The Need For Speed - Keep Your Applications Running Fast

Credit Cards (and Credit Card Processors) continue to haunt us.  As discussed in last week's newsletter, there is so much more to credit card processing than any processor's sales rep is aware.  We are being told that we (CPS) must be PCI and PAPB certified.  Currently, we fall under the certification of our partners (IP-Commerce, Shift-4, and ETS).  However, in 2008 we will most likely need to be certified as well.  This is a very costly and labor-intensive effort for each platform. Going forward, we will no longer support ICVerify, PcCharge, or any other 3rd party products.  There is simply too much risk involved for both CPS and our POS Clients.  In other words, the ONLY options will be IP-Commerce (Chase Bank and several others to be added soon), ETS, and Shift-4.  So before you spend time talking to any processor, be aware that if you want to go beyond the options we have, you will need to run your credit cards on a stand-alone veriphone box and they will not be integrated with your PSK POS system.  Further, if you are using one of these 3rd party software packages today – DO NOT upgrade them.  We are no longer doing development work with these packages.  So, if you upgrade, you risk breaking the interface you have today.  Start the planning process for moving away from these applications or planning to run stand-alone.  We are not pulling the plug today, but I am guessing when the next round of credit card regulations kick in early next year, the transactions from these interfaces may very well be rejected by the processors and we will have no advanced warning.  Count on this happening at the worst possible time! 

This weeks lesson deals with some housekeeping tasks that will keep your applications running as fast as possible:

 

1)    Database Maintenance – The StarterHut Database Wizard has a utility to run Database Maintenance.  This utility will re-index the database, Shrink the actual files, eliminate duplicates, etc.  CPS Tech Support will typically run this for you if you call and mention that things seem to be running slow.  You can try running this yourself and doing so once a month or once per quarter.  Disclaimer: To do so, you should make sure you have a good backup prior to running.  If you are backing up your db every night (and you should be!!), then try this first thing in the morning.  (Don't do this on a weekend!  If something should go wrong, you want it to be on a slow day like a Monday, and a day when CPS Tech Support staff is there to assist in the event you need to restore a backup).

·         Exit the PSK Software on all of the workstations.

·         From your server:  Go to Start – Programs – ProShopKeeper POS Express – StarterHut Database Wizard.  This will open the following dialog box, Select Database Maintenance and click Next:

 

          

 

·         Click on Test Connection, wait for the OK message then click Next.

 


 

·         Check the 4 boxes like I have below and click Next

 


 

·         When the maintenance is finished, you will be able to click Close.

 


 

1)    Archiving:  Still have sales in your database from 1999?  A step beyond Database Maintenance would be for us to archive your old data and clean out all those un-needed transactions.  The data is archived so you can always get it back if needed but does not take up space on your server (we write it off to a cd).  It is best to allow CPS Support do this for you.  Please call to schedule if this is something you would like to do.

 

2)    RAM:  this can be like double cutting and rolling your greens.  The more RAM your computer has, the less reading and writing it has to do to the hard drive.  In turn, the faster instructions can be completed which directly relates to how fast your pc will run. 

·         Go to this website: http://www.crucial.com and run the Crucial System Scanner tool.

·         Do the Scan My System, Select Terms and Conditions, and Start Scan (you may have to allow the active-x control).

·         This will tell you what you have today and what, if any, options you have to increase the RAM.

 

3)    Dedicated Server: Many of you use your server (where you data lives) as a POS station.  This is perfectly acceptable in many cases.  However, if you have several POS Stations and you need more speed, purchasing a dedicated server can increase speed across the board as well as provide a more secure environment.  CPS is a Dell Reseller, and we can build and configure a server for you.  Give us a call to discuss your options.

 

4)    Virus and Spyware control: Viruses and Spyware can quickly and completely consume all the processing power of your computer leaving little left for POS processing.  You should always have up-to-date virus software running on every pc on your network.  You should also scan each pc for spyware at least once per month.  There are many 3rd party software tools for this.  Here at CPS we use Symantic/Norton antivirus and Spybot Search and Destroy.

  

Of course our support staff can assist you with any of these items. For those of you going into your slow season, it is a good time to schedule some housecleaning.  Give us a call and schedule some time with one of our techs.

 

Enjoy :)