BHD NEWS

Wintergreen Northern Wear Opens a New Store!

2011-11-30T12:31:00.000-08:00

BHD customer, Wintergreen Northern Wear, up in Ely, Minnesota, shared some good news with us! They just opened their THIRD Retail Store in Minnesota.

The new store opened at: 743 East Lake Street Wayzata, MN

Wintergreen advertises in the BHD Newsletter, and is enjoying great success at all of their retail operations. Visit them online at: WWW.WINTERGREENNORTHERNWEAR.COM/

Congratulations to this successful business!!!

Read the latest Retail Pro Customer Newsletter, "Retail Beat"

2011-11-30T12:28:00.000-08:00

Retail Pro has published another Customer Newsletter packed with lots of great information for retailers. If you did not receive a copy, please take a moment to read through this issue:

'Retail Beat'

Does 9 make you happy? Another satisfied v9 customer talks about his experience
Meet New Retail Pro Alliance Partners, and Discover What They Can Do For You
Retail Pro Welcomes New Team Member for Europe
Integrity Tests: Do They Work? HRVision Provides Solid Proof for its Solution
Retail Pro Brings A Regional Customer and Partner Conference to the Middle East
Concrete moves to Retail Pro 9

Give us a call if you have any questions! 800-377-7776

BHD Call Back Time in November, 2011

2011-11-28T14:13:00.000-08:00

63 Minutes!

We continually strive to give you the best support and quickest response time in the industry!

Seven Year-End Business Tax Tips You Should Consider Now

2011-11-04T10:57:00.000-07:00

Link to Article in Forbes Magazine
Thinking about taxes in October may be scary for some business owners, but accountants and financial advisors are already looking past seasonal holidays in the fourth quarter to the coming year.

Paul Etzler, a principal in the accounting and auditing dept Skoda Minotti, says that with a little planning NOW, business owners can ensure they take advantage of all of the appropriate deductions and credits for the 2011 tax year. There are thousands of dollars at stake, too, with several important rules expiring this year unless Congress acts to extend them.

Here are Etzler’s top seven tips for year-end business tax planning:

1. In this season of shopping, consider making some purchases for your business. Purchases of most capital equipment, including furniture, computers and most vehicles, may qualify for more generous expensing options than will probably be allowed in the future. For the 2011 tax year, tax code Section 179 allows a deduction of up to $500,000 for qualified purchases (either outright, financed or through a capital lease) of up to $2 million. That means many small and medium sized businesses that make purchases by year end might be able to deduct most, if not all, of their outlays for machinery and equipment. Without an extension by Congress, the $2 million limit drops to $560,000 next year, and the maximum deduction drops to $139,000. Similarly, the current ability to write off 100% of the purchases in the year bought (rather than an amount prorated for use during the purchase year) may go away next year, too.

2. Pull the trigger on late-year hires. Take advantage of expiring credits worth up to 40% of the first $6,000 in wages (or $2,400) if you hire qualifying workers (such as certain veterans or food-stamp recipients) by the end of 2011. Under current law, that credit won’t be available for workers hired after this year. Check for details and for more information on partial credits for late-in-the-year hires. A lot of states also offer these types of credits.

3. Explore your next growth vehicle. Certain credits for research and product development won’t be available for post-2011 expenditures unless Congress extends the credit. Startup companies and established businesses alike can claim tax benefits for consulting, legal and professional fees and other labor costs, as well as materials, if they are tied to research and development of a product or new market and have proper documentation.

4. Self-employed? Get set for retirement. Now’s the time to research and set up a smart plan for retirement. Changes in recent years provide a lot more flexibility for self-employed workers to use a combination of IRAs (Individual Retirement Accounts) and investments held in IRAs and still receive tax advantages. Doing the legwork now may allow you to start 2012 with a plan that takes full advantage of appropriate financial benefits.

5. Consider waiting until 2012 to cancel debt or dispose of loss-producing rental properties or other so-called passive activities. Depending on your situation, waiting to do these things might allow you to deduct suspended losses.

6. Boost your ownership stake in order to deduct a 2011 loss. If you own an interest in a partnership or S corporation, you can typically only deduct losses up to the value of what you’ve put into the entity. You may need to increase your commitment (by boosting capital, in the case of an S corp, or in the case of a partnership, by providing cash, by loaning, or by personally signing on the entity’s debt) in order to deduct maximum losses in 2011.

7. Consider bonuses. In some cases, companies can take a deduction for the current tax year for bonuses actually paid the following tax year. Bonuses can’t be for an employee owning more than 50 percent of the value of the corporation’s stock, and the bonus must be accrued on the books by the end of the current tax year. In addition, the bonus must be paid within the first 2.5 months of the following tax year. Employees don’t pick up personal income taxes on the bonus until the following year, too.

BHD Call Back Time

2011-10-31T17:49:00.000-07:00

For the weeks of October 3 through October 28, the BHD Call-back time was 55 minutes. We are successfully keeping your wait under an hour and hope to improve it to an even shorter wait!

10 BHD Techs Now Certified in Retail Pro v9!!

2011-09-27T17:01:00.000-07:00

BHD is proud to announce that we now have 10 techs and trainers CERTIFIED IN RETAIL PRO v9.

You know you are getting the very best in tech support when you call BHD for support.

Congratulations to our wonderful technicians and trainers!!

BHD Call-Back Time

2011-09-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

Over the last four weeks, the tech call-back time for customers on the tech board is:

52 Minutes

We constantly strive to improve our customer service!
Call the BHD tech line at: 916-368-1070

BHD Call-Back Time

2011-08-30T15:21:00.000-07:00

For the Month of August, BHD's average Tech call-back time has been 45 minutes. With all our Techs being Retail Pro v8 and v9 Certified, as well as additional Tech staff recently added, we are proud to have significantly reduced the call-back time to customers who have experienced technical issues.

We constantly strive to improve our service to customers, making Big Hairy Dog the #1 Retail Pro support company worldwide.

BHD Using New Backup Solution: NovaStor

2011-08-29T11:23:00.001-07:00

After doing a review of backup options available we have made a decsion to switch to a new solution called NovaStor. This will replace the NTI Backup software that we have been suppling on all installations.

We will of course continue to support the NTI backup software for all existing installs.

NovaStor will also be used at BHD for our backups, so we would like to offer it to our customers as well.

If you have any questions regarding this, please contact a BHD Tech at 916-368-1070.

BHD Techs v8 and v9 Certified!

2011-07-22T17:46:00.000-07:00

Big Hairy Dog is proud to announce that 8 of our techs have just completed Retail Pro's stringent certification programs!

Retail Pro v9 Applications Expert

Retail Pro 9 System Engineer

This is just another way BHD offeres you the BEST SUPPORT in the industry!
Congratulations BHD Techs!!!

C'EST LA VIE Wins 5 FREE Tech Hours!!

2011-07-14T16:58:00.003-07:00

Every couple of months, BHD sends a "Courtest Tect Email Survey" out to all customers just to be sure everything is going okay with their Retail Pro system.

Most customers respond to this survey, and those who do, get their name entered into a drawing. A winner is drawn twice a year from all customers who responded to the survey, and the winner receives 5 FREE Tech Hours. This is a $625 value for those current on Software Assurance.

For the first half of 2011, a winner was drawn from all survey responders - and the winner was C'EST LA VIE, a great jewelry and accessories store up in Edmonds, Washington. Colleen and Michael Bowman, Owners, were happy to hear the good news, and said they will be calling to schedule some needed training!

Congratulations C'EST LA VIE!!

BHD Customer, USS HORNET, Celebrates The 4th of July!

2011-07-14T12:00:00.001-07:00

The 2011 4th of July festivities were in full swing this year on the USS Hornet. Marti, our wonderful Retail Pro System Operator and the Gift Shop Manager, shared some pictures of the event with us.
There was entertainment for all ages; Children's 'Flight Zone', Flight-Deck Dancing, Music provided by several groups, including The Honey Bee Trio, Food and Beverages, and so much more offered to over 2000 visitors. This year saw the highest attendance ever, and Retail Pro processed the sales transactions flawlessly the entire day!
Congratulations to USS Hornet for another successful event!

DARRELL FRANKLIN wins free trip to Tahoe cabin!

2011-07-12T15:43:00.001-07:00

A familiar phrase heard at Big Hairy Dog is " Great Job - Spin the Wheel!" The employees are rewarded for a job well done, a customer compliment, a team-member appreciation, or maybe just a consistently good attitude, by a spin of the company prize wheel. Winners may win a dinner for two, a gift card, massage, and many other fun and entertaining gifts, depending upon where the wheel stops. (Joe Malaney has been known to spin the best prizes - and is often the stand-in spinner!)

In addition to the prize won, each time the wheel is spun, the recipient is entered into a drawing for a weekend at the Malaney's timeshare vacation home at Lake Tahoe. On the last raffle drawing, Darrell Franklin won and is enjoying some vacation time with his family at the Lake Tahoe cabin!

Congratulations to all the winners and especially to Darrell! Keep up the good work!

California Statewide Sales and Use Tax Rate is 7.25 Percent

2011-07-07T12:52:00.000-07:00

Many of you have called in with questions on the new tax rate change. The information below is from the CA State Board of Equalization website, and provides good information that retailers need to know regarding this tax rate change.

Additionally, there is information on the BHD website which will assist you in changing the tax rate within Retail Pro. "Feature of the Month - How to Change your Tax Rate". Please call the BHD Tech line if you have any questions on this issue: 916-368-1070.

FROM CA STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION:

On July 1, 2011, the statewide sales and use tax rate decreased from 8.25 percent to 7.25 percent. In areas where there are voter-approved district taxes, the total tax rate related to sales and purchases is the statewide base tax rate of 7.25 percent plus any applicable district tax.

How do I find my current rate?
For a current listing of California sales and use tax rates by city and county, please visit our website at www.boe.ca.gov/cgi-bin/rates.cgi. Our website also includes a link to a free sales and use tax rate locator (www.geotax.com) that allows you to determine a tax rate for any address in the state. However, we provide the GeoTax link only as a public service. We do not maintain the website and are not responsible for the content or accuracy of the information on that site.

What if I collected tax at the incorrect rate?
We are aware that some retailers may not have reprogrammed their cash registers in time for the tax rate change. If you charged sales tax reimbursement or collected use tax at the higher rate on or after July 1, 2011, you must return any excess tax collected to your customers or pay it to the State.

How do I handle returned merchandise?
If a customer purchases merchandise before July 1, 2011, but returns it after that date, you should refund tax based on the rate in effect at the time of the sale (that is, the amount you collected from the customer).

What if I have a fixed-price contract?
In general, fixed-price contracts and fixed-price lease agreements entered into prior to the effective date of a tax increase are not subject to the tax increase. The fixed-price contract exemption, however, is designed to protect the business expectations of the parties when they enter into the contract and protect them from an unplanned increase in tax rate. When the tax rate decreases after the terms of your contract have been established, any sales made after the date of the tax decrease would be taxed at the new, lower rate.

What is the date of sale?
A sale occurs when a customer takes title to or possession of an item. (Not when payment is received.) Consequently, sales are generally subject to the applicable tax rate in effect when the merchandise is delivered to the customer, unless a contract specifically identifies and passes title to the customer at a different time.

