This Week’s Product Pick

Dell (Round Rock, TX) continued its push into differentiated form factors and solutions with the launch of the Latitude XT2 XFR rugged tablet PC with multi-touch technology. This new device was designed to meet the unique and demanding needs of customers in field service, factory fulfillment, law enforcement, military, and first responders. It carries an impact-resistant, sunlight-viewable, 12.1-inch-wide LED display with capacitive multi-touch capability (with resistive as an option). It weighs 5.4 lbs with four-cell battery and solid-state drive and features extreme thinness of 1.5 inches. Compression-sealed, with rugged I/O doors, the XT2 XFR meets IP54 levels for resistance to moisture and dust, with MIL-810G certification expected in the coming weeks. Technical muscle includes Intel Core 2 Duo processing with up to 5-GB of DDR3 1066-MHz memory and the full roster of wireless connectivity capabilities such as WLAN 802.11a/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, and mobile broadband. MSRP starts at $3,599, and the device will be made available through all of Dell’s sales channels. “The Latitude XT2 XFR is more than a laptop, it’s a key part of our mobile command and data center solutions for field service, defense, and first-responder customers,” said Paul Bell, President, Dell Global Public Sector Business. “These unique solutions, coupled with our service model, make those communities more effective, enabling them to focus on their core missions instead of managing technology.”

Dell XT2 XFR Tablet PC with Multi-Touch

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

CERTIFICATION

Aldelo Drafted by Citizen

In the latest volley in the software certification war among printer vendors, Citizen Systems America (Torrance, CA) has announced that its new CT-S801 “intelligent” thermal receipt printer has received such certification from Aldelo Systems (Modesto, CA) after extensive testing. This follows previous approvals for other Citizen models such as the CT-S310, CT-S2000, and CBM-100II, and ensures that dealers and customers can count on consistent and reliable operation when Citizen’s printers are used with Aldelo’s Restaurant POS solutions. Notably, Citizen’s CT-S801 features backlight LCD display technology that replicates the communication capability of high-end, multifunctional copier machines.

“Aldelo certification represents another success story for our massive outreach program,” indicated Oscar Ibarra, EVP for Citizen Systems America. Through this program, Citizen has invited ISVs in different vertical markets, including retail, hospitality, logistics, and healthcare, to test and certify its product line to ensure compatibility with their software packages. At present, more than three dozen ISVs have endorsed Citizen’s printer line, according to Robin Pierce, Senior Director of Marketing.

Some of the benefits gained by ISV partners from program participation include faster time to market, an enhanced value proposition to customer base, and increased brand recognition through Citizen’s marketing tools. The latter includes use of Citizen’s logo and Web-based “Compatibility Registry.” RRN.Com readers should expect the pace of these certification announcements to quicken in the next few months due to the intense competition among printer manufacturers, as well as new and existing distributor programs that seek to match up VARs, ISVs, and OEMs.

CT-S801 Intelligent Printer from Citizen Systems America

An InFusion of Video Surveillance

Envysion, Inc. (Louisville, CO), one of the leading providers of video surveillance, has added ParTech (New Hartford, NY) to its growing list of POS partners. Through the new agreement, ParTech’s InFusion POS, targeted at quick-service restaurant chains, now ties into Envysion’s Software-as-a-Service model, dubbed “Managed Video-as-a-Service,” or MVaaS. According to Matt Steinfort, Envysion’s President/CEO, hosted video management can improve customer profitability by 10% to 15% by strengthening loss prevention efforts and improving business processes overall.

“The powerful combination of Envysion’s MVaaS and PAR’s InFusion POS software offers a compelling set of tools that provide a tremendous benefit to customers,” stated Karen Sammon, VP and Chief Product Officer of ParTech, Inc. “Customers now have the ability to remotely view transactional detail as if they were standing at the register when the transaction took place.”

Video surveillance of POS typically involves overlaying or superimposing data into video. This requires data be gathered through serial printer data taps at the store level. By contrast, Envysion’s technology separates the aspects of video and data through TCP integration at the store or enterprise level. The resulting POS database allows users to perform searches, create alerts, and develop exception-based reports--all correlated with the respective video of the POS event occurring, according to the developer.

Matt Steinfort, President/CEO, Envysion

[Editor’s Note:  Speaking of shrink, LP Innovations (Milford, MA) and Aspect Loss Prevention (Bloomington, MN) have announced their strategic partnership to provide more comprehensive solutions for retailers. “From entry-level SaaS exception reporting, remote analytics, and supplementary investigations, to full-blown data analysis and store audits, the combined offering can be tailored to meet short and long-term needs of retailers of all sizes,” said David Duhaime, CEO of Aspect Loss Prevention.]

