The purpose of Karmak Compass is to keep all our customers informed of current activities within the Karmak family. This newsletter is designed for both technical and non-technical readers. 

What and when?

Be sure to save the date: October 17-21, 2005

It's time to discover the leading technologies that will take your business into the future at the Karmak Technology Conference & Expo 2005.

Don't miss the latest technology solutions that are improving the flow of information. Gain insights into strategies designed to make it easy for you to capitalize on technologies and opportunities. Participate in new, expert sessions to strengthen your business skills, increase your inventory turns, and improve service.

October 17-21, 2005, Sheraton St. Louis City Center Hotel & Suites

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  Training: Karmak Legend^® - INFO 5^® - Director Series

Improve gross margins with free training presentation
A special training presentation, Parts Pricing 101: Improving Gross Margins, is now available on the Karmak website. This comprehensive presentation explains how to use value-based pricing strategies to your advantage, as well as how the pricing features of your Karmak Legend or INFO 5 system can improve your bottom line. Examples are included on calculating selling price, using mark-ups, velocity pricing, customer special pricing, and more. Visit the Karmak Training Presentations page to download Parts Pricing 101 today.

New offerings through Karmak Legend Training Center
Whether you are an experienced user looking for ways to increase your efficiency on the Legend system or a new user who needs to get up to speed quickly, you’ll benefit from our intensive classroom training and convenient online Webinars. Our latest schedule includes 8 new Webinars in Accounting, Parts, and Service programs, in addition to a new Warehouse Management workshop held at the Karmak Training Center in Carlinville, Illinois. Visit our Training Center website for the current schedule and registration information. Out of the office during scheduled Webinars? Not a problem. Give us a call at 1-800-252-7625 and we will schedule one at a time convenient for you.

INFO 5 Version 7.2 Pre-Update Webinar training
We've added new 7.2 Pre-Update Webinar training sessions through June and July. These sessions are designed to allow you an opportunity to get acquainted with the enhancements included in this release. You can have multiple attendees at each Webinar session, which lasts approximately 2 hours and includes time for you to ask questions. Please visit the INFO 5 Updates section of Karmak's Customer Confidential website to register for Pre-Update 7.2 webinars, or contact the INFO 5 Applications Support Department at or 1-800-865-8991.

Director Series training
For ProfitMaker^® customers, Director Series Upgrade Webinars are available via the Internet. Call the Director Series Help Desk at 1-866-452-7625 to schedule a WebEx Upgrade Training date after Director Series has been installed on your server. 

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Industry news

• Karmak demos were a hit at Mid-America
• Karmak connected with ATD
• Karmak customers receive industry honors

Karmak demos were a hit at Mid-America

More information on the Mid-America Trucking Show can be found by visiting their website at www.truckingshow.com. The 2006 Mid-America Trucking Show will be held March 23-25, 2006 at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, in Louisville, Kentucky.

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Karmak launched the new Service Management software system at the 2005 ATD Convention & Exposition, held April 9-12 in Orlando, Florida. ATD dealer attendees visited the Karmak booth to "Get Connected" and view the demo for the new Service Management software, which will be available in the 4th Quarter 2005. Karmak was also introducing the new RPM, our Real-time Performance Monitor, designed to provide you a visual snapshot of your business data. With 18 of Karmak's executive team and sales and marketing staff in attendance, Karmak visited with attendees from the moment the expo opened and until the closing minutes. ATD was attended by nearly 1,650 participants, more than the last two years. With 94 exhibitors, the ATD Convention is designed to promote the highest standard of efficient management, business practices, and knowledge useful to the improvement and efficiency of heavy truck dealership operations.

For more information on ATD, don't miss their website or call ATD at 703-821-7141.

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Karmak customers receive industry honors

Congratulations to the following Karmak customers on their recent awards.

