PCS is preparing a new version of RIGHTrak that contains the much anticipated component, “Mobility as a Service”. This new version provides improved communications with PayPAMs.

California customers should note that this update will include a new CNIPS export file. This revised file structure contains the new fields that are requested by the State of California.

Bhaumik Thaker, Senior QA Technician

Bhaumik Thaker has been with PCS for seven years, starting as a junior support technician and moving up and up, serving as a support supervisor, team leader, and most recently performing Quality Assurance for the development team. “B” as we call him, brings a tremendous amount of experience to every project and support task, and is presently very involved with the roll out of the web based RightNOW upgrade for RIGHTrak.

“Over the last year the FNS staff of the Hernando County School District have gotten to know Bhaumik.  He is a really friendly, generous person and fun to be around.  He also is a top notch technician.  I could not ask for a more helpful, responsive technician.  He takes time to listen to to our concerns and does a great job addressing our issues.  Bhaumik is a great asset to PCS and we are grateful for all of his assistance in Hernando County.”

Lori Drenth, M.S., R.D., S.N.S.
Director, Food and Nutrition Services
Hernando County School District

PCS is launching a few test sites this Fall for online Free and Reduced web applications. Utilizing our PayPAMS Parent Account Management System and Web Portal. Parents and guardians will be able to enter family, student, and income information quickly and efficiently, with the  completed application being sent electronically to the RIGHTrak or RightNOW for processing and approval.

In addition, parents can check eligibility status online and download or print eligibility status letters through PayPAMS Online Eligibility Check. Stay tuned for information about the general release of these new products.

The SNA Annual National Conference in Boston was the culmination to a busy year and we want to thank everyone who visited with us at the booth. We flew the sales team in from all over the country and many of the support team were able to drive up from the corporate office, making this a great opportunity for everyone to put a name to a face. Speaking of which, we kept our social media audience up to date each day on who was in the booth and the daily winners of the Coach bag drawings.

Don’t forget to check out more pictures from this year’s ANC!

Now onto the new school year! Our support staff is busy answering your calls and the conference room has been taken over by additional staff to handle parent’s “chat” requests online, in real-time.

As always, before you call or when the lines are busy, you have many options to get the information or support you need:

1. Email [email protected]
2. Open a ticket on the Support Portal
3. Visit the On Line Help Center

Have a great year start everyone and don’t forget to check out our new web site!

This Spring PCS conducted User Groups  in Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Texas (Dallas & Houston), Minnesota, California, Delaware, and two webinars online. Based on customer feedback we will conduct a TrakNOW only user group on June 15 for customers in California. Thanks for the idea!

Conducting the user groups is a major operation for PCS and involved 7 people traveling and many others working behind the scenes at the office.The user groups provide an opportunity for districts to collaborate, discuss ideas, and provide feedback on current and new products.

New products discussed included options for upgrading to web based systems and online applications. Feedback regarding the online applications was extremely helpful to determine the direction we will develop this product. A few districts volunteered to be beta sites.

Feedback regarding enhancements to RIGHTrak, FASTrak, and NetPOS was also very helpful. Presenting new features always stirs up even more ideas for more new features, for example, accepting Credit Cards on the POS line or through a NetCash Machine.

Some observations regarding regulations:

• Not that many districts are moving to Community Eligibility. That being said, RIGHTrak reports can assist districts in analyzing their options.
• Customers in Minnesota reported that Breakfasts and meals for students that have a Reduced status will now be offered at no charge.
• Districts in California reported the state claim may change during the summer
• Eligibility rollback is not a hot topic (yet)

We posted User Group pictures on PCS’s Facebook page.

See you next year!

Betty Zimmerman,  Senior TrakNOW Implementation Specialist

Congratulations Betty on 8 successful and productive years with PCS!
Prior to joining us, Betty had extensive experience as a school cafeteria manger and supervisor in a district with both warehouse, central kitchen, and bakery facilities. Betty then provided food service IT training and support for PCS products in her district, which made joining PCS a natural next step when management changed at her district. As a Sr. Implementation Specialist, Betty has brought several large districts (and many smaller ones) online with fully integrated Nutrition, Production, Inventory, and Ordering, plus interfaces with US FOODS, Sysco, Gordon, Lawson, and many others. Betty has a great rapport with her customers and has shown continuing dedication to the reliability of the TrakNOW product line through her quality assurance activities, participating in extensive testing of every feature and function before it is released.

Here is what one of Betty’s customers had to say, …

“Betty, you are one of the persons I know who has the highest customer service skills. You are awesome. Thanks for all your help and for always being willing to support our district’s needs.”
Sebasthian Varas
Nutrition Services Director
Canyons School District