P Squared Community Forum / Announcements and General Discussions / P Squared Announcements

Offices Closed For Training

Liam Burke — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:41:59 GMT

The P Squared offices will be shut for internal training on Thursday the 18th of July.

We will be back open as usual at on Friday the 19th and out of hours support will remain unaffected.

We apologise for any inconvenience and appreciate your support for ongoing staff development policies.

Windows Vista Support

Peter Jarrett — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:22:04 GMT

Hello all,

We've now published our Windows Vista Statement that explains our current position with our applications and Windows Vista.

Myriad v3.5 is designed to operate under both Windows XP and Vista and we are planning to release an update to Scoop in the near future.

Please have a read at http://support.psquared.net/vista.htm

Thanks,

Myriad v3.5 Final Feature List

Liam Burke — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:49:10 GMT

Check out here

http://www.psquared.net/compare_myriad_versions.htm

For the final list of Myriad v3.5 features.

There are a couple of exciting late additions to the list that were not included in the 'alpha' release as we did not want to let everyone know what we were up to until we were ready for beta release.

More information on the beta release will be coming in the next week or so.

Website Update

Liam Burke — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:33:37 GMT

We have just uploaded a new update to the website. Nothing major, just some cosmetic changes, a bit of additional information and a new menu structure.

Any feedback is welcome.

SQL Server Testers wanted!

Peter Jarrett — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:05:22 GMT

Hello all,

As always we're working on some new versions of our products and we would like to find some customers who would be willing to test out some beta versions that can use a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 (or SQL Express aka MSDE) as an alternate to the local database file.

For those that don't know, the main difference is that SQL Server allows you to store your database on a central server making it easier to administrate (if you know what you're doing!) as well as allowing remote systems to operate from the same database.

Longer term this will mean the ability to run stations from centralised music and news catalogues - ideal for larger groups, but also for those with a remote studio that does regular shows from some distance away.

The first thing we are testing is an SQL Server enabled Contacts Directory, so we are looking for either a Scoop or Myriad user with a good understanding of SQL Server or SQL Express (if you don't know what they are then you possibly aren't the right test site for us!) We are hoping to have the test software ready in the next weeks so we are after volunteers asap.

If the tests go well then we will look to implement the same technology into the Station Database in Myriad and the news database in Scoop, and then eventually into AutoTrack for the Scheduling Databases.

If you are interested in helping us out, then please email prereleasereq@psquared.net with the following information:

Your name and contact details including a daytime telephone number as well as the details of your station.
If you are already a P Squared customer we will need your P-SQUID and also details of which products you are already running and how long you have been using them.
We need to know where you will be using this - i.e. at home, on a test computer or in a studio or on-air etc.
How many people will you be making it available to use - numbers and the technical level of your users too please.
Whether its Scoop or Myriad you are planning to test with.
Whether you are using full MS SQL Server 2005 or Express
The exact specification of the computer(s) you will use - including the operating system (very important!). We need this for both the SQL server and the Workstations you will use.

Thanks all!

New! Online Services Website

Peter Jarrett — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 14:39:06 GMT

Hello all,

Well, it's been a long time coming, but we now have an Online License site for those who are unable to connect to our license server because of firewalls or other restrictions (like, for example, not having internet access on the computer!)

Please note: This service is only available for P-SQUISH enabled products, older products still have to be manually licensed over the phone or via email. Users of AutoTrack v2.6.24 or earlier should therefore upgrade to v2.6.25 or higher as soon as possible.

You can access the server via http://secure.psquared.net/ where you see will 2 options:

Check Job Status Online: This allows you to see the progress of any orders you have placed with us. From now on, whenever you order something from us you will recieve a Job Number (i.e. J1234) which you can then use to track the order as it progresses through the system. If you have a job that is already in our systems, please email sales@psquared.net and they will give you the Job Reference. At present this doesn't display Tracking Information from couriers, though we are working on this.
License P-SQUISH Product Online: The big one - this allows you to relicense your product. You will need your License Name, Email address and of course the all important P-SQUISH code before you can obtain a license code.

If you have any suggestions, please let us know in the suggestion box via - http://forum.psquared.net/Forum35-1.aspx

P Squared Moved Offices On The 8th Of December

Liam Burke — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:34:22 GMT

Due to our continued expansion in the UK and abroad, the P Squared team has moved to bigger and better offices as of the 8th of December 2006. This means a new mail address and new phone numbers :

Our new phone numbers are:

Telephone: +44 1482 350700

Fax: +44 1482 350701

Our new mail address is:

1 - 2 Maritime House

Maritime Business Park

Livingstone Road

Hessle

East Yorkshire

HU13 0EG

Web and email addresses remain the same.

