http://www.gotoadvantage.com/ en ecoulter@gotoadvantage.com Copyright 2010 2010-08-02T11:00:33+00:00 http://www.gotoadvantage.com/site/advantage-6.20-and-webvantage-3.20-released/ http://www.gotoadvantage.com/site/advantage-6.20-and-webvantage-3.20-released/#When:11:00:33Z Advantage Announces the Release of New Features, including Innovative Project Management Tools and Employee Utilization DashboardsAdvantage Announces the Release of New Features, including Innovative Project Management Tools and Employee Utilization Dashboards Largest release introduces new enhancements that help agencies and in-house marketing departments increase speed to market through operational efficiencies. Mooresville, NC – August 2, 2010 – In an effort to help customers to better streamline their operations, the Advantage Software Company, a leader in workflow automation solutions, announced the release of Advantage 6.2/Webvantage 3.2, the latest version of its scalable solution that connects critical advertising processes like project management, financial management, and media buying functionality using a single source database. Highlights of the release include new Alert Assignments for Project Management that facilitate task and issue routing, Employee Utilization Dashboards, and Phase II of the Billing Command Center. “For almost 30 years, Advantage has met the diverse needs of the marketing communications industry through product innovation and great customer service. The latest release incorporates over 100 enhancements to the system, and is our most significant release to date,” said President Ellen Coulter, “We’ve listened to our clients, and as a result of their guidance, we’ve created applications that streamline processes, more efficiently automate every task, and provide crucial management information to Agency Leaders in formats they can translate effortlessly.” New, Innovative ways to Manage Projects using Alert Assignments, and More! Several new features have been released that extend Advantage’s leadership in deploying project management systems in the marketing communications industry. Version 3.20 introduces Alert Assignments, a new feature that enables project managers to maintain schedule timelines at a higher level and use Alert Assignments with built-in, user-defined workflow to ‘route’ tasks and issues automatically to team members.  Project managers can spend more time managing and less time entering data while gaining complete visibility into all projects from a single, interactive view.  Task and issue routing are automatic based on the state assigned by each team member and the workflow defined.  This feature can be used to track any task or issue that requires routing, accompanying documents or collaboration, including the creative and production processes, contract or RFP participation, and issue tracking on digital or other programming projects. This slick feature speeds time to market and tracks progress, but eliminates the need to update every interaction in the project management schedule manually. Employee Utilization Dashboards for Agency Leaders The new release underscores Advantage’s commitment of pushing real time information to the web by introducing employee utilization dashboards. These new dashboards enable Agency Leaders and other key personnel to view employee productivity, realization (billability) and even client fee analysis by company/office and department at the macro and detail levels from a single, interactive browser-based application. View things like direct and indirect time, goal vs. actual, direct time by client, billed and adjusted time by client, and much more, all without printing a single report. “These new features provide information that enables Agency Leaders to analyze key utilization metrics quickly, through easy-to-read charts and graphs, so that they can adjust staffing or fees accordingly.” added Coulter. Media Billing Now Available in the Billing Command Center    In Phase II of the Billing Command Center, billing professionals now have a centralized location where they can review, adjust and bill media orders as well as production jobs.  The flexible media selection feature allows billers to select billing information at different levels of granularity, from all orders, to client, client/division, client/division/product, client purchase order, market, campaign, order number or even line number. Billers can perform a variety of tasks from the Command Center, including income recognition and closing jobs without leaving the screen.  By having all the information and tasks in one place, billers will experience a quick learning curve and become more efficient. Availability for existing customers: Advantage v6.20/Webvantage v3.20 are available for beta testing now. The releases will be available to all customers upon completion of the beta period.  For existing customers, webinars highlighting the features of these new releases will be held at no charge.  