MealService supports optional Plug-Ins, available for purchase at additional cost. Plug-Ins offer very specific functionality that not all organizations may need. Those organizations that do require this functionality may find it invaluable!

The Plug-Ins currently available include

BillMaker

BillMaker is MealService's complete Accounts Receivable module. Bills can be generated for items received by a client, with calculations based on a per-day (for example, 20 days' deliveries), per meal (for example, breakfast, lunch and/or dinner) or per specific item (hot entree, cold lunch, etc.) basis. The billing can be addressed to one of the following: the client, a client's designee, or a funding agency. Pledges can be invoiced as well, using either a per-day or per-item method. With BillMaker, it's a snap to generate invoices for client and third-party billing, and monthly statements are also easily generated for those clients who have outstanding balances. Invoices and statements are formatted so that window envelopes can be used, or matching labels can be easily generated for addressing.

ListMaker

The ListMaker allows the creation of arbitrary lists of clients, facilitating deliveries to members of the list on an as-needed schedule (screen shot). For example, a list of clients could be maintained who wish to receive health information intermittently. When the information became available the list could be scheduled for delivery, specifying that the delivery item would be a Health Brochure. That item would then be added to the clients' normal delivery items.

As an example, a list could be created for scheduling a holiday delivery (screen shot) or for scheduling a one-time delivery of an item such as a shelf-stable box. The holiday delivery might require the client to specifically request the meal, and the ListMaker provides the opportunity to track that.

Another use for the ListMaker is to reschedule clients whose deliveries may be interrupted when a holiday prevents delivery services. For example, an agency might not deliver on July 4th. The clients who would have received a delivery on July 4th could be easily rescheduled to other days, either before or after the holiday.

ListMaker benefits include:

• Greatly easing the creation and scheduling of calendar-based deliveries to groups of clients, such as congregate sites that may only receive meals once a month or every other week.
• Allowing easy rescheduling of clients' deliveries when they have been interrupted by a holiday or other event. A short tutorial demonstrating this use is available on the Demos/Tutorials page.
• Allowing maintaining a list of clients for any purpose, such as those on a waiting list to be given a microwave.
• Facilitating the creation of a list of clients who are to receive a special meal, such as a Thanksgiving meal, by recording to which clients a reminder has been sent and which clients have responded to the invitation. A short tutorial on how to handle this scenario is available on the Demos/Tutorials page.
  

SAMS™ Integration

Client service data can be easily exported to Synergy Software Technologies' SAMS™ through this plug-in. Data can be exported to an Excel spreadsheet (for use with an XML converter) or directly to XML format, either of which can be imported into SAMS.

MenuMaker

The MenuMaker allows the creation of menu cycles, with detailed menu information such as the entree, starch, vegetable, etc. (screen shot). The substitutions for each menu item can also be specified, where required. For example, if the vegetable were broccoli, a low-potassium substitution of peas could be specified. Menus are created on a cycle, consisting of a user-defined number of weeks. Once a cycle of menus has been created, it can be easily assigned to specific delivery dates and reused as needed (screen shot). Client-specific menus can be printed to accompany each client's meal, and a report listing the detailed component counts and all adjustments and/or substitutions can be prepared for the kitchen. sorted by prep area.

As in all of MealService, the detailed menu components (such as entree, starch, vegetable, etc.) and the menu selections (such as Meat Loaf, Roast Chicken, etc.) are specified by the agency.

Some MenuMaker benefits:

• Frees kitchen staff from having to manually count the numbers of standard and modified meal components
• Allows the nutritionist to specify the component substitutions required for all special diets, thereby ensuring that clients with dietary restrictions still receive proper nutrition.
• Allows the printing of attractive, personalized client menus
• Creates an easily accessed archive of all the menus the organization has used over time.