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[M466]Microsoft Business Solutions Certified

by Macquarieit, Mac

The most recent offering of BlackBerry is its 8700 series, namely 8700v and 8700g. The only palpable difference between these two models is that former is designed for Vodafone, while the latter run on the Telstra and Optus network. Another slight difference is in there aesthetics, that is, 8700v offers sliver and 8700g is mostly found in navy blue chassis.

BlackBerry has launched two distinct designs, one with slim phone orientation which is aptly comfortable to hold up to the ear for calls, suitable for non business persons. The other is data-oriented design, significantly useful for business people who want rapid-fire emailing. It has wide and flat QWERTY keyboard with 35-key. The device weighs 134g with measurement of 6.95 x 1.95 x 11.0 cm.

Unlike a conventional PDA or smartphone, the navigation keys of BlackBerry are placed on the right-hand border of the chassis. The first button is the thumbwheel that is used to track the menu arrangement and look-alike as an "enter" key when pressed down. Just beneath this key is second button that operates as a "back" or "escape" key.

The power button has the same conventional spot, located on the top of the phone. Close to it, is a small LED that appears green but flashes red when you have unread e-mail. At the left-hand side is a mini-USB port that connects with a PC with ease. In addition, you can find a headphone jack and a push for profile selection.

This 8700 series has an Intel-based architecture. It has 16 MB SDRAM as well as 64 MB flash memory and fitted with Intel PCA901 cellular processor. All these render a substantial speed boost, along with virtually instant loading applications. It has enhanced battery life, with four hours of talk time and/or 16 days standby.

Business users will find BlackBerry very useful, it is designed keeping them in mind, and this is evident from the "push e-mail" button's location. In other words, like regular SMS text messages, the unread e-mails spontaneously flash on the handset. The device supports IBM Lotus, Microsoft Exchange, Domino and other popular ISPs. You can run ten e-mail accounts simultaneously.

Besides e-mail, the BlackBerry 8700 also provides full range of phone functionality. Due to its compatibility with quad-band GPRS/GSM networks, one can avail flawless international roaming facility. Of course, it would be worth mentioning some more built-in features such as smart dialing, speed dialing, speakerphone, conference calling and call forwarding. Thanks to bright QVGA LCD display and full HTML Web browser, they have made web surfing a painless action.

One may think that all these advanced features may cannibalize the battery life, but the case is very different ?" "intelligent auto-sensing technology" minimizes any detrimental effect on the battery by automatically adjusting the keyboard and LCD lighting.

Last but not least, it has several PDA functions like an address book, calendar, clock, alarm etc. Superb call quality, be it speakerphone or regular. E-mail delivery is with lightning speed. So, if you are looking for an expensive latest gadget, BlackBerry should be your choice!

Microsoft Great Plains may be recommended for international freight forwarding / transportation company. Great Plains has such features as multicurrency (Euro, Pound, Yuan, Yen, Peso, Real), Spanish, French, Brazilian Portuguese (and if needed Unicode-specific languages such as Chinese, Japanese). If you have operations in East Europe – you can have Polish version as well as you can have several screens (SOP Entry, Inventory Item Maintenance, Customer/Vendor Maintenance, etc) translated to Russian, Lithuanian, Latvian. Plus – if you consider Great Plains as a platform for custom tailoring and developing – you can have reasonably priced solution for horizontal business, such as freight forwarding, cargo delivery, consignment, transportation. Let's consider industry specifics and the way to implement them in Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains.

• Agent Settlement. Freight forwarder usually deploys agents to deliver shipment. And agents are usually paid on the monthly or semimonthly basis. This means that you should have agents as customer.

• Daily Agent MBL invoices/statements. Assuming that agent is handling several shipment with Master Bill of Ladings (MBL) and House Bill of Ladings (HBL) per day – freight forwarder emails to the agent daily invoices. Then these daily invoices are settled and paid one time per months

• Cargo Tracking System. This is usually custom in-house made system, specific to each freight forwarder or industry specific stand alone software. The important requirement is the integration between Shipment Tracking System and ERP, such as Great Plains

• Accurate in-time payments. Payments are required to stay in highly competitive business, such as freight forwarding

• Bill of Lading report. Where you usually need additional info to standard invoice form: Carrier, MAWB, Airport of Departure, Airport of Destination, Flight #/ETA, Weight in KG, Lbs, number of packages, etc.

Technologies and customization tools:

• Great Plains Dexterity. This is Great Plains Software and currently Microsoft Great Plains programming language and IDE. It will allow you seamless integration with Great Plains user interface. You should realize agent settlement screen and inquiry, MBS/HBL profit/loss inquiry form and probably Bill of Lading in Great Plains Dexterity.

• SQL Integration. Integrating with Cargo Tracking/Delivery system should be done via SQL stored procedures. Use ODBC Linked Server to link to your tracking system database (MS SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, Unidata, Pervasive SQL, Ctree/Faircom, mySQL).

• Web Order Entry. Use eConnect to avoid high user license cost in Great Plains. eConnect is SDK to reference Great Plains objects – you will need SOP and POP orders entry

• Customer/Vendor Consolidation. For agents, who are customers and vendors at the same time use consolidation module. It is available for Great Plains Professional only – if you'd like to stay with Great Plains Standard – use Great Plains Dexterity to program the consolidation.
Good luck in implementing and if you have issues or concerns – we are here to help! If you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918! help@albaspectrum.com

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Both Macquarieit & Andrew Karasev are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Macquarieit has sinced written about articles on various topics from Mobile Phone Reviews, Website Traffic and Nokia Phones. Would like to know more details about ? Please visit our website www.foneshop.com.au for all mobiles detail. Macquarieit's top article generates over 49500 views. to your Favourites.

Andrew Karasev has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computers and The Internet, Latest Election News and Computers and The Internet. . Andrew Karasev's top article generates over 3600 views. to your Favourites.