onTOPS

Welcome to onTOPS, an e-zine produced by TOPS Software to keep you informed about our products and services. August is a hot month, not only in temperature, but also in the content for this e-zine! We have introduced a brand new feature called onHelp. This feature will provide you with a 'monthly subscription' to our newest help - 'Show Me' help. These flash animated how to's show you exactly what to do in TOPS to perform a given task.

Additionally, we have some information on the upcomming TOPS Mobile PDA, and a last chance special on the TOPS HHO Interface. You really can't pass this up if you ever plan to use a Palm or CE with TOPS. You can purchase the HHO interface at the low price today, and get a free upgrade to the TOPS Mobile PDA version when it is released.

We have also included a message from the sales department, an updated trade show schedule, important help on Form Letters, and information on training from an independant trainer - Mike Furnia.

We look forward to hearing your feedback about the e-zine. Please let us know what things you liked, what you would like to see, and any suggested articles by e-mailing us at ezines@topssoft.com. As always, enjoy your reading, and we will see you next month!

by Andrea Drennen 

onSoftware

TOPS Mobile PDA

New and Improved! The Palm Pilot Interface has gotten a face-lift, new features, and a new name. Introducing, the TOPS Mobile PDA!

The TOPS Mobile PDA is an interface, which allows your hand held device (Palm Pilot, Pocket PC, etc.) to synchronize with your TOPS Software. That means that you can upload the Owner Database (including renters), Community Officers, and the Community Fact Sheet to your hand held device. If you have purchased any of these add-on modules available with your TOPS Software, you can also upload CCR/ACC Enforcement Information, Work Orders, Service Requests, Vehicle Information, and Vendor Information.

You can have all of this important information with you all of the time. The TOPS Mobile PDA is a great time saver at board meetings, for property inspections, or for the "on-call" manager, who handles after hours emergencies from home. Everything you need for all of the communities you manage can be right at your fingertips. You can create work orders or service requests, create or close CCR violations, or check for illegally parked vehicles, all from your hand held device. That's right, no more pen and paper, no more misfiled pages, no more paper cuts. The TOPS Mobile PDA will save you time and money!

Available for sale starting September 2003. Contact sales@topssoft.com for more information, or to purchase the TOPS Mobile PDA.

Buy the current Hand Held Interface and receive a FREE upgrade to the TOPS Mobile PDA upon release! See onSpecial for more information

Nicole Beal 

onSales

Thank You for the Referrals

Everyone here at TOPS Software, especially the sales team, would like to send a big Thank You Very Much, to all of our clients. Throughout the year, many companies and associations, hoping that TOPS will be their software solution, contact us to receive a demo CD of either TOPS 2000™ or TOPS On-Site™. One quarter of those companies or associations that contact TOPS are referred to us through word of mouth. Of those that are referred to us through word of mouth, 55% were recommended by current customers of TOPS. We truly appreciate your loyalty and are pleased that you believe TOPS Software produces a quality product, that you are comfortable recommending to your peers. Thank you!

Upcoming Trade Shows

If you are attending one of the following trade shows, please drop by our booth to let us say thank you in person!

• Sep 13: CAI SC Chapter CA Day; Myrtle Beach, SC
• Sep 19: CAI NC Chapter; Cary, NC
• Oct 4: CAI Washington Chapter; Bellevue, WA
• Oct 17: CAI Houston Chapter; Houston, TX
• Oct 23 : FLICPA CIRA Conference; Ft. Lauderdale, FL
• Oct 31-Nov 1: CAI Nat'l Fall Conference; Washington, DC
• Nov 8: CAI - New England Chapter; Dedham, MA

Nicole Beal 

onSupport

Form letter

Using form letters can be a great way to save time and print professional looking documents. The Form Letter program is integrated with both the Collection action processing and the CCR violation and Architectural approval functions in TOPS 2000™. Below are a few tips to help users avoid some common problems