How is the rate of the partial state tax exemptions affected?
On July 1, 2011, the partial state tax exemption rate decreased from 6.25 % to 5.25 % for qualifying sales of the following:

Teleproduction or other postproduction service equipment
Farm equipment and machinery
Diesel fuel used in farming activities or food processing
Timber harvesting equipment and machinery
Racehorse breeding stock

How do I obtain new tax rate charts?
The BOE-180, Sales Tax Reimbursement Schedules, for transactions up to $100, are available at www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/streimsched.htm.

How do I receive future notices via email?
By maintaining your account email address, we can send you periodic notices and updates which are specific to you or your business in a timely and cost efficient manner. You may add or update your account email address when you login as a registered eClient and select the Maintain Your Sales and Use Tax Account link. To register or to login as an eClient, begin by selecting the eServices tab at www.boe.ca.gov. You may also complete and send to us form BOE-345-WEB, Notice of Business Change.

How can I get more information?
Please visit our website at www.boe.ca.gov or call our Taxpayer Information Section at 800-400-7115 (TTY: 711). Customer service representatives are available weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Pacific time), except state holidays.

Welcome to Baby Bailey Louise!

2011-06-20T18:02:00.000-07:00

Look at THIS beautiful baby! BHD Tech, Jeremy, is the proud father of a new baby girl - BAILEY LOUISE. Bailey was born on June 5, 2011, weighed in at 8 lbs, 12 oz. and was 19.5 inches long.

With mama and big brother at home to take care of Bailey while Dad answers your calls in the BHD Tech room, everyone is doing great!

BHD offers PCCharge Annual Support Renewal at ONE LOW PAYMENT!

2011-06-15T12:49:00.000-07:00

If you are a BHD customer and are currently using PCCharge, you may now purchase PCCharge Support Renewal for only $139 for a full 12 months.

BHD Techs are available to take your calls any time you may experience a PCCharge credit card processing issue. There are times, however, when a customer calls in to BHD for PCCharge tech support, and our tech needs to escalate the issue to Verifone. In those instances, when an issue does need to be escalated, Verifone will only provide technical support to those customers who have a current PCCharge Support Program.

We understand the importance of getting your credit card issues resolved immediately, as this has a direct impact on your daily business, as well as your customer's level of satisfaction. You can now have 'Credit Card Processing Peace of Mind' for one low annual charge of $139. If you would like to renew your PCCharge support at this low price, please contact Big Hairy Dog today.

Call: 800-377-7776

Visit our Website at: www.bighairydog.com

Are you on PCI Compliant Versions of Retail Pro - AND - PCCharge?

2011-06-15T12:23:00.000-07:00

As a reminder, only 8.6 and 9.2 R2 and higher are PCI Compliant versions of Retail Pro.

If you are on a non-PCI Compliant version of Retial Pro please call BHD to upgrade.

Additionally, if you are using PCCharge as your credit card software, you may need to upgrade it to a PCI Compliant version, 5.8.1 or higher. Your PCCharge Support must be current prior to this upgrade.

You may purchase PCC support from Big Hairy Dog. Please call your sales rep at 800-377-7776.

BHD Thermal Receipts and Labels are BPA-Free

2011-05-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

BHD has had a few customers questioning if there is BPA contained in the thermal receipts and labels we sell. What is BPA? Bisphenol A, commonly abbreviated as BPA, is an organic compound used to make polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins, along with other applications.

Known to be estrogenic since the mid 1930s, concerns about the use of bisphenol A in consumer products were regularly reported in the news media in 2008 after several governments issued reports questioning its safety, prompting some retailers to remove products containing it from their shelves.

A 2010 report from the United States Food and Drug Administration raised further concerns regarding exposure of fetuses, infants and young children.

The consumable products sold by Big Hairy Dog contain NO BPA. If you have any questions regarding this, please call Buddy at 800-377-7776.

Internet Explorer v9 Approved for use with Retail Pro

2011-04-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

The browser Internet Explorer version 9 is fully approved for use with Retail Pro. If you have any questions, please contact a BHD Tech at 916-368-1070.

Sun 'N Fun Airshow Temporarily Closed due to Storm

2011-04-13T15:20:00.000-07:00

The annual Sun 'N Fun Fly-In event in Lakeland, Florida, is usually a warm and sunny airshow visited by crowds of airplane enthusiasts and interested onlookers. This BHD customer hosts the annual Sun 'N Fun 'Fly-In' about this time every year and puts over 60 Retail Pro computers to use to handle the retail business.

This year, however, Mother Nature had a different plan for this popular event. With the airstrip, runways and fields lined with displays of all types of aircraft, a tornado ripped through the show toppling aircraft and damaging scores of planes. With heavy rain, wind and moderate flooding, the crew worked around the clock to repair damages and re-open the show.

See for yourself the damage as it happened, in videos posted on YouTube. Type 'Sun 'N Fun Tornado'. We wish the best to our friends at Sun 'N Fun and applaud them for not letting the storm keep them closed to the public.

Retail Pro EFT Link for v9 Released under General Availability

2011-04-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

Big Hairy Dog is pleased to offer the “General Availability” release of the Retail Pro EFT Link for v9.

The Retail Pro v9 EFT link is another example of Retail Pro International’s commitment to providing the user community with choice for electronic funds payments with Retail Pro. The Retail Pro EFT Link for Retail Pro v9 allows a retailer within North America to take Debit, Credit, and Gift cards within Retail Pro, as well as signature capture for Credit card-based transactions and Check Verification with the following Gateways and Banks:

WorldPay
Mercury Payment Systems
First Data Merchant Systems

If you have any questions or would like more information on the EFT Link for Retail Pro v9, please call your BHD Sales Representative today at 800-377-7776.

NEW RELEASES: Retail Pro v9.2 r4 and Business Intelligence r4

2011-04-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

Retail Pro 9.20 r4
The Retail Pro v9.20 r4 GA release will be available in the form of a Retail Pro Maintenance Pack and Image files for supported 32-bit and 64-bit platforms. The Maintenance Pack is to update existing Retail Pro 9.20 r2 installations. Upgrading from Retail Pro 9.14 or 9.20 r1 to Retail Pro 9.20 r4 requires a database conversion.

Retail Pro Business Intelligence
The r4 release of Business Intelligence will only be available in the form of an installation image. The Image files are for new 9.20 r4 installations.

For more information or to receive an upgrade to one or both of these new release versions, please contact Big Hairy Dog Tech Department at 916-368-1070.

Windows 7 is 'Fully Approved' to work with Retail Pro!

2011-04-05T15:42:00.000-07:00

This is actually not NEW news, but a reminder that with the three qualifiers listed below, Windows 7 Operating System is fully approved to work with Retail Pro.

QUALIFIERS:
+ For Retail Pro version 8.6 you must use the 32-bit version of W7.
+ For Retail Pro version 9.2 you can use either 32-bit or 64-bit versions.
+ BHD will only support Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate versions.

As long as you have all the current updates to Windows XP installed, it is approved to use. If you have any questions regarding the use of Windows 7 OS, please call a BHD Tech at 916-368-1070.

BHD Customer LITTLE PALM gets High Rating!

2011-03-15T12:26:00.000-07:00

Big Hairy Dog customer, Noble House, is a luxury hotel chain with 6 locations in popular resort locations around the country. One of their properties, LITTLE PALM, has been ranked by 'The Age', an Australian publication since 1854 (www.theage.com) as #38 out of the 50 best hotels in the world.

Little Palm is located in Summerland Key on Little Palm Island, a tiny private island reached by speedboat from the Lower Florida Keys. Little Palm Island was once a favorite playground of presidents (Roosevelt and Truman) and still draws American celebrities.

The hotel offers 30 secluded bungalows. The beach is narrow, but the sense of peace and privacy is enormous, as there are no televisions or phones available to the guests. If you are fortunate enough to visit the hotel, you will be amazed - it is truly first-class. If you are unable to visit in person, visit them online and view the beauty it offers. www.littlepalmisland.com

BHD Tech and Training Lead Times

2011-03-14T12:10:00.000-07:00

BHD Techs and Trainers are booked out weeks in advance. Please call as soon as you anticipate needing tech support to get a time reserved on the calendar.
BHD Tech Support Line: 916-368-1070

TRAINING:
Phone appts starting 4/5 (JEFF)
Phone appts starting 4/7 (TANYA)
Phone appt starting 4/11 (COLT)

Onsites starting 4/11 (COLT)
Onsites starting 4/11 (JEFF)
Onsites starting 4/28 (TANYA)

TECH:

Phone appts starting 3/22
Onsites starting 4/6

Supreme Court ruling on requesting zip codes during a credit card transaction

2011-03-02T17:01:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago the Supreme Court in California ruled that asking a customer for their Zip Code during a credit card transaction violates privacy laws and therefore cant be done anymore.

Any customers using Credit Pro, PPM or PC Charge are affected by this ruling because Retail Pro requires a Zip Code when doing a manual charge. A manual charge is one where the credit card won't swipe for some reason and you have to type in a credit card number.

Credit Pro and PPM are not PA-DSS compliant, and if you have not already, you should remove this software from your computer immediately and properly address the associated compliance issues.

All California customers currently using PCCharge should switch their credit card application to either Shift4 or the Retail Pro EFT link. These two credit card softwares can have the Zip Code requirement turned off.

Please call BHD Sales at 800-377-7776 for assistance with ensuring that you are using the correct credit card software and are not putting your business at risk.

BHD Welcomes Two New National Parks

2011-02-17T11:00:00.000-08:00

We are proud to welcome our two newest US National Parks to Retail Pro and Big Hairy Dog - Yosemite Conversancy and Yellowstone Association!

Yosemite National Park and the Yosemite Fund merged in June of 2010, to form the Yosemite Conservancy. The mission of the Yosemite Conservancy is to inspire people to support projects and programs that preserve the protect Yosemite National Park's resources and enrich the visitor experience. YOU can become a Yosemite volunteer!! Learn how on their website at: www.yosemiteconservancy.org/about-us.

Like Yosemite, The Yellowstone Association, also has great passion for what they do. Their mission is the preservation and protection of Yellowstone National Park through educational products and programs including field classes, private tours and so much more they offer to the public and park visitors. Read more about Yellowstone Association on their website at: http://www.yellowstoneassociation.org/.

BHD Sales Representative, Karen Page, recently visited Yellowstone and took some incredible pictures of some of their beautiful inhabitants, such as the Snowy Bison and a group of elk near the Rosevelt Arch. Karen was amazed at the beauty and serenity of this beautiful National Park.

Again, we proudly welcome these two new customers who are finding out how Retail Pro can centralize and simplify their retail operations.

BW 2011 requires OS Windows XP or Higher

2011-01-28T09:12:00.000-08:00

Business Works (BW) v2011 will not work with OS Windows v2000 or Windows Server v2000.

If you are a BW user and run 'Payroll' with your BW, you must update to BW 2011, due to the Social Security tax changes, and you must update your Windows OS to Windows XP or higher.

If you have any questions regarding this, please call the BHD Tech link at: 916-368-1070 and ask for Darrell.

