MKMS Help

Subscriber Information

This Help File Page was last Modified on 09/18/2013

Subscriber Information

This Help File Page was last Modified on 09/18/2013

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Subscriber Information

This Help File Page was last Modified on 09/18/2013

Previous topic Next topic  

Subscribers - The Reason for an Accounts Receivable System

The Subscriber Form is the anchor of the Accounts Receivable System just like Subscribers are the anchor of your business.
The Subscribers Form and its related menus, tabs and specialized Icons (see below) is the way you interface with the Accounts Receivable System.
The Quick Access style Receivable menu on the Subscribers Form gives you One Click access to most of the Daily Procedures and some Periodic Tasks required in the Accounts Receivable module.
Accounts Receivable System reports are accessed through the Main Menu by choosing Reports and then selecting Accounts Receivable Reports.

 

System Fields: The System Managed Fields, which are highlighted in Teal, are not able to be modified on the Form where they are displayed in this color.
These System Managed Fields are usually definable in another place, unless MKMS determines its value automatically (such as the assignment of an internal record number).

 

HelpFilesSubscriberEntriesSystemIDs

ID - Subscriber's internal Account Number which is automatically assigned by the system when the Add ("+") button is Clicked.  You cannot change this number.
CSID - the Central Station Identification Digits - their designated Monitoring account number(s) - are inserted here automatically after their Monitoring information has been entered.
The Subscriber Panel CSID entered as the Primary CSID is initially shown in this CSID field.
Multiple CSID's may be assigned to the same Subscriber record in Subscriber Panels.
Each will be available for viewing using the Drop-Down Selection List provided.
The CSID information may not be changed here - only on the in Subscriber Panels area of the Monitoring Information Form.
If no CSID information is shown, it has not yet been entered in the Subscriber Panels area of the Monitoring Information Form
Service - the Service Account Number is inserted here automatically after their Service Information has been entered.
Dealer - If you are providing Central Station Monitoring services for an Alarm Dealer, the name of the dealer will be displayed here.
Dial - The Dial Icon is used to dial the Primary telephone number via your modem.
Past Due - If this Subscriber has a Past Due Balance, the words Past Due and the Amount that is Past Due will be flashed in Red.
Note: Flash Past Due - By default, the FlashPastDue option is set to True ("T") on the Company Settings Form which maintains the normal behavior (as described above) whereby an Account with a Past Due Balance when displayed on the Subscribers Form displays a Flashing Red Past Due: $999.99 message. To turn off the Flashing effect of the Past Due Message (which some Users may find distracting) set the FlashPastDue option to False ("F").

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Subscribers Form - Receivable Menu - Red bordered Comments tab showing Alert status

 

Creating a new Subscriber record starting with the Subscriber box.
This Form is presented only in an Edit view.
Edit View (shown above) is where you will actually enter the required information and have access to the Tabs which segment this information into sections based on their function.
Click Add ("+") to start a new record.
Name - Enter the Subscriber's name (up to 70 characters in length - but keep in mind the limited display area of a standard #10 Window Envelope).
Entering a Business Name
Enter the Name as it would be listed in the Telephone Directory
If a prefix is part of the name but that name is not normally alphabetized by that prefix (such as the word "the"), enter the name followed by a tilde ("~") and the prefix.
Example: "ABC Company~The"
Entering an individual Person's Name
Last Name is entered first
Type a tilde ("~")
(The tilde tells the system that everything after it is the Employee's first name and middle initial.)
Enter the First Name and Middle Initial
For Prefixes (Mr., Mrs., Ms., etc.), enter them after the Tilde and before the first name
For Suffixes (MD., Jr., III, etc.), enter them after the last name and before the tilde.
Example: "Smith, MD~Dr. James T."
Street - Enter the Street address and name (up to 30 characters in length).
C/O - The Care Of field also provides a place to expand the Subscriber's address information, and will appear below the Attention line (up to 30 characters in length), if entered.
City, County State, Zip - Enter the City (up to 25 characters in length), County (up to 20 characters in length) which will not be included in any printed forms (Invoices, Statements, Proposals) but will be shown in the Sub Info (F2) Form in MKMSCS, State code (or Province) and Zip (or Postal) code.
If the UseZips option is set to True ("T") in the Company Settings Form accessible from within the Company tab on the User Options Form:

 

