00001    What operating systems do you support?
For our Windows applications, we support Windows 98, ME, NT 4.0, 2000, and XP, with the preferred versions being Windows 2000 and Windows XP Professional. For our web applications, we have no actual preference and code for portability.

00002    What databases can your software work with?
All of our applications use ODBC to connect to the database. This means that we don't make any database-specific calls, and you can use just about any SQL92 compliant database engine.

For Windows applications, we suggest using either MySQL 4.1 and above or Microsoft SQL Server 2000. For our web applications, we prefer MS SQL Server, Oracle, or MySQL. But again, the way our applications are architected, we anticipate situations where the client will want to plug our software into a database engine that the client already has licenses for. If you're not sure if your database will work with our software, drop us a line and we'll look it up.

00003    What technologies do you use?
We use Borland Delphi for Windows development simply because it's the fastest, easiest development environment out there. The RAD tools and debugger are the best, and compilation is ridiculously fast.

Our web applications are Java, fully J2EE compliant, and use the Struts framework. Our preferred web server is Apache Tomcat, the reference implementation for J2EE.

The HTML for the websites we design are typically rolled by hand, and Flash animation is created using SWiSH 2.0. The graphics are generated using a proprietary mix of Paint Shop Pro, PC Paint, Xara 3D, and Graphics Workshop Professional.

A number of the utilities we use were developed in-house to best meet our needs in creating software and web sites and for supporting our customers.

00004    How do I manage the database that came with my software?
The Microsoft Database Engine that comes with our Windows products does not include any tools that you would normally find with Microsoft SQL Server, such as the Enterprise Manager or the Query Analyzer. If you need use of those utilities, you will need to upgrade your database with a full copy of Microsoft SQL Server, purchased separately from our products.

00005    Do you make house calls?
Believe it or not, we do! We charge an hourly rate to be on-site, and the client is responsible for travel expenses, but if you need an expert on site, we will be more than glad to assist you.

00006    Do you provide on-site training?
Whenever you purchase a software product, with the exceptions of the Personal Editions, you are entitled to one class for 10 people at a huge discount. All of our products come with extensive documentation, but we want to make it worth your while to have us come in at least one time and train your people on how to use the software. Additional classes can be purchased at any time, and the charge depends on the time and materials required to conduct a class, the size of the class, and the travel expenses.

00001    Installation: Introduction
When you put in the installation disk in, it should automatically start the installation process. If not, double click on the "My Computer" icon, select the CD drive the installation disk is in, and run "Installer". Alternatively, you can use "Start | Run" to run the Installer program.

Once the installer has come up, you'll have two options which should be run in sequence. The first installs the database engine, and the second installs the application files. If you select the first option and your system already has an instance of the database engine, this step will inform you of such.

After installing the application, run the "Salon" module first. This will take you through a quick and easy configuration wizard the first time you start it where you'll be asked to provide information on your salon, the point-of-sale equipment you use, and some default value settings.

It is suggested that you use the Salon module immediately to put in information on the staff. Some functions do not work properly without entries in the staff table to work from, such as the client lists. To enter clients, you must necessarily have staff members entered that are flagged as using client lists.

While you're working with the staff list, be sure to enter their schedules and services.

Next enter any information you have on the vendors you use and the manufacturers of the products you sell.

Then enter the items in your inventory. Once inventory items have been entered, barcoded labels can be printed. It's recommended that, where possible, you use the barcodes already on the product as the UPC code.

Once you've done all that, then it's on to the client lists. Before going into the client lists, you'll have to exit the application and restart it so the client list menu will pick up any changes to the staff list. Since menu options are only added for staff members flagged as using the client lists, it's necessary to restart the application to pick up changes to those flags.

Once you've got those things done, you're ready to start using the Sales and Book modules.

00002    Printing Labels
When you create entries in the inventory table for the products your salon carries, it's suggested that you use the UPC codes already on the products. If it turns out that the UPC code used by one manufacturer is also used by another manufacturer, you may have to create a unique code, but generally speaking that probably won't happen.

Even though you've used the UPC codes already on the product, you may find that scanning the UPC codes on bottles is not the snap you thought it would be. In practice, pen (or wand) scanners experience difficulty in reading UPC codes off textured plastic bottles. We're not sure why this is, but it leads to a lot of frustration on the part of the person trying to ring up a sale. Printing up labels that are applied to the products solves the problem. Scanning a barcode printed on plain white labels works much better.