BDH Tech and Training Lead Times

2011-01-12T15:48:00.000-08:00

TRAINING:
Phone Appointments starting at:
2/1/11 for Tanya
2/8/11 for Jeff
2/15/11 for Colt

Onsites starting at:
2/9/11 for Tanya
2/22/11 for Colt
2/25/11 for Jeff

TECHS:
Phone appointments starting at 1/19/11
Onsites starting at 1/20/11

UPDATE: RETAIL PRO WITH WINDOWS v7

2010-11-30T11:19:00.000-08:00

Windows v7 is fully approved for use with Retail Pro. The previous 3 qualifiers will exist:

For Retail Pro v8.6 you must use the 32-bit version of Win7.
For Retail Pro v9.2 you can use either 32-bit of 64-bit versions of Win7.
BHD will only support Windows v7 Professional and Ultimate versions.

If you are running Retail Pro on Windows XP, in order to be PCI-Compliant, you must have all the current updates installed.

**PLEASE NOTE: Retail Pro v7 is not compatible with Windows v7.**

If you have any questions regarding this information, please call the BHD Tech Department at 916-368-1070.

Lead Times for BHD Techs and Trainers

2010-11-14T12:14:00.000-08:00

TECHS:
Phone appointments starting 11/22
onsites starting 11/23

TRAINERS:
Phone:
Tanya starting 11/30/10
Jeff starting 12/6/10
Colt starting 12/21/10

Onsites:
Tanya starting 12/3/10
Jeff starting 12/6/10
Colt starting 1/10/11

Arizona Adding New Zip Codes

2010-07-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

Arizona has added zip codes to accommodate their population growth. There have been 20 new zip codes either added or changed. Old postal codes are not recognized by the US Postal Service any longer.

As soon as we receive the list of changed zip codes from the post office in that area, will be update our customers on our blogsite.

A bug has been logged with Retail Pro to get the zip codes changed within the system. We will update you on the progress of this as well.

BHD Training and Tech Lead Times

2010-05-25T10:29:00.000-07:00

TRAINING APPOINTMENTS:

Phone appointments are starting at 6/4/10
Onsites starting at 6/22/10

TECH APPOINTMENTS:

Phone appointments are starting at 6/7/10
Onsites starting at 6/11/10

Sign up for FREE PCI-COMPLIANCY WEBINARS!!

2010-01-27T15:07:00.000-08:00

Big Hairy Dog will be offering FREE Webinars on PCI COMPLIANCY!

The Webinars are scheduled for:

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 from 10am-12pm PST (1-3pm Eastern)

Wednesday, June 9, 2010 from 10am-12pm PST (1-3pm Eastern)

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 from 10am-12pm PST (1-3pm Eastern)

RBS will be hosting these Webinars and will provide you with information you need in order to become PCI Compliant. Have your list of questions ready and SIGN UP TODAY to attend. You may also call the BHD Service Department at: 800-377-7776. We will provide you with the call-in information when you have registered to attend.

**You don't have to be a BHD customer to attend.

Brief Eulogy for Bill Snyder- Owner of William Glenn

2009-12-23T12:30:00.000-08:00

To call Bill Snyder a retail store owner is like calling the Pope a minister. Bill Snyder was the centrifuge who ignited the powerful retail store called William Glenn here in Northern California. Known worldwide as the go to place for specialty gifts, cookware and collectibles, Snyder opened William Glenn in 1963. Today, William Glenn is considered one of the finest and most respected operations around. Sadly, Bill Snyder passed recently. "We met Bill through servicing his retail technology, "says BHD CEO Sandy Malaney. "Bill was not only a customer but a teacher and mentor."

Retail Pro bug in Price-Cost Manager tool FIXED

2009-12-22T15:50:00.000-08:00

**THE BUG MENTIONED BELOW HAS BEEN FIXED!**

The Price-Cost Manager tool in Retail Pro only marks the last digit of the year. Therefore, in the year 2010, the year will be scheduled as 2000. The first person that goes into Retail Pro after that is asked to apply the markdown they thought was waiting for 2010.

Retail Pro is aware of this bug and understands the urgency of the situation. They will be making the fix to both 8.6 and 8.52, Please note that customers must be current in Software Assurance before installing any update from us.

SO, UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE PLEASE DO NOT USE THE PRICE/COST MANAGER TO SCHEDULE ANY EVENTS IN THE YEAR 2010. If you have any questions regarding this issue, please feel free to contact a BHD tech at 916-368-1070.

BHD Tech, Ken, announces the birth of his new BABY BOY!

2009-12-21T17:05:00.000-08:00

LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THIS BABY!

Ken and his wife, Angela, along with Sister Alyssa, are proud to announce the birth of baby Christopher.

At birth, Christopher weighed in at a whopping 10 lbs, 12.5 oz. At nearly 2 feet, Christopher is 23.5 inches long!

CONGRATULATIONS KEN AND FAMILY!

QuickBooks V9 Release 10 Update:

2009-12-17T15:14:00.000-08:00

Some QuickBooks users who downloaded the R9 update recently are experiencing a problem: their Sales Tax Liability and Sales Tax Revenue reports are not displaying the correct data in some cases.

Only after updating to R10 should they rely on the Sales Tax Liability and Sales Tax Revenue reports for their upcoming sales tax filings with tax authorities.

QuickBooks 2009 R10 Update will become available on Wednesday, December 16th, and we want to proactively encourage all QuickBooks 2009 customers who have installed the R9 update to install the R10 as soon as possible.

QuickBooks customers have already received a communication from Intuit. This communication contained instructions on how to upgrade to R10. Click here for instructions on how to upgrade.

What's involved in updating from R8 to R10? You will have to update every QuickBooks workstation and company files to R10 in order for any workstation to have access to the file. The reason is that company files that are updated to Release 10 cannot be opened in Release 8 or earlier releases of QuickBooks 2009. For more information refer to this article: http://support.quickbooks.intuit.com/support/pages/knowledgebasearticle/898605

When will R10 be available? The automatic update is already available.
rsion Update:

QBES Data Conversion Update:

In the past, all data conversion projects have been completely free for ISPs and their customers. With the launch of QBES v10 a change in the policy has been implemented.

The current policy states that all customers with an active FSP are eligible for one free conversion. Additional company file conversions will require a $50 fee per file and sample or test conversions count towards the conversion limits. Please note that service fees and requirements apply to all conversions from any program.

If you have questions about any of these updates, please Big Hairy Dog at: 800-377-7776

'MacGyver' fixes Nike!!

2009-12-13T20:54:00.001-08:00

One of BHD's senior Techs, Paul Jones, recently attended the Honolulu Marathon, in Honolulu, HI, where he assisted Nike with their retail sales in the event center.

During the event the Internet went down in the event center. Our network remained up our router was functioning, just no internet, which means 'no credit cards'. Nike did not order phone lines for backup. I used my cell phone to get internet on my laptop, then used internet connection sharing and plugged the NIC of my laptop into the WAN port of the Router. This gave all 20 registers internet, and we were back up and running credit cards.

We ran Credit cards over my cell phone internet conection for 30 minutes while the Convention center fixed their internet problem in the building. 'MacGyver' fixed Nike!!

Class Action Lawsuit Against Radiant Systems

2009-12-03T10:56:00.000-08:00

Secret Service Investigation, Class Action Lawsuit, Cast Shadow Over Radiant Systems and Distributor

Atlanta Company and Distributor Accused of Negligence in Widespread Identity Theft at Restaurants

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PR Log (Press Release) – Nov 23, 2009 – Secret Service Investigation and Class Action Lawsuit Cast Shadow Over Radiant Systems and Louisiana Distributor

Atlanta Company and Distributor Accused of Negligence in Widespread Identity Theft at Restaurants

ATLANTA, November 23, 2009 — Forensic audit investigations conducted by credit company-approved experts concluded that the Louisiana-based distributor for Radiant Systems, Inc. (http://www.radiantsystems.com/) products violated data protocols that directly contributed to security breaches at restaurants in Louisiana and Mississippi. This finding of alleged negligence is at the heart of a collective action lawsuit filed by seven restaurants claiming that hundreds of customers had their identities stolen as a result of poor business practices and faulty software from Radiant and Computer World (the distributor).

The restaurants are seeking millions of dollars in damages from Radiant and Computer World.

“Our clients are restaurants. They are food experts, not technologists. When major players in the hospitality industry such as Radiant Systems and its distributors say their software and business practices are PCI-DSS compliant, our clients trust them,” said Charles Hoff of the Law Offices of Charles Y. Hoff, PC, general counsel for the Georgia Restaurant Association and one of the attorneys acting as a legal advisor to the restaurants in the lawsuit.

Hoff continued: “When those claims of compliance and proper security practices turn out to be false, the restaurants are left to suffer huge financial losses due to financial penalties imposed by the credit card companies. Their reputations are tarnished. We’re determined not to let Radiant and Computer World simply walk away from their responsibilities.”

PCI-DSS is a comprehensive set of technological requirements and consumer protections created by the major credit card companies to safeguard point of sale (POS) systems from hackers and protect consumers from identify theft. POS system vendors must follow these standards, and any business accepting credit cards for payments (such as restaurants) are contractually obligated to use equipment and software from PCI-DSS compliant vendors. The penalties for retailers that have their systems breached can be massive, even if the problems are the fault of the hardware and software vendors.

A special investigation by the United States Secret Service (the agency responsible for investigating cases of credit card fraud and identity theft) was also conducted given the multitude of Radiant POS systems subject to security breaches throughout Louisiana and Mississippi and the findings by the forensic reports that Computer World – exclusive area distributor of Radiant Systems’ “Aloha” POS software - violated PCI-DSS provisions. Among the findings:

1) Restaurants were sold earlier model POS systems although they were represented to be new models;
2) Computer World used a remote access system that did not have adequate security patches – a violation of PCI-DSS standards;
3) Computer World used the same password for at least 200 operators in violation of PCI standards;
4) The distributor failed to remove prior sensitive customer credit data upon installation of Radiant POS systems, again in violation of PCI standards.

As a result, the lawsuit’s plaintiffs are alleging that:
• Radiant Systems’ negligence and failure to either instruct or monitor Computer World’s actions led to systems being compromised and leaving the plaintiffs’ customers vulnerable to identity theft and fraud.
• That Radiant and Computer World were warned by Visa in 2007 that their programs were non-compliant. (The restaurants were unaware of these warnings at the time they purchased the Aloha system.)
• Once the breaches occurred and cases of identity theft and fraud began to appear, Visa, MasterCard and the card processing companies invoked their contracts and directly penalized the restaurants for the actions of Radiant and Computer World. The plaintiffs were hit with huge fines, required to pay for forensic audits to trace the problems, reimbursement of fraud costs to the credit card companies and payments for re-issuance of credit cards to affected individuals.

The lawsuit is seeking compensation to repay the penalties levied by the credit card companies and the massive costs to track down and repair the POS system problems. According to the attorneys, damages “could run well into seven figures”.