Use Fixed Length Fields

If you are trying to align merge codes in two or more columns use the "Fixed Length" button. This makes the merge codes always print the same width. This button looks like two arrows pointing away from each other. The reason for "Fixed Length" is that many merge codes will change greatly in size. Take for example the [Owners Name] Merge code. "Jon Alan" is a much shorter name than "Kristen Johnson-Beatson". If a column follows the [Owners Name] merge code the position of the next column will be effected by the length of the name unless the "Fixed Length" feature is used. The area between columns should be done using tabs instead of spaces. This allows the text to align properly. Many times there are unseen spaces that make columns unaligned when using merge codes.

Check Your Fonts when Using Columned Fields

Another common issue is found when using the [Itemized Balances-Not Including Prepaid] and [Itemized Balances-Including Prepaid] merge codes. These are merge codes that print all balances broken out by type in a column format. The type of font and the size of the font are important factors in the alignment of the merge codes. If the merge code is in a "fixed width font" (Courier New) the font size must be 10pt or 11pt. If the merge code is in a "variable width font" (Times New Roman, Arial) the font size must be 12pt.

Form letters can be a fast and flexible tool to allow managers to communicate with homeowners. With creativity and well-planned letters you can create customized letters addressing a multitude of homeowner needs that can be printed with a touch of a button.

Ryan Allen 

onHelp

Help Gets an Overhaul

Our entire help system is undergoing a major overhaul right now. We will be updating our online knowledge base, our inline (F1) help, and our user manuals for TOPS 2000™ and TOPS On-Site™. Already we have added over 30 new items to our online knowledge base, available at:
www.topssoft.com/skb/TOPSSOFTKB.htm.

We are also working on a new form of help, called "Show Me" help. This new system will replace the "How To" items currently online, and in addition to a list of instructions, will show a flash demo of how to perform a particular task. The web page to find these little gems is www.topssoft.com/Support/ShowMe.

"Show Me Help will be released in conjunction with this e-zine. Each month we will present one or two topics in Show Me Help format. These will get added to the web site archives, and eventually incorporated into the help system. This month's "Show Me" topic is "Configuring TOPS 2000™ to send Email to an Owner", and is available at www.topssoft.com/Support/ShowMe.

Finally, in response to your requests, we have added our user help manuals to a special new downloads section under Support. The manual sections for all of the TOPS 2000™ Basic System, TOPS 2000™ Tabbed Modules, and all TOPS On-Site™ Modules have been added. Additionally we have added three manual sections per popular request: Job Streaming, Report Defaults, and Email Functionality in TOPS 2000™. All of the manual downloads listed above are available online at www.topssoft.com/Support/Manuals.

Andrea Drennen 

onSpecial

Last Chance to Get Palm Interface for only $195

This is your last opportunity to purchase the Palm Pilot Interface for your TOPS System at the initial price of $195.00 per interface. After August 31, 2003, the Palm Pilot Interface will be upgraded to the TOPS Mobile PDA, which will be priced at $495.00 per interface, with discounts on multiple purchases. The TOPS Mobile PDA will interface with both the Palm Pilot and the Pocket PC, and offer more features than the current Palm Pilot Interface. Anyone who already owns the Palm Pilot Interface will receive this upgrade at no additional charge.

Hurry! Your order must be placed by August 31, 2003 to get the existing $195 price on the Palm Pilot Interface.

Nicole Beal 

onSpotlight

Mike Furnia: The Benefits of On Site Training

Many TOPS clients are under the impression that TOPS 2000™ is simplistic, and therefore easy to 'figure it out on my own'. While the basics of using the software can be self-taught, it is the intricacies: the shortcuts and extras and undocumented features that are the most difficult to learn. Of course, it is these same features that make TOPS 2000™ a valuable tool to your company. Without proper training or an understanding of how the entire product works, you are at the hands of inefficiencies from both employees and technology, plus the ultimate potential loss of a community because of mistakes and errors. How do I know this? Because I was a Controller for a property management company using TOPS for 5 years, I know how the ball rolls in this industry.

