We are pleased to announce the General Availability of Bridge 3.0.

This release of Bridge is a reimplementation using technologies which allow us to plan for the future of Bridge development. We have chosen to migrate Bridge to the Java platform to provide the flexibility required for the next library integration standard for self service, whether that is SIP3, BIC Library Communication Framework or another industry supported standard.

This reimplementation continues to provide the solid performance that has been experienced with previous releases, and continues to support the customisations chosen in your system.

The Features document for this release is available on our website, and the customer portal.

Please raise a service request through the My Support Portal to schedule your upgrade.

Bridge Pro 2.0 was released on the 10 Dec 2012, following a successful beta test. Some of the new features include:

• Display of message if item has been borrowed before
• Display of warning for cards about to expire
• Allow renewals when loan limit is exceeded
• Allow log in for expired cards
• Use the self service machines for automating book sales

Please refer to what’s new in Bridge Pro 2.0  on the website, for a full list of new functionality. To learn more about these features join us for a webinar on 31 January at 11:00.

If you are interested in the Bridge Pro 2.0 release please raise a support case and Capita will schedule the upgrade with you in the New Year.

The latest version of Talis Bridge Pro, version 1.5, has now been released. The main features of this release include:

• Accept overpayment and record it as credit
• Self-issue of age restricted AV material
• Automatic item relocation for dynamic stock system.

More details of all the new features can be found in the accompanying ‘What’s New in Talis Bridge Pro 1.5’ document.

To schedule the free upgrade of your Talis Bridge Pro licences you will need to raise a case through My Support. Talis Bridge Lite customers wanting to find out more about upgrading, please contact sales@talis.com.

In preparation for the next Talis Bridge Pro release (2.0), we would like your input into which areas to focus development. A consultation survey has been posted online – it contains all the new features we identified from customer feedback. Please indicate which features you feel are most important and add comments where appropriate. Should there be any area that we have not covered, there is a comments box at the bottom for you to suggest additional functionality.