The restaurants have filed their lawsuit in the 15th Judicial District Court of Louisiana in Lafayette Parish and “will be seeking to raise awareness of the chaos and financial turmoil caused by companies such as Computer World and Radiant. We want other restaurants nationally to be aware of the hidden dangers posed by these technology companies and the unfair penalties imposed by the credit card companies,” said Shiel Gallagher of Gallagher & Gupta, PC, in Chicago, the second attorney leading the lawsuit. “These huge companies shouldn’t have the power to destroy these restaurants. It’s a classic David-versus-Goliath story and we’re going to do what we can to protect what these small business owners have struggled to build.”

"http://www.prlog.org/10425165-secret-service-investigation-class-action-lawsuit-cast-shadow-over-radiant-systems-and-distributo.html"

Retail Pro bug detected in Price-Cost Manager tool

2009-11-20T12:36:00.000-08:00

The Price-Cost Manager tool in Retail Pro only marks the last digit of the year. Therefore, in the year 2010, the year will be scheduled as 2000. The first person that goes into Retail Pro after that is asked to apply the markdown they thought was waiting for 2010.

Retail Pro is aware of this bug and understands the urgency of the situation. They will be making the fix to both 8.6 and 8.52, Please note that customers must be current in Software Assurance before installing any update from us.

SO, UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE PLEASE DO NOT USE THE PRICE/COST MANAGER TO SCHEDULE ANY EVENTS IN THE YEAR 2010.

If you have any questions regarding this issue, please feel free to contact a BHD tech at 916-368-1070.

BHD LOOKING FOR BETA SITES!

2009-11-17T09:41:00.000-08:00

Rental Module Customization with Reservation Feature

Big Hairy Dog is looking for v8 Retail Pro customers interested in being a Beta Site for a newly released v2.0 Rental Module with a Reservation Feature.

This Plug-In seamlessly integrates with Retail Pro, and offers a great benefit to those customers who have a need for rental plans. It will allow you to determine the rental charges, deposits and late fees associated with renting an item. It also allows intuitive actions to be taken at the point-of-sale for renting and returning items. A Reservation feature has been added to this customization, to offer complete functionality.

If you are interested in being a beta site for this Plug-In customization, please contact a Retail Pro tech at Big Hairy Dog. Call 916-368-1070.

BHD ROLLING BACK PRICES TO 2000!!

2009-10-13T13:41:00.000-07:00

Big Hairy Dog is offering a 20% discount on all service hours during the month of November, 2009. Prices haven't been this low since the year 2000 - that's 9 years ago!!

Save $25 per hour when you pre-purchase with payment by check.

Buy 50 hours and SAVE $1,250
Buy 40 hours and SAVE $1,000
Buy 30 hours and SAVE $750

This is a one-time offer, so HURRY to get an unlimited amount of hours at a 20% DISCOUNT!! There is a minimum purchase of 10 hours.

Call Natalie today: 800-377-7776 AND SAVE BIG!!!!

Offer Ends November 30, 2009.

Retail Pro v8.6 on list of PCI Compliant Payment Applications

2009-10-07T15:41:00.000-07:00

Retail Pro v8.6 is listed as a validated PCI Compliant payment application on the Security Standards Council website.

PCI DSS compliance is required of all entities that store, process, or transmit Visa cardholder data, including merchants. The PCI DSS applies to all payment channels, including retail (brick-and-mortar), mail or telephone order, and e-commerce. This includes Point of Sale systems even when the POS is not used to process credit cards.

If you have not already upgraded to Retail Pro v8.6, please call you Big Hairy Dog Sales Rep immediately to upgrade. Call today at 800-377-7776

Don't Believe the Lies!

2009-10-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

Big Hairy Dog was made aware this week that there are still phone calls being made to Retail Pro customers stating that Retail Pro is going out of business and within a month will be gone.

Fortunately, not a single BHD customer who has received the call has given it an ounce of credibility. We know desperate companies take desperate measures to get a little business, but this scheme is too pathetic to have convinced anyone.

Retail Pro and Big Hairy Dog are solid as a rock. The only place we are going is into the future with an evolving product to continue to meet the dynamic needs of retail technology.

Pet Extreme Enjoying the benefits of Upgrading to Retail Pro v8.6 and PCCharge

2009-09-30T16:19:00.000-07:00

Below is a letter from our friend, Brad Drayton, over at Pet Extreme. Pet Extreme has moved successfully and flawlessly through the process of upgrading to Retail Pro v8.6. They have also switched their credit card processing to PCCharge and are now fully PCI Compliant. We wanted to share Brad's comments with you in the event it may give you some helpful information:

"We now have RPRO v8.6 and PCCharge Server installed and operating in all locations. All of the odd functions that we were initially concerned with, e.g. corporate data, corporate merging, etc. went off without issue and were well addressed with v8.6. Following our initial plan, we used the newer installations as training resources for the later installations.

And of course the PCI compliance requirements being met are very important as well, similar to maintaining a good insurance policy. The pole displays that we added everywhere were apparently perfectly timed as well, since our Turlock store had a recent weights and measures inspection and customer displays were the first compliance items checked, even before looking at the scales. The inspector was in and out of the store in 12 minutes!

Reliability of PCCharge vs PPM is like night and day. Annoying PPM "timed out" and "resource unavailable" errors have literally disappeared with the elimination of PPM, and we have had only one duplicate card charge with PCCharge, which was tracked to human error. I haven't looked into it yet, but the Sacramento store reported NO errors with Costco-issued AMEX cards, so PCCharge combined with the v8.6 upgrade may have had something to do with it.

The batch auto-settle function is something we had always wanted as well, however decided to eliminate in favor of manual settlement. With no errors at day end, the batch can of course be settled, but more importantly, manually settling allows the designated store closer(s) to hold a batch in the event that an error is detected. This provides the ability for an authorized store manager to correct a potential error prior to automatically sending an incorrect batch for processing.
Additionally, manually processing at day end gets the batch out of our system about eight hours earlier than auto-settle.

It may also be worth noting that our business insurance carrier now includes electronic transmission security and PCI compliance as a part of their planning and rating review, and this includes our out-of-division locations as well.

As the Pet Division moved forward with PCCharge our first goal was to get it operating directly on each store's dedicated server, just for the additional reliability and security that a server provides vs a backroom workstation.

Paul at BHD worked hard locating and testing the PCCharge Client installation, and it's operating smoothly with exactly the same setup at every store - so we are now exactly where we wanted to be - PCCharge is operating in a reliable server environment with limited direct access, and accessed "remotely" via PCCharge Client from selected backroom workstations only. And for me personally, the number of "problem" calls have decreased signigicantly, allowing me to concentrate on my time more effectively on other projects.

And when it comes to service and undersanding, BHD has always been on TOP! We had a recent firewall issue on a Sunday morning at one store and Steven had the problem corrected in less than 15 minutes.

This is great! Thanks for everything!

Thanks, Brad

PET EXTREME, INC.
Brad Drayton
(209)656-1023x2202
(209)656-1413 fax

Tech and Training Lead Times

2009-09-23T17:04:00.001-07:00

TRAINING:

Phone appts starting 10/6
Onsites starting 10/12

TECH:

Phone appts starting 9/28
Onsites starting 10/7

Retail Pro Software Rental

2009-09-22T11:32:00.000-07:00

The prices for renting Retail Pro software have changed. Please call your BHD Sales Representative for more information. The software can now be rented for a minimum of 3 months and a maximum of 6 months. Please feel free to call if you have any questions regarding this at: 800-377-7776.

Reversing Credit Card Charges in Retail Pro

2009-09-21T14:57:00.000-07:00

Reversing credit card charges in Retail Pro does not void the original sale. It will run a "Return" on the customer's card and may result in a processing fee in addition to the sale (depending upon the credit card processor being used.)

In order to avoid this processing fee and void the sale, you must void the sale transaction manually. This must be done by an employee with the appropriate rights. The procedure for this will differ, depending upon the credit card software being used. As always, please contact a Big Hairy Dog Tech if you have any questions. 916-368-1070.

First Data working with SecurityMetrics to keep your customer's information secure

2009-08-08T17:09:00.000-07:00

The information below is from First Data

"Several of you have asked questions about SecurityMetrics and the phone calls they are making to our merchants. Here is the campaign that is currently underway:

We recently started an official Level 4 PCI compliance program for FDS. SecurityMetrics is the preferred security vendor for the Level 4 program and is helping to manage it which includes a phone campaign. Communications in regards to PCI compliance were included in the Spring release letter and info regarding SecurityMetrics has been included as statement messages for the past couple of months for our merchants. As you know, all merchants are required to be PCI compliant.

While SecurityMetrics is the preferred vendor, the merchants are not required to use them. For those merchants who require scans, they have to be completed by an Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV). A listing of ASVs can be found by visiting the card association websites or at http://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/. Merchants who decide to use SecurityMetrics’ services would receive a preferred discount (if they don’t already have the Annual Compliance Fee of $94.75 listed on their MPA).

Please see below for additional PCI compliance information:

Merchant Level Description
Level 1:
Any merchant -- regardless of acceptance channel -- processing over 6M Visa transactions per year. Any merchant that Visa, at its sole discretion, determines should meet the Level 1 merchant requirements to minimize risk to the Visa system.

Level 2:
Any merchant -- regardless of acceptance channel -- processing 1M to 6M Visa transactions per year.

Level 3:
Any merchant processing 20,000 to 1M Visa e-commerce transactions per year.

Level 4:
Any merchant processing fewer than 20,000 Visa e-commerce transactions per year, and all other merchants -- regardless of acceptance channel -- processing up to 1M Visa transactions per year."

Additional information can be found on these websites:

www.pcisecuritystandards.org - Includes a complete list of PCI DSS requirements, the self assessment questionnaire, and approved security assessors/scan vendors.
www.visa.com/cisp - Additional compliance and validation information, and lists of validated payments applications and compliant service providers.
www.mastercard.com/sdp - Additional compliance and validation information.

If you have any questions regarding this information, please contact Richard Del Valle, First Data Account Executive, Western Region at (408) 274-2206.

Can you afford NOT to be PCI Compliant?

2009-08-05T17:16:00.001-07:00

Big Hairy Dog has received confirmation that credit card associations are taking a more assertive approach to PCI compliance validation. They have begun to implement stricter compliance validation mandates and increase fine penalties.

BHD wants to continue to work with our customers to educate each of you about PCI, and your role as a Level 1, 2, 3 or 4 Merchant. Over 90% of compromises occur at ‘Level 4’ merchants. Level 4 are those merchants who process less than 20 thousand credit card TRANSACTIONS annually. Most of BHD customers fall in the Level 4 category.

Currently fines assessed to merchants have come directly from the card associations as a result of:

1) A business encountered an account data compromise and did not validate their PCI compliance in time per the card brands. Therefore, the card brands will assess a monthly fine until they see the appropriate validation documents showing their compliance.

2) A business that qualifies as a Level 1 - 3 in terms of PCI compliance and did not submit their appropriate quarterly or yearly re-validation documents. The card brands may then fine them for failure to provide appropriate documentation.

Visa fine penalties due to PCI non-compliance are assessed monthly and determined by merchant level. MasterCard fine penalties due to PCI non-compliance are assessed quarterly and determined by merchant level.

We want to help you avoid these fines! If you are not PCI Compliant, please call Big Hairy Dog TODAY and find out how you can become PCI Compliant at affordable prices!

