More Questions???

[Cateye88]

Hi again Opticats, I have a few more questions , you are all so great with answers. Everytime I say hummmm...its off to the optiboard :)
What software are independents using for their business? I am considering Luxottica EZ frame, also gonna get a "Dell" any advice??
What about Marchon's?? thanks guys ;)

[Rich]

Hi:
We've been using EZframe (DOS version) for about 7-8 years and overall we've been pretty satisfied. But the DOS version is being discontinued so we are now switching to the windows version. In fact Luxottica is doing the data conversion even as I type this message. I HOPE that it will be even more useful to us and I HOPE we can learn to use it easily. I think anynof these packages are OK once you learn them, and work out the kinks.
Don't expect any program to solve all of your problems right out of the box.
Incidentally, I was alway pretty happy with Luxottica's support of EZframe... which is why we're sticking with them for now. And I don't think anyone else can come close to the price for the software.
Anyway your welcome to contact me in a few weeks and see if I am still an EZframe fan.
Good luck.

Rich

[Texas Ranger]

Cathy, Check into Eyecom2, really a great system, used for a decade, started out with dos version, now using windows version, really works great if you're really going to have that O.D. www.eyecom2.com might get you there. Al.

[Framebender]

Dear Cathy,

Another program you might want to look at is RLI. It is pretty user friendly & seems to do most everything we need it to do. Go to the Maui Jim web site & you can look at it anyway.

Congratulations to you! I wish you much success! Have fun & make money!!

Framebender

[Matthew]

I have Marchon Officemate. It started out reasonable but is getting costly. yearly fee to get customer support and upgrades is now over 500.00 per year. It is a nice program though and I plan on sticking with it since I dont want to hassle with changing. EZframe from Luxottica is also pretty nice, they will send you a working demo if you want to try, upgrades are slower coming with this program but last time I asked there is no yearly fee and the program is very reasonable.

[Pete Hanlin]

We just went through the process of finding a software vendor... In the long run, we decided to stay with Kellner.

Just a summary of what I found in the process of looking...

• Marchon's software (OfficeMate) seemed pretty good at first glance. However, a combination of trying the demo and talking with current users steered me away...
• Compulink was impressive... I've used this software before, and it worked really well for a one-location operation. However, if you need to multi-site, forget it.
• MaximEyes (by FirstInsight) was far and away the best program we looked at (however, it should be for the price they ask... ).

When the rubber hits the road, you want a program that is founded on a good database (e.g., Oracle), and offers good support (which you can research by asking for references from the software vendor of people actually USING the program). Some good questions to ask are:
Can I write customized reports?
What is the ongoing support fee?
What kind of training can you offer?
What "plug-ins" are compatible (medical notes, etc.)?
Can insurance be electronically filed?

...and so on.

Good Luck,
Pete