The label "report" that comes with your installation of the Salon Suite works with Avery 5160 label stock, which you can find at any office supplies store. In future releases of the software we will provide you with an option to select between various label sheet types.

All of our reports are generated using Crystal Reports. The report that is used for printing labels is "SingleProductLabels.rpt". If you have the Crystal Reports application installed on your computer, you can modify this report as you see fit. We highly recommend that if you decide to do this, that you first save off a copy of that report configuration file in case you make a mistake.

The bar code report uses a 3x9 bar code font that is supplied with our software. There are two bar code fonts that are installed with our software, and you are free to use either one, although the one the report was created with is our preferred barcode font.

00003    Adding an existing client to a client list
You have a client in your database under one specialist's list, and you'd like to also reference that client under another specialist's client list. Let's say Sherri, a stylist, has a client named Kerri in her list and Dean, a massage therapist, needs to add Kerri to his list as well.

Using that example, you would bring up Dean's client list by using the "Clients | Dean" menu option in the salon office module. When Dean's list first comes up, it only shows the clients in Dean's list. Now right click on the list of clients and you'll see a pop up menu with a few options. Select "Show All Clients". The list will redraw and will now show everyone's clients.

Find Kerri's client record and highlight it. You'll notice a button appear on the top, right hand side of the window labeled, "Add to List." Clicking on this button will create a link between Kerri's client record and Dean. Now, whenever you go into Dean's list, Kerri will show up.

So, to summarize:

1. Bring up the client list for the specialist you wish to associate with a client.

2. Right-click on the client list.

3. Select "Show all clients" option from pop up menu.

4. Find and highlight desired client.

5. Click on "Add to list" button.

00004    How do I get pictures from my digital camera to a client's record?
One of the nicer features in our salon suite is the ability to add pictures to a client's record in our database. You can add before and after shots, in-process shots, etc. It makes it so much easier when a client says something like, "You know! The time you cut my hair at an angle across the ear and did that curl/wave thing to the ends? And you changed the color to match my new purse? Remember?" Well, now you will remember, because you can look it up.

First, you'll need to connect the camera to the computer. All digital camera's we've seen either have a USB socket for plugging a USB cable into, or they come with a special cable that will plug into the USB port on the computer. Either way, make sure the camera is physically connected to the computer.

When you connect, some cameras will automatically come on. Some must be turned on instead. If the cameras "on" light doesn't light up when you connect, try turning the camera on.

If you have Windows XP, it will probably tell you that it sees a device that has just been connected. Watch the little balloon for a moment and it may change to say that it sees the camera as a disk drive. If it does, remember that for later.

Now that the camera is properly attached, you're ready to pull pictures from the camera into the database. When working with the record for a given client, click on the button that reads "Pictures." A window will be displayed that shows a list of the pictures for this client. At the bottom are two buttons on the lower left corner, one that reads "Scan Image" and another that reads "Load From File." We're going to start off by assuming that the camera or scanner is "TWAIN compliant." What this means to you is that the software can talk directly to the device and get the pictures that way.

If the camera is TWAIN compliant or if you're pulling the picture from a scanner, you'll be able to click on "Scan Image" button. This will first come up with a list of the TWAIN devices on your machine (if there's more than one) so you can select the device you're interested in. Next, depending on the driver for the device, you'll either be shown a list of the images on the camera or a preview of the picture on the scanner. Select the image you desire and tell the driver to continue. The picture will be transmitted to the salon software.

On the other hand, if the camera software is not TWAIN compliant, it may act like a disk drive. In that case you have two options. One, you could use the software that came with the camera to pull images over to your hard disk. Or two, you could point the salon software towards the camera "drive" directly. The camera's memory card will show as another disk drive in a file explorer window. Either way, click on the "Load From File" button. Use the explorer window that comes up to locate the picture file. Select the desired file and click "Ok." The picture will be copied from the file into the database.

Once the picture has been pulled into the salon application, you can enter a description and save it.

00005    My client's picture won't load (Stream read error)
Our picture database will accept pictures in BMP or JPEG (JPG) format. Some -- not all -- scanning and graphics software will save BMP images in a format that can't be loaded by our software. We're working on a solution for this, but for now, if you're experiencing this problem and your scanning software or digital camera software gives you the options to do so, try saving the images as JPEGs on your hard drive, then using the "Load From File" button in our salon suite to load the image. You'll find that this loads reliably. Some digital cameras even give you an option of what format you'd like to save the pictures in on the camera. Always choose JPEG.