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STARTS & STOPS

RFID Walks the Runway

Tagsys (Doylestown, PA) and Cegid Retail Solutions (Lyon, France) will join forces to pursue turn-key RFID solutions for the fashion and specialty retail market. The new partnership will blend complementary best-of-breed technologies from both companies in an attempt to provide an end-to-end solution that reduces integration costs and implementation time when deploying RFID. According to Didier Mattalia, Tagsys Sales Director, the two companies have been working closely together for the past three years in this area, which most experts believe offers near-term opportunities for RFID that spans manufacturing, logistics, and store-level sales.

“Both companies are now able to combine their strengths and presence in the fashion market to build RFID solutions designed to increase productivity and efficiency and to generate rapid Return on Investment,” offered Nathalie Echinard, Director of Market Segments for Cegid. “Our partner program, to which Tagsys belongs, focuses on relationships that bring true value to our offer, an important step in our strategy in the long run.”

Part of Cegid Group, France’s leading management software developer, Cegid Retail Solutions implements projects from conception to roll out, with capabilities in all manifestations of POS and supply chain. It has offices in New York City and partners with major vendors such as IBM, HP, NCR, Wincor Nixdorf, Microsoft, Oracle, and Epson, among others. For its part, Tagsys has emerged as one of the leading developers of item-level RFID infrastructure, with more than 250 million tags and 100,000 reader systems shipped to date.

An End-to-End Solution for Fashion and Specialty Retail

Forward-Looking Statements from Dealers

Some notes from the trenches. POS Hawai’i (Kailua, Hawaii), one of the leading dealers in its region, has been purchased by Maury Myers, former head of both America West Airlines (now U.S. Airways) and Aloha Airlines, and Kent McConnell, former IBM and ADP sales executive. POS Hawai’i was founded 20 years ago by Patrick Adams, who will consult for the company. “We strongly believe that POS Hawai’i has great potential for growth and we plan to invest significant capital to revitalize the company in order to take the business to the next level,” Myers remarked. “All POS Hawai’i employees have been retained, and we look forward to creating additional jobs as the company continues to grow.”

In somewhat colder weather conditions, Hosted Data Transaction Solutions (Toronto, Canada) has signed the letter of intent to acquire A&A Point of Sale Solutions (Ottawa, Canada). A&A, established in 1993, specializes in solutions for the quick-service restaurant and fine dining industries. The transaction is expected to close on November 1. “A&A’s wide base of merchants in Ottawa and the surrounding area provides an excellent source of potential customers for HDX’s Point of Sale solutions, payment solutions, business intelligence tools, and enterprise management solutions,” declared Paul Howell, President/CEO of Hosted Data Transaction Solutions.

Lastly, RVP Business Systems, DirectPOS, and Ada Cash Register have been consolidated under the banner of DirectPOS (Boise, ID and Salt Lake City, UT). William Knorpp, formerly an engineer with Hewlett-Packard, bought RVP Business Systems and DirectPOS in 2002. He and his son, Jason, worked the business and added Ada Cash Register in 2006. DirectPOS handles Radiant/Counterpoint, Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009, and Intuit QuickBooks POS in the retail area, with Micros, Aldelo, and Samsung ECRs offered for hospitality. The Knorpp family also runs Abacus Credit Card Solutions.

Maury Myers, Co-Owner of POS Hawai’i

Code Corner

Harbortouch, the POS Division of United Bank Card, Inc. (Hampton, NJ), shipped Version 2.0 of its Harbortouch Hospitality software package. HT 2.0 brings new and enhanced features and an intuitive user interface while maintaining the affordable price of its predecessor, according to the company, and can help streamline the merchant’s business operations by improving speed and efficiency at the POS while simultaneously reducing time spent on daily office management. HT 2.0 carries over 80 comprehensive reports, including sales reports that allow merchants to predict volume and to schedule employees, inventory reports that enable accurate supply provisioning to cut down on waste, and order reports that indicate which items are the most popular and which ones generate the most profit. “Although our original Harbortouch Hospitality software met the needs of most hospitality businesses, HT 2.0 is a far superior product offering truly robust features and unmatched ease of use,” stated James Surber, VP of UBC’s POS Division. “It allows the merchant to make changes such as adding menu items or employees with a few simple steps in real-time without system restart. Furthermore, the new software’s ample reporting capabilities will satisfy even the most demanding merchants.”

[Editor’s Note:  United Bank Card, RRN.Com readers will recall, generated considerable buzz in the POS channel last summer with its program to distribute free ECRs with its payment processing service. In an update this month, UBC and Casio, which supplies the terminals, called the program “an astounding success,” involving “staggering” quantities of orders.]

