November 2007

Coming Up....the Holidays, the New Year

We have had many labs tell us they would like to launch DentaLab for QuickBooks in January to start off the new year. With this in mind, we want to tell you again our holiday schedules and ask that you not wait until the last minute to get started. First, here are the days we will be closed:

Because we service labs in other countries, we will check for email and voice mail messages on these holidays.

Before beginning case entry and scheduling, you should have your customers, employees, items and work centers setup and reviewed, plus any other basic lists you plan to use. If you are planning to have us do data conversions or customize forms or programs, we will need adequate time to do this right and have you review our work.

And in this month of giving thanks...

We would like to thank all of you who have helped make DentaLab for QuickBooks such a nice success through your reviews and selections, your ideas, your participation in the user group, your recommendations to other labs, and all the other things you do!

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do you have a "DentaLab for Dummies" publication that I could read?

A: No, not exactly. We are working on the development of a PDF (Adobe portable data format) manual that will combine the contents of our current Help system within DQB with some of the white papers on special topics, as well as the installation and startup guides that are on the trial CD's. If you have any further suggestions on what to include, please send them in

Q: Can you schedule work down to specific times within the day?

A: Within our standard DQB release, we plan to keep scheduling by the day, with provision through the work centers and schedule factors for product mixes within the day. This is in the interest of keeping the standard release very easy to setup and use and is in keeping with the way most laboratories want to schedule. As we have done for our legacy systems, we create custom versions for the more intricate or unique requests. We can and have developed custom programming that can schedule to the half day or any hour within the day.

Q: Can you offer a system that does not have so many features...that is really simple like my old system?

A: We have evaluated the possibility of taking away features from DQB, but found that there would be no widespread consensus on what to take away. All of the features have worthwhile value for labs. What we have done is minimize what is required and made most of the features optional. So if you do not want to track shades or use lab notes or enclosures or something else, just skip these features. The startup guide covers what is required and what is not. Begin with the few features you had before and, when you have time, take a look at the other possibilities...you may end up being glad you have them.

If you have fallen behind.....

For those who have licensed DentaLab for QuickBooks, but are not sure if you are up to date, the easiest way is to click on Help on the top toolbar and then About.This will tell you the version and supplements you have licensed and your version level. You should be at XII Version 1.12.000.

If you are using a standard release (as opposed to custom) and have an up-to-date support agreement, please call in for instructions and authorization codes to download from our website. If you have been using MSDE (Microsoft Desktop Engine) for data management, our technical staff would also like to have you update from this to SQL Express 2005, as MSDE is no longer supported by Microsoft.

Some of you who have not been on support have expressed a desire to update to the latest version. For you, we have developed a schedule of update fees that will be available from now until January 15, 2008. Contact us soon if you are interested in doing this. We will not be doing a mailing as we did last year, but have posted the list of enhancements completed in 2006 and 2007 on our website mainstreet-systems.com in the Support/Releases section.

Systems that are significantly behind become the hardest and most expensive to support and inevitably, changes in technology, in dental laboratories, and in government regulations require that software be responsive. Don't wait until you get yourself in big trouble!

2008 Fee Schedules

Some, but not all of our license fees and monthly support fees will have small increases in 2008. We have ready the new price schedules for 2008, which you can request. For those to which the changes apply, you will see these in the January bills that are generated at the start of December.

If you have been thinking about adding users or one of the supplements, you may want to get this licensed before the end of 2007.

What's in the works?

We have completed development of a new software offering called Product Costing. This is now in beta-testing in labs in Australia and California. We will soon have a PDF overview available on our website and to email upon request. With this, you can use products (items) you already have in QuickBooks or in DentaLab for QuickBooks to start a product costing or develop one from scratch by simply entering a new product name. You can also begin with one of the samples provided with the system, which will show how labor, material, safety, shipment, royalty/licensing/outsourcing, and other costs can be calculated and tallied. You can experiment with pricing to show potential profitability. Reviewing your product costings can sometimes uncover ways to reduce costs. This is a tool to help ensure that you are working at a profitable level. It's introductory license fee will be $79 USD.

While Product Costing is very descriptive, we have been trying to come up with a more unique name for this. If you have any ideas, please send them in this month. If we adopt your suggestion, we will award a free license to you.

Here are some of the DQB projects in the works, slated for the January release:

• An enlarged user manual, available in PDF (described above in FAQ's)
• A new report providing a list of cases with extra time in their schedule
• A new report showing expired customer alerts
• Work center production analysis
• Incentive pay by percentage
• And more to come...

Dental RX
We have been working with dentists on an alternate version of DentalRx that will be web-hosted and offered as an online service. The initial version will be for the USA and will include ADA insurance codes and dentist notes and preferences. Our goals for this second version remain the same:

• Easier-to-read prescriptions
• Provide accuracy and consistency
• Fewer errors due to misunderstanding between doctors and labs
• Convenient tooth chart and calendar
• Secured access
• Time and cost-saving features

And much more...look for this in 2007

Call 1-800-257-4535 or visit www.mainstreet-systems.com to learn more about Mainstreet Systems and our software designed specifically for dental laboratories.