We are doubling down on our focus to provide exemplary customer service and help you be successful. With that, we are launching eNews 2.0. To put our words where our mouth is we are committed to sending a fresh copy of eNews 2.0 to your Inbox every other month. If its a sales pitch you are interested in, then this newsletter is not for you. It is written for people interested in learning more about DockMaster and we will provide ways for you to be heard as well. Your opinions and ideas helped to shape DockMaster since it’s humble beginnings in 1984 and it is that culture and marine industry involvement that we want to accentuate.

DockMaster Update:

The latest version of DockMaster is 8.4.0.2. There have been a number of improvements in the past couple of releases of DockMaster. Here is a list of some of the things we’ve done recently:

• AP/Sublet Reconciliation – this is one of the most requested features we’ve received in years. Now you can link Sublet POs on a work order to its associated AP Invoices. A single sublet PO can be attached to one or more invoices. Here are the steps in the process:
  • Create a new AP Invoice in Maintain Invoices for the sublet vendor.
  • Locate the Sublet PO field beneath Receiver Id on the form and select a sublet PO typing in the PO number or using F6 to select it.
  • Enter the amount that is being paid against the sublet PO.
  • Accept the vendors default WIP distribution or update it in the GL distribution grid.
  • If there were previous posted invoices applied to the sublet PO click the Receiver/Sublet tab to view them.
  • Save and process the invoice. This feature can help you close your accounting periods sooner.
• Use the new forecast tab to analyze and track your technician’s performance on each job. The sub-menu items for the opcode’s summary and forecast have been added to the Maintenance Function menu as Operation Summary and Operation Forecast. These items work and display the same as from within the work order.
• Archive old estimates – Unlike Work Orders, estimates do not “close” or change status when they are converted to a Work Order. The estimate simply stays in the system for historical purposes. Now you can archive old estimates to a file prior to purging them.
• VisualMarina™ improvements – We have added warnings when the beam, draft and/or weight of a boat exceeds the allowance for a slip.

Breaking News:

As most of you know, marine retailers are required to upgrade their credit card readers to EMV (chip and pin) compliant machines. Our first integration with an EMV compliant processor was with Worldpay in Oct of 2015. We have heard from a number of customers that more choices should be made available. So with that in mind, we have added two more EMV-compliant credit card options to the DockMaster family:

• Freedom Pay is a gateway service, not a processor. What this means is they provide the secure, cloud-based network that manages the interaction between software providers like DockMaster and credit card processors. With Freedom Pay, you can choose from the following processors: First Data, TSYS, Heartland, Elavon, Chase Paymentech, Mercury, Vantiv and Global Canada. In addition, Freedom Pay offers peer-to-peer encryption, making it the most secure offering in our line up. Freedom Pay is priced on a per transaction basis.
• Preferred Payments is our newest partner. Preferred provides a complete solution, including both EMV-compliant gateway and credit card processing services. With Preferred, a dedicated account rep will be assigned to your business. They also provide next day funding and do not require a contract. Preferred has a number of marina and marine industry clients, and offer corporate discounts to members of marina industry groups. In addition, they offer a discounted fuel option.
• Worldpay is both a gateway and a processor. Admittedly we had some growing pains with Worldpay as they were our first EMV solution partner, but their support has improved greatly. Using the 1stMile card reader application, they have greatly improved their EMV capabilities. In addition, they are the only processor we have at this time that supports ACH payment processing. For current Worldpay customers who were setup before the 1stMile solution was available, just submit a case to support@dockmaster.com and we’ll schedule a time to enable your EMV capabilities.

For more information on what credit card options might be best for you, email info@dockmaster.com.

System Admin Talk:

Running a management system, whether you are using our hosted (cloud) offering or a local server, requires some attention to your network and IT (information technology) infrastructure. The purpose of the System Admin Talk section is to update you on news and issues related to IT, security, software updates from system providers like Microsoft and anything else that we think you may want to know. If this section isn’t for you, feel free to pass it on to your local System Admin or IT expert.

Server 2008 considerations – We support Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard SP2. The issue with Server 2008 STD is that it doesn’t support .NET 4.6.2. This is required to use the latest version of DockMaster. Customers on 2008 STD are unable to upgrade beyond 8.2.6.0 with this configuration due to the introduction of .NET 4.6.2 as a prerequisite. Customers must be on the most current version to take advantage of these new enhancements.

To stay up to date on all of our system requirements, click here.

We want to hear from you. To provide us with a comment or suggestion, please email us at info@dockmaster.com.

–

DockMaster Software is an industry leading management system for marinas, boatyards, and boat dealerships. DockMaster includes Unit Sales, Prospecting and F&I with fully integrated financial management and numerous integrations with CRM applications, dealer websites and text/messaging services. The Service module includes estimating, labor tracking, and complete parts management with ordering/receiving, subcontractor fulfillment and invoicing. DockMaster Mobile allows technicians to clock on/off jobs from any mobile device. Visual Marina™ management includes storage & billing, occupancy tracking, reservations and dry stack management, including integrations to leading consumer applications for boat rentals, online reservations, concierge/launch scheduling and our new Fuel Integration with FuelCloud. DockMaster also includes Point of Sale, Order Entry with eCommerce and a complete accounting system. Learn more at www.DockMaster.com and follow DockMaster on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Or email info@dockmaster.com