WHOS-IN Pro User Guide
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Introduction:
WHOS-IN Pro is THE multi-award winning, easy-to-use, in-out board for businesses and organizations that would like to know who's in and who's out of the office. (or as several forward thinking families are doing, using it at HOME!)
WHOS-IN Pro is ideal for receptionists (and anyone else on your LAN, WAN or VPN) because there is no more time wasted checking a wall-mounted Office Board to see if someone is In, Out, or at Lunch... all the information you need is presented on screen in an easy to read format.
Why use WHOS-IN ?
Having a snapshot or 'status view' of your co-workers whereabouts makes it possible to give better information to callers, and avoid putting telephone calls through to employees who are not at their desks. WHOS-IN Pro also reduces wasted time when you need to find a co-worker, further improving your office productivity.
Easy to use:
Setting your (or someone else's) status is VERY simple, fast, and intuitive, ensuring that the program will be used consistently. A simple 'Out to Lunch' notification requires as little as one mouse-click, and you are on your way. WHOS-IN Pro can also set your Status to IN when the program starts, and OUT when it shuts down, which further enhances its ease-of-use, and gives the added benefit that you don't need to remember to update your own status at these times. (The Administrator can also set this up in your Network Login Script).
Key Features & Benefits:
The features of WHOS-IN Pro include:
1. Improves customer service - no more clients waiting on hold while the receptionist (or anyone else on the network) locates the requested person.
2. Status Alerts inform you when people return to the office.
3. Send Post-It™ style notes between users.
4. Colored buttons indicate user Status.
5. Add your own Status Types.
6. Add your Company Logo as a background image.
7. Links to our WYWO (While You Were Out) software (sold separately).
8. Groups / Departments allow segmenting people into their own areas.
9. Not limited to tracking people - You can also use WHOS-IN Pro for monitoring Vehicles, Meeting Rooms, Notebooks, Cell Phones, or anything else you like.
10. Links to MS-Exchange compatible mail systems (e.g. Outlook) allowing you to create email messages to one or more people in one easy step.
11. Roaming user profiles - Allows you to use WHOS-IN Pro no matter which PC you log in from (utilizes your network login script).
12. Allows multiple people to share a single PC (simultaneously).
13. Auto login & logout can update your status whenever Windows Opens or closes.
14. Uses MS Access format database (Access not required).
15. Ascending / descending column sorting.
16. Supports connecting to branch office servers via high-speed WAN.
17. Ultra efficient network bandwidth utilization - virtually no impact on traffic.
18. Small code size (program is around 1.5MB)
19. Group Change feature allows you to update the status of many people with just a few mouse clicks.
20. Fast In / Out / Busy and custom buttons for single mouse click status change.
21. 13+ years of stability... WHOS-IN development began Nov 1994, and was first released April 1995. It continues to be refined and improved.
22. Runs with all 32bit versions of Microsoft Windows from 2000 up.
23. Ideal for Citrix & MTS users (only a single 'folder' to publish).
Using WHOS-IN Pro:
MAIN IN OUT BOARD AREA:
Each user has a single row where all information pertaining to that user is displayed. A colored MARKER is displayed in the STATUS column indication the current Status of the User (or Item).
Check the COMMENTS column to see additional info that the user has left, and the DUE BACK column to see when they are returning.
NOTE: The DATE in the Last Modified is in YYYY-MM-DD to allow SORTING by that column. We tried other date formats, but they don't sort correctly.
There may also be CUSTOM columns (added by the Administrator) with extra info.
COLUMNS:
Sorting:
You can sort by any column by simply clicking on the column HEADER. The blue 'arrow' will switch to the column selected (to inform you of which column you are sorting by).
Click the column again to switch sorting from Ascending (up arrow) to Descending (down arrow).
Reordering:
Click on a column Header and DRAG it left or right to change the column order.
Resizing:
Click on the Column Header DIVIDER between each column to resize.
NOTE: You can completely HIDE a column if you drag LEFT far enough !
TREEVIEW:
Viewing by Group / Department If you only wish to view members of your department, click on the GROUPS treeview and select the Group / Dept you wish to view from the resulting list. The 'Everyone' Group is the default. The Group you are currently viewing will be HIGHLIGHTED (bold) in the TreeView.
STATUS ALERT AREA:
To create a Status Alert, simply DRAG a selected user from the Main In Out Board area into the Status Alert box. When that person changes their Status, you will be alerted with a Pop-Up message. To delete an Alert, Right Click on the user.
Changing YOUR Status:
There are many ways to change your Status.
