With MiMS, you customize the program to meet the specific needs of your funeral home. This is accomplished by entering some preliminary information into the program, specific to your funeral home, and setting some options to suit your funeral home's needs.
Setup Options
Setup Options is the place to set many of your initial default settings for your program. General settings such as the location of your documents, invoice and statement information such as the height of your letterhead, the amount of interest you charge, and other common settings can be set here.
From the File menu, choose Setup Options. The Setup Options window will appear. This is
where many defaults are set for your funeral.
To change the defaults, just click on each of the tabs near the top of the Setup Options window – General, Financial, Documents, Sorting, Auto-Numbering, Saving, Miscellaneous, Reports and VPN Connection – and fill in the appropriate information.
Setup Options Window
The General tab displayed in the setup options window allows you to choose where you want to access your MiMS documents. If you want an area code to automatically appear when entering phone numbers, then enter in an area code.
The Financial tab includes choices about taxes (if applicable, in your state or province), interest, and grace period. It also includes a button for DEFAULT CASH ADVANCES, where you can enter the description you typically need for cash advances. The first cash advance will fill in automatically for each case, based on the requirements of the disposition location.
The Documents tab allows you to set some printing preferences for your documents.
The Sorting tab allows you to specify how you want certain lists to sort – for example, by case ID, by last name, or by date – and whether the list should sort in ascending or descending order. You can also choose if you want discontinued items shown in your listings.
The Auto-Numbering tab allows you to customize your case numbering. Beside the words “Use Auto Case Number”, choose "Yes", and you will see all the choices available. As you change your options, notice that the EXAMPLE changes. Try the various options to create a numbering system that works best for you. For more advanced numbering setup click on the Advance Mode button.
The Saving tab allows you to lock changes to your financial data. If you are unsure if you want this option in effect, leave it set at "No".
The Miscellaneous tab includes a bunch of default settings that are used throughout MiMS but do not fit on any other tabs.
The Reports tab includes some global settings for your reports.
The VPN Connection tab, is where default VPN information can be stored for clients using a VPN setup between more than 1 location.
When you are finished your changes in the setup options, click the Save button to save your changes.
Standard Setup Information
Before you begin to enter individual case information, we strongly recommend that you take the time to enter pertinent information in the SETUP section of MiMS. You don't have to enter all information at the time of install, just enough to get you started. Consider entering information for at least a few of the setup categories.
From the MAIN MENU, click the SETUP button (in the DATA ENTRY group of buttons). The SETUP - MENU window will appear.
City/Town Setup: “CITY/TOWN” also includes State/Pro, Zip Code/Postal and County information that is used in several places in the program, including the Setup module.
Enter the names of the various cities, towns, villages, and corresponding state/province, zip/postal codes and counties that most often appear on your death certificates and obituaries. After typing in each entry, click "Save Next" to input an additional city or town. Click "Back to Home" when you are done. Click "Show All" to see all previous entries or make any edits needed.
Anytime in the future that the program calls for this information, you will simply click on a drop-down arrow with your mouse and all the appropriate information will appear on your form. You should never have to type this information again.
**Anytime you type in city/town information in a different area that does not already exist in the list of available locations MiMS will ask you if you want to add the new location to the SETUP list.
**If there is any demo information in any of the fields, or a record you wish to delete, either click the Show All button or the Datasheet View icon and highlight the row(s) by clicking on the gray area to the left of the data you wish to delete. Then press the Delete key on your keyboard. Click the Form View icon to return to the form.
Funeral Homes Setup: Click “FUNERAL HOMES” and enter the appropriate funeral home information. You can enter as many funeral establishments as you wish.
Add funeral home information by tabbing to each box, and filling in the appropriate information. Fill in the funeral home name, and then hit Tab on your keyboard, which will bring you to the address line, and fill it in also. Click the down arrow of the City field and select the correct city. The state/province and zip/postal code will fill in automatically (from the information you entered earlier under CITY/TOWN). Click the line for the phone number and fill it in, and do the same for the fax if applicable. Click in the Registration Number field and fill it in, as well as the Answering Service Account No.
To set the currently displayed funeral home as the default, just click the “Set As Default” button.
You can also set the default font and color for the "ad" at the bottom of prayer cards (the funeral home name and address that is listed at the bottom of every prayer card in the MiMS system). You may overwrite the name/address information by typing in the new information into the "Alt Stationery Ad" lines 1-3 in this section.
**When you initially open MiMS for the first time you are asked to fill in your funeral home information. The information that is typed into this screen is automatically added to the Funeral Homes Setup area for you.
After you have added the proper funeral home information, click Save-Next to continue entering information.
Click Back to Home when done.