HelpFilesSubscriberFormZipCode

The Zip field in the Subscribers Form will have a Drop-Down Selection List.
In this Zip field, when the Zip Code (Postal Code) is Selected (and/or entered) for that record's location, the associated City and State (Province) - but not County - information will be automatically inserted into those related fields.
Attn - The Attention line will be printed below the Subscriber's Name on their Invoice's Mailing Address (up to 30 characters in length).
This may be used for a building name, a person, suite number, additional address information or skipped entirely - depending on what you need.
Map Loc(ation) - This field is used to record the page number and map coordinates for this location, GPS coordinates, or any other consistent methodology your Company adopts to easily locate a Subscriber's premises.
Sort Code - This may be entered to help you classify this Subscriber.
Up to 20 characters including upper and lower case letters, numbers, spaces and normal punctuation marks may be entered.
The Subscriber Listing report allows you to Filter based on - among many other fields -  the Sort Code.
The Subscriber Filters function also allows you to filter by this Sort Code.
In the example above "BFP" represents a combination Burglary, Fire, and Panic Alarm System.
Some Reports may be limited (filtered) by these Sort Codes.
Salesman - Using the Drop-Down Selection List, Choose the Salesman of record for this Subscriber. Your Sales staff must be predefined as Employees.
When assigning a Salesperson to a Subscriber, only those Employees whose Employee Type is identified as either Sales or All will be available (in the Drop-Down Selection List list) for populating the Salesman field.
Billing Address Only ? - If this record is being entered as a billing address (no service is provided at this address) for one or more other Subscriber locations, Check the Billing Address Only box.
Note: If this Account is to be billed to a different address than the one you've entered here, please refer to the Bill Payer information.
E-Mail Invoice? - If this Subscriber has requested that their Recurring Revenue Invoices be e-mailed to them, rather that printed and mailed, Check the E-Mail Invoice? box.

 

Continue the Subscriber entry by completing the Contact Information box:
Primary Telephone - Enter the Primary Telephone Number following the rules below.
If you have not Checked Remove Phone Formatting in User Options Form's Company Options tab, Formatting - parentheses and dashes - are applied automatically by the system - you do not have to type them.
If no Area Code is required, enter the telephone number (it cannot start with a 1)
If 10 digit dialing is in effect - no "1"prefix is needed, but you do need to dial an Area Code as part of the telephone number:
Press the <Space Bar> first.
Then enter the three digit Area Code.
Finally, enter the seven digit Telephone Number.
Correct formatting will occur automatically.
Long distance Telephone Numbers (with a "1" prefix) are entered as such with the formatting parentheses and dash applied automatically.
Ext - Enter any Extension number that is required.
1st Alt Tel - Continue with the Alternate Numbers as needed following the Telephone Number entry rules above.
Ext - Enter any Extension number that is required.
2nd Alt Tel - Continue with the Alternate Numbers as needed following the Telephone Number entry rules above.
Ext - Enter any Extension number that is required.

 

Important Note: The Title Names for each of the first three Telephone Number fields (i.e., Primary Telephone, 1st Alt Tel, and 2nd Alt Tel) may be User Defined for each Subscriber by Double-Clicking the actual Title Name to be changed to open the Modify Label? dialog.

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Modify Label? dialog

 

Enter the desired Telephone Number Title Name and Click OK.
That Title Name will replace the existing Title Name.

 

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   Contact Information with New Telephone Names

 

Fax - Enter their Fax number.
E-mail - Enter one or more E-mail addresses.  This field will accept multiple Email Addresses (up to a total of 100 characters).
If you Checked E-Mail Invoice? for this Subscriber, this is the E-mail address(es) that will be used.
Each additional E-mail address must be separated from the previous one by a semi-colon.
If you are using the Communications Module and have elected to use the Notification feature associated with Monitoring these fields will be activated, otherwise they will be unavailable:
Pager Service ID - Enter the Page Service ID using the Drop-Down Selection List, if applicable, for this Subscriber
Pager Unit - Enter the Pager Unit name.
Click the Save ("ü") Icon to record the Subscriber entry.
Duplicate Account Warning - If the Telephone Number of this new Subscriber Information record you are saving already exists in another Subscriber record, a Duplicate Account dialog will be displayed.

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Duplicate Account Warning dialog for Subscribers Form

 

If you know that this Telephone Number is being used by an Account that already exists, and that is acceptable (perhaps it is a sub-location of a main Account or for some other reason, more than one Account will have the same main number), Click the OK button to save the record as requested.
If this is not the case, and one or more Subscriber records are listed, determine whether duplicates are acceptable, whether you need to correct this, or another record's primary telephone number.
oClick the Cancel button and change the current record.
oClick the OK button to accept the current record.
oGo to the other record(s) and make the primary telephone number changes there, if appropriate.

