Spectrum Session Q&A-The Future of PrismRBS Product Suite
Is there a sunset date set for PrismCore support, assuming that is what Mosaic is replacing?
At this point a sunset date for either PrismCore or Visual Ratex has not been established. We will partner with each campus to determine feature alignment and provide time for transition, and until that point we will continue to support all three platforms - Mosaic, PrismCore and Visual Ratex.
Is there a sunset date for RATEX users? Or are you going to continue to support multiple platforms?
At this point a sunset date for either PrismCore or Visual Ratex has not been established. We will partner with each campus to determine feature alignment and provide time for transition, and until that point we will continue to support all three platforms - Mosaic, PrismCore and Visual Ratex.
Will we be able to add an apparel item with multiple colors and sizes without having to build the matrix one at a time?
Yes, the assignment of products to variant groups and selected variants will automatically generate associated product profiles.
Are all items built in a parent/child relationship? Example: a book title holds the ebook, hard cover, and loose leaf version
The association of related products, books or otherwise, is an expected system feature. Client input and user stories will be used to direct the development team where such product associations are expected and how they interact.
Is Mosaic considering integrations with partners like Verba/Vitalsource, CEI and others - will they need to be redeveloped?
Yes, integrations will be available in Mosaic and the teams are working to establish flexible API's to allow for additional options for campuses.
Is this suite PCI verified?
PrismRBS assumes responsibility for the compliance of hosted solutions, including Mosaic. Compliance of hosted applications will be validated via QSA audit or self-assessment, depending on environment changes between validations. Stores remain responsible for PCI compliance validation within their own environment including systems, networks, and users that connect to the hosted Mosaic solution.
Do you have dark mode?
Yes , dark mode is available.
When you require us to move from PrismCore to Mosaic will our current PrismCore information move across or will we need to re-enter it?
Mosaic includes import utilities to move information from other systems into Mosaic. The full set of imports is evolving as we discover new data to ingest. We will work with campuses on this process. There are some campuses who would prefer to start with a clean slate and not transfer over historical data, and others that prefer an import.
It looks like Author and Title/Description are lumped together. Will you be able to sort by title alone?
Yes, author and title may be split to enable independent sorting by those fields.
I appreciate you are doing beta testing with a small wintext customer. Can future beta test phases also include a Canadian Beta location or two? There tend to be some uniquely Canadian impacts that often get overlooked in new product development.
We are defining upcoming focus groups and customer segments for Mosaic and will definitely involve Canadian campuses.
With rental being so important (both store, and publisher-forced rentals), why delay adding it to the suite?
The initial customer segment migrating to Mosaic did not require Rentals to be included in the system, but now that we will be moving into additional segments this is work the team will be completing.
Is there an AR integration for account billing?
AR design is in-progress. The timing of store-managed AR vs. integration to billing systems will depend on the needs of Mosaic early adopters. Over time we expect to deliver both AR imports from and exports to third party billing systems.
Will transaction history include web orders?
Yes, the processing of web orders and the association of those orders to Mosaic customers' transaction history is expected.
What is the projected timeline of availability following BETA?
The initial phases for Mosaic complete robust merchandise management, PrismPOS integration, and PrismWeb integration. Once these milestones are complete - aiming for Summer '21 - we will begin onboarding customers with integrated front end points-of-sale.
Are you including CRM communications?
The initial phases of Mosaic will include the capture of customer profiles and associated transactions, but will not incorporate CRM communications. We understand the importance of CRM and continuously explore the best long-term solution.
Is there any indication or lockout if two people are attempting to edit the same record?
At this point, there is not an indication or lockout if two people are attempting to edit the same record, but the team will make a note of this and assess the need in relation to the remaining feature requirements.
Do web order or mail order transactions also display in Customer Maintenance?
Yes, the processing of web orders and the association of those orders to Mosaic customers' transaction history is expected. The management of mail orders is still under review, but any solution will update a common customer profile.
Can you show us reporting/report generation?
The reporting capabilities of the system are not yet available within Mosaic.
Can you assign an overstock shelf location to each item?
Mosaic does not currently include shelf location information. Such information could be added in a future update.
Is this running on a brand new back-end or just a new GUI?
Mosaic is built in Microsoft Azure's cloud and is a completely new infrastructure and interface.
Can you load multiple guides?
Not at this time.
Does Mosaic only work with PrismWEB, or will it interface with other 3rd party eCommerce sites?
The initial phase of Mosaic is to integrate into PrismWeb and are still reviewing the long term strategy for our eCommerce platform.
Is there a way to sell at the register for items to be shipped to a customer? Shipping taxes are based on where the item ships, not at processing at register in the store.
There are currently no plans to sell and ship via the cash register. Shipped orders will be managed via web/mail order procession which will implement tax collection per user-defined tax nexuses.
Can order decisions still be worked in course requests?
This capability is not currently in Mosaic.
Can you address how Global Notes (as named in PrismCore) will function in Mosaic?
