Over the past several days I’ve highlighted some of the exciting new features we’re introducing in 2015, including the new StudioPlus Mail service, the ability to deliver images electronically, and a variety of production and workflow improvements. Today, I want to touch on some of the other enhancements you’ll see in the 2015 version when it’s released.

Attachments

With the 2015 version you can attach files (e.g., Word docs, PDF files, Excel spreadsheets, etc.) to your clients, sessions, invoices, orders, and tasks! Attach proposals, contracts, event planning guides, scans of handwritten forms, job sheets, and more.

Invoice Importer

There is a brand new Invoice Import Wizard in Spectra and myStratus Desktop. You can use this tool to import invoice records from another software or from an e-commerce site, or if you need to import a batch of invoices at once.

Client Importer

We’ve updated our Client Import Wizard so you can now use it to update existing clients (in addition to importing new ones)! The software can match up clients by client number, student ID, or a combination of student ID, organization, and graduation year.

This feature is great for school photographers who get an updated list of students each year. It can also be used to update a batch of client records by exporting them to Excel, making changes, and then importing them back into the software.

Notification Center

Notifications are a brand new tool you can use to communicate with your staff/studios. Each user will see their notifications in a new Notifications panel, right on the home page of the software. You can create notifications for one user, for a department, or for everyone. Our Enterprise clients can use notifications to easily communicate with one or more of their studios. Notifications can be displayed during a specific time period and include links.

We will also use notifications as a primary way of communicating important information to you, such as:

• The release of new software updates, features, or services.
• The availability of new training materials, videos, or blog posts.
• Important notices regarding service interruptions that may affect your business.
• Control Center jobs that are failing and need your attention.

Accounting Tools

We’ve added a couple new tools to make your accounting work simpler!

• Write-Off Tool – Now writing off an invoice involves less work for you! Just open the invoice and click Write Off Invoice on the File menu. Enter the amount to write off and the software will create a credit memo and automatically transfer it back to the original invoice.
• Refund Deposit – It just became much easier to refund a customer deposit! Just open the deposit, click Refund This Deposit on the ribbon, and enter how you want to refund the money. The software will take care of the rest.
• Percentage Payments – This is just plain handy! Simply pick the percentage the client will be paying and the software figures the payment amount.

Dashboard Reports

Our clients love their Dashboard reports! We’re giving you greater control over how you manage the large number of reports you create. You can lock reports to prevent users from modifying or deleting important reports. You’ll also see a brand new message that lets you know who is currently using a report you’re about to modify or delete!

Auto Updates

We’ve improved how we deliver software updates to ensure you’re using the most current release of the software. We want you to enjoy the best experience possible when using our software! The new method makes it simpler for you to roll-out new updates and upgrades.

Goodies

• Client searching on the Clients hub has been enhanced with a new email search option and an easier way to search by a portion of a phone number.
• A print button has been added to the email form so you can print your email communications!
• A Last Session Date field has been added to the client table in your database. This means you can easily view this information on the Clients hub, as well as use it in your filters, form letters, and HTML emails to find and communicate with clients who haven’t been in for a while or to find clients without a session.
• Session promotions have been expanded to include promo codes, active date ranges, and quick searches.
• Session types and appointment types can now be manually sorted by you or automatically sorted alphabetically by the software.
• New security options include limiting access to refunds, hubs, invoices, user preferences, and Dashboard report locking. Setting invoice security to “No Access” will now hide the Invoices tab on clients and sessions.
• The Payment Processing Job in the Control Center can now email processing reports to a user.
• Invoices, estimates, and sessions confirmations have been translated for clients in Belgium.
• The myStratus Mobile App is now available to myStratus Enterprise users.

Summary

We hope all of you enjoy and profit from the new features we’ve added in 2015. Almost everything we’ve added or improved is based on a suggestion from you, our customers. We are committed to listening to the requests you make! If you have a suggestion for a new feature, please send it to Suggestions@StudioPlusSoftware.com.

Stay tuned for the upcoming release of Spectra 2015 and myStratus 2015!