Anyone have multiple locations?

[nattivillin]

We have outgrown our pos system. We need something that works in multiple locations (we have 3 stores)

Right now we use the same system, with 3 different databases.

What do the other muil-location retail / repair shops use?

[nattivillin]

Re: Anyone have multiple locations?

Guess im the only one with this "problem" ha!

[smelvin]

Re: Anyone have multiple locations?

Hi nattivillin

Yeah sorry, not retail. Strictly B2B. Have you looked the open source ERP solutions. I remember one having a POS solution.

Cheers

Scott

[natrat]

Re: Anyone have multiple locations?

Not me, not yet anyway.

One of my clients who runs retail clothing stores in 4 locations has spent the past 3 years working with several different POS companies in an attempt to easily manage all stores from a central database of stock etc. He has tried live systems that do transactions direct to the backend but the speed was not usable. He is currently using a Microsoft Dynamics CRM setup to manage it and it seems to be ok (store data is uploaded several times a day to the head office) but his development needs seem to have outpaced the supplier/developer they are using. This solution isn't cheap and requires a truckload of config. However once he nails it he will be able to easily roll it out in unlimited stores, which is the goal. A few years and tens of thousands of dollars will pay off once its nailed.

nathan

[nattivillin]

Re: Anyone have multiple locations?

Not looking to spend tens of thousands. I was hoping for tens of hundreds.....ha

Looks like that is what it might cost thought, i've tried so many solutions its been a big waste of time. These trial usages are so short, we cant really evaluate them. I'll keep looking.

[bwhatley87]

Re: Anyone have multiple locations?

We are looking at buying a second computer store and I would like to use the same CommitCRM database in both locations. I am not really sure how we could go about this. We'd need some way to identify which location a customer was setup in so that taxes would be correct. Any insight on this?

[Support Team]

Re: Anyone have multiple locations?

What you should do is this:

RangerMSP should be installed in one main location, probably your current office.

You second location store should use the same copy of RangerMSP using remote sessions, probably the best option Terminal Services with SQL.
This way you'll share the same database.

Now, Each Account has its own Tax settings. The Account tax settings can be found in RangerMSP under the Account Details tab.

To each Account set their relevant tax settings based on the location. This way any tax based report you'll print from RangerMSP will display the correct tax amounts for each customer.

Besides, you can also use one of the predefined custom fields for Accounts to identify to which location the customer "belongs". For example, edit the drop down of the Field3 field to "Location A" and "Location B" and assign the right value to each Account, this will let you filter the Accounts list by location, if you'll even need that.

HTH,
Doron

[bwhatley87]

Re: Anyone have multiple locations?

OK, another question, I just noticed where in options>>User Preferences>>default tax codes, does that mean, any account that particular user creates will be default have those tax codes?

[Support Team]

Re: Anyone have multiple locations?

This is a global setting that affects Accounts created by any user in the system.

Thanks,
Doron

[I-Netcs]

Re: Anyone have multiple locations?

Or VPN the locations together and you can run the same CommitCRM installation at all locations.

[natrat]

Re: Anyone have multiple locations?

Have you tried it over a VPN? It's rubbish over an internal WIFI connection, a VPN across a WAN I'd imagine would be dire.

[Support Team]

Re: Anyone have multiple locations?

natrat,

RangerMSP should work perfectly well over an internal WIFI. The only thing with WIFI is that you need to have a stable network that doesn't disconnect and reconnect all the time. When using the SQL version its even handles most WIFI disconnects well.

Currently over VPN it would be best to use Terminal Services.

Dina

[bwhatley87]

Re: Anyone have multiple locations?

The tax settings on each account don't seem to have any effect on the charges, it seems as it takes the tax settings from the item.

[Support Team]

Re: Anyone have multiple locations?

Taxes are applied when two conditions match:
1. The tax is configured to the Account.
2. The same tax is also configure to the Item used for the Charge.

Click here for a detailed explanation about this.

HTH,
Dina

[bwhatley87]

Re: Anyone have multiple locations?

Then that completely throws off setting up different tax codes for different locations. You'd have to have separate items as well.