INSTALLATIONS

Preferential Treatment for Datamax-O’Neil

Datamax-O’Neil (Orlando) has been chosen as Ingram Micro’s preferred supplier of thermal barcode printers for its seven North American distribution centers. The Datamax-O’Neil I-Class desktop label printer competed against models from other leading manufacturers, and was selected by Ingram Micro for its “high performance, value, and reliability.” Approximately 200 I-Class printers will be purchased by Ingram Micro over the next three years, RRN.Com was told, and they will produce approximately one million labels per month for outgoing packages.

“We’re pleased to recognize Datamax-O’Neil as one of our preferred suppliers,” said Bob Reid, Senior Manager of Strategic Sourcing for Ingram Micro Inc. (Santa Ana, CA). “Our distribution centers have demanding labeling requirements to fulfill, and as such, we needed a provider with a proven track record and high-performance product that could keep up in a fast-paced working environment.”

“Datamax-O’Neil is honored to be selected for this mission-critical requirement and we’re proud that our printers are recognized for their ability to meet the rigorous demands of Ingram Micro’s distribution centers,” commented Mike Allocco, Datamax-O’Neil’s GM of Sales for the Americas. “Ingram Micro recognized I-Class as a reliable, high-performance workhorse, and values Datamax-O’Neil’s reputation for standing by its products with industry-leading service and support.”

Mike Allocco, GM of Sales for the Americas, Datamax-O’Neil

Corking the Pop with Intermec’s CK3

A trio of Auto ID players - Intermec Technologies (Everett, WA), Vocollect (Monroeville, PA), and Retalix (Plano, TX) - have joined forces to automate processes for The Odom Corporation, one of the largest beverage distributors in the Pacific Northwest, boasting Coca-Cola of Alaska. “Odom sells over 1,700,000 cases of varied products each month and processes an average of 4,500 orders per day,” pointed out Julie Taylor, Odam’s Manager of Mobile Systems. As goals for the deployment, Taylor listed the holy trinity of better inventory accuracy, increased worker productivity, and lower hardware costs.

The solution leverages Intermec’s CK3 mobile computer and Vocollect Voice speech-recognition technology. During the day, Odom uses the CK3 in tandem with Retalix Power Warehouse WMS to replenish and check inventory. The CK3’s EX25 “near/far” scan engine allows workers to read 1D and 2D barcodes, omnidirectionally and at distances of up to 50 feet. At night, Odom utilizes Vocollect Voice running on the CK3 with Vocollect headsets to load trucks. This two-way, hands-free voice application, which is supported by the CK3’s 801.11a/b/g/ radio, improves operational efficiency as well as safety, according to the parties involved. Odom was also empowered to consolidate its hardware platform.

“Customers across various verticals--like retail, consumer goods, healthcare, and manufacturing--have deployed and leveraged the CK3’s scanning, voice, wireless communication, and data collection capabilities to best match their various operational tasks,” noted Earl Thompson, SVP and GM of the Intermec Mobile Solutions Business Unit. “The combination of the CK3 with Vocollect Voice software truly results in a flexible solution that excels in warehouse environments and delivers the bottom-line benefits that companies are looking for in today’s challenging times.”

Leveraging Data Collection, Voice Recognition, and Wireless Communications

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
pcCashDrawer
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

Hypercom and Heartland Chase E3

Hypercom Corporation (Scottsdale, AZ) and Heartland Payment Systems (Princeton, NJ) will work together to promote Heartland’s E3 technology (named for “End-to-End Encryption”), which attempts to protect cardholder data at every point from the moment of swipe through transmission to the card brands. Specifically, Heartland has licensed Hypercom’s SmartPayments Server Software products as key components of its host electronic transaction processing platform. Branded as Heartland Connect Gateway, this software will enable Hypercom’s payment terminals, and others, to integrate E3 technology.

According to the two parties, SmartPayments will facilitate Heartland’s ability to offer E3 to key markets such as restaurant, hotel, and retail by providing an infrastructure for IP terminals, mobile commerce, and e-commerce virtual solutions. Designed expressly for PC-based POS, SmartPayments provides plug-ins for Microsoft’s Retail Management System (RMS) and Intuit’s QuickBooks accounting packages. Hypercom also offers SmartPayments Server Enterprise Edition with the features needed to support large and medium-sized businesses.

“Security in payments transactions is critical in today’s environment of cyber-crime and data breaches,” commented Bob Carr, Heartland’s Chairman/CEO. “It’s important that merchants nationwide--even those not employing Heartland’s E3 terminals, which are expected to be available at the end of this year--have the ability to protect cardholder data. Our strategic relationship with Hypercom will help make E3 more widely available.”