For anyone interested, there is a picture of our new building attached to this post.

Technical Support Reference Format Changed

Peter Jarrett — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:45:14 GMT

Hello all,

Due to an increase in the number of emails that we recieve to the support email address we have changed the format of the Support Reference that each support item is assigned.

Previously the format was PSQyymmddXX where YYMMDD is the date in the format YearMonthDay. The XX is a number from 1 to 99. This means that we cannot reliably process more than 100 support emails a day. Now at the time of writing this we average around 10 to 20 actual support emails a day, but on very busy days, or when the SpamBot networks are really going for it then we push way over this. This can mean that 'real' support emails can be swamped with invalid references.

With immediate effect the format has changed to PSQyyXXXXXX which just uses the year - i.e. currently a Support Reference would be PSQ07XXXXXX. This means that we can process just under a million emails a year. Hopefully far more than we ever will need to!

If you need any more information about the Support procedure, please have a read of http://support.psquared.net/supportinst.htm

Thanks,

Peter

Software Installer Changes

Peter Jarrett — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 20:10:02 GMT

Hello all,

We are changing 2 parts of the installer program that is used to install the current generation of software. The first change is to the Click-Wrap agreement that you "Agree" to when installing the software. You should always read this carefully when installing the software (you should read this carefully on any software you install - not just ours!) just to make sure that you are happy with the agreement. Theres nothing nasty in there and no hidden clauses though so don't worry, it's just to simplify the language and remove some of the physical paperwork involved when we issue new Licenses :)

The second thing we are changing is the Digital Certificate that we use to "sign" installers to certify that they are from us and haven't been tampered with since we created them. In practice this change will most likely go unnoticed, but we wanted to mention it in case anyone noticed. Previously we used certificates issued by Globalsign, but we have now switched to Verisign Certificates instead. This doesn't actually make any difference, it's justa change of provider.

These changes are being rolled out across all the new versions of our software, and although not a definitive list, this change will affect:

AutoTrack v3
Myriad v3
Scoop v3
Powerlog v4
Nexus v1
SmoothEdit v1

Any questions about the above should be directed to your account manager via sales@psquared.net

Nexus and Remote Voice Tracking Early Testers wanted!

Peter Jarrett — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 18:27:23 GMT

Hi All,We're getting ready to release our brand new Nexus product, and also Myriad v3's new Remote Voice Tracking Tool and we're after guinea pigs who want to try them out for us...For more information please see:Nexus: Topic1268-27-1.aspxMyriad RVT: Topic996-22-1.aspxThanks,

P Squared Contacts and Users Directory Manager Released!

Peter Jarrett — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 15:23:10 GMT

Hi All,We are pleased to announce the release of a new product - the P Squared Contacts and Users Directory manager (catchy isn't it?)The P Squared Directory is now used in a large number of P Squared products including Myriad v3, Scoop v3 and Powerlog Client v4.We have had a lot of requests from users of these products for a standalone version of the Contact Management system so they can roll it out to reception and administration staff as well as the sales team and other users throughout their stations.For more information about the Manager please see http://www.psquared.net/contact_management.htmFor information about pricing or to arrange an Evaluation version please contact your Account Manager or email sales@psquared.net

Not long left for Windows 2000...

Peter Jarrett — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 14:30:41 GMT

Hi All,As a lot of people know, Microsoft discontinued full mainstream support for Windows 2000 earlier this year (30th July to be exact) and they will now only release security updates as opposed to fixing smaller issues/adding new features.As previously announced we therefore set a date of the 31st December 2005 for when we end support for Windows 2000. This means that after this date, our products are not guaranteed to work on Windows 2000 and we will not be able to assist you with any Operating System related issues. It also means that newer releases of our software may not even be able to run on Windows 2000.As a caveat, I must say that there is no reason to believe that any of the versions of our software currently available should have any issues arise after this date, but factors outside of our control (such as Hardware Driver updates etc.) may cause you problems down the line.We therefore recommend that you start considering upgrading your PCs to Windows XP Professional (Service Pack 2) fairly soon.In some cases (if your hardware is relatively new) this may just be a case of purchasing a new retail edition of Windows XP and doing a fresh install on the computer (after taking a full backup of course!)On the other hand, if your PC is quite old then you may not be able to follow this path and you may need to be thinking of the cost of a new computer. Another advantage to this route is that obviously you can use the opportunity to get more storage space, and of course it's more than likely that your software will run quite a bit quicker :-)Either way, if you contact sales@psquared.net they will be able to give you pricing for either route and we would be more than happy to advise on what specification to look for - especially if you are considering upgrading to one of the newer versions of Myriad, Scoop or Powerlog.For more information about our Software and Operating System Support Policy, please visit http://support.psquared.net/softsupport.htmThanks,

The Big One - Myriad v3 Gets Full Release!

