New version of Bellview from Pulse Train
Pulse Train Technology has released Bellview CAPI for Windows version 3, a personal interviewing program designed to run on laptops, pen computers or touch-screen PCs. When designing a survey, users can create the exact interface they require by applying different colors, styles and fonts to text and backgrounds. The interviewer’s toolbar menu is also customizable and can contain any of 25 actions. The buttons used by the interviewer to select answers can be user-defined. All of these features are controlled by the designer of the questionnaire and can be either used to create an in-house style or to set up different styles to suit different surveys and applications. Enhancements made to the interviewer and survey management facilities include full quota control from the central office. The supervisor is able to view and modify quota targets, either for individuals or groups of interviewers, at any time during the course of a survey, ensuring that interviewing is carried out as efficiently as possible. Users now have greater choice in how assignments are sent and data is received from interviewers. Microsoft Mail is now supported as an alternative to Lotus cc:Mail or diskettes. Because this package is provided automatically with Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95 and Windows NT, users can avoid additional costs involved in buying licenses for a separate mail package.
SPSS updates Neural Connection
SPSS Inc., Chicago, has released Neural Connection 2.0, its neural network computing product. Neural networks learn patterns directly from data and can be used to predict and classify data. Unlike statistical methods that require initial assumptions about the form of the model, neural networks impose no form on the data. Since neural networks do not force a global equation across the data, they can produce richer models when the data are complex or noisy, or when the form of the data is unknown. The product features a Bayesian network and gives users access to model parameters and weights. Expanded analytic capabilities and product enhancements in Neural Connection 2.0 give users flexible tools to build more powerful models using up to 32,000 cases in training and running their model. The program’s user guide features step-by-step examples. Neural Connection 2.0 has a complete set of 17 data management, modeling, forecasting and presentation tools. To create an application, the user selects items from a toolbar and places them onto a graphical workspace. The intuitive workspace graphically displays the model’s logic and speeds analysis. The product also includes a Net Agent scripting language that allows users to automate an application.
Service gathers field reports on retail conditions
Up-to-the-minute field reports for immediate decisions on retail conditions are now available through a telephone-based data service from National In-Store, Sarasota, Fla. The new service, called Shelf-Trac, collects information from the NIS national operating staff of 1,400 merchandisers. Merchandisers access Shelf-Trac from any touch-tone phone, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. After passing a security check by entering a password and PIN number, a voice recording prompts them to log in the desired information using the touch-tone keyboard. Customized telephony software captures the data and transmits it to a computer file where it is tabulated. Shelf-Trac can gather severn types of information, including numerical findings, yes/no answers and multiple choice responses to questions. The service has been used to document inventories, identify and correct product "out-of-stock" conditions, verify display setups and measure shelf space allocations.
Software gives AmEx merchants access to market data
American Express Travel Related Services Co., New York, has introduced SE InSight, a software package that enables businesses to download aggregated data from American Express on customer transactions and market competition. Similar information lias been available to American Express merchants in paper repogts for several years. But with electronic delivery and management through SE InSight, the data is easier to access, analyze and customize. With the software and a standard PC and modem, merchants can measure their American Express business performance and customer demographics, make comparisons to industry averages and chart long-term business trends for about $200 per year. The software’s marketing intelligence consists of grouped competitor information and consumer demographics. The two sources of data are the Business Profile and Cardmember Origin reports. The Business Profile report summarizes a merchant’s American Express card transaction by card type, geography and gender. The Cardmember Origin reports ranks a merchant’s top markets by ZIP code, designated market area (DMA), standard metropolitan statistical area (SMSA)or country. The software also allows merchants to compare their own spending activities with the competitive marketplace. SE InSight software has a look and feel similar to popular business applications, featuring an icon toolbar, color graphing, quickprint and data sorting capabilities. The program can export data to spreadsheet and database programs. Users can create printable pie chart and bar graphs illustrating customer profiles, market share, long-term trends and other analyses.