First for c9 users who are Yamaha dealers, c9 is now able to provide a very easy way to keep your price file for Yamaha up to date.

No more keying in pages of discount codes wrangling OPEA file from YDC Net.  C9 will automatically tell you when there is a new price file, push a couple of buttons in c9 and the price file changes will be downloaded from the net without any further stuffing about.

First Time Setup

Goto spares -> utilities -> Import price file.

Select Yamaha as your franchise.

Select import method as top option: c9 Central Repository Price files

Select appropriate price file for the franchise you selected, and continue.  Import will then proceed, no need to reference files or discount codes etc.

Later updates

Updates to price files after initial setup is even simpler.   Firstly c9 will let you know when any of your price files require updating. You update file Spares -> Utilities -> Update price files. This will show you price files you are using from c9's price file list and current status, whether or not your's are up to date. You can update one at a time or update them all from here. The system is smart enough to only download changes to parts since your last update, not the entire price file, making update process potentially very quick.

c9 provides integration support into PayPal as a payment gateway for c9 based websites. Paypal provides key features which are essential for this industry.  The key challenge with webshopping is that in this industry it is not possible to know the final price at point of checkout on the website.  Issues surrounding freight issues and parts interpretation require an order to be vetted before it is billed.  c9's integration into PayPal works similar to a hotel booking,  the amount is only reserved at point of checkout.  Point of sale operations in c9 will communicate with PayPal and finalise final payment amount capture.

 Step 1 : get a verified merchant account with PayPal

To configure PayPal, you need to enable merchant services with PayPal and get your merchant details verified. This process can take a few weeks, contact PayPal to arrange.  Once done, the following steps show you how to get c9 integrated into PayPal.

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Updating java while c9 is running is sometimes problematic.  C9 holds onto files java wants to update, stopping those files from updating causing java to be half-updated, and sometimes broken.

Problem is really java's fault, it should detect that it is trying to install while it is already running and ask you to kill c9 first.

If for example you update to java 8 while c9 is running on java 7, after restart you might see something like this:

To fix this, you need to uninstall java in the control panel. Uninstall all running copies of java.

Then goto http://java.com/ and install java fresh.

Recently added ability to pop reminders in c9 can be constrained based on the login user you login as.

You login as sales:

For a given customer reminder, you can make sure only people logged in as sales, get that reminder, instead of all users, so spares and workshop users are not bothered by reminders relevant to sales side of the business only

To add new login user, Setup -> Other Settings -> Login Users.

For those who need more nagging in their lives, c9 can now nag you relentlessly about things it thinks require doing. Such as:

• Open spares quotes
• Parts that needs to be ordered
• Stock that needs to be re-ordered
• Parts that were ordered but taking a long time to arrive
• Parts that have been waiting for a customer to pickup for a while

For suggestions on more things to add into c9 to monitor/remind please contact us and we will look at adding them into c9

To enable these: goto Setup -> Other Settings -> Notifications/Monitors.

Click on Insert to add a new notification, the system will ask you what type of notification to add. You can then tune things relevant to that type of notification.

Once added, the nag will appear in notification section in top right of c9:

C9 allows you to record comments against customers.

In view customer, you can click comments and add comments.  These comments can be dated with a reminder. Example:

Now when the reminder date rolls around, you will see in the top right of c9 a reminder notification.

You can review/modify and clear reminders here:

C9 now allows you to print statements that contain discounts if bills are paid on time or penalties for non payment on time.  The discount/penalty is applied automatically by c9.

An example bill with this on it:

How to configure

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Consider the scenario : you are not a Honda or Yamaha dealer and you purchase Honda/Yamaha parts from the nearest Honda/Yamaha dealer.

There are two ways to do this in c9. One way is you add the other dealership as a franchise in c9 and add parts as you require. This is the older method of handling this in c9, but a much better method now exists.

The approach recommended is as follows:

•  Add honda and yamaha as franchises into c9. So franchises track manufacturers. Get prices files as required, e.g. via the 'import from other c9 dealers' option in import price file.
• Add the the other dealership as a accessory supplier.
• Configure them so when you order honda or yamaha parts they actually go onto an order directed to the other dealership

This method has a number of advantages:

• You have full price lists for manufacturers. No need to add parts manually on a as needed basis
• Orders for Honda and Yamaha are merged together, no need to send 2 orders to the supplier.
• You can tweak parts individually and source them from elsewhere. Maybe the local shop doesn't have the clutch cover you need? But an interstate dealership has it?

How to configure this

Firstly, goto Spares -> Utilities -> Edit Suppliers. Add your supplier.

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C9 includes a facility which allows you to embed fiche data from other c9 dealers.

C9 dealer websites allow you to shop online and search fiche diagrams for dozens of manufacturers.  But instead of having to toggle between your web browser and c9 to view Bolton KTM parts diagrams for example, you can have Bolton KTM diagrams accessed within your c9. It is as though c9 is a specialised, integrated web browser for fiche diagrams.

Setting it up

You require 3 things.

• Add the franchise into your c9
• Get a price file for that franchise
• Link that franchise to another c9 dealer website

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A new change to c9 smartens up it's barcode scanner integration so c9 is able to detect when you have used a barcode scanner and it handles part adding in a way that makes sense for barcode scanning as opposed to manually keying in the part number.  C9 will add one onto the invoice straight away. If part was already scanned, it will increment the quantity of that part.

To enable this you need to configure transmission of STX  on your barcode scanner. Your barcode also requires transmission of either ETX or a enter key at end of the barcode scan.  Generally recommend enter key though there are some circumstances where you may prefer ETX. This cover enter key only, which generally barcode scanner will do out of the packaging anyway.

STX = Start transmission (0x0b Hex or Ctrl+B).

See your barcode user manual on how to do this. For example for the barcode scanner with model MJ-4209.  The user guide which you print out contains barcodes to scan to program the barcode scanner. So print this and scan the below codes to enable STX.

This assumes that the barcode scanner will transmit the following:  the STX, then the barcode then Enter key