News for Current Users
P3 is updated often. Usually, the updates add options you can turn off or on, add new reports, or add functions. Virtually all updates are upwards compatible. That is, if you do not use the new option, or let the new setting just default, all will be as it was. Updates do not change what you have done in the past, they simply add power and flexibility.

This page lists recent updates, to keep you informed about important changes. Trivial or cosmetic changes, and updates to handle carrier format changes, are not included here.

TOPICS:	Details:
CDR File Viewer:	A free Large Text File Viewer is available at http://www.swiftgear.com/.  Handy for viewing CDR files.  It has quick-navigate buttons to jump in steps of 10K or 1 million calls at a time... very handy.
HTTP Timeouts with P3iNET and IE7:	If you are using an XP computer to log in to P3iNET, and you have upgraded to Internet Explorer 7 on that computer, and you have processes that take more than 30 seconds without user interaction during the process, you might experience an HTTP timeout and disconnection.  The error you see is HTTP Timeout Error #12002.  This is a timing issue with IE7 and it affects many software products.  Microsoft does not allow for a direct fix, but P3 has its own solution.  Download the p3connectf connection program, and the problem is gone.  Contact P3 for details.
Automatic Updates:	Now P3 keeps its software up to date automatically.  Users of P3 on their local computers, or users who have the P3 print engine and/or P3 email engine on their local computers, no longer need to look for the latest version.  The program checks for updates the first time it is used each day, and updates itself when needed.  If your version does not have this feature, it will not have a "Check for P3 Updates" button; it is very old, and you need to ask for a manual update to get this feature.
Joining CDR Files:	Ever need to join a month's worth of daily CDR files? The CDR Extraction utility (second one down on this list) now has a new, second function: It now can join a number of files on your computer. This join function also converts Unix formatted files (e.g., Qwest daily) to DOS ASCII format. Download the latest program here and save it to your computer
Agent Commissions based on Paid Accounts:	P3 now has added a commission option to pay commissions only on customer accounts that are paid up.  This option uses the commission packages feature described below for maximum flexibility.  A special file of commissions to be paid and commissions held back allows for late payments.  For examples, check the details here.  If you are interested in this, ask your P3 representative for details on this powerful option.
Agent Commissions:	P3 now has two options for calculation of sales agent commissions. The default is the original approach, where each agent is assigned commission rates on certain products. The new option lets you set up commission packages. You decide which options are commissionable, and what fixed or variable commission you give. If you are interested, ask your P3 representative for details on this powerful option.
CDR Extraction / ASCII File Extracter:	Often it is useful to extract calls for a certain phone number from a large file. We have a small stand-alone program that easily does this. Download it here and save it to your computer. When you run it, it asks for the file to read, the file to create, and the character string to look for. Easy and useful.
Start Browse Screens Maximized:	You can specify that Browse Screens should all start maximized. Just go to File then P3 Setup then the System Features tab, and check the box for "Open Browse Screens Maximized." You can change this any time you want. To avoid confusion for new users, this defaults to un-checked.
Backup File Change:	The backup file now will NOT include a backup of your user audit log file. This lets you see what happened between backups. Previously, those logs were replaced when a backup was restored because the log file itself was in the backup.
Off-Line Processes:	If your volumes are high and posting causes your local computer to give you an HTTP timeout error, this is of interest to you. Off-line posting lets you start a separate session to do the posting, invisible to your own session. Ask for documentation if you want to use this. If you do not select it, there is no change to your current procedure. [Details]
Offshore Pricing Options:	Pricing (rating) of calls can handle off-shore locations by 2-character place names, as it always has, or by NPANXX. Go to the File / P3 Setup Screen, Pricing tab to check the box if you want to use NPANXX. Then be sure you have the 1+NPANXX entries in the international rate tables.
Pricing/Posting Options:	There are now quite a few settings you can make by checking or not checking boxes on the File / P3 Setup Screen, Pricing tab and Posting tab. The check boxes default to whatever was the setting before the option was made available to you. Your changes are remembered by the system from session to session.
Agent Access:	P3 can let your agents log in to see their customers, and only their customer. This lets them handle customer inquiries from your live database, without giving one agent access to another's accounts. This is an extra-cost feature; inquire if it is of interest to you.

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