This Week’s Product Pick

APG Cash Drawer (Minneapolis) has expanded its heavy-duty product line with the introduction of the Series 1517 EU Compact for the European marketplace. In keeping with APG’s specifications, EU Compact highlights steel construction, industrial-grade steel ball bearing slides, and reliability beyond four million operations. Overall, the drawer measures 375 mm x 435 mm x 101.5 mm (14.8 in. x 17.1 in. x 4.0 in.) and includes one media slot. It features an adjustable four-bill, eight-coin till that accommodates both Euros and Sterling. Till covers and weighable coin cups are available from APG to complete the solution. Security comes from the drawer’s four-function lock, as well as 160 mutually exclusive lock codes and night security feature, which keeps the drawer open once the till is removed. An APG MultiPRO 520 interface adapts to most POS platforms. “The EU Compact fits one of the common European footprints but offers the superior durability and dependability that is expected of an APG cash drawer,” suggested Jack Brown, Product Manager for the Series 1517 EU Compact at APG. “The EU Compact’s rugged design ensures it will operate flawlessly for the life of the POS system, even in the toughest environments.”

APG Series 1517 EU Compact Cash Drawer

Worth Your While

BAI Retail Delivery Conference & Expo
Bank Administration Institute
November 3-5
Boston

IH/M&RS
International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show
November 7-10
New York

Synergy 2009 Customer Conference
Retalix
November 8-11
Dallas

Fall 2009 Self-Service Expo
KioskCom
November 10-11
New York

NRF 99th Annual Convention & Expo
National Retail Federation
January 10-13, 2010
New York

RSPA Inspire 2010
Retail Solutions Providers Association
February 7-10, 2010
Cancun, Mexico

Connect 2010
Radiant Retail User Conference
February 24-26, 2010
Atlanta

ALL IN THE FAMILY

LC8600 Computes at Logic Controls 

Logic Controls (New Hyde Park, NY) has introduced its LC8600 Series of high-performance industrial computers for use in POS, kitchen systems, digital signage, and Auto ID workstations. The LC8600 addresses the increasing demand for greater reliability in a rugged platform with full PC functionality at an affordable price point, RRN.Com was told by Wladimir Alvarez, VP of International Sales, and Josephine Lu, Marketing Coordinator. The new device incorporates Intel’s 1.6-GHz Atom CPU and 512-KB L2 Cache to run all Windows and Linux-based graphics and video applications and features an impressive number of I/O ports, including four serial and seven USB 2.0 and one each for VGA, DVI-I, parallel, Ethernet, PS/2 keyboard and mouse, and microphone.

The fanless and ventless design of the LC8600 prevents damage to internal components that are caused by external contaminants such as dust or oil. Innovative cooling technology reduces the risk of failure due to internal heat build-up. For enhanced reliability, all of the computer components reside on one PC board, which limits the number of internal cables, thereby reducing loose connections and failures. In addition, true no-moving-parts operation may be achieved by utilizing Compact Flash for mass storage or boot-from-network configurations, according to Logic Controls.

In terms of physical dimensions, the LC8600 measures only 8 in. x 6 in. x 2 in. and weighs 3 lbs. Two mounting tabs enable these modules to be mounted horizontally or vertically in any configuration needed by the customer--table top, wall, below counter, or on the ceiling. A special coating has been applied to the die-metal casing for additional protection against humidity and excessive condensation. In speaking with RRN.Com, Alvarez and Lu emphasized the ruggedness of the LC8600, designed “to work 24 hours per day without system failure,” as well as the computer’s standard three-year warranty.

LC8600 Retail-Hardened Computer from Logic Controls

[Editor’s Note:  Logic Controls has also restructured its Partner Program, which was debuted in June 2009 in RRN.Com. Going forward, the program will focus on two separate categories: ISV Partners and VAR Partners. Services have been expanded, including personal consultations. Only VARs who support ISV Partners will be allowed into the program, and so-called Internet Resellers will no longer receive benefits.]