For more details and a schedule of the webinars, customers can visit the Users Portal at www.gotoadvantage.com/portal/. 2010-08-02T11:00:33+00:00 http://www.gotoadvantage.com/site/2010-users-group-a-success1/ http://www.gotoadvantage.com/site/2010-users-group-a-success1/#When:11:43:33Z Advantage concludes another successful Users Group Conference; announces latest productivity enhancements, expands dashboard functionality and multi-currency features.The 2010 Advantage Users Group Conference successfully completed on May 26th, with 300 attendees from over 120 agencies engaged in seeing top flight industry leaders like Nancy Hill, CEO of the AAAA’s, speak about transforming and repositioning agencies to meet the demands of the future. Her speech,  “Empowering Performance in Every Role,” kicked off three days of workshops, panel discussions, and networking.  Other industry leaders covered a variety of topics, from EDI in traditional media buying to understanding the digital landscape, and monitoring key financial “triggers” that have helped agencies survive the recent economic downturn. The three day summit also allowed leaders from key agencies to share and demonstrate how they successfully use various features of Advantage Enterprise to enhance their productivity and reduce their agency costs. Advantage announced several new key enhancements that will be released to beta in July of 2010.  Highlighting the new release is the addition of key employee dashboards for project managers and agency leaders.  Employee Productivity and Employee Realization dashboards enable agencies to ensure all employees are meeting their productivity goals, and staying profitable.  Other new features include Phase II of the Billing Command Center, the streamlined billing option that enables billings to view and manage client billing data all in one place. The July release includes the functionality to manage all media billings within the command center. Productivity enhancements include new calendar views, including new Gantt Style reports that views multiple projects as well as project schedules.  Alerts have been revamped and streamlined to include features like issue tracking and other workflow process. For agencies that have international clients or work with international vendors, advance currency exchange features will enable agencies to manage the various currency conversions in an efficient and streamlined manner. 2010-05-27T11:43:33+00:00 http://www.gotoadvantage.com/site/wpi-advantage-partnership/ http://www.gotoadvantage.com/site/wpi-advantage-partnership/#When:12:07:36Z Worldwide Partners, Inc., the world’s largest network of owner-operated advertising and marketing agencies, adopts Advantage Enterprise as platform of choice…Advantage Announces Strategic Partnership with Worldwide Partners, Inc. World’s Largest Network of Owner-Operated Advertising and Marketing Agencies Adopts Advantage Enterprise as Platform of Choice for Agency Workflow and Automation Software in North America. Mooresville, NC – April 27, 2010 – The Advantage Software Company announced a strategic partnership with Worldwide Partners, Inc. (WPI), the world’s largest owner-operated advertising and marketing network. This partnership designates Advantage Enterprise as the preferred Agency Workflow and Automation platform for WPI partner agencies in North America. WPI partner agencies in North America have the opportunity to utilize Advantage Enterprise to successfully manage day to day operations, including project management, project estimating and purchasing, time and expense reporting, job profitability, financial reporting, media estimating, ordering, billing and paying. Partner agencies will also be able to extend their reach to their clients via Advantage’s client portal, a browser-based portal that enables clients to receive alerts, view calendars, and send approvals. Advantage’s mobile tools enable agency members using Apple iPhones, RIM Blackberry, and Smartphones and Pocket PCs powered by Windows Mobile to collaborate and interact with the system without being at their desks. The Document Manager allows for linking of key digital assets with transactions (invoices) or security levels within Advantage, allowing for collaboration, review, approvals, historical reporting, archiving and searching. “We’re constantly evaluating new tools that will help our partners to become more effective and competitive,” according to Al Moffatt, the president and CEO of Worldwide Partners, Inc. “Advantage provides a comprehensive enterprise class system that combines ease-of-use, quality and cost-efficiency for our partners, enabling them to be more nimble and efficient in today’s competitive environment.” “WPI is the largest independent agency group, and we look forward to working with the partner agencies to help them become more efficient in their financial, workflow and media operations, and ultimately, to help them maintain their positive momentum,” indicated Ellen Coulter, President of The Advantage Software