Utilities

This sub-menu allows you to easily access several operations that are most frequently performed on Debtor and Client records. Select Tools from the top menu bar and then select Utilities to access the following functions.

* Group Account
* Send Text Message
* Search and Replace
* Orphaned Account Search
* File Numbering
* Group Member Renumbering
* Performance Benchmark
* Record Totals
* Record Lock Status
* Update Client Addresses
* Update Phone Records
* Convert Attachment File Field
* Manage Upgrade Contacts
* Rebuild Archive Debtor Keys
* Control Key Macro
* Create Vouchers
* Save Screen shot

Group Account

Select Group Account to step through the process of joining accounts you have previously tagged.

Search And Replace

Select Search and Replace to open a dialog where you can type in a string to look for in the database. Select the field you wish to search and enter a search string and, optionally, a replace string. You can select other settings to refine your search.

You can use this utility on any list. You must have the list open invoking Search and Replace.

Orphaned Account Search

Select Orphaned Account Search to run the Orphaned Debtor Report. This report examines your accounts and lists any neglected accounts that it finds with Active Mode and no current contact 'In Progress' and any accounts with no Mode selected. When the report is run, you can automatically schedule a contact for each of the accounts that the report lists.

Please see Orphaned Debtor Report for details.

File Numbering

Select File Numbering to check the existing file numbers of all accounts in your system. If duplicates are found, this function renumbers the files to get rid of the duplicate numbers.

This is useful if you have just imported, and the incoming file numbers overlap with existing file numbers.

Normally, it should not be necessary to run the routine, but if you find the same notes appearing on more than one Debtor, you can run this process to eliminate that problem.

Collect! will not renumber accounts that you are reporting to credit bureau. The File Number uniquely identifies the account to the bureau.

Group Member Renumbering

Select Group Member Renumbering to tidy your Group Member numbering. Collect! will number all Group Members in each group sequentially, closing any gaps in the Group Member IDs that resulted from removing members from a group. You also have the option of resorting, Oldest to Newest, or Newest to Oldest, according to Listed Date.

To renumber group members sequentially, just select the Group Member Renumbering option.

To resort group members by Listed Date, you must first tag debtors to process.

Performance Benchmark

Select Performance Benchmark utility to test the performance of your computer through several stress tests. This is very useful for finding system bottlenecks when a Server or Workstation seems unusually slow.

Record Totals

Select Record Totals to view a quick count of records in the current database. Clients, Debtors, Transactions, Contacts, Attachments and Cosigners are counted. This is especially useful for users with limited accounts. If you are approaching your limit, you can archive accounts or upgrade your license to allow more accounts to be stored in the database.

If you run this utility when viewing the Archive database, you will see totals for your archived accounts.

Record Lock Status

Select Record Lock Status to see who holds the lock on the record you are viewing. You cannot free the lock from this command, but you can see who is holding it.

To use this, you must be on a record. If you are on a menu, such as the Main Menu, this function does nothing.

Update Client Addresses

Select Update Client Addresses if you did not update your addresses when you upgraded to version 11.

This utility will parse any data in Client Address 3. Select 'City/State/ZIP' to parse the data out into the City, State and ZIP Client address fields. This will also enable you to automatically update your existing reports to use the new Client address fields.

If you do not want to use City, State and ZIP, you can select 'Address Line' to add the information from Address 3 to the Client Address 2 field.

Update Phone Records

Select Update Phone Records to create a new Phone record for each Debtor or Client phone number in your database. This utility will create a Phone record for any Debtor or Client phone number that does not already have a Phone record.

This utility can also update the Debtor Cosigner and Client Associated Phone records.

If you select Update Phone Records when you are on a Debtor or Client form, Collect! will update the Phone records for the currently displayed Debtor or Client.

If you select Update Phone Records when you have a list of tagged Debtors or Clients, Collect! will update the Phone records for all the accounts in the tagged list.

With an active Debtor or Client, or a tagged list of Debtors or Clients, this utility will only run on the Debtor or Client, it will not update the Cosigner or Associate records.

Please refer to Help topic, Update Phone Records for details.

Convert Attachment File Field

Select Convert Attachment File Field to make your attachments compatible with Collect!'s global path configuration. If you select ATTACH ONLY, Collect! only converts the files with "attach" in the path. If you select ALL, Collect! will remove the complete path information from all file names entered in the File field of your Attachments.

CANCEL - exits without converting.

ALL - removes all path information.

ATTACH ONLY - converts only files with "attach" in the path.

Example:

"attach\1000\1400\1400.3" converts to "1400.3"

The "attach\folders" paths are implied in Collect!.

Manage Upgrade Contacts

Select Manage Upgrade Contacts to process any discrepancy contacts that were created during an upgrade procedure.

Rebuild Archive Debtor Keys

Select Rebuild Archive Debtor Keys to build the keys for the Archive database. These keys are not built by default. If you wish to run searches on your archived records, you must use this utility first to build the keys Collect! uses for searching records.

Control Key Macro

Select Control Key Macro to open a form where you can enable the Ctrl+F12 hot key to run a macro from file. You can also specify a recorded and saved macro to run when the hot key combination is pressed.

Create Vouchers

Vouchers provide a convenient way for your clients to provide you with information for new debtors. Certain basic information can be set to make it easy to keep consistent records. Creating vouchers reserves space in your database for your Client's future debtors.

You can use this feature as a marketing tool. Offer a voucher booklet to your Clients at a reduced commission rate. When they are ready to send you a new debtor, they can use a voucher. You can enter the account in your database in the space you already set up for the Client's new debtors.

Use Create Vouchers to set up the vouchers for your Client. This form allows you to set options for numbering, creating and recording your vouchers. Also, you can select a Contact Plan to run when you Collect! enters the voucher accounts into your database.

Save Screen Shot

Select Save Screen shot to take a screen shot of the current window opened in Collect!. This is useful when you want to send details to Collect! Technical Services. You may also want to use it for your own training or other purposes. The resulting BMP file is stored in the Collect\bin folder.