My experience can be summed up in a simple acronym: TAP: TOPS 2000™, Accounting, and Property Management. These three aspects of my own experience are also indicative of the three aspects of your business. And that is why you need training to get the maximum benefits from TOPS 2000. TAP represents the three levels of training that you will receive when you choose a qualified TOPS trainer to help your employees better do their jobs. Some of the TOPS 2000™ clients I've trained over the past year gave their opinions on the subject of on site training. Let me share with you the benefits they have received from a quality training program:

Prepare for the "What If's"

Grand Shores Management Group, Sandestin, Florida (Sheila Hawley) "worth every dime spent. ...I bought and installed TOPS 2000™ from reading the manual and the help screen. But it did not prepare me for the what if's, which only happen in a crisis, but that is what Mike supplied. How to deal with those what if's and other alternatives on how to use the system more efficiently ... "

Reduce Audit Costs

Candlewick Lake Homeowners Assoc., Poplar Grove, IL (Mark Harrison)..."We brought in Mike to train and implement the changes needed, not only from a TOPS 2000™ usage point of view, but also from an accounting application point of view. For every dollar spent, it was returned a 100 fold. The audit fees were cut substantially. The calendar days for the audit dropped and the number of days to do the fieldwork were reduced. This was the cheapest audit in years!

For two years, we never had the system (TOPS 2000™) functioning properly -- until after the training. It wasn't a TOPS issue, but an operational issue. The system was originally set up wrong. Once we had the proper training, then implementation, based upon Mike's recommendations, we knew that was the key. The benefits were 6 figures; reduction in audit costs, collection process cleaned up, collection of outstanding dues reduced dramatically, and a monthly system to manage the money. ..."

Reap the Benefits of New Features

BP Davis Property Management, Cocoa Beach, Florida (Sandy Bean & Christine Morgan) DOS to Windows conversion most recently ..."Wow! We should have converted a year ago with all the new features TOPS 2000™ has to offer; contraire to what a previous DOS customer said about the new features or lack of. Told the owner, 'the money was well spent, both for the conversion and the on site training with Mike. Especially, with having someone on site to help with the conversion and fix the hiccups that occurred.' The on site training was extremely beneficial, especially with someone who has an accounting background, plus real property management experience..."

The above are just a few of the many who have benefited by a professional on-site training program. You can see that the benefits far outweigh the costs associated with the training itself. The only way to take advantage of the many benefits of TOPS 2000™ ownership is through proper training. And the best kind of training addresses all aspects of your business, not just your software. If your objective is to save time and money, and make this software work for you to its full potential; then TAP is the solution.

Mike Furnia is an Independent Dealer and Trainer of TOPS Software products. You can contact him at (813) 361-1345, or mcfurnia@earthlink.net.

Mike Furnia 

onTopic

Debunking Nursery Rhymes: 

Many of us are aware that the nursery rhyme 'Ring Around the Rosie' originated from the black plague that devastated Europe. However, did you know that there are also sociopolitical origins for many other popular rhymes. Here are a few:

Here we Go Round the Mulberry Bush: A mulberry bush stood in the middle of the exercise yard at Wakefield prison in Yorkshire, England. The prisoners would have to 'go round and round it on a cold and frosty morning'.

Hickory Dickory Dock: Derived from an old sheep counting method used by shepherds in northern england: "Hevera, Devera, Dick..."

Little Jack Horner: In the 16th century, at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, the Abbot of Glastonbury sent his steward, Jack Horner to London. In an attempt to appease King Henry VII, Horner was bearing a Christmas pie containing the title deeds of 12 manors. But Horner 'put in his thumb' and pulled out another kind of 'plum' - the deed to the Manor of Mells in Somerset. Horner moved into the manor, and his descendants lived there until late in the 20th century.

"Mark My Words - Great Quotations and the Stories Behind Them"
  By: Nigel Rees