Protect your Business....Call Today! 800-377-7776

BHD at All Stars 2009

2009-07-29T12:07:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, BHD techs travel...

If a customer wants a BHD technician onsite to set up their store, help with inventory, or be on hand of an event, we will be here...

The All Star Games are no exception.

These pictures were taken by our techs, Werner and Rich, while they were setting up for the 2009 All Stars Games that were held in St Louis, Mo.

Werner and Rich did a great job to keep all the retail shops in the stadium up, running, and selling during this crazy event.

Beware of eBay Hardware!

2009-07-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

Understandably, some customers are attempting to save money by purchasing retail hardware on eBay. You need, however, to be aware that this can end up costing you more than you save. With hardware that integrates with Retail Pro, purchasing from eBay is never a good idea. There are many unknowns:

Is it the correct model of hardware to work with your version of Retail Pro?
Does it have all of the cables you need?
Does it require additional programming?
Does it even work the way its supposed to?

Here is a actual customer scenario:
You just bought a physical inventory scanner from eBay. You test it by scanning an item, and it appears to work okay, so you hire your employees to work overtime to conduct a physical inventory. A few minutes into the job, you realize the unit you purchased from eBay at $150 is not what it's cracked up to be! It's missing cables and it's not programmed to work with Retail Pro. You have to tell your staff that the physical will need to be done manually. You end up spending more money in physical labor than you 'saved' by buying this scanner on eBay rather than from Big Hairy Dog."

When you purchase hardware from BHD:

We guarantee it will be the correct model to work with your version of Retail Pro.
We include all the necessary cables to work properly with your version of Retail Pro.
All programming costs are included in the price of the hardware.
We guarantee that it is a working unit before we ship it.
We offer a built in 1 year 24-hour replacement warranty if it stops working, and we pay for shipping on the replacment and the tech time to get it re-installed!
We offer a FREE 1-month loaner of any hardware outside of the warranty period to those with current membership.

Big Hairy Dog is invested in your success! We know that excellent customer service includes warning our customers of potential disaster. It is in your best interest that we recommend BHD hardware for all of your Retail Pro hardware needs.

Feel Free to call a BHD sales rep at 1-800-377-7776 if you need to purchase hardware.

Print cards directly from Retail Pro with the Zebra P430i Card Printer

2009-07-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

If your business uses a card printer, using the right printer is critical. It is a primary factor affecting the reliability and consistency of your card printing needs.

Big Hairy Dog has tested the Zebra P430i Card Printer for quality standards and optimum performance and found it works flawlessly with Retail Pro v8 and v9. The Zebra P430i Card Printer is now available for purchase from BHD.

Retailers use card printers for many reasons, most commonly:

* Employee ID cards
* Student and faculty ID cards
* Access control cards
* Membership and loyalty cards
* Personalized gift cards
* Visitor ID cards
* Government licenses

The Zebra P4301 printer allows retailers to print professional quality customer cards directly from Retail Pro. For many clients this means the end of an archaic membership software they kept up just for the purpose of generating customer or membership cards. Previously, retailers only had the option of printing a barcode that could be affixed to the card. Now they can print the card directly from Retail Pro.

For more information, please contact your BHD Sales Rep at 800-377-7776.

Retail Pro International, LLC. Marks an End to Chapter 11 Process

2009-07-08T11:05:00.000-07:00

June 25, 2009

Dear Retail Pro Customers,

We are pleased to inform you that, as planned, Retail Pro, Inc. has successfully completed the sale of its assets through the bankruptcy process, and a new company has emerged as a wholly-owned company of Valens Offshore SPV If, Corp., Laurus Master Fund, Ltd., and Midsummer Investments, Ltd.

We look forward to working together with you and our authorized Business Partner network to provide a higher level of service and product quality than ever before.

Our new owners are diversified financial institutions with approximately $1.5 billion USD in assets under management, which will provide an unprecedented level of financial stability and professional corporate governance. Effective immediately, our new name and corporate headquarters address is:
Retail Pro International, LLC
400 Plaza Drive
Folsom, CA 95630
(916) 605·7200

The process we completed was an important and necessary step to ensure continued financial viability, and secure the confidence of our customers, authorized Business Partners, employees, strategic alliance partners and vendors regarding our long-term potential. Strategic benefits resulting from this process include:
Solid backing and a firm foundation. Retail Pro International is owned and backed by strategic investors with an asset base of approximately $1.5 Billion USD.
Corporate overhead significantly reduced. As a private company, we will eliminate hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual public company expenses.
Best practices for corporate governance remain. We will maintain a strong corporate compliance discipline, already ingrained in our culture, ensuring we continue to operate the new company using corporate best practices.
Retail Pro product development continues at full strength and speed. We have maintained our focus on product development throughout the transition process with no reduction in our research and development investment. We continue to be on track with our Product Roadmap, announced at our global customer meeting last fall.
Key management continuity in the new company. The customer-facing Sales and Technology employees you deal with regularly remain with the new company.
Continued commitment to our global network of authorized Business Partners. Retail Pro International continues the promise of delivering world class solutions through our global network of authorized Business Partners.
Continued customer and authorized Business Partner support excellence. Customers will continue to receive top notch support, from retail industry and technology experts, in their local language, time zones, and currencies, from their local Retail Pro authorized Business Partner.
Strong corporate guidance. The Valens, Laurus, and Midsummer executive teams will provide experienced corporate oversight to ensure accountability, solid performance, and delivery on promises made to our constituents.

On behalf of the entire Retail Pro family, we want to express our sincere thanks to you, our customers, for your loyalty and commitment. Our investors, employees, and partners are excited about this new chapter for Retail Pro. Our incredible base of over 8,000 customers with more than 35,000 stores in over 40 countries worldwide is unmatched by any of our competitors. We are here to serve you, and hope you will feel free to contact me or any of us at any time.
Very Sincerely,

Ken Sapp
SVP Sales, Retail Pro International

Retail Pro offers Medicare Payment Tracking

2009-06-29T12:22:00.000-07:00

Thats Right! You can now track Medical Payments for purchases of medically prescribed shoes.
For more information, call a BHD Tech at 916-368-1070.

ConsumerMan asks, "Whatever happened to Customer Service?

2009-06-18T19:58:00.000-07:00

ConsumerMan Herb Weisbaum, reports, "I receive a constant stream of complaints from MSNBC readers who are angered by shady business practices, upset by poor service and frustrated that no one seems to be looking out for them. "

"The attitude at many companies today seems to be that helping a customer figure out how to use the product they just purchased is a waste of money. This is especially true with hi-tech companies, where tech support is generally rated as appalling. Playing by the rules seems so 'old-fashioned'".

Big Hairy Dog, in business for 16 years, is just about as 'old-fashioned' as they come, when it comes to Customer Service! We believe that customer satisfaction is a two-way success. Our reputation for outstanding, old-fashioned customer service is what Big Hairy Dog is build upon.

In fact, we take such pride in our customer's expectations being exceeded, we have created a 'Book of Customer Quotes' from letters and emails we've received through the years from customers who have taken the time to write in and thank BHD for it's honest, unrelenting, day-in and day-out support. We'd like to share just a few of some recent comments with you:

“April took excellent care of us, personally dropping off the replacement items and tech Support got us up and running right away. BHD is the best!”
Cynthia, Archangel Gabriel Bookstore (St Anna Greek Orthodox Church)

“I am very pleased with Retail Pro and Big Hairy Dog. “The service has been excellent! I don't know why all other dealers do not do business as you do! You always make your customers feel #1!
Art, AJ Fine

“The install appointment with Werner went very, very well - in fact, I would say his professionalism, flexibility, and straightforward talk exceeded expectations. It was an easy couple of days. Please convey our great thanks and appreciation.”
David, Lair of the Golden Bear

“Colt does a great job. He is very knowledgeable on the product and really helps us out a lot when he's here.”
Mike, Yosemite National Park

“The Medicare tracking of customer accounts is working just fine. Thanks to Jeff for his patience and excellent training. He should get a raise, he's very good.”
Ginny, Physicians Footwear

“Thanks Christina, the training video is so simple to follow. You guys are great in customer service. You are always ready to help and I really appreciate that. Keep up the good work.”
Chris, Lindsey Wildlife Museum

The collection of comments is numbered in the hundreds. Those expressions of appreciation from our customers is it's own reward for a job well done. Big Hairy Dog 'breaks every rule to take care of it's customers.' And the loyalty we receive in return, makes it all worth while.

Retail Pro now offers serial number tracking and reporting

2009-05-26T11:42:00.001-07:00

Retail Pro v8.52 now offers serial number tracking and reporting. This new feature comes with Hot Fix 5/14/09 for Retail Pro v8.52 users.

Please call Big Hairy Dog for more information: 800-377-7776.

Protect your valuable Business from 'Cybertheft'

2009-05-17T16:47:00.000-07:00

During 3rd quarter, 2008, overseas hackers breached the security protocol at both Heartland Payment Systems and RBS WorldPay. In the case of RBS WorldPay, encryption protocols were sophisticated enough to thwart the hackers’ attempts to retrieve useable sensitive data, but a breach did occur. These breaches are a reminder that PCI compliance is critical to any business regardless of size.

RBS WorldPay announced last week that it had completed upgrades to its PCI security protocol that bring it in compliance with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard 1.2 (PCI DSS 1.2). RBS engaged Verizon Business, formerly Cybertrust, a leader in information security technology and Qualified Security Assessor to complete a third party review of its PCI compliance. As a result of being found to be compliant under PCI DSS 1.2, RBS WorldPay expects to be immediately listed on Visa® and MasterCard’s® PCI Validated Service Provider list.

Are you PCI compliant? We at Big Hairy Dog are doing all we can to protect our customers from this type of 'cybertheft'. If you are still using non-PCI Compliant software, call your BHD Sales Rep today. We have affordable solutions to PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS!!

Is Theft a PROBLEM? Big Hairy Dog has the SOLUTION!

2009-05-17T12:53:00.000-07:00

Billions of dollars are lost and stolen annually from businesses, because of employee theft. Employee dishonesty and theft costs U.S. businesses over $50 billion dollars annually.

National estimates show that 75% of all employees steal from their employers at least once throughout their careers. The same statistics show that at least half of these 75% steal multiple times from their employer. It is plain to see that the businesses of the United States cannot continue to function if they let employees steal from them.

Retail Pro now has a Camera Surveillence Interface Solution which allows you to:

View Real Time Video Footage
View Real Time Pos Transactions

Both are viewed from anywhere with an internet connection i.e. home, laptop, or even your cell phone!!

Call Buddy to receive more information about this exciting new feature!!

800-377-7776

Looking for Beta Sites...

2009-05-11T13:51:00.000-07:00

Retail Pro is looking for beta test sites for Version 8.6

It is the PCI-DSS certified version of Retail Pro.

It is a very simple update for anyone on Version 8.5x

Anyone interested in installing 8.6 should contact the Service Dept at 800-377-7776.

Sporting BHD Apparel

2009-04-27T16:30:00.000-07:00

We want to encourage our employees, customers, and families to sport their BHD apparel and send us pictures. We would love to share them.

This come from George at Northrop Grumman.

These are his triplets.

