The DentaLab System... serving dental laboratories since 1979
 
 
Support :: Newsletters

January 2008

 

DentaLab News

 

from Mainstreet Systems & Software...

January 2008

Quick Links
Frequently Asked Questions
DentaLab News
Product Costing

 

Working Hard for You....

We amazed ourselves. December included not only the holidays, ice storms, eight new installations and lots of custom work, but somehow we managed to have the January release ready. Here is what Release 1.13 includes:

    Expired Customer Alerts Grid/Report

  • - this is a new option in the Customer List/Customer actions
  • - the user enters an on or before date for expirations
  • - shows a grid of customer alerts with expiration dates on/before selected date
  • - shows customer id, name, entry and expiration dates, entry-by and alert text
  • - sequenced by expiration date, customer id
  • - user will have the option to delete alert or edit
  • - option to display/print report
  • Cases with Extra Time Grid/Report

  • - this is a new option in upper left quandrant (with Last Case, Monthly Cases, etc):
  • - user will select from cases with status Open/In Lab
  • - if cases has 2 or more (as specified) days between End Date and Doctor Request Date, it is included in grid and report
  • - grid will show the number of extra days
  • - sequenced by highest case number first (descending case numbers)
  • - user can select case from grid to reschedule (and any other actions)
  • - option to display/print report
  • Work Center Production Analysis

  • - this is a new report for Reports/Analysis section
  • - user will select date range from calendars
  • - cases will be selected on having start and end dates matching selected range
  • - cases items with completion in this date range will be included
  • - tallies quantity, invoiced dollar value, remake dollar value, not invoiced dollar value
  • - shows totals for each work center
  • - new page for each work center
  • Standard Procedure Names

  • - these are limited to 40 characters, but entry was allowing more
  • Item Desciption Expansion

  • - in coordination with QuickBooks expansion of the item descriptions, we now provide for up to 1000 characters. These will be transferred to the invoice item descriptions, but most reports will show only up to the first 50 characters, as space allows
  • Technician Barcode Report

  • - changed to include only active and not inactive technicians
  • Technician Piece Rate Pay for Remakes/Adjustments

  • - in Options, add a setting for the % of pay for technicians (default value 100) to apply if remake or adjustment,
  • - checkboxes, one to apply to remakes (default checked), one to apply to adjustments (default checked), as checked in case entry
  • - used when when calculating technician pay by piece rate
  • Technician Incentive Pay by Percentage

  • - this is an alternative to paying technicians by piece rates
  • - setup in Items List for each billable item
  • - choice of piece rates, incentive pay by % in Technicians List
  • PDF User Manual

  • - available from Help buttons
  • - includes the contents of our current Help system plus information from white papers
  • - user can use hyperlinks in Table of Contents to zoom to topic
  • - user can also use Adobe Reader to find matching text entry, preview or print

If you have an up-to-date support agreement, call when ready to download to get the current access codes. Thanks again to all of you who submitted suggestions and/or did the beta testing for these.

 

OK...We're Ready for Spring

But we know there will be about 10 more weeks of either gray and gloomy or snow and ice days. One of our large New York lab owners wisely said this is the time of year to be organizing his business and updating his computer system, because when those bright sunny days arrive, he will be wanting to be out on his boat on Long Island Sound.

And so we want to remind you again to be sure to leave your full name, lab, telephone number and the purpose of your call so that we can respond from home if bad roads and weather keep us from the office. We also check email continually throughout the day.

 


 
     

Easy, versatile software for the modern dental laboratory.


 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Where do all your ideas come from?

A: Some come from us when we see the need or to assure compatibility with new technology. But a number of them come from those using the software in their labs. We have been fortunate to have always had a core group of labs who let us know ways to make their lives easier, more informative, more efficient. If you come up with an idea for your lab software, be sure to check with us to see what is possible.

Q: Will archiving QuickBooks transactions affect DentaLab for QuickBooks?

A: DQB looks only at QB transactions to determine if an invoice number has already been used. For this, it looks only at the invoices in the current set of transactions, and not in the archived sets. Before deciding to archive QB transactions, you should carefully read this topic in QB help, as the compression involved in archival removes some of the transaction details.

Q: Will DentaLab for QuickBooks take care of placing the patient name with each invoice on the customer's monthly statement?

A: Yes, DQB takes care of transferring the patient name to both the invoice and statement in QuickBooks, as this is the most prevalent way of identifying each case.

 


 
     

With the same look and feel of QuickBooks.


 

If You're Going to Play the Game, Boys...

You've got to learn to play it right. And that means knowing your numbers. We borrowed this thought from Kenny Rogers' Gambler and the Internet Dental Forum discussion on knowing the costs of fulfilling dental prescriptions.. This is an essential ingredient for surviving in business, making good decisions, and successfully reaching most of your goals.

We are pleased that our new Product Costing software is helping labs to develop this knowledge for themselves as they face changes in technology, opportunities for increased business based on price requirements, decisions on outsourcing or offering specialty services to other labs. This software is being offered at a special low introductory price of $79 USD.

 

Worth Remembering

We all develop little patterns in our lives....things we do everyday with hardly a thought. And we find in our support calls from you that some of the creative facilities available in DentaLab for QuickBooks are not used because they have never been tried or they have been forgotten in those patterns. Here are some of these:

  • In any grid (a window with rows and columns), you can click the column heading to sort the rows forward by this column and click it again to sort backward. This can be an alternate way to find information quickly.

  • Even though you use one or more standard procedures to enter case items for scheduling, you can use the add, edit and delete features to fine-tune the case. You can add an item using the item entry box and then clicking Add. You can change the order of the items by highlighting any row and using the up or down arrows to the right to move it to the sequence you want. You can double-click any item to edit a number of the fields or right-click and choose to send it to the doctor at that point in the schedule or roll down a schedule change. You can also highlight a case item row and choose delete if the item does not apply to the case at hand.

  • You can set up a table of Lab Notes for your most frequent work specifications and then right-click on any note and choose to add it to a case memo or doctor preference. This can help to save time and assure correct spellings.

  • If you learn or develop information about a customer, be sure to add a customer alert to assure that everyone else gets this information too. If the information does not have a known expiration date, set it far ahead...such as 12/31/2089.

  • If you have completely messed up the schedule for a case and want to start all over, place the case On-Hold and then Reactivate for a fresh start.

  • You can enhance your customer service in many ways. One important way is to solicit and record doctor preferences and train your technicians to pay attention to these on the work ticket. Another is to create and memorize custom reports in QuickBooks specifically for a customer or a group, personalizing each report with the customer's or group's name in the title.

Remember, too, that our newsletters include a lot of tips and techniques. If you have missed any or want to see those that were published before you came on board, they are available by month in the Support section of our website at mainstreet-systems.com.

 


 
     

Customization is available for all products.


 

Product Costing
Knowing the cost of producing a product or service is essential to any business. This knowledge can become critical if faced with competitive pricing or with opportunities for new business based on meeting price requirements. Cost analysis is an important part of maximizing profits. At times it may uncover ways to reduce costs.

  • Estimate production costs
  • Allows for price experimentation, potential profits
  • Easy to understand samples included to get you started
  • Clear and comprehensive reports
  • Integrate with QuickBooks, DentaLab for QuickBooks, or create your own entries

 

Available now at a special introductory price.

Call 1-800-257-4535 or visit www.mainstreet-systems.com to learn more about Mainstreet Systems and our software designed specifically for dental laboratories.

"I have never found a glitch in all the years I?ve had it and really love this software"

Rickey Kornegay
Twin Rivers, North Carolina


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