Charter Software is happy to announce that the latest ASPEN Release (Version 8.1) is available for your dealership/distributorship and can be installed at your convenience! This update is minor in scope. If you are not affected by any of the items in the release notes, and you prefer not to update your dealership, you should feel free to wait for the 8.2 release coming later in 2018.
In this fourth release of 2018, you will discover:
- SSL support is now available for AIM and the Customer Portal. In order to enable SSL, installed dealers will need to work with your IT providers, as there are configuration changes that need to be made to the web server in your environment. For more information, please contact Charter Technical Support.
- Please note: communications with Charge It Pro have always used SSL behind the scenes, so dealers should rest assured that credit card transactions were already secure and PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliant.
- The “Has AR Balance” link on the Total Balances window and the “Total Balances” link on the Customer Maintenance window will now display individual payment methods, balance, override credit limits and default credit limits.
- The CNH AMAX interface is being modified to allow ASPEN to pull information from CNH rather than being pushed from CNH to AMAX, which will simplify the process and make it more reliable.
- The Polaris price file process is being modified to include additional field values.
Reminder: There are several components that are required for the latest release of ASPEN. It is very important that you have the following component versions installed in your environment prior to updating ASPEN, as ASPEN will not run properly in your environment.
- Microsoft .NET Framework, version 4.7.2 (installation instructions are attached). This must be updated on every desktop, laptop, Surface, and server(s) for Installed customers.
- Microsoft SQL Server, version 2008 R2 or newer
- New Install/Config Utility (instructions are attached)
- For John Deere dealerships, please refresh your DTF (instructions are attached)
You may update your own local server(s) at your earliest convenience, but we suggest that you do NOT perform the ASPEN updates on Fridays, in case you experience any issues that could extend into the weekend, when Charter Tech Support is not available. It’s best to perform the update on weekdays, Monday through Thursday, when Charter Tech Support can assist into the next day, if necessary.
Please review and share the recently emailed Release Notes for details on what is included in this release. Also, visit the Wikis for further instruction and/or contact Charter Technical Support if you have any questions or experience any difficulties. We can be reached by phone Monday-Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. MT by calling 303-932-6875, or by e-mailing support@chartersoftware.com.
ASPEN Technical Support Team
support@chartersoftware.com