2005 ATD/Heavy Duty Trucking Truck Dealer of the Year Awards:

• Mike Waters, Waters Truck and Tractor Co., Columbus, MS (Legend) - 2005 Truck Dealer of the Year
• Robert Dwyer, Allentown Truck Sales & Service, Allentown, PA (INFO 5) - Finalist
• Jon Pritchett, Nextran Corp., Jacksonville, FL (INFO 5) - Finalist

Freightliner Trucks 2004 ASPIRE Awards:

• First Truck Centre, Inc., Edmonton, AB (Legend) - Summit Award
• Peace Country Freightliner Ltd, Grande Prairie, AB (Legend) - Summit Award
• Truck Centers, Inc., Troy, IL (ProfitMaster) - Summit Award
• Tulsa Freightliner-Sterling-Western Star, Tulsa, OK (ProfitMaster) - Summit Award
• Freightliner of Savannah, Savannah, GA (Legend) - Alpine Award
• Floyd's Sales & Service Inc., Scottsbluff, NE (Legend) - Alpine Award
• Oklahoma City Freightliner, Oklahoma City, OK (ProfitMaster) - Alpine Award
• Team Truck Centres Ltd, London, ON (Legend) - Alpine Award
• Valley Freightliner, Inc., Pacific, WA (Legend) - Alpine Award

Kenworth Truck Company 2004 Dealer Awards:

• Edmonton Kenworth, Edmonton, AB (ProfitMaster) - Gold Award
• Truck Enterprises, Inc., Harrisonburg, VA (INFO 5) - Gold Award
• Kenworth Montreal, St. Laurent, QC (Legend) - Silver Award
• Kenworth of Birmingham, Birmingham, AL (Legend) - Silver Award
• Kenworth of Jacksonville, Jacksonville, FL (Legend) - Silver Award
• Motor Power Equipment Co., Great Falls, MT (INFO 5) - Silver Award
• Truck Enterprises, Chesapeake, VA (INFO 5) - Silver Award
• Wallwork Truck Center, Fargo, ND (Legend) - Silver Award

Mack Trucks 2004 Parts Dealer Awards:

• Allentown Mack Sales & Service, Inc., Allentown, PA (INFO 5) - North American Mack (and Northeast Region) Parts Dealer of the Year
• Mack Truck Sales of Charlotte, Inc., Charlotte, NC (INFO 5) - Southeast Region Parts Dealer of the Year

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What's new at Karmak?

• Download free ProfitMaster Service Management preview demo
• Karmak offers new service option for HP printers
• Microsoft Windows update for ProfitMaster and Director Series software
• INFO 5 Version 7.2 update
• Owners try harder: Karmak implements Employee Stock Ownership Plan

Download free ProfitMaster Service Management preview demo

A preview demo of ProfitMaster Service Management, which is scheduled for release in the 4th Quarter 2005, is now available on our website. The 5-minute presentation provides an overview of the features that will improve service shop efficiency, help control costs, and improve customer service. Click here to register for your free demo and download it today. To receive the demo on CD, or for more information on Service Management, call 1-800-622-6311 or contact your Karmak regional manager.

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Many Karmak customers have received a letter from HP indicating that service coverage on their DEC and Tally-Genicom printers will no longer be available after June 30, 2006. Karmak is committed to keeping your system protected, and is pleased to offer an alternative service solution through Scantron Service Group. With more than 175 field service technicians and 350 employees, Scantron is able to provide service across the United States. They offer competitive pricing, flexible printer maintenance programs, and quick response times, as well as preventive maintenance routines to prolong the life of your printers. Please note that HP will continue to support your AlphaServers and networking components as they have in the past, and HP's recent end-of-service announcement for printers applies only to customers in the U.S.

To find out how you can protect your system hardware investment and reduce costly downtime, or if you currently have printer maintenance coverage directly from HP, please contact Sherry Bruce, Warranty Administrator, at 1-800-622-6311 or . If you have an HP maintenance contract through Karmak, Sherry will contact you prior to the renewal date to discuss your service options.

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Microsoft Windows update for ProfitMaster and Director Series software

Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 has been released. This Service Pack will be delivered by Microsoft through the Windows Update site at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com.

Karmak is currently in the process of testing our ProfitMaster and Director Series software for this Windows release.  We recommend that you DO NOT INSTALL this update on your ProfitMaster or Director Series server until we have completed careful testing of this product. We are confident that there are beneficial changes that this update provides, but we would like additional time to test for any unforeseen issues that may arise.

After Karmak has completed testing this update, an email notification will also be sent to you.

