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December 15, 2004
Volume 1 Issue 2
In this issue: Network
Speed | Sending
Letters
 Success!
The first newsletter went out last month,
and it was a total success! Your response was great and we
love hearing from you. It is your feedback that helps
determine the content each month, so keep it coming.
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If you have a question or topic you would
like to know more about, a story to share, or just a quick useful tip,
we'd love to hear from you. Please send your responses to tina@agencyadvantage.com.
Tina Stewart
Editor
Network Speed
Now and then we get a call
from someone concerned about their network speed. The
program just doesn't seem to be running as fast as it should. There are
several things that can affect the network and program speed. Here are the top ten.
1. Remove unnecessary
network protocols.
2. Disable Windows
Firewall on Windows XP workstations and on 2003 Servers.
3. Check the Security
settings on the AAData file to make sure 'Everyone' has Full
Control.
4. Check the Security
settings on the Share to make sure 'Everyone' has Full
Control.
5. Move the AA
directory to a drive volume that is formatted in FAT32. This will eliminate the
extra security associated with NTFS volumes.
6. All workstations
should be using the latest Jet Service Pack. (SP8 at this
time.)
7. All network cards,
hubs, switches and routers should be 10/100 Mbit or better.
8. There should be no
hardware firewalls between the local workstations and the
server.
9. Windows XP and
Windows 2003 Servers
should be using the latest Service Packs issued from Microsoft. (SP2 at this
time.)
10. Most image sizes
should be in the range of kilobytes. Very large image files
can cause network congestion and cause the customer folder
to open slowly due to preview thumb nailing. Preview thumb nailing
can de disabled by un-checking the box on the Preview
pane.
11. The system drive on
the server, the drive where Windows is installed, should
have plenty of free space.
In some instances the pagefile on the system drive
will grow and consume enough resources to degrade
performance.
Sending Customer
Letters
Frequently our clients ask "How can we send
a letter to all of our customers?" There are two
ways to accomplish this:
1) After you have customized a letter
in the 'Letter Templates' (Main Menu - System Setup - Letter
Templates). You can use Letter Templates to format letters for
repeated use in the Customer Folder or for large mailings such
as this one to all customers.
Go to:
-> Reports -> Expiration Reports
-> Expiration Letters
By putting in the date range 12/15/2004 -
12/15/2005, leaving the rest of the fields blank, then
choosing your letter template, you can get
a letter for every person who will have a policy expire within the
next year - all of your customers!
2) The other solution is to duplicate
a standard letter on your copier or have it printed by a
commercial printer and use one of our label generators to
produce mailing labels.
-> Reports -> Customer Reports
-> Customer Labels
Will create labels for all
customers based on Active or Inactive, Location, Company or
Zip Code.
-> Reports -> Expiration Reports
-> Expiration Notices
Works the same as the
Expiration Letters mentioned above.
-> Utilities -> Label
Generator
With this tool you can pick and choose the
customers, companies and third party addresses for which you
want labels. | 