Global Notes are not part of the mvp feature set in Mosaic. Such notes may be considered as part of the application roadmap.
Are rental returns still able to be processed thru the buyback module?
At this time, buyback is buyback only. The product roadmap intends to deliver "book return" independent of buyback to logically manage rental returns and buyback combined.
Could it also sort by specialty items? We sell food, which has a different tax structure than General Merchandise, which has caused us issues, especially in the current design of the web platform with tax setups.
The requested Mosaic tax structure uses DCC to enable/disable tax rates. This structure allows different tax application by product group.
For search/sort capabilities, the Mosaic product team will initially deliver common criteria such as author, title, description, SKU, and ISBN/barcode. Based on user feedback, additional criteria may be added to search, sort, and filter merchandise. There is substantial flexibility in product data, although we remain mindful of maintaining an intuitive user experience incorporating client input.
Also, clothing tends to have different tax rates than novelty items, so perhaps more specificity would be helpful.
The requested Mosaic tax structure uses DCC to enable/disable tax rates. This structure allows different tax application by product group.
Since Buyback goes through the POS, can we refund to Credit Card?
Currently buyback is an application within Mosaic that supports cash payment only. With future delivery of PrismPOS buyback, buyback offers may be applied to any approved tender.
Where are AR balances input as well as shipping and billing addresses?
Accounts receivable management is still under design. It is expected that AR balances/limits may be updated via file import or via individual account management.
Although not shown in the live demo, customer accounts already include contact and shipping address information.
If I am on WinPOS now, why should I move to PrismPOS now versus waiting to move to Mosaic all at once? Is migration from PrismPOS less expensive from a services standpoint since I would then be running on your cloud?
PrismPOS is an independent, complimentary application to Mosaic. At this time, PrismPOS is the only supported POS front-end, and it is expected to be the preferred POS application indefinitely. You are encouraged to begin taking advantage of PrismPOS’ new interface and functionality with PrismCore knowing that PrismPOS will be compatible with Mosaic when the Mosaic feature set is ready to meet your needs.
Did I see that you are able to sort by barcode?
Due to the potential many to one barcode to SKU association, barcode is not a sortable value. Barcode only acts as an item search criteria.
Does that PO number have to be auto generated? You mentioned it could be over-ridden, but the screen looks like it cannot be changed.
My apologies for mixing expected and current capabilities during the demo. The current version of Mosaic does not allow PO number override. It is my expectation that users may set a PO number or accept a system-provided number.
Is the buyback customer ID field just a free-form entry or does it reference against customer maintenance data?
Buyback customer ID is a free-form entry. By design, the application does not assume that sellers will have a customer profile within Mosaic. This assumption may be re-evaluated based on client input.
If you purchase in Buyback function for NBC and school on one invoice, does it show this information somewhere on the receipt?
The buyback transaction does differentiate accepted offers by purchaser. The buyback session packing list does, as well.
How will existing integrations (custom/common) with our College ERP be impacted by the completely re-written back end
Mosaic is built in Microsoft Azure's cloud and is a completely new infrastructure and interface. Database design has been informed by, but does not replicate, current data tables. Integrations will be reviewed and/or standardized store-by-store.
Will Mosaic work with Ratex POS?
PrismPOS will be the go-forward platform integrated into Mosaic.
Is there some protection for general users from deleting product images?
With expanded use, user permissions will be refined to ensure functionality is limited by user role.
What is the cost to switch?
The pricing structure for Mosaic is still being finalized as we analyze the associated platform costs and will communicate with campuses as soon as possible with related costs as they transition
Could it also sort by specialty items? We sell food, which has a different tax structure than General Merchandise, which has caused us issues, especially in the current design of the web platform with tax setups.
By design, the Mosaic product team will initially deliver common sort/search criteria such as author, title, description, SKU, and ISBN/barcode. Based on user feedback, additional criteria to search, sort, and filter may be added. There is substantial flexibility in product data, although we remain mindful of maintaining an intuitive user experience incorporating client input.
Can you sort by DCC?
By design, the Mosaic product team will initially deliver common sort/search criteria such as author, title, description, SKU, and ISBN/barcode. Based on user feedback, additional criteria to search, sort, and filter may be added. There is substantial flexibility in product data, although we remain mindful of maintaining an intuitive user experience incorporating client input.
Can you search for a customer in PrismPOS using a card ID number stored in Mosaic CRM?
There are multiple search options for customers on PrismPOS, including card ID. Depending on the shopper this may be a student ID or other identifier, like Driver's license number, for non-active students. To protect personal data, name, email, and phone number are also valid search options.
What type of data that can be imported?
Data imports are still being defined for Mosaic, and the team is exploring the various needs campuses have for the import process.
Can you set shipping override per shipping method, i.e. next day, 2nd day, or standard?
The shipping override, is really a single value surcharge. It may be appended to shipping charges or replace the calculated shipping amount. If you offer multiple shipping methods, this is presumably most useful as a surcharge. In addition to the value that may be presented with the item profile, users may make shipping charge adjustments as needed upon order processing.