January 13, 2011 - Rensselaer, NY – Vision Data announces the upcoming release of Vision Total Advertising 4.0. "We have added a whole menu of new features designed to greatly expand Vision Total Advertising functionality and user-friendliness while providing new tools to build revenues and increase a publisher’s viability in this exploding world of print and digital media." said company president Thomas A. Dempsey, in making the announcement.

A simplified and reorganized menu system provides streamlined, task/department based functionality. Help buttons for each screen and instant receipts help call center and accounting staff provide better customer service and save time. New PCI compliant credit card interfaces include Authorize.net, PayTrace and EZ Pay in addition to an updated ICVerify option. Additional functionality includes:

SALES

• Additional Contract level options - for tracking insertion contracts with different fulfillment timelines.
  
• Enhanced product grouping - Products can be assigned to multiple reporting and selling groups for easily tracking and reporting revenue.
  
• Create Sales Packages based on traditional and non-traditional revenue types - Package pricing allows the advertiser to budget their spending while receiving a variety of advertising formats including SMS Text, Web, Print, Email blasts among others. Packages can be preset with revenue allocations or associated on the fly during ad entry.
  
• User-defined Revenue Classifications - Ad Directors and Publishers can now create, manage and report on user-defined rate classifications. Rates can be group into both traditional, web and non-traditional groupings to provide revenue figures on any type of advertising sold.
  
• Sales Budget Spreadsheet Import - Ad managers can import monthly sales rep budget information from a spreadsheet csv file. Budget data is tracked throughout the sales cycle for analysis and commission purposes.
  
• Optional Sales Campaign Manager - Create and track sales promotions and marketing campaigns. Sales activity for each campaign can be analyzed and ads can be immediately placed from a single point of contact.
  
• Web Order Entry reporting - include Opt-Out statistics and contact information for online classified advertisers who started to place an ad, but failed to complete the transaction. This allows for additional sales opportunities and user feedback.

AD ENTRY

• Redesigned, simplified Ad Entry and Search Screens - Simplified ad search screens and provide more options and flexibility in a more user-friendly format.
  
• Ad Quoting Grid - automatically provides upsell price quoting for optimizing customer buy.
  
• System-generated multi-view upsell ad proofing - presents ad previews for border and attention-getter up-sells that can be viewed by the call center sales force and/or emailed to the customer for proofs.
  
• Ability to view display ad copy - in ad entry with compatible Ad Tracking interface. Reduce time spent looking up paper copies of display ads and provide complete customer service from one screen.

GENERAL ACCOUNTING

• Bad Debt Write Off - Easily manage bad debt in-house with this enhancement. Transfer uncollected accounts individually or via batch to a separate bad debt "company" and manage them internally, track payments, send notices, without impact to everyday accounting totals. The transfer creates a credit in the main profit center and automatically updates the credit authorization fields. The account remains flagged as a written off account and warns users regarding status.
  
• Rate/Classification Controls - A rate can be locked into a specific classification streamlining and simplifying the entry process for special types of classes where rates are unique to that class.
  
• Flat Charges - Separate automatic flat charge types for photos, logos, attention-getters, and dingbats are now available, with ability to adjust billable lineage by actual space used, to offset the flat charge. Also, Contract Code for Flat Additional Charges will by default match the ad or transaction, if possible for the Flat Charge Code.

AD PROCESSING

• Ad Journal (Authorization) - can include custom or no text, plus, or instead of, standard text.
  
• Multiple Product Exports - Publication Group codes can be used to export multiple products and zones in a single run for both Display and Classified pagination.
  
• Enhancements to the Classified export process included for 2011:
  
  • Incremental option for the Web, to pick up only ads created or changed since the last export.
  • Test or live option for all exports including print. Live exports lock ads while test exports can be run for future products without impacting current ad entry processes.

REPORTING

• System-wide Profit Center reporting defaults - Set system wide or profit center wide defaults for reports to provide "big picture" views for upper management with a single report across companies. Additionally, standard answer sets can be created and copied to individual users to facilitate specific reports needed system wide.
  
• Selected day reporting - Users can place a report in the queue to run continually until the user decides to remove it from the queue. For example, users can put an aging or ad report into the queue to run for the next accounting period or the next publication date, and print only Monday through Friday, skipping the weekend if desired. Any day of the week can be skipped. This feature allows users to create a report once and have the system run their reports automatically from that point on.

OPTIONAL BROWSER-BASED SALES MANAGEMENT

• Browser Based Salesperson Automation - Simple to use functionality for Retail Order Entry and renewal, account details access, Contact management and payment controls.
  
• Ad tracking link/interface to the browser-based Vision Account-Management System - Direct links have been completed to several third-party ad tracking/production systems with browser capabilities, allowing a field rep to simultaneously access both the Vision Total Advertising system and the customer’s third-party production system. Orders entered into the Vision Total Advertising system are credit checked, ad number assigned and streamed directly to the third-party production system, along with ad copy, artwork, etc. eliminating any need for the rep to return to the office at deadline. A single screen click accesses production status and ad proofs, directly from the production system - or, the rep can toggle back to Vision Total Advertising to lookup account information, post payments, or access the Vision CRM screens. Currently ready for installation in companies using Morcor’s Xpance or SCS ad tracking. Other vendors are being finalized and will be ready in the next few months.
  
• Browser Based Retail Customer Self Service - Easy to use functionality for Package-based Retail and Classified Display Order Entry and renewal, account access, and Bill payment. System automatically uses customer's stored contract rates, and offers to apply advertising to existing (in good standing only) billable account, or credit card.