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 Post changes to record?

 

If the User attempts to Close this Form by Clicking the Close Icon (T) before saving the current entry (or modification), a Post changes to record? message will be displayed.
Yes - Click the Yes button to record the entry (or modification) and Close the Form.
No - Click the No button to abandon the entry (or modification) and Close the Form.
Google Maps® - Once the Subscriber record is saved, you may Click the HelpFilesGoogleMapsIconIcon to the right of the Subscriber's address to open a Digital Map Display showing the exact location of this Subscriber.
Any Technicians having a Coverage Area Zip Code that matches that of the Subscriber, will also be identified on this Google Map®.

 

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Google Maps showing Subscriber location & the Technicians assigned to their Coverage Area

 

Specialized Icons available on the Subscribers Form, provide additional features that enhance the power of the Accounts Receivable System.

 

HelpFilesSubscribersSpecializedIcons

 

Search - The Search (F2) Icon is used to look up a specific Subscriber record.

HelpFilesF2SubscriberSearch

Subscriber Search dialog

 

This Subscriber Search dialog (also accessible by Pressing F2) is used when you need to locate a specific Subscriber record or an individual CSID.
See the F2 The Subscriber Search Function chapter for additional information.
Calls - The Calls Icon opens this Subscriber's Calls dialog.
When viewing a Subscribers Form, Prospect Form and/or Vendors Form, Pressing Alt+C will also open the Calls Form.
History - The History Icon provides access to the same Universal Account History Form accessible using the History option on the General Menu, or the Main Menu's Outlook Bar / Accounts Receivable sub-menu's History option.
Word Merge - The Word Merge Icon is used to open the dialogue shown below (only when Microsoft Word® is installed on this computer).

HelpFilesSubscriberWordMergeForm

Word Merge dialog

 

Reports - The Reports Icon provides quick access to certain commonly needed Reports for the currently selected Subscriber.

 

HelpFilesSubscribersReportsIconOptions

Scale - The Scale Icon allows you to enlarge or compress the Subscribers Form.
Filters - The Filters Icon allows you to apply or un-apply a Subscriber Filter to the Subscribers Form.
Label - The Label Icon is only for users with the DYMO Label interface.
Favs - The Favs Icon is used to identify Favorites which can then be selected using this Icon or the Main Menu's Favorites option.

 

Updating Subscriber information:
Once you have completed a Subscriber entry, you may return to this Form at any time and make updates as needed.
Use the Search Icon at the top of the Form to look up a specific Subscriber's record that you need to View or Update.
To make entries, Click on the field(s) needing revision and add or change the data, as needed.
Click Save ("ü") to store these changes.
Duplicate Account Warning - If the Telephone Number of the Subscriber record you are saving already exists in another Subscriber record, a Duplicate Account dialog will be displayed.

HelpFilesSubscribersDuplicateSubscriberDialog

Duplicate Account Warning dialog for Subscribers Form

 

In most cases this display indicates that the current record, to which modifications were made, is the only record with the Telephone Number in question.
If this is the case, Click the OK button to save the record as requested.
If this is not the case, and multiple Subscriber records are listed, determine whether duplicates are acceptable, whether you need to correct this, or another record's primary telephone number.
Click the Cancel button to change the current record, or Click the OK button to accept the current record.
Go to the other record(s) and make the primary telephone number changes, if appropriate.
Don't Show This Again - Check this box if you want to turn off the Duplicate Account checking process.
Note: Once the Duplicate Account checking process is turned off, Technical Support must be contacted to re-activate this feature!

 

Tabs on the Subscribers Form - There are five standard tabs, and from one to three optional Custom tabs, on the Subscribers Form:
1.Comments tab - This Edit Rich Text field allows you to enter any special notes or comments relating to this Subscriber.
2.Leads tab - Allows you to enter the Source, Type, Market area and original Date of the Lead that led to acquisition this Account.
3.Temp Notes tab - View the active Temporary Notes for this Subscriber.        
4.Accounting Info tab - Provides for the Configuration of this Account for the Accounts Receivable System and shows the Account's current status as it relates to Receipts and Sales.
5.Service Info tab - Provides the means to Activate the Service Account for each of your Subscribers.
6.Custom Tabs & Fields - You may create up to three User Defined Custom Tabs - each with their own User Defined fields.