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April 2016

DentaLab NewsApril 2016
from Mainstreet Systems & Software

FAQ  DentaLab News

 

Here's what is new for April

With the increasing interest in using tablets to track workflow in the lab and in having web portals for the dental office to submit and lookup cases, much of our user group development work this past quarter has been dedicated to these two topics.   Two of our development projects are not quite ready for release.  Those ready for release are DQB 1.46 standard and starter, new guides for DentalRx and the DQBT tablet workflow app, and DentalRx updated for new user-customization features.  A review of these updates is below and in the Support section of our website:  www.mainstreetsystems.net

One of the new projects we have been developing is a low-cost affordable way for you to have a website with a built-in customer web portal for submission of prescriptions, sending digital files, checking on case status and other communications.  This will be an attractive website with these fundamental features:

  • Home page with your main marketing message, photographs, operating hours, a Google map to your location
  • About Us for your main team members, lab history, memberships and certifications, customer testimonials
  • Our Services to list your services and products, provide downloadable documents, a web portal to DentalRx
  • Contact to list all the ways to contact your lab

Each lab will complete a form to provide their unique set of information, choose colors, provide photographs and downloadable documents.  This will be reviewed for clarity and completeness by a Mainstreet staff member experienced in website design and implementation.  Once acceptable, Mainstreet will complete and publish the website.

We hope to complete the development of a portal for the Henry Schein Digital Dental Exchange (DDX) system in the second stage of this project.   We will also be open to adding more features to the standard website such as blogs and events or creating a more customized website for additional fees.

Our target for the official offering of the websites with customer portals is May 2016.  Please let us know if you are interested in any of these possibilities and/or requesting a priority spot on our list.  You can call or simply send a quick email response to this newsletter.

The clock is ticking for a free upgrade to Windows 10

Microsoft has been offering a free upgrade to Windows 10 for everyone licensed for Windows 7  or 8.   This offer will expire on July 29, 2016.   If you are eligible but have not yet updated, we urge you to not wait until the very last minute.    We have found Windows 10 very worthwhile and have updated both our home and office stations to it. 

From our first-hand experience, here are just a few precautions:

  1. Pay attention to compatibility with your equipment, particularly if it is old.  During the preliminaries prior to full installation of Windows 10, you will receive a message to let you know if incompatibilities have been found.   Do not ignore these.
  2. Not all software systems have been updated to Windows 10 and the Edge browser.   To accommodate this, Microsoft provided for retention of the prior Internet Explorer browser that can be used if a software you are trying to use has not been updated.  You could also have one or more of the alternate free browsers such as Chrome or Mozilla installed to handle this.
  3. Software from Mainstreet Systems has been updated for Windows 10 since the DQB 1.43 release.  You can note your version from the initial splash screen or your About box.   If you need to update before installing Windows 10,  please contact us.
 

  Easy, versatile software for the modern dental laboratory.

To answer your questions...

Q:  We have a new dental group with three doctors.  They want all the billing to go to the group.   How do we handle this?

A:  In the QuickBooks Customer Center, you would first add the dental group as the main billing customer.  Then from the top menu, choose Add Job for each of the doctors in the group.   Then in DQB, under Options/Synchronization, check that you want both customers and jobs synchronized.   In DQB, each doctor will be setup as a customer so that their individual preferences can be entered and honored and their cases and communications tracked.   When an invoice is created from a DQB case it will be directed to the main billing customer.

Q:  We really like the sales reports by customer group but we occasionally get a request for just one doctor.   Can you add this feature?

A:  We can add this to the to-do list for DQB, but here is a way you can accomplish this now:

  1. From Basic Lists/Customer Groups, create a new group and click the requested doctor.  For our example, we will name the group ONE CUSTOMER.
  2. From Reports/Sales Analysis, go to the right column, enter your date range.
  3. From Summary by Customer Group, choose ONE CUSTOMER.  Click Generate to create the report.
  4. If you wish,  you can click to Print the report or Save to transfer it to a format such as PDF to email to your customer.
  5. For future requests, you can keep this group and just change which doctor is selected. 

Note that you can follow a comparable pattern if you wish to generate Product Group reports for just one item. 

Q:  Is your software cloud-based?

A: For those who want their software and data to be hosted in the cloud, we offer two choices Amazon Web Services and MyQuickCloud.   Amazon was one of the original developers of large highly secured data centers.  Others have attempted to match their level of security but most have not achieved this.  MyQuickCloud has focused on providing an alternate to QuickBooks Online for those who much prefer the desktop versions that have greater capabilities.  This offers highly secured cloud services with two large data centers in the USA.

With MyQuickCloud you can also choose to self-host so that you can choose which elements of your system will remain private and protected and which options and users can have remote access for off-premise work, sales activities, etc.  A sample of this can be found by clicking the MyQuickCloud link on the home page of our website. 

Most of our labs have chosen the hybrid approach, keeping the core portions of their systems protected in-house but offering cloud-based services such as online prescription submittals, case lookups, entry/edit of preferences, pickup requests, email notifications, and remote access in DentaLab and payment processing and emailing of invoices, statements and purchase orders in QuickBooks.   