Liam Burke — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 11:14:23 GMT

Today is the day!Myriad v3 is officially released today and can be downloaded from the P Squared web site. The official release version is 3.0.7 so anybody who has this version installed as a beta need not download a new version of the software.Anyone wishing to evaluate Myriad v3 should contact sales@psquared.net for a free trial.As has been discussed previously, Myriad v3 is not a free upgrade for Myriad v2 users so anyone wishing to find out more about the costs of upgrading should contact sales@psquared.net for a quotation.We would like to thank everyone for their support and ideas through the development cycle and particularly all those who participated in the beta program. Your support has been invaluable.Although we are all excited by the full release of Myriad v3, development will continue, indeed, we expect to release a new beta in the next week or so, however, all of the core features are now in place so there should not be any major developments until Myriad v3.1 which is due in the spring of 2006.Documentation is still in development but should be fully available in the next couple of weeks. Documenting a large product like Myriad is a big job and the main Myriad manual is already over 420 pages long but work continues apace. Anyone who is interested in helping out with revising documentation should contact me directly (liamb@psquared.net).Finally, I would like to thank the development team for all their hard work and long hours over the past months. I think that they have produced a great product that is a credit to them and P Squared as a whole.LiamP Squared

Happy Birthday Forums

David Boulton — Mon, 14 Feb 2005 15:30:21 GMT

I was just replying to a forum post when i noticed the date that i joined. With that in mind i would like to say:\"Happy 1st Birthday\" I think that the forums have become a fantastic resource for information and have certainly been more popular than the \"Stuff List\" which it replaced.Thanks for your postings - keep em up!

The Stuff list is dead, long live the Forums

Peter Jarrett — Fri, 04 Jun 2004 12:44:33 GMT

Hi,Well, after a long trial period the overall feedback that we have recieved from people is that the forum is a much better way to interact than the older email lists.We have therefore decided that the Forum is definitely here to stay and we will therefore have to wave a fond farewell to both the Stuff and News email lists. They have served us well, and I'm sure will be missed by many ;-)If you want details of how to automatically recieve notifications when new messages are posted to this forum, have a look at Topic3-4-1.aspxWe will shortly be sending farewell messages to the Stuff and News Lists that also give the above details. PS I have a recollection of sending a similar email to this to the stuff list when we renamed it from (whatever it was called before) - odd how history repeats itself :-)

Feedback wanted!

Peter Jarrett — Thu, 27 May 2004 09:01:00 GMT

As part of the ongoing overhaul of our products and services, we are after a bit of feedback from our customers on what you think we do well, where we could do better, and what we are just shocking at.

If you like/loath the new e-mail notices of your order shipping - tell us. If you would prefer to always deal with one account manager for all your purchases, let us know that too. If you think that a particular person here deserves either praise or a bit of "Customer Relations Training" (where we make them stand in the rain chanting "I Will Do Better"), tell us that as well.

We want to hear about anything you can think of - from changing the on-hold music, to online ordering and changes to the way we send junk email to you :-)

We are also keen to hear about any changes that you would like to see the product lineup we offer - anything from minor changes to an individual program, all the way to ideas for completely new products that we don't already have. We know that there are few things left that we don't cover already so please let us know what you think we should be developing.

If you have already had an idea and sent it in, you don't need to let us know again as we log every suggestion that comes in - but any other ideas, please let us know.

If you have any ideas or suggestions, please post them in the suggestion box forum here.

As always, if you have any questions please let us know, otherwise we'll look forward to hearing from you,

Credit Card Payments Now Accepted

Liam Burke — Tue, 11 May 2004 09:22:01 GMT

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the discussion on whether the ability to take card payments would be useful.The feedback was generally positive so we decided to bite the bullet and get a machine installed. We can now take most major credit and debit cards including Visa, Mastercard, Delta, Maestro, JCB, Switch, Solo and Electron.Unfortunately, credit cards attract a 3% transaction charge, debit cards however have no transaction charges. Minimum value for card transactions is £5.00.As from today, we will offer card payment as an option on all purchases and wherever possible, goods purchased using cards will be dispatched the same day.For more details, please feel free to contact P Squared sales on 01482 383700.