CMS Introduces Immediate Answer of Support Calls

Over the last few years, we have periodically mailed out Support Survey Cards to many clients asking you to rate the support you've received from CMS. These survey cards have been a tremendous help in finding out what the CMS Support Team is doing well, and what needs improvement.

Overwhelmingly, you've told us that, while you absolutely love the support you receive from CMS, you wish that rather than waiting for a call back, you could speak to a Support Team Member right away!

DONE!

Starting in March 2008, CMS Support has changed the way we answer your calls for help! Now when you call CMS Technical Support at (800) 247-8044, you can speak to a CMS Support Team Member immediately.

If all of the CMS Support Team Members are already helping clients, you will be automatically transferred to Reception who will take your name, phone number, and serial number and you will be called back.

The next time you call CMS at (800) 247-8044, you will have a new menu of options!

• Dial 1 for Sales
• Dial 2 for Support, then
• Dial 1 for CMS People Products, which includes: Membership, Contribution, Attendance, Outreach, ChristianChurchesOnline, ParishesOnline
• Dial 2 for CMS Fund Accounting, which includes: Ledger & Payables, Payroll
• Dial 3 for Installation, which includes: Single User Installation, Network Installation
• Dial 3 for Billing
• Dial 0 for the Receptionist

Did you just step into a mess?

You just took over for the old treasurer and realize they haven't reconciled your church bank account in months! Your Stewardship Committee just dropped a new Capital Campaign bombshell on your desk and you're not even sure where to start. You've been asked to do a mmmmmail mmmmmerge and you've never done one before!

Take a deep breath! There's help out there!

CMS is proud to introduce our new CMS Consulting Services which are designed to offer more personal attention to our CMS Clients with major, time-consuming projects or issues!

• Bank Reconciliations
• Designing/Reviewing Chart of Accounts
• Capital Campaign Consulting
• Mail Merge Projects in Microsoft Word
• Using Exported Data in other applications
• Updating your CMS System 4.11 Fund Accounting/6.10 People Products or earlier
• Various other issues outside of CMS Applications

We'll be there every step of the way to help you meet your deadlines and complete those projects that have been keeping you up at night!

Most items covered under CMS Consulting Services are only $75 per hour, so contact your CMS Sales Representative at (800) 247-8044, dial 1 for Sales. They'll estimate your project and get you on the CMS Consulting Services schedule right away!

Do you sometimes feel that you're just spinning your wheels? Like you're stuck in a rut at work? You may be doing the same thing in the same way for so long, that you know there are tools out there to make your life easier, but you don't know how to use them. Then you may want to check out the Continuing Education classes we offer with CMS TeleTraining!

While we offer Basic Training for new clients, staff, and volunteers, we also offer more advanced classes for those people who have used CMS for years! You may want to dive into the Membership Reporting Tools, that will help you pinpoint just the right people and print just the right information on Labels, Lists and Reports. Maybe you're putting together a new Time and Talent Survey in the church, or setting up the Vacation Bible Study program for this summer, and want to take the Working with Membership Groups class. Or you may decide that it's finally time to start saving the church time and money by using the Mail Merge and Email features in CMS, then take the Membership Communication Tools class!

Go to http://www.churchmanagementsolutions.com/training to check out the TeleTraining Classes we offer, find a day and time that will work with your schedule, and even sign up right online! Most classes are a very affordable $50.

Remember, being stuck in a rut doesn't mean that you'll never get out of that rut! It just means that you may need to back up and take a new approach.

Are you paying an arm and a leg for email addresses for each staff member?

Would you like to lose the HOTMAIL.COM extension on your email address?

Do you hate giving out your personal email address for work?

One of the perks that come with the CMS Annual Support Contract is an unlimited number of email addresses for your church staff members! Along with the email addresses, you get a free Web Site, bulletin upload, a church calendar and a facility scheduler.

Don't consider yourself "geeky" enough to maintain a website? Don't worry, it's so easy to use! Susan at St Mary's Piscataway in Clinton, MD said, "I saw how easy it was to upload the bulletins, so I started working on the calendar. I am having so much fun doing it! It's so easy!"

Fill out and submit the Web Site Activation Form to get the ball rolling.

Already have a web site that you like? No problem! You can use just the elements of the CMS Web Solutions that you need. Think of it as a digital buffet! Fill out the Web Site Activation Form to get started.

CMS introduced the People Products version 7.00 update and the Fund Accounting version 5.00 update in December 2007.

Update notifications were sent via email to CMS clients, but some clients found that the email notification was caught up in their SPAM filter! To ensure you receive all future CMS Update Notifications, add the following email addresses to your Whitelist, and/or them to your Address List or Contact List.

info@ChurchManagementSolutions.com support@ChurchManagmentSolutions.com

If you have not yet installed the CMS Update, you can do it now! An Internet connection is required to perform this update by FTP. People Products version 6.20 or higher, and Fund Accounting version 4.20 or higher, is required for this update.

1. Start your CMS system, enter your password on the Security dialog.
2. On the menu bar, click File and then click Update.
3. Choose FTP Update. Enter the Source Folder UPDATE and click OK.
4. Click Install on the next dialog.
5. The system will perform processing and copy files to the hard disk. (Do not interrupt that processing.)
6. The system will inform you when the update is complete.
7. Click OK.
8. Restart CMS for the changes to be effective.