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News
BookEasy Version 2.0 Launched at Frankfurt
New features
respond to booksellers' needs
Frankfurt, Germany - October 6, 1998 -- Visitors to the
1998 Frankfurt Book Fair will have an opportunity to try out the latest features of the
BookEasyTM global Internet service. BookEasy Version 2.0 offers
chain and independent booksellers several valuable new benefits, including Multi-User
Access, a New Publications Order Form, Back Order Management and an
improved Display Sequence Facility.
"This upgrade was designed in response to feedback we
have received from customers who have been using the service over the past few
months," said Peter Clifton, Chief Executive Officer of BookEasy. "Chain
booksellers in particular have highlighted the need for multi-user access, and the other
new features will assist booksellers wanting to take greater control of their order
management."
BookEasy, a subsidiary of VISTA Computer
Services, will demonstrate Version 2.0 on the VISTA (F934) and Whitaker (D921)
stands in Hall 8 at Frankfurt and will be implemented at affiliated distributor sites over
the coming months.
Version 2.0 in detail:
- Multi-User Access enables large booksellers and
chains to extend BookEasy access to as many staff members as they wish, each with an
individual identification and password. The feature was introduced following requests from
several booksellers, and each store can define appropriate levels of access to BookEasy
services through tiered-access control. This is particularly important in large stores or
chains, where each department could have access to relevant features, as well as to a
smaller bookshop where the owner wants to retain the ordering function and give employees
search and enquiry capability only.
- New Publications Order Form - BookEasy has recognized
the need to provide booksellers with the facility to order forthcoming titles in a manner
consistent with publishers' catalogs and forthcoming title sheets. The new feature allows
booksellers to customize their own BookEasy catalogs from the list of titles available in
a publisher's system, based on series, ISBN, subject and publication month. A forthcoming
enhancement will also provide access to additional information on each title listed via a
hyperlink to the publisher's marketing Website. This will be particularly welcomed by
independent booksellers, who may not see reps as often as previously.
- Back Order Management - This new feature allows the
bookseller to view the status of outstanding back orders in a similar fashion to the
current Order Status Query, providing a consolidated view of all outstanding orders and
information on when those titles will be available to them. The user can query by ISBN,
Order Reference and an order date range. This more comprehensive overview gives
booksellers the information to improve stock management and customer service levels.
- Display Sequence Facility - Booksellers can now
specify their preferred display sequence for any search results by use of a menu of
options which has been added to any page where a search is performed against the database.
Options includes a choice of ascending or descending order, by ISBN, title and
availability date, allowing each search to be tailored to suit the bookseller's systems.
- Publishers will appreciate the enhanced general
administration and usage reporting now available under BookEasy Version 2.0,
which will facilitate the creation of customer profiles for their accounts directly via
the Web, tiered access profiles for users at their accounts, the compilation of e-mail
databases from registration logs and the generation of detailed usage reports.
PubEasy.comä is a subsidiary of VISTA Computer Services. All PubEasy.comä services were developed by
VISTA. VISTA Computer Services is the worldwide leader in information systems for the
book, reference and journal publishing industry. BookEasyä was designed and developed by VISTA in
partnership with Whitaker as UK central site bibliographic and TeleOrdering service
providers. |