Slap on the Wrist from TSC

TSC (Pomona, CA) has expanded its line of desktop label printers with the TDP-225W wristband printer. This direct-thermal printer was developed specifically to meet the needs of producing wristbands for healthcare, entertainment, and crowd control. The printer supports 1D and 2D barcode printing with 203-dpi resolution, maximum print width of 2 inches, and print speed of up to 5 inches per second.

The TDP-225W supports full 6.5-inch OD rolls of wristbands right out of the box, according to TSC. Its small-footprint design provides an easy-to-use, spring-loaded, center-biased wristband holder that supports both 1-inch and 1.5-inch cores common to full 6.5-inch OD rolls sold by major wristband manufacturers. Additional features include double-walled clamshell design, front LCD display to monitor printer status, and standard Ethernet and USB 2.0 connectivity. For small operating spaces, the TDP-225W can be wall-mounted at no extra cost.

The TDP-225W also supports ‘down time printing,’ David Lundeen, TSC’s VP of Sales and Marketing, shared with RRN.Com. “If the customer’s computer or network fails, the TDP-225W can be optionally configured to print wristbands by simply executing the stored wristband printing program,” Lundeen explained. “You enter the patient or customer information via an optional keyboard, and continue to print the wristbands that your customer needs to operate its business.”

TSC’s TDP-225W Wristband Printer

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STARTS & STOPS

Time for Stromberg to Join Kronos

Kronos Incorporated (Chelmsford, MA) has purchased the assets of Stromberg, time and attendance software supplier to mid-market business (250 to 1,500 employees) in retail, hospitality, and not-for-profit, from Paychex, Inc. (Rochester, NY). Stromberg, headquartered in Orlando, was founded in 1989 and bought by Paychex in 2004. The company operated as a stand-alone division within Paychex with its own sales, support, and development teams. Terms of the cash transaction were not disclosed.

“Kronos has a long history of financial stability and sustainable growth, which allows us to continually invest in product and services innovation for our customers,” declared Aron Ain, CEO of Kronos. “We welcome Stromberg customers to the Kronos customer community. We are committed to helping these organizations achieve even greater value in the areas of controlling labor costs, minimizing compliance risk, and improving workforce productivity.”

Paychex provides payroll, human resource, and benefits outsourcing solutions for the SMB space, with 100 offices serving more than 550,000 clients in the U.S. It recently introduced Time and Labor Online, its Web-based offering for mid-sized companies, which “builds on the foundation created by Stromberg,” according to the company. Significantly, Time in a Box, the Stromberg time and attendance solution for SMB, will remain part of the Paychex offering.

Aron Ain, CEO of Kronos

Ready, AIM, Fire for DotCode

You can now purchase the DotCode specification and encoding software directly from AIM, following publication of the new rectangular matrix symbology, which was developed to produce machine-readable coding with existing high-speed industrial printing equipment. DotCode is ideally suited for advanced ink-jet and laser marking because it does not require continuous lines or touching elements, according to proponents. This pointillistic symbology can be printed in several different shapes, including ribbon-like formats that can be used, for example, to encode production batch, lot number, and “best by” date on the bottom of soft drink cans and other commodities where printed, human-readable data currently appears.

Like Code 128, upon which it was initially based, DotCode can encode full ASCII. extended ASCII, and pure binary sequences, in addition to numeric compaction mode. Moreover, through the optional use of Extended Channel Interpretation (ECI) codes, it handles any ISO Code Page, providing support for any alphabet. Described as “strongly self-checking,” with Reed-Solomon check digits, DotCode offers structured append of up to 36 symbols, inherent reverse video reading, and other special features.

“DotCode is an exciting development in the barcode world as it provides a practical method for encoding machine-readable data at true production speeds,” observed Dan Mullen, President of AIM (Warrendale, PA)."AIM is thrilled to bring this new capability to manufacturers around the world.”