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Several INFO 5 clients have already upgraded to Version 7.2 and are utilizing the many new enhancements that were made available with this release. The Version 7.2 manuals are available for download at the Customer Confidential website. If you already downloaded the three Version 7.2 manuals, but have not yet installed Version 7.2, please refer to the 7.2 Documentation Updates link at the bottom of the page, since there have been many recent changes to all three manuals.

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Why an ESOP?
Richard and Linda Schien, owners of Karmak, considered various options in succession planning, and decided to create an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) for Karmak. As they considered succession planning, they identified whom they would choose to become the future owners of Karmak. As planning progressed, they were focused on four primary goals:

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Did you know?

• Contacting Customer Support
  • Legend Support
  • INFO 5 Support 
  • Director Series Support
• Karmak holiday schedule

Contacting Customer Support

Legend Support
When you call one of the phone numbers listed below, your call goes directly to the corresponding support group. Calls that are not resolved immediately are logged and assigned to a customer service representative who will respond to you as soon as possible. Hours of phone support depend on your selected call window and support level, with 24-hour support available in case of emergency. Support e-mail is checked between 7:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday.

In addition to the owner or president, we ask that only those on your Authorized Contact List contact Karmak support. This increases your security by limiting the number of individuals who may call Karmak with requests which might be billed to your company, or which may affect the performance of your system, and can help eliminate requests for unauthorized changes. Changes to your authorized contact information should be faxed to Joyce Donaldson at 1-801-640-5869 or e-mailed to . Support contact information is listed below.

Effective June 1, 2005, ProfitMaster Support Services for Legend users will be integrated of with the Legend Applications Support Department, and the entire support department will report to Gary Dilley, Manager of Applications Support for the Carlinville office. The new toll-free number to reach the ProfitMaster Support Department directly is 1-866-452-7625 (1-866-4KARMAK). Until then, you may call 1-800-252-7625 for ProfitMaster Services.

INFO 5 Support
INFO 5 customers and ProfitMaster customers using INFO 5 systems can call 1-800-865-8991, and your call will be routed to the appropriate support group. If the call is after hours you will need to leave a message and the person on-call will call you back. If you call during support hours, and you have an open incident, you will need to give the receptionist your incident number and she will get you in touch with the appropriate person. If do not have an open incident, the receptionist will get you to the Router, and the Router will take all of the necessary information, give you an incident number, and get the incident to the appropriate person, who will then contact you.

Support hours are from 7:00 am - 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday CST. The pager will pickup any calls from 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m., but this time frame is part of the support hours and you will not be charged the pager rates. Any calls from 7:00 p.m. - 7:00 a.m. are considered after-hour calls and will be charged the pager rates.

You may also contact support at the following e-mail addresses if your issue is not urgent. Support e-mail is checked between 7:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday.

• INFO 5 Applications Support:
• INFO 5 Systems Support:
• ProfitMaster Support Services:

Director Series Support
Call 1-866-856-4846 or e-mail to reach the Director Series Help Desk. Representatives are available 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday. It is important that only those on your Authorized Contact List contact Karmak support. This increases your security by limiting the number of individuals who may call Karmak with requests which might be billed to your company, or which may affect the performance of your system, and can help eliminate requests for unauthorized changes. Changes to your authorized contact information should be faxed to Joyce Donaldson at 1-801-640-5869 or e-mailed to .

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Karmak holiday schedule

We would like to remind you that the Karmak offices will be closed on the following days:

• MEMORIAL DAY - Monday, May 30, 2005 
• INDEPENDENCE DAY - Monday, July 04, 2005 
• LABOR DAY - Monday, September 05, 2005
• THANKSGIVING - Thursday, November 24, 2005
• CHRISTMAS - Monday, December 26, 2005
• NEW YEARS DAY - Monday, January 02, 2006

We will have staff available for emergency calls during each of these holidays. However, calls received during the holidays are considered after-hours billable support calls and will be billed at our holiday rate. You will receive reminder letters throughout the year, and Karmak will also have a pre-recorded message on our customer support lines reminding you of the holiday rate. 

If you have any questions about these dates, Legend and Director Series clients may contact Joyce Donaldson at 1-800-252-7625 or , and INFO 5 clients may contact Heather Gardner at 1-800-865-8991 or .

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  About Karmak Compass

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© 2005 Karmak, Inc.
One Karmak Plaza
P.O. Box 680
Carlinville, IL  62626
www.karmak.com