New versions of Dynamics Point of Sale (POS) and Retail Management System (RMS) improve store operations for small and midsize retailers. POS 2.0 and RMS 2.0 share a common code base and support point-of-sales operations: POS is meant for single-store retailers, whereas RMS is intended for retailers with multiple stores. In addition, POS 2.0 comes packaged with Office Accounting Professional 2007, the latest version of Microsoft's entry-level accounting application. By bundling POS with Office Accounting Microsoft hopes to get a leg up on Intuit, which sells similar point-of-sale software but does not package that software with its QuickBooks accounting applications.

What's New?

A Jan. 2007 announcement highlighted several new features in POS 2.0 and RMS 2.0 and described a new product bundle offered in partnership with electronic payment processing provider First Data and OEM Hewlett Packard (HP).

Improved inventory, purchasing features for RMS. RMS 2.0 improves synchronization of store-level cost data between the product's Store Operations and Headquarters modules, which will help large retailers with multiple store locations better track and report item costs. The release also includes several new features for managing and working with purchase orders: among others, users can export purchase orders to Word and Excel to more easily customize them.

POS bundles Office Accounting. POS 2.0 includes Office Accounting Professional 2007, the latest version of Microsoft's entry-level accounting package. Previous versions of POS integrated natively only with Intuit's QuickBooks; to integrate earlier versions with Office Small Business Accounting (the predecessor to Office Accounting) required customers to download and install a separate connector developed by Microsoft partner EVT Solutions. Bundling Office Accounting with POS removes this step and could appeal to retailers that have not yet adopted formal accounting software and a computer-based point-of-sale system. (However, Office Accounting is not required—POS 2.0 will also continue to work with QuickBooks.) POS 2.0 includes several new features and incremental enhancements—for example, it helps retailers more quickly adjust inventory by allowing them to register inventory shipments at the point-of-sale device. In addition, when combined with services provided by First Data, POS 2.0 allows users to offer and process gift cards.

A new hardware, software, and service bundle combines Hewlett-Packard's rp5000 point-of-sale computer and related peripherals (such as a bar-code scanner and magnetic card reader), Dynamics POS 2.0, and First Data. Called the POS Value Exchange, the bundle promises small retailers a replacement for aging electronic cash registers and card processing devices and will help those retailers process transactions more quickly. For example, the POS Value Exchange can validate credit card transactions using a secure Internet connection to First Data rather than the slower dial-up connections generally used by dedicated credit card readers. POS Value Exchange will process major credit cards, gift cards, and debit cards and will support check processing through First Data's TeleCheck service.

Pricing, Availability, and Resources

Pricing for POS 2.0 and RMS 2.0 is unchanged from earlier versions and both are available as of Jan. 2007. Microsoft suggests a retail price for POS 2.0 of US$800 per lane. POS is available only in the United States. It can be purchased from resellers such as Best Buy for Business and CompUSA or from Microsoft Certified Partners.

RMS prices start at US$1,190 per lane for the Store Operations software. The Headquarters software, used to manage multiple stores, starts at about US$3,000 for two stores, plus an additional US$500 per store. RMS is available worldwide but only in English. It is available only through Microsoft Certified Partners.

POS Value Exchange is sold by First Data and its partners. However, as of Jan. 2007, pricing for the bundle has not been announced.

More information about POS 2.0 is at www.microsoft.com/dynamics/pos/default.mspx.

More information about RMS 2.0 is at www.microsoft.com/dynamics/rms/default.mspx.

POS Value Exchange is described at www.POSValueX.com.