BHD Under Attack…Again

2009-04-24T15:11:00.000-07:00

It’s not uncommon for competitors to resort to despicable tactics in order to compete against Big Hairy Dog. Thanks to an international family of fiercely loyal customers, attempts at discrediting Big Hairy Dog are quickly discovered and reported to BHD Corporate. The most recent example comes from a company based in Seattle, Washington called CCS Retail Systems. The following appears on the home page of their web site: Amid charges of Fraud and a 5 Million Dollar deficit, Retail Pro, (aka Big Hairy Dog) et all (sic), declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Apparently the not-too-bright and eager-to-discredit staff at CCS shot themselves in the foot in grand fashion by accusing BHD of
1) misleading the public that BHD is the development company of Retail Pro
2) accusing BHD of fraud
3) misleading the public regarding BHD’s financial stability
4) BHD is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

When confronted with the information BHD president Mick Malaney thanked the customer(s) who found the information via Google search. “Obviously, libelous comments such as the ones CCS posted on their website can injure BHD’s hard-won reputation as well as prevent BHD from earning income.” Malaney went on to question the validity of a company which would resort to such extremes. “As a consumer when I discover a lie has been exposed I discredit the products and services represented by that company.”

CCS’s website states that the company sells a point of sale program called Counterpoint.

Watch as BHD 'Wish Child' receives her dream come true

2009-04-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

It's always rewarding to donate to an organization for children, such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation. It is even more personal and heart-warming to see a child whose wish you were able to grant, as they receive their wish being realized.

One of the BHD Make-A-Wish kids was part of a group of Mothers and Daughters who are featured in Oprah's April, 2009 edition of the "O" Magazine. There's also a great video clip available on the internet, which shows the children and the outstanding people who made this wish come true.

Visit the link below to watch this video clip and experience the joy with the young ladies and their Mothers as they receive their wish...and even more!! We hope you'll enjoy this as much as we do here at Big Hairy Dog.

http://www.oprah.com/media/200905-omag-make-wish-makeover

Training and Tech Lead Times

2009-04-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

TRAINING:

Phone appts starting 4/16
Onsites starting 4/30

TECH:

Phone appts starting 4/16
Onsites starting 4/22

FREE PCI Compliancy Webinars

2009-04-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

Big Hairy Dog wants to educate all our clients on the PCI requirements. These guidelines are being put forward in the interests of creating a global standard for protecting personal cardholder data.

If your business accepts, captures, stores, transmits or processes credit and debit card data, THESE REQUIREMENTS APPLY TO YOU. Penalties for non-compliance are severe, and the June 30, 2009 deadline for being compliant is fast approaching.

One PCI Compliancy Webinar is scheduled a month from April to June, 2009:

April 29
May 27
June 10

All of the PCI Compliancy Webinars are from 1-3pm PDT (4-6pm EDT)

Please sign up for these FREE PCI WEBINARS. Call Service to receive the conference call information. CALL TODAY: 800-377-7776

Special Store Events Can Increase Sales!

2009-03-30T22:19:00.000-07:00

Retailers are finding that special events held in their stores can increase sales. Events, such as offering free blood pressure screenings, do-it-yourself craft shows and book signings can bring in more customers and lift the store's energy level. One shopper who discovered a shop through its events, says, "The place is like a party! It's more fun and personal."

One local retail community sponsored a neighborhood walk. “It helped bring people in. There was so much publicity and so many people came out,” one of the retailers remarked.

When 200 customers crowded into Portland, Maine’s Longfellow Books for a book launch party for a local author, co-owner Chris Bowe was thrilled that 100 copies of that author’s books were sold. Chris comments, "That more than made up for all the free hot dogs I gave away."

Big Hairy Dog believes that developing a personal connection with your customers is good for business. Sending out personalized birthday cards, which include a 25 percent discount certificate might just create a customer for life. Many retailers are finding that rewards programs, such as Customer Loyalty, which give a percentage back to the customer after they spend a certain amount, is a great way to make the customer feel recognized and appreciated. It's the extra personal touch that brings your customers in and keeps them coming back.

How to change your tax rate in Retail Pro

2009-03-30T15:32:00.000-07:00

As most of you are aware, Big Hairy Dog offers a library of self-training videos available to you 24/7. With the tax rate changing in California effective April 1, 2009, you may want to familiarize yourself with the process of changing the tax rate in your Retail Pro software.

Please take a moment to review the video located on our website at:
http://www.bighairydog.com/video/Changing_Tax_Rates.html

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact a BHD tech at 916-368-1070.

BHD 'Double-Teaming' Service - It Pays Off!

2009-03-25T17:17:00.000-07:00

Ed Huffman, from Huffman's Big & Tall received a phone call last week from Pam Elliott, his BHD Sales Rep. While talking to Pam, his phone rang and he put Pam on hold to answer the other line. That call was also from a BHD employee wanting to see how things were going at Huffman's.

Ed joked that he was being 'double teamed' by BHD, and said he'd talk to the one with the best offer. Both BHD employees made offers to top the other and both got some good-hearted teasing. A few days later Ed received a surprise delivery of his favorite pizza, courtesy of BHD. His response: "The pizza was fantastic!! I highly recommend this new meatball pizza from Round Table. They have this one nailed to the wall! Thanks again, Ed"

What can we say? With BHD's customer service, you may just get two calls at once!

OPEN FORUM WEBINAR - APRIL 15, 2009

2009-03-18T15:14:00.000-07:00

Due to customer suggestion, we are offering an additional Webinar in April. This Webinar will be an Open Forum, for customers to call with your own issues. This is a great opportunity to ask questions and get feedback from not only BHD, but from other customees who may have similiar questions, experiences or solutions.

This is YOUR TIME...remember, if you have questions, need assistance, or just want to talk about an experience, this Webinar is for you. We hope you will join us!

BHD Webinars are listed on our website at: http://www.bighairydog.com/onlinetraining.htm
Please feel free to email Christina to sign up: christinaj@bighairydog.com or call if you have any questions: 800-377-7776.

WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR GOOD NEWS!!

2009-03-09T17:30:00.000-07:00

Big Hairy Dog knows that our customers have a lot of good news to report in the retail industry right now. In spite of all we hear on the news, businesses are expanding, opening new branches, increasing their product lines, enjoying increased sales and experiencing new opportunities never available before.

We want to invite all BHD Customers to get the positive energy flowing and encourage businesses to SHARE YOUR GOOD NEWS!!

Please send YOUR Good News to: service@bighairydog.com, and we'll post it on our Good News Blog. View the blog at: http://bhdgoodnews.blogspot.com/

Storefront Lagarde, Purchased by Dynacorp, experiencing technical issues

2009-02-26T14:42:00.000-08:00

As you may be aware, Storefront Lagarde, who provides an e-commerce shopping cart application, has been purchased by Dynacorp. This application is experiencing some technical issues which apparently is a result of a service change implemented by Dynacorp.

BHD has customers who are using Storefront's shopping cart with the ECI link for their webstore and may be affected by this situation. Therefore, Retail Dimensions, Inc. (RDI), who provides the ECI link to various shopping cart applications, recommends those BHD customers using Storefront move their hosting to Appiledi.net unless there you a compelling reason to stay on StoreFront.

Please call Kurt Beeken at RDI, who will assist with the move and facilitate getting your webstore up and running again as quickly as possible. Each customer will need to arrange for the hosting with Applidi. Kurt can be reached at: 503-644-5301, ext. 112

We will continue to update you as more information becomes available. If you have any questions, please feel free to call a BHD Tech at 916-368-1070.

Adobe Acrobat products vulnerable to abuse

2009-02-26T11:14:00.000-08:00

THE FOLLOWING FROM METASPLOIT:
Over the last two months, rumors of an unpatched vulnerability in the Adobe Acrobat products have been circulating. Last Thursday (the 19th), the Shadowserver folks confirmed that there is an exploit in the wild and that they had obtained a sample. A few hours later, Adobe confirmed the issue in their official advisory. McAfee, Symantec, and others have all chimed in saying that they have samples dating back as far as January and even December of last year. Symantec published a response almost a week before the Adobe advisory.

After a period of inexplicable silence on mitigations for a known code execution vulnerability in its Reader and Acrobat product lines, Adobe has finally posted public information on the problem but the company’s response does not offer a difinitive solution to the problem.

For more information on this, please refer to article entitled "Adobe swings and misses as PDF abuse worsens".

Big Hairy Dog is not aware of any of its customers being affected by this issue. however we want to make you aware of it in case you may encounter it at a future time. As always, we encourage you to call a BHD tech with any questions of any type at any time.
916-368-1070.

Retail Pro offers Loss Prevention Customization

2009-02-23T13:07:00.000-08:00

Big Hairy Dog knows that today’s retail businesses are often challenged by theft and store liability. Thefts from customers as well as employees, including Worker’s Compensation claims can have a draining effect on a company’s bottom line.

BHD now offers a Loss Prevention customization which integrates Retail Pro software with video surveillance systems to provide an efficient and effective means of managing these retail challenges.
From your company’s back room, or from home, you can:

* Monitor employee performance
* View customer transactions
* Investigate security and liability issues
* See synced video & sales info on 1 screen

Operators can determine if items are being rung up and scanned correctly. An unlimited number of transactions can easily be stored and retrieved and the systems are scalable so when requirements change, systems can grow to meet them.

Protect your hard-earned profits from theft and liability. The video integration is seamless and affordable. There is no better way to screen employees, and stop un-prosecuted theft.

Tom Grenache, from CA State Railroad Museum has this to say,

“I was not a big believer in the need for such a product before we agreed to test it, but I've changed my mind while using it. While it does function as a "security system", its presence in our back office helps me monitor service on our sales floor. During the day we leave the monitor on a 4-screen view. At a glance I can view the registers in use, customers in line, and the hidden corners of our store. While any camera system can show video of a transaction, this application combines a video clip with the details of our Retail Pro transaction. With a visual record of every transaction (showing line item detail), every void, and every tender, there's absolutely no questions when it comes to employee transactions.”

For more information on this HOT new feature, contact Buddy at: 800-377-7776

A reminder from Mick Malaney, President of Big Hairy Dog Information Systems

2009-02-05T13:04:00.000-08:00

Each day I speak with many BHD customers who teach me how to improve BHD. They know more about BHD than I do. They use our products and services. Are we helping our customers manage their technology? How can we be better?

Contact me: 916-803-3939 or mickmalaney@gmail.com.
I want to hear from you.

CLEAN HOUSE WARNING FOR PEOPLE WHO USE ECI.

2009-02-03T12:56:00.000-08:00

"STATED SIMPLY, DO NOT CLEAN HOUSE ON ITEMS THAT ARE STILL ACTIVE ON THE WEB."When you add an item in ECI it picks a LINK ITEM. you can see this link item by looking that the style view and add ITEM SID. It will display an Item sid of just one item of the entire style; this is the LINK ITEM.

The client used automark and the link item fit the criteria, no active documents in RPRO and a 0 OH QTY. so it cleaned house on that item. IF you clean house on the link item it will remove the style from the catalog. as we have all seen with ECI sometimes things dont remove themselves properly from the catalog or the web. She cleaned house 2 weeks ago and the items were still on the web untill she called today and said Items were not deleting we Ran the Purge deleted items button and it worked properly and removed it from the catalog and removed it from the web on the next polling.