Note: If your camera gives you the option to set the resolution at which it takes pictures, set it to 640 x 480 for use with the salon suite. This three big advantages over higher resolutions:

1. You'll be able to store more pictures
2. The pictures will transfer quicker between the camera and the computer
3. The pictures will be easier to display and print once they're in the salon suite's database.

00006    How do I get "Behind The Desk" to use my existing MS SQL Server?
Right out of the box, BTD is configured to create and use a Microsoft SQLServer Desktop Edition database. If you already have Microsoft SQL Server 2000 running on the same machine that BTD is being installed on, the installation should detect and use that instance of MS SQL Server. If you're trying to get the software to see a remote server, please contact us here so we can walk you through configuring the software to see server. We do this because everyone's setup is different. It's a free service call, so please take advantage of this offer so we can be sure you get up and running with no problems.

00007    How do I get "Behind The Desk" to use a database engine other than MS SQL Server?
While BTD is designed to work with any ODBC-compliant driver, the installation will only create and use a Microsoft SQLServer Desktop Edition database. To get the software to see a different database engine, you'll need to contact tech support to get the update for that database. We currently have updates to support the following databases:

• MySQL
• PostgreSQL
• Firebird/Interbase
• mSQL
• Oracle
• Informix
• DB2
• Pervasive

The tech support call for database updates is free, so please feel free to call us. And if you don't see the database you're using in the list above, call us anyway and tell us about it. Chances are we can either support that database with one of our existing updates or we can whip something up quickly that will do the job. By letting us help you, you're actually helping us to improve our product and give you better service.

00008    How do I create my own reports/tweak the existing reports?
All our reports are done in Crystal Reports. We do not ship the editor with our product. While we are always receptive of ideas for new reports, if you wish to modify the reports or create existing reports yourself, you'll need to purchase a copy of Crystal Reports 8 or higher.

Crystal Reports is a very popular reporting system for PCs. Business Objects recently acquired Crystal Technologies, the makers of Crystal Reports, and they've since released Crystal Reports 10. Their web site is at http://www.businessobjects.com.

00009    How can I get my existing data into "Behind The Desk"?
TGE Software provides conversion services. That is, we'll help you get the data from your Access database, Excel spreadsheet, Quicken and Quickbooks database, existing salon management system, etc., into our software.

In some cases, we've already written the software necessary to automate the conversion. We've anticipated this need and we have a number of powerful tools, some of them written in-house, to make conversions as quick and clean as possible.

Occasionally, the data may be locked up in a database we haven't come across before. Call us and tell us what your existing setup is and we'll work out how to best get you up and running on "Behind The Desk."

00010    Can I have "Behind The Desk" talk to Quicken or Quickbooks?
Yes. In the Salon Office module there is a menu option under "Utility" called "Quicken," and under that are two options, "Report" and "Export to File." The export function accepts a date range. It uses that date range to retrieve receipt records and calculate the total from those records. It then writes the total information to an external file that Quicken and Quickbooks can import.

See the topic "Exporting To Quicken" in the Salon Office help for more details.

00011    How do I disable/enable a payment type?
Say you've decided you don't want to accept a particular type of credit card, or you decide you want to add a new type of coupon that you want to track separately. The way to tell the software your new policy is to modify the Payment Types information.

Bring up the Salon Office module and select "Master Lists | Payment Types".

If you want to disable an existing payment type, that's as easy as selecting that payment type in the grid on the left, unchecking (or setting to "no") the box next to "Enabled," then clicking the "Save" button.

If you want to add a new payment type, click the "New" button, fill in the blanks, and click "Save." Note that, if you want an image to display on the button for your payment type in the receipts screen, you'll need to create a 32x64 pixel BMP image and copy it to the "GlyphImages" directory of your "Behind The Desk" installation. If you'd like, you can contact us here at TGE Software and we'll be glad to give you a hand with creating a clean picture of your new payment type.