Select your name in the main In/Out Board area by clicking on it,
then do one of the following:
1. Press one of the colored buttons on the ToolBar.
2. Right click on your selected name to display the pop-up menu.
3. Press the CHANGE button on the ToolBar.
If WHOS-IN is minimized to the System Tray (bottom right of your screen) you can also Right Click on the Icon & change your Status there.
ToolBar Buttons
This section details the actions taken when pressing the various buttons on the Main Screen
ToolBar.
Find Text Box - allows you to locate Users or Items in the main ListView area based on the currently selected column (indicated by a blue arrow), and highlights entries as you type. The more you enter, the narrower the search.
Change Button - displays the Change Status Screen, and allows you to update YOUR status, enter a Due Back time, and optionally any additional comments.
Group Change Button - displays the Group Change Screen, which allows you to change the status of one or more users in a Group (depending on your access level).
USAGE:
Select the user name(s) from the list, then press the Group Change button.
The Group Change Screen will then be displayed where you can enter the required information.
NOTES:
Global Access (level 2) users can change any user from any group.
Group Managers (level 1) can change any user in a Group they administer.
Normal users (level 0) can only change users if they are a Group Member.
Refresh Button - Immediately scans the database to see if there have been any changes since the last 'refresh'.
NOTE: 'Refreshes' are also automatically performed by WHOS-IN:
1. Whenever the 'Refresh Rate' timer is triggered. (see Options Screen)
2. When returning from any other screen back to the Main Screen.
3. When restoring the screen back to normal size from the TaskBar.
Servers Button - Displays the Remote Servers Screen, which allows you to connect to WHOS-IN databases across a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN). This enables you to examine the Status of co-workers in Branch Offices, or perhaps a different File Server or location within the same building. The information displayed is coordinated by your WHOS-IN administrator.
New Message Button - Displays the New Message Screen, which allows you to create a short message to one or more users.
USAGE:
Select the Users from the Main Screen you want to send a message to, then press the New Msg button.
Preview Messages Button - Displays the Preview Messages Screen *IF* you have any messages (either incoming, outgoing, or draft).
Home Button - This button is only active when you are connected to a remote database. When active, pressing this button will return you to your 'Home' database.
eMail Button - Creates a Mail Message using your default email program. You may select several users from the main ListView to send an email to multiple people at once.
WYWO Button - Creates a 'While You Were Out Message' to a selected user if you have WYWO running. If you do not have WYWO, you can download a FREE 3 user version from www.hudsoft.com.
NOTE: You can only send select ONE person to send a WYWO message to (unlike regular mail which allows multiple users to be selected).
Options Button - Displays the User Options Screen. Use this area to enter your Phone Extension and other personal preferences such as 'Refresh Rate', Auto Log In etc.
Print Button - Displays the Print Screen and allows you to print a current status list or phone directory listing.
About Button - displays the About Screen, which contains information on the number of users you are licensed for, the build date, your local support center address, and the version number.
Exit Button - Shuts down WHOS-IN and also saves the last Group viewed, screen position, height, width, column widths, column sorting and sort direction into your personal settings area within the database.
Out, Busy & In Change Status Buttons - These buttons have different functions depending on your access level for a particular Group. They are intended for FAST (single mouse-click) status changes. The Change screen will NOT (generally) appear when using these buttons. There may also be different status change buttons visible (assigned by the WHOS-IN administrator) on the ToolBar.
If no user / item is selected in the main ListView area, pressing one of the ToolBar buttons will update YOUR status with a single mouse-click. Unlike the Change Button the 'Change Status Screen' does not appear (unless you have the Option switched on), and the update is immediate.
If you have the Auto Clear Comments option switched ON, whenever you change your status to IN, the DueBack & Comments fields will be cleared.
If the Auto Minimize option is switched ON then the screen will immediately shrink down to the toolbar (or SysTray) when you change your status (revealing whatever program you were working on previously).
If one or more users/items are selected in the ListView area of the Main Screen, and the Group Change button is enabled, the ToolBar buttons allow you to change the Status of one or more 'selected' users / items.
Remember... If no user name is selected, choosing the In, Out & Busy buttons will update YOUR status only (not the status of other users)
NOTE:
All the above information is contained within the HELP FILE (currently USER.CHM) however we are in the process of MOVING all the Help to online only, to prevent issues with the security system Microsoft added a while back, making CHM (Compiled Help Module) files difficult to open.
To access detailed context sensitive Help, press the HELP BUTTON on virtually any screen, or press F1
WHOS-IN User Guide, Copyright (c) 2008 Hudson Software