We plan to post the July 2005 Internet monthly update to our six monthly update web sites on Wednesday, June 30th.
The disk update will be processed Wednesday, June 30th and the disks will be shipped on that day. You should have the disk update by Tuesday, July 5th.
Last month we advised Compulife subscribers that their opportunity to extend their disk update subscription at the old prices would be gone on July 1st. We are extending that deadline until July 10th to ensure that everyone has had one final chance to take advantage of the old prices should they need to continue getting disk updates.
Here is what we told you last month:
There remains a minority of Compulife subscribers who still get disk updates rather than Internet updates.
During April Compulife removed the opportunity for NEW subscribers to purchase updates on disks. The only disks we are now shipping are those to existing subscribers who still get their updates by disks.
However, effective July 1, 2005, EXISTING customers will be faced with higher prices and new conditions when they renew their subscription for updates on disks. If you are getting disk updates, and want to hold off on switching to updates by Internet, you need to read this carefully.
First, renewal prices for disks will increase. To ensure that all disk update customers stop receiving disk updates after December 2006, all disk update customers renewing after July 1, 2005 will be invoiced for the total number of months left to December 2006. This will ensure that each disk subscription is paid to the end of 2006. It will not be renewed past that point as a disk subscription.
From July 1, 2005 forward, personal use disk subscription renewals will be priced at $29 per month, payable in a lump sum to the end of December 2006.
Agency use disk subscriptions will be $39 per month, payable in a lump sum in advance to the end of December 2006.
VERY IMPORTANT: The absolute last date anyone will be able to obtain a monthly update by disk will be December 2006. From January 2007 and forward, ALL Compulife subscribers will need to receive updates by Internet. If you are not connected to the Internet by January 2007, you will no longer be able to get Compulife updates.
PAY ATTENTION TO THIS!
If you act before July 1, 2005 (NOW JULY 10, 2005), the cost of your renewal will be based upon the total number of months left times the average cost per month based upon the current annual fees of:
Personal Use - $25 per month (rather than $29)
Agency Use - $33.25 per month (rather than $39)
If you wait until AFTER July 1, 2005 (NOW JULY 10, 2005) to renew disk updates, you will pay the higher prices.
Last month we told you about rule changes for how many FREE listings each subscriber is allowed at the Term4Sale web site. This month we want to point out that Compulife has been making internal changes to the database that we use to track subscriber records. One of the changes is that are now integrating the zip code database listings into our main database of subscribers. Prior to this the zip code listings were kept in a separate database.
One of the results of this integration is the fact that a subscriber, who does not renew their subscription, will automatically be deleted from the listings at www.term4sale.com. Prior to this we cross checked lists in November when we were invoicing paid listings for the following year. At that time we removed subscribers who had not renewed their software subscription. With the change that we have made, term4sale listings will be automatically deleted when the subscriber does not renew.
There is a negative implication as a result of this change. It affects those who have paid to be listed in additional zip codes at www.term4sale.com. When a subscription is not renewed, and the term4sale listings are removed, paid zip code listings are also removed. We need to clarify that if paid zip codes are deleted due to non-renewal of a subscription there is no refund for unused zip code listing fees.
If the subscriber subsequently renews their subscription, then their paid listings are automatically reactivated.
Last month we told you that you may now be eligible for two or three free listings, rather than just one, depending upon the type of subscription that you have.
Based upon the small number of requests for additional free listings, we assume most subscribers have not read the offer. Here it is again:
1. Term4Sale - Agent edition
An individual subscribing to the lowest cost version of Compulife will continue to be entitled to one free listing at www.term4sale.com. There is no change for Term4Sale subscribers.
2. Personal Use subscription
An individual agent subscribing to the full version of the Compulife Quotation System will now be entitled to have two free listings at www.term4sale.com. Prior to this change, the maximum number of free listings was one.
3. Agency Use subscription (Standard License)
Agency subscribers are now entitled to have up to three free listings at www.term4sale.com. Prior to this change, the maximum number of free listings was one. NOTE: There will still be the requirement that a single individual be listed as the contact person for the agency.
Free listings that are within a local phone call of the agent will be treated as "Home" zip codes. Home zip codes are given priority over those purchasing additional zip code listings. Home zip code rules are unchanged and explained in detail at the www.term4sale.com web site following the lists of three agents which are provided to consumers.
If you are a personal use or agency subscriber, and already have one free listing at www.term4sale.com, please send Diane an e-mail at dwelch@compulife.com indicating which other zip codes you would like to add. Alternately, you can give Diane a call at 800-798-3488. Please keep in mind that new listings requested during June will be posted on July 1st.