Company, Inc. About Worldwide Partners, Inc. Worldwide Partners, Inc. (WPI) is the world’s largest owner-operated advertising and marketing communications network made up of 91 agencies employing 4,500 people in 131 offices located in 54 countries across Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North America. Based in Denver, Colorado USA, WPI is owned by the partner agencies that make up the network. WPI exists to explore and capitalize on global business development opportunities with multinational clients for its partners and to act as a hub that harnesses the creativity, local expertise and resources of the agencies in the partnership and apply them to solve problems for clients on a local, regional and international basis. This allows partners to expand their existing client relationships geographically and to compete effectively for international new business. Clients gain access to best-in-class, entrepreneurially driven agencies steeped in local knowledge in all markets they engage WPI shops. WPI’s partner agencies manage in excess of $3.9 billion in advertising expenditures. Clients serviced in five countries or more include Ciba Vision, Guardian Industries, Walden University and Wal-Mart Centroamerica. About Advantage The Advantage Software Company is the leading provider of advertising workflow automation and media buying tools for advertising agencies and in-house marketing departments.  For over 30 years Advantage has led the industry with a wide range of solutions including browser-based solutions that accommodate both PC and Mac workstations. Advantage has the largest and most active Users Group in the industry. Its members play an active role in the software enhancement process and are a continuous source of innovation. 2010-04-27T12:07:36+00:00 http://www.gotoadvantage.com/site/advantage-magnet-strategic-partnership/ http://www.gotoadvantage.com/site/advantage-magnet-strategic-partnership/#When:12:23:18Z The MAGNET Global Network, a collaborative network of top independent marketing and advertising agencies, selects Advantage as its strategic partner for agency management technology.Advantage Announces Strategic Partnership with the MAGNET Global Network. The MAGNET Global Network, a collaborative network of top independent marketing and advertising agencies, selects Advantage as its strategic partner for agency management technology. MOORESVILLE, N.C. – April 13, 2010 – The Advantage Software Company announced a strategic partnership with the Magnet Global Network, a collaborative network of independent advertising and marketing communications agencies located across the globe. This partnership designates Advantage Enterprise as the preferred Agency Management and Automation platform for MAGNET member agencies in North America. MAGNET member agencies in North America will be able to utilize Advantage Enterprise to successfully manage their day-to-day operations, including project management, project estimating and purchasing, time and expense reporting, job profitability, financial reporting, media estimating, ordering, billing and payment. Member agencies will also be able to extend their reach to their clients via Advantage’s client portal, a browser-based portal that enables clients to receive alerts, view calendars and send approvals. Advantage’s mobile tools enable agency members using Apple iPhones, RIM Blackberrys, Smartphones and Pocket PCs powered by Windows Mobile to collaborate and interact with the system without being at their desks.“Our member agencies are looking for strategic relationships with top vendors that enable our group to increase efficiency and leverage key technologies,” according to Cheri Gmiter, executive director of MAGNET Global. “We want to work with Advantage because the system combines ease-of-use, quality and cost-efficiency while providing our members with an enterprise class operational management system.” “The MAGNET Global Network is one of the premier independent agency groups, and we look forward to working with the members to help them become more efficient in their workflow and operations, and ultimately, to expand their business operations,” said Ellen Coulter, president of The Advantage Software Company, Inc.     About MAGNET Global Network Providing global experts and local expertise, MAGNET agencies work with more than 1,000 consumer, retail, business-to-business and industrial clients worldwide. Members share experience, knowledge and ideas with partner agencies domestically and internationally, collaborating on business opportunities and enhancing their ability to compete, serve clients and grow and raise their standard of work in the advertising agency business. Members must maintain a level of commitment to the Network and new agencies are carefully screened before membership is granted. Currently comprised of 37 agencies and affiliations, MAGNET is always seeking to add leading independent agencies throughout the world. For more information, visit www.magnetglobal.org. About Advantage The Advantage Software Company is the leading provider of advertising workflow automation and media buying tools for advertising agencies and in-house marketing departments.  