**Much of the information you enter in Setup will be available in the Phone Book. To access the Phone Book, simply right-click any non-text field area in MiMS and select Phone Book from the drop-down menu.
**Within Phone Book, you can easily print an envelope or check. Simply right-click on the name, and choose Print Envelope or Print Check.
Directors Setup: Click “DIRECTORS”. Type in the director's name; select the funeral home the director belongs too; enter the director’s registration number; and if applicable enter the director’s embalmer number. If you would like to set a director as the manager, click the “Set as Manager” button. Click the “Set as Default” button to make the director the default director used when creating cases.
Click “Save-Next” to continue entering information, or click Back to Home when done.
**When you initially open MiMS for the first time you are asked to fill in your funeral home information, if you fill in the manager’s information then that information will be automatically filled into this area for you.
Cemetery/Crematory Setup: Click “CEMETERY/CREMATORY”. Enter information on the cemeteries and crematories you work with most often, including grave opening costs or cremation fees.
Click Save-Next to continue entering information, or click Back to Home when done.
Visitation Hours Setup: “VISITATION HOURS” is where you enter the various options your funeral home offers for visitation times. Type them exactly the way you would in your obituaries and death notices. Also enter the actual Start and End times for use later with software like MS Outlook, for your website (FuneralTech website customers only), ASD, Google Calendar, etc. Click Save-Next to continue entering information, or click Back to Home when done.
Misc. Lists Setup: Once you have become more familiar with MiMS, you will find the “MISC LISTS” feature helpful in order to add or modify information that appears in certain drop-down lists: Airline, Airport, Cause of Death, Company, Contact Agency, Country, Function (for Personnel Scheduler), Informant Relation, Inventory Sub Category, Inventory Web Category, Kind of Business, Music, Occupation, Organist, Payment Type, Employee Position, Soloist, Survivor Relation, and Urn Engraving ID. For example, if the Informant is a cousin of the deceased, but "cousin" doesn't appear in the Informant Relation drop-down list, you can add it here by choosing the Informant Relation drop-down list, typing "cousin" in the List Item field, and clicking the Save-Next button.
Newspapers Setup: The “NEWSPAPERS” section makes it easy to keep track of information regarding your local newspapers that you work with. It includes separate sections for General Contact, Obituary Contact and Death Notice Contact information. Once you've entered in the information for each newspaper, click Save-Next.
Hospitals, Etc. Setup: Under “HOSPITALS ETC.”, enter information regarding hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care facilities you most often make removals from. Enter the information the way it should appear on the various forms and stationery items you print. Click Save-Next to continue entering information, or click Back to Home when done.
Churches Setup: Click “CHURCHES”. Information should include all the churches and synagogues you work with on a regular basis. After entering information about each church or synagogue, click Save-Next to enter another, or click Back to Home when done.
Clergy Setup: “CLERGY” information is separate from churches because the clergy sometimes change churches. When you click the Church Affiliation drop-down arrow, the list of churches you entered will appear. Click a church and type in the name of the appropriate clergy person(s). When you have finished entering information, click Save Next to continue, or click Back to Home when done.
Organizations Setup: “ORGANIZATIONS” include all types of civic and fraternal organizations, from the American Red Cross to the Rotary Club. Again we suggest that you enter information according to those clubs and civic organizations that your firm tends to deal with most often. The list will be used later in the Service area of the program, and is also used to enter the names of clubs that the deceased was a member of and organizations to which the family wishes contributions to be made. Click Save-Next to continue entering information, or click Back to Home when done.
Pallbearers Setup: The “PALLBEARERS” section is primarily intended for use in areas that utilize professional pallbearers on a continual basis. If this is appropriate, fill in the names and information of those professional pallbearers that your firm uses. When entering case information, you will select from this list the pallbearers you wish to use. Click Save-Next to continue entering information, or click Back to Home when done.
Misc Contacts Setup: Use the “MISC CONTACTS” area to keep a list of any miscellaneous companies or individuals. After filling in the appropriate fields, click Save-Next to continue entering information, or click Back to Home when done.
You will notice that the Grouping field is a drop-down list. You can create the content of this list by entering items in Misc. Lists Setup, under Contact Agency. This way you can decide how you want to sort and organize your miscellaneous contacts – by agency, or by any general category that is meaningful for you, such as "registrars" or "airports" or "musicians." This Grouping feature will later be used by the Phone Book.
You can also easily write a letter to the company or individual from this window by clicking Print Letter. Click the Show All button to see a list of your contacts in datasheet form.
*Finance Packages: “Finance Packages” is where information on services\items sold at a combined rate is entered.
*(This tab is not available in all states / provinces.)
