David: I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news but only currently supported versions can be "added to". In order to add licenses, you would have to upgrade to Timeslips 2016.

Ok, that is unfortunate. It's software from 2013 - why is that already not supported? I am not aware of any other software that goes obsolete so quickly. Is it unstable or something?

Timeslips 2013 was actually released in summer 2012. Most software publishers nowadays support the current version plus two previous. Unfortunately we don't make the policy.

David:

For some time now, Sage (and other software vendors) have instituted a policy of only supporting their last three versions of the product line. Thus, with the release of v2016 this past summer, v2013 rolled off support. Note also that v2013 was released the summer of v2012 which makes things a bit confusing.
I wrote a post about it in the LinkedIn User forum here 6 months ago: www.linkedin.com/.../1818226-5988336844020998146

We have found supporting the last three versions to be common across several software vendors, not just Sage. I have seen two factors at play regarding such policies. 1) In the lean years of the economic slowdown, no one was spending any $$$ they didn't HAVE to, and software publishers found that ending support on older versions often prompted users to go ahead and purchase the upgrade, generating revenue. It may very well have been what prompted your customer to upgrade from v2010 to v2013 in the past.(No surprise there, and definitely at play with the refusal to sell new licenses as add-ons to old versions.) 2) As some of these products head into their 30th (or more) year of production, and Microsoft releases newer OS versions, it is too much overhead to have to train their support staff on all the different permutations of X older version running on Y newer OS. By saying it is "unsupported" they are essentially saying, "Hey, you are on your own with that one. We are not OBLIGATED to help you with it because it is unsupported."

I am not in any way saying that you or your customer should like the policy, just trying to shed some light on the whole 3 year thing.

No, there is nothing particularly problematic with v2013. It's fine. But Terry is correct, if you want to add more licenses, you have to upgrade to a supported version first.

And now the part that is going to sound like a bad used car salesman.... :-)

Sage is offering a significant discount to upgraders through the end of September 2015 (yep, that would be TOMORROW) through the vendor channel. It is the end of Sage's fiscal year and they are motivated to close sales by end of month/FY. If your client has a relationship with a Sage Timeslips Certified Consultant, they should contact that consultant ASAP to see what the pricing would be. If they do not have a relationship with a Sage Timeslips Certified Consultant, then any of us who answer questions here in the forum would be happy to quote you pricing, and facilitate an upgrade sale.

Hope this helps.

Nancy Duhon, Esq.
Master Certified Consultant for Timeslips,Certified Consultant for Amicus Attorney
Duhon Technology Solutions, LLC
a member of Certified Resources Network, LLC
[email protected]
404-325-9779
Providing personalized local and remote online support for Amicus Attorney andTimeslips users for over 21 years. Available for private consultations, including older/unsupported versions.

Ok, I guess there is no room for compromise with Sage. I will speak to my firm re: A) to see what can be done for us to stick to the 20 licenses, as there are a few employees who do not bill externally and thus really do not need to use this, and B) explore the multiple Timeslips alternatives out there [esp. those focusing on Law], for the future: it looks like there are quite a few. I am sure they have similar policies and maybe they are no better, but I just spent 3 weeks upgrading to 2013 and am not about to go straight into a 2016 upgrade because I am not allowed to purchase a few extra licenses. I would likely encounter a few glares and cold stares on that one.

I hear ya David.

Kudos to you for getting the v2013 done and the new server put in. That is no small feat.

Give me a shout if you really get stuck up against those licenses, and maybe we can come up with some workarounds that you could use for a while to bide you some time.

Hope this helps.

Nancy Duhon, Esq.
Master Certified Consultant for Timeslips,Certified Consultant for Amicus Attorney
Duhon Technology Solutions, LLC
a member of Certified Resources Network, LLC
[email protected]
404-325-9779
Providing personalized local and remote online support for Amicus Attorney andTimeslips users for over 21 years. Available for private consultations, including older/unsupported versions.

Timeslips is licensed based on workstations not users. It only needs to be installed on the workstation where it will be used and each of those requires a license. One option is to install on a "shared" machine and let multiple people enter their time from the same workstation. Depending on your setup, you might also consider terminal server which might let you share licenses on the terminal server.
Time can be entered in a spreadsheet and imported into Timeslips fairly easily as well.
Please let us know if we can help.

Just following up on this ....Thanks Nancy, and to all else who replied, for the license information and explanations. I understand the policy now. It makes sense, and yes - 3 years is a pretty standard lifecycle. For the time being we are getting by on 20 licenses. Overall, employees like some of the newer features 2013 has to offer [over 2010]. We will let you know when we intend on upgrading to the latest. Thanks,
David