00012    What's the username and password on a fresh installation?
Right after installing the software, when you start up the Salon Office module, a login window will pop up. The only user record in the system at this point is the Supervisor. The username for Supervisor is "SU" and there is no password. Once you've entered the system, you'll want to create a new account for yourself under the "Master Lists | Staff" function, giving yourself access to all the areas of the software. Once that's done and works, we advise you to put a password that you'll remember on the Supervisor record. This will prevent unauthorized access to sensitive areas of the system.

00013    Can I purchase a computer with the software already installed?
TGE Software provides what are called "turnkey systems." The idea is that you pull the computer, display, keyboard, mouse, printer, and if desired, cash drawer and UPC scanner out of their boxes, hook them up, "turn the key" (power it up), and it's ready. In fact, we can provide single systems, multiple systems designed to be networked together, and corporate solutions, all out-of-the-box ready with the latest version of Windows Professional and Behind The Desk installed. Contact our sales department for configuration and pricing information:

(888) USE-TGE4 (873-8434) demo@tgesoft.com

00014    The On-Line Appointment Book Service is available on a subscription basis.
After subscribing to the service, you'll download an upgrade that installs quickly and easily and connects you to our appointment book web service. We can personalize the service, free of charge, so that the service mimics the look and feel of your existing web site.

Once you've subscribed, the appointments your customers make simply appear in the appointment book module on your computer with a flag that shows that they were made through the internet, and with a flag showing they have not yet been confirmed.

Check out our on-line appointment book at http://www.salonappointments.net

00015    Can I use the Online Appointment Book Service if I don't have a website?
Yes! It won't be as neat and easy as having a link from your website, but we can provide you with a URL that will allow your customers to get to your appointment book even if you don't have a web site.

Need help creating a web site? TGE Software offers inexpensive solutions for getting you on the web and making the information about your salon available to your customers all over the world!

Check out our on-line appointment book at http://www.salonappointments.net

00016    Can the On-Line Appointment Book Service be made to look like my website?
Absolutely! Whether you have TGE Sofware set up your web site or you create the website yourself, the look and feel of the appointment book service can be adjusted to suit your needs. All we need a description of the look of the page and the JPGs or GIFs you use to construct that look.

Also, by default, the customer does not need to login in order to use the service. If you'd rather offer the service to select clientelle only, we can enable a login interface that makes use of your client table settings to control access to the service.

Check out our on-line appointment book at http://www.salonappointments.net

So far, no one has had any questions about this product. There is an extensive help file that comes with it, but we welcome any questions you may have.

So far, no one has had any questions about this product. There is an extensive help file that comes with it, but we welcome any questions you may have.

00001    When you say "free seminar", what do you mean by "free"?
When you schedule one of our free software seminars, we mean just that: the seminar is free. There are no materials, so there's nothing to charge you for there. Since we're located in Manteca, California, we're willing to waive travel expenses for any location within 100 miles of us. That includes Sacramento, the Bay Area, San Francisco, and any other city within that radius. Locations outside that area may need to pay for our mileage. If airfare and/or hotel accomodations are required, that too is paid by you. The point is not to go poor giving out free advice. But the hour we spend with you during the seminar is free.

00002    What does the free seminar cover?
Whatever you need for it to cover. That's why we call you before coming out. We want to know what it is you do, how you do it, and what it is you need from our seminar. Then we tailor our speech to cover those topics. You can ask any questions you like while we're there, show us anything on your systems you have questions about, etc. We don't guarantee we know everything there is to know about any software application, but if we'll put years of our experience to work answering your questions if we can. For free.

00003    Is it a sales pitch?
No. In fact, we go to some pains not to mention our company during the first 45 minutes of the seminar. During that time, in talking with you, we get a feel for your technology needs. After that, if there's some product or service that we can provide to make your business run better, we'll bring it up. But there is no hard sell. We'll advise you on what our products could do for you and what services we can provide. We explain how our company is the one you'd want to do business with. But we're not going to press you to buy anything. We don't go there expecting to sell you anything. We go there hoping to start a business relationship, one that can serve both of us in the future.

00004    Who is your target audience?
Any small business. Usually that will be businesses that don't normally hire programmers, but that may not always be the case. Perhaps you need advice in an area that's not your techie's area of expertise. Either way, the seminar is usually geared towards helping you make technology decisions, such as which computers to buy, what options to get on those computers and why, how to create a web presence, what to ask ISPs when selecting one, what software is best for a given purpose and why, etc. These are questions typically asked by the small business owner, both new and established, when they are faced with keeping up with the big guys.