The new StudioPlus Spectra 2012 is in the final stages of beta testing and will be available for general release soon!  To see a list of the new features, click here.  But allow me to elaborate here on a couple new features that really excite me.

First, Spectra 2012 debuts new SMS texting abilities.  As I travel, meeting with StudioPlus clients around the world, this has to be the most requested enhancement the past couple years. We’re excited to say that it is finally here!  With SMS texting, you now have the ability to:
• Send an individual text to a client.
• Receive incoming texts from clients if they reply to a text that you’ve sent them.
• Send out bulk texts to a group of clients informing them of an upcoming promotion.
• Send automated texts via status triggers to remind clients of an appointment, let them know their order is ready for pickup, or countless other messages.

We’re looking forward to see all the creative ways that you all use texting to improve your business, so let us know.  (BTW, there is an extra fee to use SMS Texting.  We have to pay service providers in order for us to offer these abilities, so we have to charge a fee ourselves.  The SMS Texting plans are listed here.)

Second, Spectra 2012 includes new emailing enhancements.  For example, you can now use Spectra to receive incoming emails.  When an email comes in, Spectra will go through a series of steps to see if it can identify which client record in Spectra this email belongs to.  If it finds a match, it will automatically attach that email to the appropriate client record.  If no match is found, the email will remain as an unlinked email in your inbox.  All emails (and SMS texts) can be read in the new Messages Hub (your new inbox).  Spectra also includes the ability to setup new personalized email signatures that can be appended to outgoing emails.  Combine these features with the new Communication Wizard, and Spectra will greatly enhance your ability to communicate and market to your clients.

Thirdly, the final item that I want to mention today is related to PCI Compliance.  Some of you are very familiar with PCI Compliance, and others are not so much.  PCI Compliance may be a pain for us to deal with, but it is very important.  PCI Compliance is a set of rules instituted by the credit card industry that we all have to follow if we want to process credit cards.  The purpose is to ensure the security of sensitive credit card information that you collect from your clients.  Spectra 2012 takes a big leap forward in helping you become PCI Compliant.  First, you must be processing credit cards through Merchant Warehouse.  Second, you must turn on the new feature that we’ve added to the Studio Preferences that states, “Do not store credit card numbers in Spectra.” When you need to process a card, Spectra will open a special window provided by Merchant Warehouse.  You will then swipe the card, or manually key it in.  That window will then communicate direct with the Merchant Warehouse secure server, process that credit card, and then pass a unique token back to Spectra.  The card is then stored on the Merchant Warehouse secure server and NOT in StudioPlus Spectra or anywhere on your system.  Therefore, because you are no longer storing sensitive card information on your system, obtaining PCI Compliance is much simpler.  With that unique token, Spectra will still be able to process repeat transactions, pending payments, and payment plans.

More information will be available on these and other new features in the Spectra User Guide and new training videos when the new version is released.