Take BHD on your next trip!

2009-02-01T21:13:00.000-08:00

Have you got a trip planned that will take you to a special place of interest? Send us a picture of yourself at your destination wearing a Big Hairy Dog T-shirt, and we'll post your picture on our website.

Just let us know when you have a trip planned, and we'll send you a BHD T-Shirt. Have your picture taken in front of a global icon, or just a place you enjoy visiting. Send us your picture, and be a part of the Big Hairy Dog global T-shirt movement.

Big Hairy Dog is Global!

2009-02-01T18:31:00.000-08:00

Take a look at the scope of BHD's service around the world.

Big Hairy Dog is the only Retail Pro service provider that supports customers world wide. One of our customers, Milan Group of Boutiques, transferred to Big Hairy Dog for service and tech support.

Milan Group of Boutiques, located in the heart of the Singapore Shopping District, is one of the earliest established ‘Luxury Italian Fashion’ retailers in its area. It includes three high-end shops which offer a dazzling assortment of top Italian labels.

Why did Milan Boutiques transfer to BHD? Here's what they had to say, "We talked to several dealers outside Singapore and found BHD to be the best fit, even though it was the furthest distance from Singapore. BHD has improved our entire retail operations.

After using their Emergency Tech Service we immediately had confidence in their ability to serve the global customer. For the past 3 years we’ve been impressed by BHD’s professional online and email support and the competency of their Techs. With BHD’s use of best practices, we know they will play a large role in serving their global customers."

Critical update from Windows to fix a security hole in Microsoft's Internet Explorer

2009-01-12T13:43:00.000-08:00

Below are the links from which you can download the fix for this security hole in Microsoft's Internet Explorer. The fix was released in mid-December. If you haven't already, please run Windows Update on your computers immediately.

For Windows XP 32 BIT, Download Windows Update by clicking here.

For Windows Vista 32 BIT, Download Windows Update by clicking here.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact a BHD tech at 916-368-1070.

Federal Judge Denies Class Certification in Key FACTA Suits Pillsbury Successfully Defends Client Against Class Action

2008-12-31T15:13:00.000-08:00

15-Jun-2007 [Press Release]

Los Angeles, CA:
In a key set of decisions this week, a federal judge in Los Angeles has denied class certification for three Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) lawsuits, including Taline Soualian v. International Coffee and Tea LLC (CV 07-502-RGK) in which Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman successfully represented the defendant. Pillsbury currently represents more than a dozen clients in FACTA-related matters.

Taken together, along with a May 25th decision on Spikings v. Cost Plus, Inc. (CV 06-8125-JFW) also denying class certification, the cases establish a precedent that could impact more than 200 lawsuits that have been filed in recent months alleging that retailers and restaurants provided too much information on customers’ credit card receipts in violation of the law.

Effective December 4, 2006, FACTA requires that retailers provide no more than the last five digits of the card number or the expiration date on any receipt provided to the cardholder at the point of the sale or transaction. Since that time, the plaintiffs’ bar has filed hundreds of suits seeking class status. If any retailer is found in willful violation of that rule, each class member would be eligible to receive between $100 and $1000 in statutory damages, which for larger retailers found to be in violation could cost tens of millions or even billions of dollars.

“The decisions this week are highly significant in that the court recognized that certifying class actions in these FACTA cases could result in serious financial hardship for the retailers, and makes no sense given that no harm has been done to the plaintiffs in terms of identity theft or any other damage,” says Robert Wallan, a partner with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in Los Angeles, who lead the defense team representing International Coffee and Tea. “These decisions reach a common sense result.”

In the Soualian suit, during a credit card transaction with one of the Defendant’s Coffee Bean stores, the Plaintiff received an electronically-printed receipt that contained the card’s expiration date. Plaintiff sought to certify the class of individuals who made purchases at the Defendant’s stores between December 24, 2006 and January 24, 2007, who also received receipts containing expiration dates.

U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner of the Central District of California found that due to the enormous damages requested and the lack of harm suffered by the plaintiffs, the plaintiffs failed to pass the superiority test which is required for class certification. In addition, the defendants investigated and removed expiration dates on credit card receipts as soon as they were made aware of the alleged technical violation.

“There is no evidence that any customer making a purchase from the Defendant’s stores…suffered any actual harm due to the inclusion of the expiration date on credit card and debit card receipts,” Judge Klausner wrote in his decision. “Furthermore, it appears virtually impossible for the inclusion of the expiration date on a credit card or debit card receipt to result in identity theft or any other actual harm…. Given the disproportionate consequences to Defendant’s business (if class was certified, statutory damages could be as high as $48 million), and the lack of any actual harm suffered by members of the potential class, the Court finds that Plaintiff fails to meet the superiority requirement.”

The judge also noted that he denied class because upon learning it was in technical violation of FACTA, International Coffee and Tea immediately investigated and rectified the situation, demonstrating good faith and no willful intent.

The other two FACTA cases in which Judge Klauser denied certification this week targeted Avis Rent A Car and clothing retailer Charlotte Russe.

View this article online at: http://www.pillsburylaw.com/bv/bvisapi.dll/portal/ep/newsReleaseDetail.do/pub/2007615142951625/ruleType/PUB_FIRMNEWS_RELEASES/channelId/-8593/tabId/5/pageTypeId/9208

If you have any questions, please feel free to call BHD at 800-377-7776.

BHD at Nike Events around the World

2008-12-19T16:26:00.000-08:00

Retail Pro is used to handle retail sales at Nike events worldwide. Big Hairy Dog is there to help as Nike sets up its enormous tent to house the specialty merchandise that is making record sales at these events.

Karen Page, BHD Sales Rep, and Paul Jones, Tech, recently attended the Chicago and Honolulu Marathons, both of which were huge successes. Retail Pro at the POS kept the sales lines moving at a rapid pace, and flawlessly handled the sales of Nike merchandise. Here are some of the pictures taken at these events.

BHD Holds Annual Holiday Party

2008-12-13T20:41:00.000-08:00

Big Hairy Dog's 2008 Holiday Party was a big success, with employees enjoying each other's company along with dinner and spirits. It seemed to be agreed by everyone that this was the best party yet. Here are just a few of many pictures taken at the event.

Just another day in the BHD Tech Room

2008-12-06T21:00:00.000-08:00

This picture shows Werner, one of BHD's senior techs in a typical hard-working, "I can fix your problem" mindset. We know those of you who have worked with Werner are aware that he is just as good at having fun as he is at solving electronic technical issues. While all at Big Hairy Dog are held to the highest of standards, there is great camaraderie and always time for a little fun.

Retail Pro discontinuing sale of Credit Pro and PPM credit card software

2008-12-03T17:53:00.000-08:00

Retail Pro announced that they will be discontinuing the sale of Credit Pro and PPM credit card integration software, This does not affect those who currently use PPM or Credit Pro. Big Hairy Dog will continue to support these products. If you have any questions, please feel free to call 800-377-7776.

BHD Chooses new Anti-Virus Software

2008-12-03T17:13:00.000-08:00

After testing various Anti-Virus softwares BHD has decided to go forward with AVG as our primary software. We are also approving Kaspersky for use with Retail Pro.

We are discontinuing the use of Trend Micro Internet Security starting with version 2009. Older versions still work fine with Retail Pro, but remember when it comes time to upgrade your Trend Micro - do not upgrade to version 2009. This version creates performance issues with Retail Pro that can not currently be fixed.

We will continue to check with Trend Micro to see if they release an update that fixes the issue, but we can not wait indefinitely for that to happen. Starting Jan 1, 2009, the only version they will available to buy will be the 2009 version.

If you have any questions regarding this, please feel free to contact a BHD tech at 916-368-1070.

More States Requiring Price Displays at Retail Checkouts

2008-12-01T22:29:00.000-08:00

Many states are now requiring Scanned Price Displays at the Retail Point of Sale. These displays must be placed in a location plainly visible to consumers. Each year, more states adopt this legislature, managed under the State Department of Weights and Measurements, subdivision (a), article 13300.

In part, this article states: "13300. (a) The operator of a business establishment that uses an automatic checkout system to sell goods or services to consumers shall ensure that the price of each good or service to be paid by the consumer is conspicuously displayed to the consumer at the time that the prices is interpreted by the system."

For those states who just adopted this ruling, the price displays must be in place on and after January 1, 2009. Big Hairy Dog is working with our customers to get price pole displays shipped and installed by deadline. These interface seamlessly with Retail Pro, and are sale-priced to be affordable to those customers needing them.

We have heard from some customers who have been fined for not having this hardware in place. Be sure to protect your business to avoid legal action. Call today to order your pole displays and save with our end-of-year special pricing. 800-377-7776.

BHD Minimum Staff, 2-6pm, Friday, Dec. 5

2008-12-01T16:03:00.000-08:00

BHD Staff will be participating in a company-wide meeting from 2-6pm on Friday, Dec 5. During those hours we will be operating with a minimum staff available. We ask customers who need to reach a staff member, and know in advance, please call before 2pm. There will be minimum tech support available from 2-6pm for any emergencies which may arise.

Trend Micro Internet Security 2009 Not Compatible with Retail Pro

2008-11-21T17:42:00.000-08:00

Trend Micro has a new version of their virus software that is being released. This new version causes slowdowns in Retail Pro that we have determined can not be avoided and are not tolerable for our customers.

Therefore we will not be selling Trend Micro Virus software any longer. The version that causes the issue is Trend Micro Internet Security 2009. This is an upgrade to the TM Internet Security 2008 that we currently install on all of our PC's.

TM Internet Security 2008 still works fine and please continue to use it. When your subscription to Trent Micro Internet Security 2008 expires DO NOT UPGRADE to the 2009 version.

Big Hairy Dog is currently testing a couple of new Anti-Virus Software packages for our customers: AVG and Kaspersky. Most likely we will be going with AVG, but we will give a formal announcement shortly.

If you have any questions regarding this issue, please feel free to contact a BHD tech at 916-368-1070.

BHD Customers using EFT Solutions, Please Read!

2008-10-29T14:20:00.000-07:00

For clients using EFT solutions integrated with Retail Pro, there is a great Workstation Preference that allows a receipt to automatically be printed after an approved transaction.

From the main screen in Retail Pro, select:

OPTIONS
WORKSTATION PREFERENCES
EFT (from the left side)

Check the three preferences shown here on each workstation. This will eliminate the need to hit "Enter" after swiping the card. The information from the card will be read immediately and a receipt printed.

If you have any questions about this, please feel free to call a BHD Tech at: 916-368-1070.

BHD Techs with Super Powers?

2008-10-20T14:50:00.000-07:00

As our techs make courtesy calls to customers, one customer recently told BHD tech, Brian, "We ran into a little problem last week, but Derek got us fixed in what must of been less then 10 minutes. The good people at Big Hairy Dog have slid down the bat pole to conquer the joker's minions and save the day yet again!"

We at Big Hairy Dog don't claim to have Batman on our side, but we understand how our customers might think so.

Retail Pro users can not upgrade to Trend Micro Internet Security, TM 2009.