More details can be found on our website:   www.mainstreetsystems.net

 

      With the same look and feel of QuickBooks.

Training can be tricky

The tricky part about training is that you don't always know what the student already knows.  And since people each learn in their own unique way, the method of training may or may not fit.   We were recently taken to task by one new user of DQB because she did not know what an item description should entail or why in QuickBooks there is an item name and an item description.   In another situation, a new user told us he could never learn enough from our tutorials or webinars and would need to see the system at work in another lab.  Others have said wow, this is so easy!

All of this plus the importance we place on continual learning and education are the reasons we offer a variety of ways to become trained and to receive guidance whenever needed.   Here are some of the possibilities for you:

  • Our user group/service agreement program provides at a very affordable monthly fee the opportunity to receive guidance from our staff or when appropriate from another user group member.
  • Personal interactive webinars can be scheduled to work with our demo/training system or have us take a look at what you have on your system.
  • Our website is what is known as content-rich, providing tutorials, product descriptions, in-depth topics in our blog and knowledge base.  The address is:  www.mainstreetsystems.net
  • Monthly newsletters provide the latest news on technology advances, compliance requirements, tips and techniques.   These are sent via email and archived copies are available in the support section of our website.
  • All versions of DQB have a Help button to display a comprehensive user manual that can be searched by topic, displayed or printed. 
  • Training sessions at our offices here in Pennsylvania or at your lab can be requested for one or more persons.

Note also not to be afraid to try something new.   Both QuickBooks and DQB are very forgiving systems that allow you to correct should you make a mistake.

DQB Release 1.46

Here are the significant enhancements to DentaLab for QuickBooks (DQB) in 2016 Release XLVI in April on requests and suggestions from users of the system as well as the technical support staff.  

Unless otherwise noted, the enhancements have been applied to only the standard versions.

Case Reports-Days in Status

For both the standard and starter versions, in the case reports by open/in lab, out for try-in, on-hold and pre-booked statuses, the number of work days in the status will be calculated and displayed.   The program will determine non-workdays from the holiday table and the setting for weekend (Sat/Sun) work.

For greater precision in tracking days in status for on hold and out for try-in cases, a new status date/time field will be added to the case header record.  This will provide greater accuracy for these status changes in the future but not for prior changes.

Basic Lists – More Modern Controls

We have begun the change to more modern programming controls for accessing and updating the basic lists to provide greater ease of use and less key movement. Those updated in this release are:

  • Case Stages
  • Case Types
  • Doctor Materials
  • Quality Controls
  • Ship Methods
  • Tooth Shades

This will continue in the next release.

New Guides for DentalRx and DQBT Tablet Workflow App

We have developed new guides for the DentalRx and DQBT tablet workflow app. For DentalRx, there are two new guides, one for the lab and one to issue to the dental offices that will be using the web portal.   These will be emailed upon request. 

DentalRx – New User Options for Customization

In the settings of the standard version of DentalRx, you can make choices on how you want DentalRx to work for your lab:

Screen Color:    The default color for the screen banners is a deep green.  You can select a different color from the chart provided.

Screen Font:    The default screen font is Times New Roman.  You can select a different font from the list provided.

Screen Logo:    In the upper left of the main entry screen for the prescription will be a spot to replace the default image with your logo.  The logo can be up to 150 pixels high and 350 wide.

Minimum Workdays for Return:  You can establish the minimum number of workdays needed for return of the case and entre a screen message to convey to the user the earliest return date that can be requested.  The default number is 1.  The DQB settings for holidays and weekend work scheduling will be used when determining work days.

Pickup Requests:  The default setting is to include the capability of entering pickup requests.  You can choose to exclude this feature.

Preferences:  The default setting is to include the capability of creating, editing and viewing standing preferences for the doctor.  You can choose to exclude this feature.

Selection of Case Items by Category:  The default setting is to enter case items by selecting from DQB standard procedures designated as available for DentalRx.   You can choose to enter case items by selecting from DQB Product Groups designated as available for DentalRx.  The product group names will establish categories such as Fixed, Removable, Orthodontic.

Required Fields:   The default setting will be to require all of the case-related fields.  You can uncheck those not required.  The case fields are Patient Name, Patient Age, Patient Sex, Shade, Tooth Number(s), Case Memo, Case Type, Case Item (minimum 1), Requested Return Date. 

Case Search Results:  The search results will always include these fields:  Case Number, Patient Name, Received Date, Requested Return Date, Case Status.   You can choose to also include any of these fields:  Patient Age, Patient Sex, Shade, Tooth Number(s), Case Memo, Case Type, Invoice Amount.

Note that this update is for the standard DentalRx version only and must be requested separately from the downloadable release for DQB 1.46. 

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Customization is available for all products.

Contact us at 1-800-257-4535 or www.mainstreet-systems.com.

"I really enjoy it. All in all, I am loving it."

Jody Finn
Oral Health System Integration, Washington


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