Work has been completed on the new multiple decimal storage system. The new feature was rolled out in a midmonth update for Canadians in May and is working well. We plan to roll out the same change for U.S. subscribers in the first midmonth update in June.
As we have previously explained, a small but increasing number of companies are quoting from rate tables that have fractional pennies. This is particularly true for U/L - no lapse policies. To address this we have made a change to our database which allows us to increase the number of decimal places from two decimals to six decimals. Because this is done ONLY for products that need it, the system's total disk space requirement will remain unchanged for the vast majority of products in the system.
Previously our practice was to take products that have fractional pennies in their rates per thousand and round the rates up to the next whole cent. This made our quotes fractionally higher than they should be.
IMPORTANT: This change will require a New Internet Engine for those who use the Internet engine.
The new engine is NOW ready for shipment. If you do not receive a new engine by the end of the first full week of June, you should assume you have been missed and you need to contact Bob Barney at 800-798-3488 or you can e-mail Bob at barneyrl@compulife.com.
This change required a minor data conversion which necessitates a change to the data structure. This means that the new data is NOT compatible with old data. While this will not be a problem for customers who subscribe to our software, because the new program and data will be introduced at the same time, it does create a problem for those who use the internet engine.
Therefore, if you are using Compulife's Internet engine, you will need to be ready to replace the engine with the new engine once the new data has been introduced. Due to the significance of the changeover, and the fact that everything will need to be implemented and tested before release, we have made this change for Canadian subscribers in May, and will make the change for U.S. subscribers in June.
If there is anyone out there, who uses Compulife's Internet engine, and has not kept their subscription to that engine current, the new data files which we will introduce will NOT WORK accurately with the existing engine. You must upgrade the engine in order to continue using Compulife's current data files.
Therefore, if you are a current engine user it would be a good idea to make a note to contact Compulife to ensure you get an updated version of the engine. If you are NOT a current engine user, but still using the engine, then you should be aware that June's midmonth updates will create errors in your quotes.
IMPORTANT: This Data Modification IS NOT AVAILABLE in DOS
If a product requires only two decimal storage, then the DOS program will still be able to quote it. However, if the multiple decimal data storage option has been implemented for a product, the DOS version will skip over that product and the product will NOT be quoted.
We want to thank those subscribers who have been good enough to try the modifications that we have made to the Windows program in order to produce .TXT files. A number of subscribers have used the DOS program to produce those files and because we are eliminating DOS in the near future, we wanted to make sure we weren't taking away capabilities DOS allows but not windows.
Given the completion of that work, we are now confident that the Windows program is able to do ALL things which the DOS program was able to do and, of course, the Windows version is able to do MUCH MORE than the DOS program was ever capable of doing.
Therefore, this is a LAST CALL for subscribers to advise us if there are things that they use the DOS program for, which they can't use the Windows program to do.
Effective NEXT month (July Update) we will be deleting the DOS program from our updates. The way it will work is that when you double click on the DOS icon to run the DOS program, it will automatically start the windows version of Compulife. There is no doubt that that will provoke an unhappy reaction from those who don't read our bulletins but once we have worked through the transition problems arising from that unhappy experience (for some), we will permanently say good-bye to the DOS software.
For those who update by Internet, Compulife has gone to great lengths to provide you with redundancy in our web sites. Our main web site is:
However, we keep two other completely separate web sites, on two completely different servers, at:
Whatever we update to compulife.com, we are also updating to compulife.us and to compulife.cc. If one web site goes down, for whatever reason, either of the other two are ready to serve you. That includes both monthly and mid-month updates.
For those doing monthly updates by Internet, we rely on three other web sites to supply monthly updates. These are automatically checked and used by our automatic Internet update software.
For those receiving updates by disks, you are responsible to return those disks each month. Not returning disks can lead to the termination of your update service. For those not wanting to return disks there are two ways to eliminate the problem.
1. Switch to obtaining monthly updates by Internet.
Not only will you eliminate the expense and hassle of returning disks, you will save $100 per year in subscription fees.
To switch to Internet monthly updates, go to our web page www.compulife.com and select the last menu choice "Forms, applications, instruction tutorials, etc." Under the section "License Agreements" you will need to select and complete a new License Agreement for the type of license you have. After you have printed the new agreement, please read it, especially the part where you agree that you have successfully downloaded and processed our "mid-month updates". If you haven't done that before, call us and we'll be happy to step you through the procedure. It's easy.
2. Disk Purchase Program
The other way to avoid returning the disks and the disk box each month is to pre-purchase them for $21 per year ($1.75 per month). Once you do that you can keep them for future reference, throw them away or return them for a credit (once each year) when you are invoiced for the following year. $21 costs you less than mailing back disks each month.