2008-10-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

The new version of Trend Micro Internet Security (TM 2009) has been changed, affecting the operating speed of Retail Pro. On TM 2009, Retail Pro runs slower when it is running on a workstation. The operating speed of Stand Alone PC's are not affected by this latest version.

NOTE: Big Hairy Dog is installing TM 2008, which causes no negative effect on the operating speed of Retail Pro.

There is no way to turn off the ‘On Access’ scanning in this new version and excluding Retail Pro from the scanning does not help the speed.

So for right now, Retail Pro users can not upgrade to Trend Micro Internet Security, TM 2009. We will keep you updated as to the resolution of this issue. If you have any questions, please call a BHD Tech at 916-368-1070.

Four Heads are Better than One

2008-10-15T11:48:00.000-07:00

Paul, one of the senior Techs at BHD, recently assisted Nike in their retail store at the Chicago Marathon. An issue arose which required 23 PCs to be reconfigured. Paul called BHD to get some information from Werner, a fellow senior tech. Werner mentioned the situation at the Chicago Marathon to the other BHD techs and soon Nathan and Rich picked up their phones and dialed into the PCs at the Chicago event to help reconfigure them remotely.

Paul reports that the situation came up unexpectedly and a plan of action was quickly agreed upon. The entire issue was resolved within a very brief period of time, thanks to the spontaneous teamwork that is a fundamental part of Big Hairy Dog service. "We break every rule to take care of our customers!"

Purging Sales Orders with ECI link open - BHD has the FIX

2008-10-09T13:28:00.000-07:00

A technical issue has been discovered when customers attempt to purge Sales Orders while the ECI integration link is open. This includes the link being open even at the main screen. Some customers have experienced duplication of Sales Orders while purging with the ECI link open.

Retail Pro is working on a permanent fix to this problem, however to remedy this in the short term, please do not purge Sales Orders until you are completly closed out of ECI.

If you have any questions about this issue, please call a Big Hairy Dog Tech at 916-368-1070.

BHD Sends Raffle Winner to Hawaii

2008-10-07T12:50:00.000-07:00

Big Hairy Dog held a raffle during the last tradeshow season. Any new prospect who scheduled and received a Retail Pro demonstration at the show, was entered into a drawing for a free Hawaii vacation.

The Rain Shed, a fabric and notions shop, located in Corvallis, OR won the raffle. They recently returned from their trip, and shared some pictures with us. The photo above was taken atop Diamond Head volcano.

The Rain Shed is now enjoying the benefits of Retail Pro technology in their shop. They remarked, "We wanted a cruise for our 25th anniversary (9/4/07) but we bought a thirty year old business instead. BHD is helping us bring it into the 21st century technology-wise. We have had nothing but good experiences with you which makes life easier. You even provided us with this wonderful, relaxing, much needed break."

Congratulations to Glenda and Mike on the success of their new business, and on winning the trip to Hawaii.

Security Not Polling? BHD has the Fix!

2008-10-06T17:23:00.000-07:00

Are you having problems with your security settings while polling to remotes? If so, Big Hairy Dog has the fix.

Recently Retail Pro wrote an update in the software, which is essentially a hidden "secret" switch that stops security from being overwritten at remote sites.

PROBLEM: Once you’ve initialized for security, new or changed user info does NOT poll over, even though RPRO says “SECURITY HAS BEEN UPDATED”. In reality, the new or changed user info has NOT been updated.

FIX: The fix for this is to edit the RPROUI.INI file. Open the file and go to the very bottom of the page. Find the section that says:

[Polling]
XFERPWS=0

This setting needs to be set to 1. This will allow security to be updated at the remote. If you are experiencing this problem, fix the RPROUI.INI file as follows:

[Polling]
XFERPWS=1

This step must be taken at ALL REMOTE LOCATIONS. Then reinitialize security and the issue will be resolved.

We invite you to call BHD tech support for assistance with this issue.
BHD Tech line: 916-368-1070

BHD Makes it to Egypt!!

2008-10-06T11:04:00.000-07:00

A BHD T-shirt, that is, via Joe, our great shipping clerk! Joe and his wife vacationed in Egypt, visiting much of the ancient history the area has to offer. Here is a photo of Joe posing in front of the Egyptian Sphynx. Look closely and you'll see the BHD logo on his shirt!

Joe and his wife grab every bit of culture they can, attending weekly musical theaters at Sacramento's Music Circus. Joe has even been known to sing a few bars of classic musicals in the office. (not a bad voice, either.)

By all accounts, they had a wonderful time. Welcome back, Joe!

Embellish recognized in Sacramento Magazine

2008-10-03T12:44:00.000-07:00

Embellish, a BHD customer, and quaint European-style home-decor gift shop, was recognized in the September, 2008 edition of Sacramento Magazine. Part of the charm of Embellish comes from the 1800s era brick building the shop is housed in, and contains 2000 sq. ft. of lamps, candles, clocks, tapestries, jewelry and much, much more.

Located in old town Elk Grove, CA, Embellish is a thriving specialty retailer using Retail Pro to manage its technology needs.

Congratulations to Embellish, another great customer!

Congratulations to Christina!

2008-09-30T13:11:00.000-07:00

Big Hairy Dog takes pride not only in its great customers, but also in its great employees. Probably all of you have spoken to Christina in our Service Department. Christina is that cheerful voice that follows up after onsites, and calls just to check in and see how you're doing.

Christina recently graduated from Phoenix University, earning a Bachelor's Degree in Business. We often see her studying hard during her lunch break, and we know these last years have represented long hours and a lot of perseverence for her. Congratulations, Christina. We are all proud of you!!

Natural Disasters: Data Back-Up is Crucial!

2008-09-10T14:41:00.000-07:00

Backing up your data on a regularly scheduled basis may just be the action that saves your company from financial disaster, in the event of an emergency.

Big Hairy Dog has customers who have been affected by natural disasters, such as fires, earthquakes, hurricanes and flooding. The thing that has protected these businesses from ruin is data back-up. Natural disasters come with little or no predictability, so it's best to be prepared at all times.

Best practice suggests backing-up data when no one is using the system, so no data is lost. Whatever method or schedule your company chooses, it is vital to the security of every business to have a current and complete back-up available.

If you have any questions about backing up your company's data, please call a BHD Tech at 916-368-1070.

BHD Demos Retail Pro to Many Interested Retailers at Tradeshows

2008-09-01T21:54:00.000-07:00

Big Hairy Dog Sales, Training and Tech Staff have been busy giving demonstrations of Retail Pro to retailers all over the country.

The BHD booth at MAGIC Tradeshow in Las Vegas, (right) was filled with shoppers looking for the best solution for their POS and Inventory Control needs. Also present were BHD customers who were able to schedule time to receive free training and tech support.

BHD Sales Reps, Karen and Pam, (below) respond to questions from interested attendees. Traveling to shows from New York to San Diego is an important way to reach those retailers looking for a better solution to their business needs. We find they are always amazed at the flexibility, scalability and ease of use that Retail Pro offers.

BHD NEWS

Wintergreen Northern Wear Opens a New Store!

Read the latest Retail Pro Customer Newsletter, "Retail Beat"

BHD Call Back Time in November, 2011

Seven Year-End Business Tax Tips You Should Consider Now

BHD Call Back Time

10 BHD Techs Now Certified in Retail Pro v9!!

BHD Call-Back Time

BHD Call-Back Time

BHD Using New Backup Solution: NovaStor

BHD Techs v8 and v9 Certified!

C'EST LA VIE Wins 5 FREE Tech Hours!!

BHD Customer, USS HORNET, Celebrates The 4th of July!

DARRELL FRANKLIN wins free trip to Tahoe cabin!

California Statewide Sales and Use Tax Rate is 7.25 Percent

Welcome to Baby Bailey Louise!

BHD offers PCCharge Annual Support Renewal at ONE LOW PAYMENT!

Are you on PCI Compliant Versions of Retail Pro - AND - PCCharge?

BHD Thermal Receipts and Labels are BPA-Free

Internet Explorer v9 Approved for use with Retail Pro

Sun 'N Fun Airshow Temporarily Closed due to Storm

Retail Pro EFT Link for v9 Released under General Availability

NEW RELEASES: Retail Pro v9.2 r4 and Business Intelligence r4

Windows 7 is 'Fully Approved' to work with Retail Pro!

BHD Customer LITTLE PALM gets High Rating!

BHD Tech and Training Lead Times

Supreme Court ruling on requesting zip codes during a credit card transaction

BHD Welcomes Two New National Parks

BW 2011 requires OS Windows XP or Higher

BDH Tech and Training Lead Times

UPDATE: RETAIL PRO WITH WINDOWS v7

Lead Times for BHD Techs and Trainers

Arizona Adding New Zip Codes

BHD Training and Tech Lead Times

Sign up for FREE PCI-COMPLIANCY WEBINARS!!

Brief Eulogy for Bill Snyder- Owner of William Glenn

Retail Pro bug in Price-Cost Manager tool **FIXED**

BHD Tech, Ken, announces the birth of his new BABY BOY!

QuickBooks V9 Release 10 Update:

'MacGyver' fixes Nike!!

Class Action Lawsuit Against Radiant Systems

Secret Service Investigation, Class Action Lawsuit, Cast Shadow Over Radiant Systems and Distributor

Retail Pro bug detected in Price-Cost Manager tool

BHD LOOKING FOR BETA SITES!

BHD ROLLING BACK PRICES TO 2000!!

Retail Pro v8.6 on list of PCI Compliant Payment Applications

Don't Believe the Lies!

Pet Extreme Enjoying the benefits of Upgrading to Retail Pro v8.6 and PCCharge

Tech and Training Lead Times

Retail Pro Software Rental

Reversing Credit Card Charges in Retail Pro

First Data working with SecurityMetrics to keep your customer's information secure

Can you afford NOT to be PCI Compliant?

BHD at All Stars 2009

Beware of eBay Hardware!

Print cards directly from Retail Pro with the Zebra P430i Card Printer

Retail Pro International, LLC. Marks an End to Chapter 11 Process

Retail Pro offers Medicare Payment Tracking

ConsumerMan asks, "Whatever happened to Customer Service?

Retail Pro now offers serial number tracking and reporting

Protect your valuable Business from 'Cybertheft'

Is Theft a PROBLEM? Big Hairy Dog has the SOLUTION!

Looking for Beta Sites...

Sporting BHD Apparel

BHD Under Attack…Again

Watch as BHD 'Wish Child' receives her dream come true

Training and Tech Lead Times

FREE PCI Compliancy Webinars

Special Store Events Can Increase Sales!

How to change your tax rate in Retail Pro

BHD 'Double-Teaming' Service - It Pays Off!

OPEN FORUM WEBINAR - APRIL 15, 2009

WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR GOOD NEWS!!

Storefront Lagarde, Purchased by Dynacorp, experiencing technical issues

Adobe Acrobat products vulnerable to abuse

Retail Pro offers Loss Prevention Customization

A reminder from Mick Malaney, President of Big Hairy Dog Information Systems

CLEAN HOUSE WARNING FOR PEOPLE WHO USE ECI.

Take BHD on your next trip!

Big Hairy Dog is Global!

Retail Pro bug in Price-Cost Manager tool FIXED