Doing things to survive here while I complete my software product (I'm not going to package/ship it until I'm satisfied it's done). One is that I've begun to contact technical schools offering to come in as a guest speaker on topics I'm familiar with, and the other is local consulting.
On the local consulting front, I've got a small restaurant who has four interests, in order of priority: 1. Accounting 2. Security 3. Inventory 4. Database For accounting, I'm inclined to keep it simple and recommend QuickBooks (premier) http://quickbooks.intuit.com/product/accounting_software/premier_edition _financial_planning_tools.jhtml, (single user, $399) since I've used the product myself and am familiar with it, including having written for it's (half-baked) API. What I really don't like about Intuit is that they regard any sale as a foot in the door for all kinds of other sales, where I'm just looking (on my client's behalf) to make a single purchase for a durable, lasting accounting system. For security, he wants 4 cameras located around the establishment, the most important of which being one over the cash register. I scanned the list archives and see D-link mentioned, so I checked out their products, and they look good on paper. I see a $349 model http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=295 and another for $899, http://www.dlink.com/products/?model=DCS-6620 the primary difference being video quality. He doesn't want to use wireless (I don't necessarily agree, but I'll go along with what he wants). Both of these cameras have wire (100mb Ethernet) connections. His only computer to date is one at home, so he'll need a "server" running in the restaurant to collect the video feeds. The software that comes with these systems supports an IE browser interface and also recording the video on the server's hd for going back into it. I've suggested, and he agrees, that a weeks' worth of recording should suffice. I estimate 2 500gb drives should be adequate for this purpose, and if he wants to back up the drives he'll need to add a tape backup. I figure to advise him to purchase a server and 1 $349 camera to start with, and if it meets his needs to add 3 more. If he doesn't like the video quality then to move the $349 model to a less important location and replace it with a $899 model (i.e. build it a piece at a time). For inventory, I just don't think it will work for him. He's a small business with a handful of workers (cooks, waitresses and bartenders) and I really don't think he's going to allocate the time and effort it will take to handle detail level inventory, i.e. it will just be a waste of time and he'll wind up complaining it's not working. He does need to track assets (QB), but things like canned food, etc., just wouldn't work. Maybe if everything were uniformly barcoded, but that's not the case. So, recommendation for inventory is to do what he's been doing: periodically go around with a clipboard and a pencil. A boilerplate form of standard items to use as a checklist will help, but that's about it. For database (contacts, etc), I'll set him up as a beta tester for my own product. Sans the USPS certifications, it will do what he wants. Do this plan sound reasonable? Bill _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: ProFox@leafe.com Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
