’t get my hopes up.
3 likes
Alan
iServices is an essential tool for all Newsagents, as are all supplier websites. Unfortunately it is rife with errors, which I have been reporting since day 1. The error with the most impact is that related to account reconciliation where the weekly accounts, so far this year, are correct one in four weeks on average. The move away from Newsagent specific Stop Start Notification to a centralised sequentially Stop Start Notification method ensures that Newsagents do not not if a Notification has been missed or not. And so it goes on ….
0 likes
Ken
don’t worry the anf or nana or vana or somebody like them will fix it just like they fix all the other problems plaguing the industry. Oh look there goes another flying pig heading south for winter
All,
iServices is an essential part of Distributors in SA business’s for New’s product.
Now that News has fixed the coding error, which hampered downloads of the Stop/Start Report, we are back to a quick smooth process where, Log on, Stop/Starts, Supplies and Subs list are downloaded into our Newagency Business System at the click of a button.
I would prefer News dumped iServices for Returns entry and they (returns) were sent via XIT. If no other reason than Returns entry accuracy.
XIT and G&G accept the accuracy of returns sent, so why can’t New’s?
John
It is the most useless web service I use. It is as if they created it with the sole purpose of making it as hard to use as it possibly could be!
Reading John’s comments, the use of iServices is obviously quite different depending on the sort of business you run. We are a small rural newsagency and as such mainly use it (when we have to) as a portal into the News Corp system, we don’t import or export between ourselves and iServices.
As Chris says, as a website it is the worst I have ever used. It has obviously been developed into an outward facing portal by making small changes to the News Corp operations platform, as you would expect, that doesn’t work.
What we need here is a simple interface to basic functions that work. You should not need special instructions (via 40 billion emails) to return a dog calendar! Yet everytime an item (other than newspapers) is to be returned, News Corp has to send instructions to allow us to perform this routine task. Surprisingly enough the connect website does almost exactly what we require, no wonder they ditched that!
Changing supply allocations is also a nightmare, it seems impossible to make simple changes without getting error messages, you are then left wondering whether your changes will take effect or not.
I would love to talk in depth to a News Corp IT rep about iServices functionality but I won’t get my hopes up.
iServices is an essential tool for all Newsagents, as are all supplier websites. Unfortunately it is rife with errors, which I have been reporting since day 1. The error with the most impact is that related to account reconciliation where the weekly accounts, so far this year, are correct one in four weeks on average. The move away from Newsagent specific Stop Start Notification to a centralised sequentially Stop Start Notification method ensures that Newsagents do not not if a Notification has been missed or not. And so it goes on ….
don’t worry the anf or nana or vana or somebody like them will fix it just like they fix all the other problems plaguing the industry. Oh look there goes another flying pig heading south for winter