For over 30 years Advantage has led the industry with a wide range of solutions including browser-based solutions that accommodate both PC and Mac workstations. Advantage has the largest and most active Users Group in the industry. Its members play an active role in the software enhancement process and are a continuous source of innovation. Visit www.gotoadvantage.com. 2010-04-13T12:23:18+00:00 http://www.gotoadvantage.com/site/advantage-6.10-webvantage-3.10-released/ http://www.gotoadvantage.com/site/advantage-6.10-webvantage-3.10-released/#When:17:51:02Z It’s Here - Phase I of the New Billing Command Center, Electronic Signatures, and Much More!  Check Out the Latest Release of Advantage/Webvantage.It’s Here - Phase I of the New Billing Command Center, Electronic Signatures, and Much More!  Check Out the Latest Release of Advantage & Webvantage.  Visit the Users Portal for complete details! 2010-03-11T17:51:02+00:00 http://www.gotoadvantage.com/site/traffiq-advantage-integration/ http://www.gotoadvantage.com/site/traffiq-advantage-integration/#When:15:20:10Z TRAFFIQ, Advantage Team to Streamline Ordering, Billing and PayingNEW YORK, NY & MOORESVILLE, NC – October 28th, 2009 – As part of its ongoing commitment to creating cost and time efficiencies for advertisers and agencies, digital media planning, buying and management platform TRAFFIQ (http://www.traffiq.com) has partnered with The Advantage Software Company, Inc. (http://www.gotoadvantage.com/) to streamline media buys into their agency management enterprise system. TRAFFIQ advertisers can with one click now export a file that details the cost data for an entire TRAFFIQ campaign, and import that file directly into Advantage, one of the industry’s most widely used agency management systems. Advertisers can make buys on hundreds of publishers, track and reconcile the costs on their own accounting system, and forego individually recreating each new line item for new orders. This dramatically reduces the time it takes to process media buys and related invoices using the TRAFFIQ media management and buying console, and minimize errors often made in manual data entry. “Advantage lends yet another important enhancement to TRAFFIQ’s platform and further enables us help advertisers be more productive and profitable,” said Mark Kahn, TRAFFIQ’s chief executive.  “We are constantly on the lookout for ways to make our turnkey platform even more time and cost efficient and Advantage’s solution mapped perfectly with that mission.” This partnership marks Advantage’s sixth media integration and its second Internet-specific deployment reinforcing its reputation of being one of the most robust and flexible systems on the market today. “TRAFFIQ shares our vision of providing end-to-end agency management services and that made it a logical choice as a strategic partner,” said Advantage president, Ellen Coulter.  “Many of our agencies are migrating a larger share of their buying online and our shared clients will recognize a more streamlined workflow and immediate benefits in billing and reporting.” About TRAFFIQ TRAFFIQ (www.traffiq.com) is an end-to-end digital media planning, buying and management platform. It facilitates the buying and selling of premium display media with ease and efficiency, yielding maximum return on investment. Marketplace members include leading advertisers, ad agencies and publishers. TRAFFIQ is a member of the IAB advisory board, helping educate interactive advertisers and publishers on best practices for industry growth. TRAFFIQ is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Vienna, VA. For more information, please contact info@traffiq.com. About Advantage The Advantage Software Company is the leading provider of advertising workflow automation and media buying tools for advertising agencies and in-house marketing departments.  For over 30 years Advantage has led the industry with a wide range of solutions including browser-based solutions that accommodate both PC and Mac workstations. Advantage has the largest and most active Users Group in the industry. Its members play an active role in the software enhancement process and are a continuous source of innovation. 2009-10-28T15:20:10+00:00 http://www.gotoadvantage.com/site/webvantage-mobile-available-now/ http://www.gotoadvantage.com/site/webvantage-mobile-available-now/#When:23:24:06Z Webvantage Mobile provides access to key applications through supported hand-held devicesWebvantage Mobile provides access to key applications through supported hand-held devices Smartphones and Pocket PCs powered by Windows Mobile RIM BlackBerry Apple iPhone   Receive Alerts, access Task Lists, enter Time, enter Expenses and approve Purchase Orders from anywhere, anytime, with Webvantage Mobile! 2009-06-30T23:24:06+00:00