End-to-End Encryption Boosted by SmartPayments Server Software

The Search for the Holy (IT) Grail

Endeca Technologies (Cambridge, MA), the search applications company, has expanded its relationship with SAP, the business intelligence market leader. Under terms of the OEM agreement, Endeca will bring Xcelsius software and SAP BusinessObjects Intelligent Search software into the Endeca Information Access Platform in order to put enterprise-wide data in context for decision-making . . . the Holy Grail for CIOs, in the words of Bruce Richardson, Chief Research Officer at AMR Research. Xcelsius dashboards and visualization software will combine with SAP BusinessObjects Intelligence Search on the Endeca platform to provide “faster and easier deployment of search applications and query federation, even when working with large volumes of complex information,” according to the two parties.

The new solution employs APIs for the McKinley release of the Endeca Information Access Platform (such APIs have been offered this month as part of Endeca’s Extended Partner Program). Xcelsius on Endeca combines familiar data visualizations with Endeca’s Guided Navigation search engine experience. In turn, SAP BusinessObjects on Endeca provides customers with one point of access to multiple information streams, including secured sources which cannot be indexed, open sources on the public Web, and myriad search applications.

“No company better understands the importance of enterprise data to today’s information-centric businesses than SAP,” observed Bob Hoyt, SVP of Strategic Alliances for Endeca. “Our collaboration will open new doors and accelerate the realization of our vision to arm all knowledge workers with the critical enterprise data they need to inform daily decision-making, regardless of source or format. We are thrilled to partner with SAP to provide our customers with best-in-class tools that leverage the extensibility of our platform to more effectively and efficiently build search applications.”

Bob Hoyt, SVP of Strategic Alliances, Endeca

Channel Factoid

Two-thirds of small business owners in the U.S. (65%) deem the Internet critical to their business success, yet most appear to be doing little to ensure cyber-security. Only 28% have formal policies in Internet safety and security, while just 35% provide any training whatsoever for employees. At the same time, 86% of these firms do not have anyone solely focused on such IT issues. For those small businesses that do provide cyber-security training, 63% provide less than five hours each year. It’s not that small businesses don’t handle valuable information: 65% store customer data, 43% store financial records, 33% store credit card information, and 20% have intellectual property and other sensitive corporate content online. Rather, more than nine out of ten small businesses said they believe they are safe from malware and viruses based on the security policies they have in place. For the record, only 53% of firms check their computers weekly to ensure that anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewalls, and operating systems are up-to-date, and 11% never check them at all. This survey was co-sponsored by Symantec and the National Cyber Security Alliance.

HELLO GOODBYE

Bansfield Checks into MSI

MSI (Phoenix), the hotel technology solution provider, has added Robert Bansfield as its VP of Corporate Sales & Marketing. In his new role with MSI, Bansfield will establish and cultivate corporate relationships, introducing them in particular to MSI’s hosted Property Management solution, called ePM. In addition, he will play an integral part in MSI’s international expansion plans, according to the company.

Bansfield brings more than 25 years of hospitality industry experience to the MSI executive team, the greater part of that with Hyatt. In his most recent position as Hyatt’s VP, Solutions Delivery, he led the team responsible for providing technology services and solutions to over 90,000 associates in Hyatt’s corporate headquarters, regional offices, and 400 hotels worldwide. “We look forward to adding Bob’s customer perspective on MSI’s products and services,” shared Tim Tiller, President of MSI. “His addition to the MSI executive team will ensure our growth plans remain founded on empowering the hotels we serve.”

“I have spent the last several years working with MSI and from the client perspective found them to be a truly service-oriented company committed not only to the success of their business but to their clients’ business as well,” Bansfield testified. “I am proud and excited to join this company that provides such transparency and honesty to their associates and clients.”

Lecere Sets Executive Team

Software start-up Lecere Corporation (Portland, OR) has named Roger Williams to its Board of Directors. Williams spent his career with Bob Evans Farms, eventually rising to the leadership position of the Food Products Business, followed by President of the Restaurant Division. He retired from Bob Evans Farms in February 2009.

“Roger is known for his strategic thinking, his business acumen, and his unmatched understanding of what makes restaurants successful,” cited Jim Morris, Chairman/CEO of Lecere. “He will be a great asset to Lecere as we plan and execute our strategy for leadership in the Point of Sale market for restaurants.”

Lecere Corporation develops and markets FIRMS, an integrated Web-based suite of POS and restaurant management tools. FIRMS, which stands for Fully-Integrated Restaurant Management Software, offers Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) modules for all facets of restaurant operations, including POS, accounting, reservations, mapping and directions, and data mining. In addition to Morris, the Lecere executive team includes: Abbie Kendall, VP of Marketing and Investor Relations; Terry McCarthy, VP of Hospitality Services and Strategy; Gregory Schillinger, VP of Hospitality Systems and Strategy; and Ed Villaume, VP of Business Development.