Price List Setup: “PRICE LIST” information is divided into several categories (Services, Transportation etc.) and will appear on your General Price List. Fill in the Price List, and then click Update when changes are completed. You can keep multiple price lists saved in MiMS and determine at any time which price list to use. Click Back to Home when done.
Banks / Insurance Setup: “BANKS / INSURANCE” company information will be used in the Pre-Need section of the program. Enter the institutions you have Trust Accounts with. You may also enter insurance companies or other financial institutions here. Click Save-Next after entering each institution. Click Back to Home when done.
Race / Ancestry Setup: “RACE/ANCESTRY” information should be entered according to the way information is requested on your state death certificate; for example, White, Black, Hispanic, Cuban, etc. Click Save-Next after typing each entry. Click Back to Home when done.
Service Types Setup: The “SERVICE TYPES” section allows you to define the ways you want to track service information. Add the various service types such as Traditional Full, Traditional Limited, Cremation Full, Cremation Direct, Social Services, Direct Burial, Anatomical Donation, Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Ship in, Ship out, ethnic groups, etc. This information will be used by MiMS to give you a report on the number and percentage of each of the types of services your funeral home has completed.
The Category field allows you to group your service types into one of four categories – Type 1, Type 2, Type 3 or Type 4. You can then sort by this grouping, or print a report based on these Types. For example, you may want to classify the kind of service (Cremation, Direct Burial, etc.) as Type 1; the religious affiliation (Catholic, Protestant) as Type 2; and the nationality (German, Italian) as Type 3. Later, you can print a report pertaining to just one Type or all four Types.
After typing each entry, click Save-Next to continue entering information, or click Back to Home when done.
Physicians Setup: The “PHYSICIANS” section allows you to define the physicians most commonly used, along with their addresses, phone numbers and fax numbers. Enter information for one physician, and then click Save-Next to enter the next. Click Back to Home when done.
Customer Info Setup: Information that is typed in on the initial registration screen will automatically fill in this area for you.
Changing or setting the “Default” in FUNERAL HOMES and changing or setting the “Manager” in DIRECTORS causes this information to change.
If there is any information that is not accurate or is missing then fill in or correct the needed information on this form now.
Competitors Setup: “COMPETITORS” (colleagues) information will be used to tracks deaths in your marketing area, for market analysis. Enter the name and city of each firm you wish to track. Click Save-Next after each entry. Click Back to Home when done.
Follow-Up Setup: “FOLLOW-UP” information should be thought through very carefully. This is where you enter your family follow-up program. If you send letters – such as Thank You letters, Statements, Aftercare letters, Anniversary letters, Holiday letters, Pre-arrangement Solicitation, Monument Solicitation, etc. You may also want to include phone communications or personal visits if they are a regular part of your follow-up program.
Later on, when you enter Survivors, you will be given an opportunity to select follow-up procedures from this list. That information will flow to a Hot List (to-do list), which you can generate for a day, week, month, or any period of time you select. This information can also be sent to MS Outlook. You can print out a HOT LIST for that day or period.
After typing in each item, click Save-Next. Click Back to Home when done.
Personnel Setup: The “PERSONNEL” button is for entering the names and initials of your staff, and the job that they perform. You only need to enter in the name; MiMS will automatically generate the initials.
This information will be used by MiMS in several ways throughout the program. The Personnel information will be used when entering to payments, marking Check List completed items, assigning Personnel in the Service Information area, just to name a few.
To use this feature, enter a name, then choose a job or function from the pull-down menu. Click Save-Next to continue entering information. Click Back to Home when done.
Charges Setup: This section is for an explanation of “CHARGES”. If your state itemization (Statement of Goods and Services Selected) form has a place for you to fill in an explanation of charges, those items should be typed in here. Examples: "Cemetery requires concrete container.", "Family selected embalming.”, etc.
After typing in each entry, click Save-Next to continue entering information, or click Back to Home when done.
Suppliers Setup: The first time you enter this module, a blank form should appear with the cursor in the Company Name field. Type in the company information and click Save-Next to enter the next. Click Back to Home when done.
**This area must be completed before entering inventory
You may add more suppliers or enter inventory for a specific supplier.
Service Bundles Setup: A “SERVICE BUNDLES” is an easy way to associate a standard price with the most commonly used items in Financial Information for a given service. For example: you have a Standard Service which includes basic services, a hearse, visitation, a register book, and prayer cards. You would select the Standard Service from the drop-down list, and the prices in these fields will automatically be filled in. To finish up the Financial Information
section, you would only have to add in any additional items like a casket and/or vault.
Once you have entered all the appropriate information in the MiMS SETUP Menu areas, click “MAIN MENU” to return to the Main Menu.