New Auto ID Symbology Targets High-Speed Industrial Marking

Code Corner

Zebra Technologies Corporation (Lincolnshire, IL) has circulated an RFID Firmware Update for its RZ400/RZ600 printers. This new software enhances traditional compliance labeling by offering customers additional printing applications such as item-level tagging, package validation, document tracking, and product authentication, according to the company. These improvements should help manufacturing, warehousing, retail, healthcare, and government sectors optimize their supply chains as they seek to stretch their budgets over the next fiscal year. Specifically, Zebra’s RFID Firmware Update provides the ability to print smaller labels, allows for direct-to-inlay printing, increases printer throughput for faster, on-demand printing applications, cuts media material costs, and reduces label waste as more labels can be printed per roll. In particular, close-loop tracking of items in internal supply chains will be strengthened. “Recent reports from ABI Research show that item-level RFID systems are becoming more instrumental in providing competitive advantages by improving inventory visibility,” confirmed Carolyn Ricci, Senior Product Manager, Zebra Technologies. “Zebra’s RFID Firmware Update addresses this important opportunity by enhancing current product offerings to include item-level tagging capabilities designed to meet the operational demands of the workplace today and in the future.”  It will be shipped with all new RZ400/RZ600 printers and may also be downloaded from Zebra.

Comdata Corporation (Brentwood, TN) has dispensed Comdata Smart Solutions, its new POS suite for convenience stores, truck stops, and unattended fuel locations. “The Smart Solutions suite provides the integration and flexibility demanded by the convenience store and truck stop industries,” related Joseph Daly, EVP at Comdata. “These solutions streamline operational efficiency by leveraging a single platform and customizable product categories. The launch of Smart Solutions furthers Comdata’s history of innovation and solidifies our position as an industry-leading technology provider.” Introduced at the National Association of Convenience Stores Show in Las Vegas this week, Smart Solutions comprises five products: SmartConvenience, the basic POS system with an innovative touchscreen design and flexible settings to accommodate multiple profit centers; SmartDESQ for enhanced diesel fuel transaction processing; and SmartStation software to provide reporting and administrative oversight for managers. Additionally, SmartLock offers secure solutions for unattended fuel locations, while SmartFuel has been designed to provide convenience at the diesel fuel island.

INTEGRATION

Precidia Likes Hospital Food

Unidine Corporation (Newton, MA) has selected Precidia’s TransNet payment engine to process credit card payments with ECRs for its foodservice installations in hospitals, senior living communities, and skilled nursing facilities. TransNet integrates with existing ECRs, supports the full range of payment types, and delivers state-of-the-art security, according to Precidia (Ottawa, Canada). It brings value-added features such as the ability to route through multiple processors, automatic dial back-up in case of network failure, and additional ports to integrate peripherals at the POS. In addition, Precidia’s NetVu server enables remote deployment, monitoring, and management.

“Unidine has taken advantage of TransNet’s design to access NetVu remotely,” confirmed James Lux, CIO for Unidine. “We receive network alerts for all of our locations on our smartphones, and can use the browsers on these handheld devices to access data on and manage changes to the POS devices in our locations. The ability to accomplish this from virtually anywhere offers significant advantages when supporting multiple locations with lean IT teams.”

Precidia has been busy over the summer and fall, with several new customers for its TransNet payment engine and POSLynx220 payment router. New alliances have been announced with payment processors such as Axia (Santa Barbara, CA), Merchant e-Solutions (Redwood City, CA), and Elavon (Atlanta). Another new relationship for Precidia has been forged with TenderCard (East Falmouth, MA), which develops gift card and loyalty programs for the electronic payment industry. Finally, Precidia has extended reduced pricing for its IP migration packages for Canadian businesses running out of time to meet the December 2009 phase-out of Datapac 3201, an x.25-based telecommunications service that had been used for credit, debit, and ATM transactions.

A Growing Market for Dining Management Needs Payments

Windows 7 “Touched” by 3M

3M Touch Systems (Methuen, MA) has earned “Compatible with Windows 7” designation from Microsoft for its projected capacitive and surface capacitive touchscreen products. 3M projected capacitive technology has received Windows Touch Additional Qualification (AQ) status for multi-touch interactivity by meeting 100% of testing criteria. 3M’s projected capacitive offers Windows 7 developers “true” multi-touch functionality with 10-finger simultaneous touch capability for real-world multi-finger and multi-user applications, according to the vendor.

