At 05:42 PM 6/21/98 -0700, you wrote: >1. What type of computer do you have (Mac or IBM clone) and what additional >hardware or peripherals do you use with it? 486DX IBM clone (handmade by my father-in-law from parts bought from computer catalogs) with 32 megs of Ram and 1.1 gigabyte hard drive. We use Windows 95 and it works great! The computer was state of the art two years ago, but now it seems kind of slow, as it only runs at 40mhz, and it takes a while to respond when using too many programs at once (such as when I am answering e-mail, chatting on IRC, typing something in Microsoft Word, updating my calendar in Microsoft Outlook and doing some bookkeeping in Quickbooks Pro and listening to a music CD all at the same time!). We have a 6X CD drive, a 3-1/2" floppy drive and a zip disk drive (100 megabyte floppy disks) for backing up computer files. (Just a short note, please emphasize the fact that data must be backed up onto floppy disk drives or it can easily get lost permantently!) We also use a color Hewlett Packard 722C Deskjet. >2. How long have you been making use of your computer for business purposes? About 3 or four years, but only the past year has it been very important to my business. Right now I could NOT do it without the computer. I need the computer to keep my schedule and finances straight! And of course keep up with all 5 e-mail lists and lRC chat! >3. When was the last time you upgraded your system? About two years ago. The next computer will probably be a IBM clone laptop so that I can get RCT for Windows. >4. If you use a word processing program, which one is it and what sort of >things do you use it for? For the past two years we have been using Microsoft Word 6.0 which came in a complete set of programs called Office Suite. Word does everything I want it to do. I use it to write letters to customers, and I also have my business brochure saved as a file in Microsoft Word, and I currently print it out in color and give that to my customers. Eventually I will pay to get my brochure professionally printed on nice glossy stock, but that would put an end to continually changing the wording! >5. Do you use your computer for bookkeeping? If so, what program do you use? QuickBooks Pro 5.0. The program cost about $150.00 on sale, but it is the best money I have ever spent on a computer program. QuickBooks Pro does everything you could possibly need in a bookkeeping program, and you can customize it to fit your business. Once the info is in the computer, you then can print out any kind of chart you want about your finances (Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, Inventory, Budget, Payroll, Sales Tax etc.). It also prints out bar graphs and pie charts in neat colors! QuickBooks Pro will keep track of all your Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, keep track of all the Invoices and Estimates and Purchase Orders, keeps track of any number of bank accounts (including checking, petty cash, credit cards and loan accounts), will keep track of Sales Tax payable, will keep track of your employees and Payroll, and is supposed to even be able to help you with Income Tax if you buy an additional program like Turbo Tax (which I don't have. >6. How do you keep track of customer records? Microsoft Outlook 97 has a data base to keep track of your customers including several phone numbers and several addresses, e-mail address and web page. It also has a section for notes about each customer. Outlook also will keep track of every contact you have with a customer, such as phone calls, letters, meetings, etc. The only thing I don't like about it is that as far as I can tell there is no way to keep track of customers pianos in a specific field. But even if I just keep the piano information in the notes field, I can always use the powerful search engine to find anything at all, so it doesn't matter that much. >7. Do you send reminders through your computer and, if so, how are these >lists generated? Microsoft Outlook will keep track of your calendar very well, and it has a great reminder feature. You can have a beep alert you when the reminder pops up, or you can even have a .wav file (sound file) or a midi file play a song when the reminder pops up. You can delay the reminder for up to two days, and the computer will keep reminding you forever until you decide to cancel the reminder or until you get tired of hitting Postpone! (Oh yes, with Microsoft Outlook handling scheduling it is now much harder to schedule two customers at one time or to miss an appointment because the info was written on hundred's of small pieces of paper laying here and there and everywhere! >8. In addition to your computer files, do you also use index cards a/o paper records to carry with you into the customer’s home? I use Microsoft Outlook to print out my daily schedule, and I can also print out the customer file to take with me, but I no longer use 3 x 5 cards. > >9. Do you use your computer for billing customers? Do you print invoices? >If so which program do you use for these activities? I use custom printed 3 part carbonless numbered invoices, but then I input the information into QuickBooks Pro. If I had a laptop computer and portable printer, I could print out a customized color invoice on the spot. For Churches and Colleges and past due invoices I do print out another invoice or a statement using QuickBooks Pro. > >10. Do you do such things estimates and appraisals, etc. from your >computer? What program(s) do you use for such reports? I now use QuickBooks Pro for estimates. The key is getting all of the info put into the computer, (such as your inventory so you know how much parts cost) without having to do research each time you do an Estimate. The other key is getting all of your service codes entered into the computer so you can do the estimate by just clicking on the service you want to perform, click on the parts you are going to sell, and then let the computer do all of the adding and computing tax. Since I let QuickBooks Pro do estimates, it has been a long time since I have underbid on an estimate! Appraisals I still do using another form that I typed up. I haven't figured out how to use a program to do Appraisals yet. >11. Do you publish a newsletter from your computer and what method do you >use? I do not publish a newsletter, but when I do, I will use Microsoft Word. It will do just about any format you want for a newslsetter. >12. Do you use a spread sheet for any of the above tasks? I use Microsoft Excel to generate forms but I don't yet know how to use the computing part of the program to automatically add up the columns. >13. Do you use a program for scheduling appointments a/o a Personal >Information Manager? Microsoft Outlook schedules personal and business appointments, reminds you of unlimited number of tasks, and can keep your to-do list completely up-to date. >14. Do you track shop work and tasks on your computer? No. >15. Can you think of any other valuable ways your computer has helped you in >your piano service business? E-mail for all of the mailing lists! IRC to chat with other Technicians online! >Jeannie Grassi, RPT >jgrassi@silverlink.net >Bainbridge Island, WA Sincerely, David David A. Vanderhoofven, RPT Joplin, Missouri http://www.clandjop.com/~dkvander/ #pianotech page: http://www.clandjop.com/~dkvander/ircpiano.html New web page for the Joplin Community Concert Association http://www.concerts.joplin.com
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