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We are pleased to report that VETLINKSQL has been selected as the winner of the Apiam tender after a rigorous discovery and analysis process carried out by Apiam with the assistance of Grant Thornton’s Melbourne Advisory team. Apiam Animal Health is an ASX listed company (AHX.ASX) and incorporates over 100 highly experienced, industry leading veterinarians with expertise across the pig, dairy, feedlot, sheep, equine and companion animal sectors. Apiam Animal Health is fully vertically integrated, including having veterinary wholesale, warehousing, logistics, and other ancillary services. The cloud hosted version of VETLINKSQL will be integrated to Apiam’s back-end ERP system with bi-directional data integration.

Thus far the model for groups has been to have a live central Practice Management database for “Head Office” use. Unfortunately, as much as they try, Practice Management systems are not designed for Corporate compliance;  ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system fit that profile, especially when centralised purchasing  or an in-house wholesale business also forms part of their long term strategy. We are excited to be working with Apiam and their ERP team to develop a solution we believe will become a model for large corporate groups in future.

BAM (Business Activity Monitoring) is a new cloud based tool to monitor your business at any time, from anywhere, and on any device! Business Activity Monitor aims to allow end-users to monitor their ongoing operations through core KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators). Accessible on any device with an internet connection including mobile phones. Full security and access level control by management for staff and what they can access.

VETLINKSQL’s cloud based online booking system has been developed to operate with “live” integration to the VETLINKSQL in-clinic Diary system. In the web setup section, the clinic is able to select appointment reasons that are allowed to be available on the web. The appointment reasons can also be categorised on the web module independently. A set of smart patient data-aware “survey” questions can also be configured with a tree-structure funnel to get information similar to what a competent nurse should always ask during a live phone or in-person conversation with the client. This is certainly the way of the future. This is what clients want today – total freedom to search for available appointment times online, and not be put on “hold”, let alone get a “clinic closed” message when it is a more convenient time for them, such as at night.

The cloud application resides on our secure server with a secure connection to the VETLINKSQL server or main PC at your clinic. The booking system can be a link on your existing web site or you may provide a direct link in your email or SMS correspondence to the client. When they click on the link they will be provided with a login screen; their email address doubles as their login ID. If they forget their password, they can get it sent to them by the “Forgot Password” link thereby making this system maintenance and hassle free for the clinic.

Data-Aware Business Intelligence (DABI) refers to a technology developed by VETLINKSQL engineers that allows the clinic to set up questions and/or instructions with priority levels that are activated at appointment making time based on pre-configured data sensitive triggers. Up to three of these are then presented to the client seeking an appointment based on such criteria. This is no different to what a well trained staff member should be doing consistently when clients phone in for an appointment. When a client selects a patient to be booked online, data is automatically captured “live” off the clinic server, within seconds, into the DABI unit. Pre-determined information and/or questions will then trigger for the client to see, based on pre-selected boolean “AND” operation amongst several data fields. Some examples of these data fields include: Species, Breed, Age, Weight, Gender of Patient, Desexed Status, if NOT Visited for “X” days, If PURCHASED an item from a Category, If NOT PURCHASED an item from a Category or if Booking for a Particular Reason.

RAPPAW’S MOVE TO THE CLOUD

At Rappaw we have four very busy clinics with 25 terminals. We used to run a central server for VETLINKSQL and a PACS Server for digital x-ray image backup at our main branch. As our servers got older and required replacement we were advised to look at cloud options. The CFL team assisted us to migrate to their Amazon cloud environment, and honestly, it was smoother than we had anticipated.

In addition to VETLINKSQL, we also saw it as a good opportunity to move our PACS Server with all our digital DICOM images to the cloud with fully automated backups! Since migrating to the cloud hosted version of VETLINKSQL, we have very happy branch clinics who report an increase in speed – that’s because they now connect directly to the cloud, instead of via a slow Spark VPN (Virtual Private Network) to our own local server. As we are running an open source PACS server (Conquest), I was pleased how easy it was to migrate all the images and PACS software to the cloud too.

Everything runs very smoothly and the migration experience went very well. CFL were great doing all the data migration & setup online. Locally it took quite a bit of effort, as we had to replace lot of older Thin Clients that couldn’t connect to the new cloud server, as well as installing & setting up new routers at all four sites. The new routers & direct cloud connection via UFB (Ultra Fast Broadband) meant that we could move away from the expensive, outdated Spark VPN we were previously using. For the hardware part it’s essential to have someone with good IT knowledge on site, or a good relationship with a local IT company.

Scott Martin, BVSc,
Rappaw Veterinary Care
www.rappaw.co.nz

Do you have PCs that are a bit slow but otherwise in good condition? At CFL we have significantly improved performance of all of our PCs and laptops using few simple steps:

•   Replace your old mechanical hard drive with a solid-state drive (SSD). Information on SSD is stored in a microchip instead of storage platters found in traditional mechanical hard drives. Mechanical hard drives have always been the biggest bottleneck in PCs and if you are going to do only one of these 4 steps replacing your traditional hard drive with SSD drive will give you best performance increase!
•   Add more memory (RAM). You will have to check how many memory slots you have available and what type of memory your motherboard will support.
•   Upgrade your CPU (If your motherboard socket allows for a faster CPU or a CPU with more cores), this will allow you to perform tasks faster and to run more applications at the same time.
•   Reinstall Windows. After years of installing and uninstalling programs and just everyday use of your computer, Windows starts to slow down. It will happen even if you do regular maintenance like using disk clean up, defrag your hard drive, and clean your system with utilities like CCleaner. When you do a fresh install, you’ll be surprised how much faster the system runs. We highly recommend Windows 10 for best performance.

We will be attending the following conferences throughout the year:

• London Vet Show - 16-17 November 2017, Excel, London
• AVA Annual Conference - 04-09 June 2017, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
• Bain Fallon - 09-13 July 2017, Royal Pines Resort Gold Coast
• To stay up to date with events visit www.vetlinksql.com

We are always looking at implementing new reports to suit your business better. We are pleased to announce the following new reports available in the latest version of VETLINKSQL.

1. Hotel Report - This is a daily booking list of all the animals currently in your Hotel. It is helpful to give to kennel/cattery staff so they can keep track of all patients currently staying in your hotel and any special requirements detailed at time of booking. This report will give you the Cage number, Type of cage, booking notes and dates the animal is booked in for. You can access this report from your hotel Diary by clicking the Print icon and then selecting “Booking list”.

2. Sales targets Report or “Product Sales by Bill” Report - This report is designed to help you work to supplier/manufacturer sales targets and help you easily find quantity sold and value of individual items or a category of items. This information can be printed/emailed to your suppliers as proof of their product sales during a promotional period. You can find this report by going to Reports | Reports/Lists | Billing | Product Sales by Bill.

REPORT HIGHLIGHTS!