In the case of surface capacitive, 3M MicroTouch System SCT3250EX (HID) now sports the Compatible with Windows 7 logo for single touch and digitized gesture capabilities. With this certification, customers can be assured that their 3M touchscreen displays or 3M touch-enabled devices with USB-HID connectivity will plug and play with the Windows 7 O/S without loading touch drivers. This facilitates integration for VARs and System Integrators who want to take advantage of the touch functionality built into Windows 7 as they roll out new programs or update existing installations. Next-generation touch capability, RRN.Com readers should note, represents one target for Windows 7.

“3M is very pleased to have achieved Windows 7 compatibility for our projected capacitive and surface capacitive touch technologies and to support the Windows 7 ecosystem,” remarked Ty Silberhorn, GM, 3M Touch Systems. “Now, whether they need single touch, simple gesture, or true multi-touch interactivity, Windows 7 customers have two strong 3M offerings to meet their touch application needs.”

3M’s MicroTouch System SCT3250EX, the Former ClearTek II

[Editor’s Note:  Unless you live in the forest, you know Microsoft formally introduced Windows 7 this week, in effect saying “Hasta la vista, baby” to Vista. Some estimates put 80% of business executives planning to deploy Windows 7 within the next two years, great numbers of them needing help in migrating from Windows XP.]

Key Advertiser Links

Be sure to visit these vendors for the latest in channel products and offers for resellers.

POS & Auto ID Distribution
BlueStar
ScanSource

POS & Peripherals
FEC USA
Logic Controls
Pioneer POS
POS-X

Barcode & Mobile Printers
Datamax-O'Neil

Cash Drawers
MMF Cash Drawer

Data Collection Terminals
CipherLab
Datalogic Mobile
Honeywell Scanning & Mobility
Janam Technologies
Motorola

Integrated Payment Solutions
Datacap Systems

Keyboards
Cherry Electrical Systems

MICR Check Printers/Self-Service Kiosks
Source Technologies

Receipt Printers
Bixolon America
Star Micronics

Retail Software
InfoTouch

Screen Protection
3M Optical Filters

Thermal Printers
Seiko Instruments USA

Video Surveillance & Access Control
ScanSource Security

ALLIANCES

Aldelo Mixes in Merchant Warehouse

Aldelo (Modesto, CA) has joined forces with Merchant Warehouse (Boston) to boost data security in the hospitality industry by more effectively addressing Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). Specifically, the next generation of Aldelo’s EDC payment processing technology, offered as part of Aldelo for Restaurants, will feature full integration with the MerchantWARE Payment Gateway, which encrypts critical customer data at the point of swipe through MagTek’s MagneSafe credit card readers.

With MerchantWARE, customers never actually store or transmit any unencrypted credit card information, the two parties emphasized. By taking this one simple step, therefore, small and mid-sized merchants will eliminate the sensitive data that five of the twelve most intensive and costly PCI DSS requirements seek to protect. Aldelo EDC was written for the Microsoft .NET platform, and provides audit trail, e-mail event notifications, transaction tracing, and data ‘self-healing” capabilities, according to its developer.

“This partnership will add a level of security to our systems that is unmatched in the payment processing industry,” commented Harry Tu, CEO of Aldelo Systems, which supports more than 400 dealers. “The MerchantWARE solution integrates seamlessly with our EDC POS system and will give merchants the benefit of knowing their data and their customers are secure at all times.”

Aldelo EDC Credit Card Processing

CRM for the Multitudes

Dell (Round Rock, TX) and Salesforce.com (San Francisco) will bring Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to the SMB world through joint offerings based on cloud computing. Certified Dell-Salesforce.com solutions require no incremental hardware or software to install or maintain, according to the two titans, and allow businesses to manage all their customer information, activities, and conversations with subscription-based pricing starting from $9 per user per month. Joint sales teams will bring this package to market, with Salesforce.com providing the CRM solution and Dell providing integration and migration services, as well as hardware sales, where needed.

