newsagent software

My software company Tower Systems is hosting three opportunities for newsagents to learn more about our software and provide feedback over the next week:

• Melbourne, Thursday March 25 @ 11am. Tower Head Office. Level 3, 22 Horne Street Elsternwick.
• Brisbane, Tuesday March 30 @ 11am. River View Hotel, Kingsford Smith drive.
• Sydney, Thuesday April 1 @ 11am. Rydges Hotel Camperdown. Missenden Road Camperdown.

These sessions will feature Jonathan Tay, our Software Development Manager, speaking about our latest software update. These sessions are part of a twenty city tour updating the Tower community of 1,650+ newsagents on the latest release of the software and innovation for newsagents. To book for these free sessions click here.

I am told that this is the last week electronic invoices will be provided to newsagents still using the old XchangeIT platform.  If XchnageIT moves proceed as planned, next Monday’s invoices will only be provided to newsagents through the new XchangeIT Link platform.

There will be no excuse for the small number of newsagents who have not made the move given the considerable coverage about the change throughout 2009.

Newsagents wanting to know more about complying with IT standards for magazines are welcome to book for the free Tower Systems online workshops on Magazine Management.  To book, click on the workshop title.

Around 200 newsagents are yet to migrate to the new XchangeIT Link EDI platform.  These newsagents face not receiving electronic invoices from January 1.  They also facxe slower returns credits and other operational challenges.  With more than 2,500 newsagents already migrated, getting these remaining few would be good for the channel.

Newsagents who have migrated are set to have access to some excellent business initiatives in 2010.

My software company, Tower Systems, has released a low cost newsagency software, hardware, training and support package. It includes newsagency point of sale software, Lenovo computer, receipt printer, laser printer, cash drawer, scanner and on-site installation for under $5,000.

A short video introducing the offer here.

With fewer than 800 newsagents without a computer system, Tower and key newsagent suppliers are on a mission to get those without a system computerized and connected with the rest of the channel.

Jost Stollmann, the CEO of Tyro (fast broadband eftpos), wrote to software companies which integrate their software with the Tyro eftpos solution about the recent reports of fraud using eftpos terminals.  I publish Jost’s note here in full as it provides excellent information of value to newsagents.

Tyro is better than a bank terminal since it is integrated with newsagent software.  You don’t have to key in the transaction value.  Approvals are processed in under two seconds usually.  As Jost notes, security is considerably enhanced over the old technology terminals you probably have today:

In recent press you may have seen headlines alerting Australians of a card payment scam that was discovered in a West Australian multinational fast-food restaurant chain. Something like 3,500 customers seem to have been defrauded by $4 million. What about your merchants? Are they exposed without knowing?

This is a check list for their peace of mind that I sent them:

1. Have your acquirer guarantee that his terminals are PCI PED and EMV 4.0 certified! All Tyro terminals are. They are the newest generation protected against eavesdropping, tampering or message forgery. All sensitive information is protected, and instantly erased if the terminal is tampered with.

2. Have your acquirer guarantee that no card holder data passes on to any PC, for instance residing in memory in the clear! With Tyro’s integration technology, no card or PIN data is ever passed on. It never reaches your Point of Sale (POS) software. Therefore, even if malicious data capture software was to be loaded onto your POS, it would not be possible to capture, store or transmit confidential card data.

3. Have your acquirer guarantee that card holder data is never transmitted in the clear! With Tyro’s technology, any transmission occurs only encrypted through an-end-to-end secured connection between our PCI PED certified terminal and our PCI DSS compliant switch, and it is using totally safely the public internet.

Sorry, if this sounds a little like bragging on about ourselves, but we are dead serious. The reality is that most EFTPOS terminals transmit card data in the clear. Integrated EFTPOS solutions hold card data in memory in the clear. We think it is most important to protect merchants and card holders against the increasingly sophisticated fraud industry. It is also important to maintain the consumers trust in the card payment industry.

Tyro is the only new entrant into the Australian payment industry. We are leading the industry in security. So, if you want to protect your merchants and their customers from card data security breach, possible scheme fines and potentially catastrophic reputation damage to their business and to the industry, recommend Tyro to them. If you are not yet integrated with us, what are you waiting for. If you are help us spread the word and recommend us to your customers. Thank you for your consideration.

Tyro is integarted with newsagency software from Tower Systems and POS Solutions.  Over 300 newsagents have switched from old technology slow bank terminals to Tyro.  They are saving time, cutting mistakes and saving money – in addition to enjoying better security.

Disclosure: Tower Systems receives a small clip from trabsactions through Tyro, this funds support and link development.

Network Services has advised that effective 1st November, they will no longer be accepting or crediting paper Supplementary Return forms. This includes any old paper template forms and POS printouts. This is the next step in the modernisation of the newsagency channel, a project near to our hearts as it helps newsagents cut time out of the operation of their business.  All Supplementary returns are to be submitted by one of two ways – XChangeIT LINK or NETonline.

Network Services has indicated that all returns will be online by 1st December.  Click here for a copy of the SupplyNET October newsletter.

Newsagents switching to the latest software can cut paperwork, speed up returns credits, reduce mistakes and achieve a more balanced supply.  I have seen newsagents cut between fifteen and twnety man hours a month from their back office operation when switching to the new standards.  This is a net saving to the business of $4,000 annually.

While there is a considerable operational benefit to the magazine distributors of the latest IT moves, there is also a significant benefit to newsagents.

Sometimes the software side of the newsagency channel can get pretty dirty.  I saw this happen last week when a salesman claimed that his system had certain features that others did not have.  He lied.  At least two other systems have all the features he claimed only his system had.  The newsagent went with his system solely because of the claim.  They will learn the consequences for not checking if they were being told the truth.

One reason software companies lose market share is that lies like ones told last week come back and bite them.

Newsagents considering installing software should shop around.  The software marketplace is going through a shake up.  Check sales claims.  Trust only what is proven.

Here is an update on the status of yesterday’s update to XChangeIT Link:

We had a few issues with a couple of the distributor gateways during the night, and therefore files will be delayed in delivery to you. We will contact you with updates during the day via email. Gotch & NDC may also send their invoices via email, depending on the status later today.

I have heard from a number of newsagents that the link has loaded successfully overnight.

My software company, Tower Systems, is hosting an public online demonstration of our newsagency management software for newsagents using the old POS Solutions software.  This idea was pitched to us by a couple of newsagents using POS Solutions and we thought it was a good idea.

In the session, we will draw on the experience of switching many POS Solutions users (more than 200) to our software and show how newsagents benefit from the moves.  We will also show how the move is often financially rewarding thanks to our transparent approach to support fees.

This session will be held next Wednesday (Sept 16), at 2pm.  Bookings can be made online at the Tower website – click here.

More that 1,500 newsagents partner with Tower Systems already.