“Dell and Salesforce.com are providing customers with an integrated and proven solution that we have been testing extensively in our own organizations,” reported Steve Felice, President of Dell Global SMB Business Operations. “Today, Salesforce.com runs its data centers and PCs on Dell equipment and Dell has integrated Salesforce CRM with our on-premise applications using Dell’s PowerEdge servers and Dell Integration Services.”

Based on Salesforce.com’s existing product and pricing structure, the new offerings include: Salesforce Contact Manager Edition, basic CRM for one to two users; Salesforce Group Edition, for up to five users, with prospecting, reporting, and real-time dashboards; Salesforce Professional Edition, with no user limit and custom dashboards, sales forecasting, and mobile access; and Salesforce Enterprise Edition, which adds extra features such as workflow and approvals, advanced security, and territory management. Dell Integration Services will support Enterprise Edition for IT staffs that lack the budget or expertise to integrate existing on-premise data from an Oracle, MySQL, or homegrown database. A free six-month subscription to Contact Manager Edition will be offered to customers of Dell Vostro laptops and desktops.

Steve Felice, President, Dell Global SMB Business Operations

[Editor’s Note:  Salesforce.com, which seems to be everywhere these days, also announced it will deliver its Service Cloud 2 contact center in conjunction with Cisco’s Unified Communications. “Companies will no longer have to manage routers, servers, and switches when it comes to their contact center,” said Alex Dayon, SVP, Customer Service & Support Product Line, for Salesforce.com. “They can focus on delivering the best customer service possible.”]

Channel Factoid

Not so fast, Web 3.0. Contrary to what many marketers claim, most adult Americans (66%) said they do not want marketers to tailor advertisements to their interests. Moreover, when Americans are informed of three common ways that marketers gather information about people in order to tailor ads, even higher percentages--between 73% and 86%--said they do not want such advertising. Even among young adults, whom advertisers often portray as caring little about information privacy, more than half (55%) of 18 to 24 year-olds do not want tailored advertising. And contrary to consistent assertions of marketers, young adults have as strong an aversion to being followed across Websites and off-line (for example, in stores) as do older adults. This comes from the recent study by researchers at the Universities of California and Pennsylvania, who urge marketers to work with policymakers to “open the process.”

HELLO GOODBYE

OnForce Reinforces Business Development

OnForce (Boston), the online service technician finder, which includes POS in its focus, has added George Harris to its executive team as VP of Business Development. In his new role, Harris will be responsible for developing and growing opportunities for the OnForce marketplace with large national solution providers and partners. He will be based on the West Coast.

Harris brings more than 40 years of experience in managing field service operations. Most recently, he worked as EVP of Business Development for Core Technology Solutions. Previously, he was an owner of GA Services; VP, Worldwide Customer Support for Symbol Technologies; and VP of Field Service for MSI Data. In his career, Harris also served two terms as the Chairman and President of the Association for Service Management International (AFSMI).

“George’s broad-based experience in field service operations is going to be a tremendous asset to our customers and to the OnForce management team,” predicted Ed McGovern, SVP of Sales and Business Development, OnForce. “As a former services executive, he also brings a deep understanding of the challenges facing executives in the service business today and how an outsourced services model like OnForce can help them.”

George Harris, VP of Business Development, OnForce

Bork Jumps to HighJump

HighJump Software (Eden Prairie, MN) has appointed Jim Bork to VP of Sales. Bork has over 16 years of sales management experience at leading technology companies, most recently at Epicor Software, where he was SVP of Worldwide Sales. Bork’s career at Epicor spanned the roles of SVP of International Sales, VP of Sales for Eastern America and Strategic Accounts, Regional Director, and Sales Representative.

“Jim’s proven experience leading a large, successful sales organization and driving international growth will be critical to HighJump Software’s growth strategy,” offered Timothy Campbell, CEO/President, HighJump Software. “We’re bolstering our leadership team with experienced senior leaders as we carry out our plans to grow the company organically and through acquisition.”

“I’m thrilled to be joining HighJump Software’s executive team at this time,” Bork said. “HighJump Software has a strong suite of adaptable solutions, a competitive market position, and a strong customer base, making it well-positioned in today’s supply chain technology marketplace.”

Jim Bork, VP of Sales, HighJump Software