|
|
|
The software provides an easy-to-learn
system suitable for small schools up to large districts. Single-user schools
can use Windows 98/NT/XP/2003 or a G3 Macintosh running Virtual PC software or
the equivalent. Multi-user systems can use a Windows NT or Novell network being
accessed by either a Windows 98/NT/XP/2003 or a G3 Macintosh running Virtual PC
or the equivalent. Schools or boards that prefer client/server relational
database systems can use Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle, plus we will implement
other RDBMS's on request. For boards that want one district-wide database, our
client/server environment supports the ability to have a central server with
all schools logging in over a Wide Area Network.
|
|
The School Administrator has built-in routines for sending data to and receiving
data from provincial governments and agencies in Ontario, Manitoba,
Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.
In the United States, we support sending data to the Kansas Department of
Education and our program adheres to the Missouri requirements for "attendance
by the minute". We update this reporting capability annually as the government
requirements change and are committed to maintaining that expertise.
|
Now the district can determine what fields of data it would like to receive from
each school and, when additions, deletions, or changes are made to those
fields, the updated data will be automatically sent to the district office at
user-defined, pre-determined times. This process can also be used to send data
from the district office to schools. No more periodic mass updating.
|
You can choose to view any records you wish, in the order you wish, viewing only
the fields you wish by using the Query Wizard. The whole process is simple.
Commonly used queries can be stored for future reference and each user can have
their own set of queries which can be shared with others. A special print
routine allows you to print the results of any query so you can easily do
quick, ad hoc reports for things like Honours Lists or Failure Lists that used
to require a special utility.
|
When dealing with a particular student, do you want to be reminded to do something
or is there a recurring task that you cannot forget? With Version 7.0 YOU can
send yourself or someone else a reminder for a specific action for a specific
student and, when the time arrives, the program will prompt you with a
reminder, no matter what you are doing in our program or in any other program.
|
Staff access to the system is so precise that users can be assigned no access,
read-only access and read/write access down to the field level. In effect, this
means that a user can be given access to view or modify a screen but that
certain fields could be not accessible and actually hidden. A copy
feature allows you to develop access criteria for one person and then copy that
same criteria to others. Each user has their own UserName and Password with the
ability to change the Password at any time.
|
Administration staff can enter an unlimited number of Events that relate to each student. Not
only can you note the Date, the Type of event, and who made the entry, but
there is also an unlimited length window that can hold a description of the
Event. When you determine that a student has missed a course 5 times in one
month, you can automatically make an entry of that fact in this window. This
window can be retained from year to year and can allow you to review major
Events involving a student.
|
Our product incorporates Crystal Reports from Seagate Software - a professional,
industry standard report generator which is used by many major software vendors
including Microsoft. We have integrated this program with our software so that we
can take advantage of the powerful features of Crystal Reports. It is not necessary
for our customers to purchase a copy of Crystal Reports because Seagate Software
offers a free runtime version. We provide a number of reports which can be viewed
and downloaded from our website. We are working with third-party training companies
to offer Crystal Report training that is geared to the needs of schools. We support
Crystal Reports through our office and make sure that our customers are offered
the latest updated programs as they become available. We feel that using a
strong, commercial report generator will mean that our users will have far more
power to generate reports and far better support for those features.
|
|
With data being entered into many screens in areas like the Student Area, we have
provided a utility that makes data entry a snap. You can arrange to enter the
data fields in any order you want. Once you have placed all of the fields in a
list, you simply enter the data and, once a record has been completed, the
program automatically distributes the data to the appropriate screens. If
default data has been applied to a field, it will be presented and, if Field
Validation has been applied, the Quick Data Entry feature will display the
valid entries. Not only can you use this feature for entering new data, but you
also can use it for updating fields in existing records. It is a tremendous
time saver.
A special twist to this feature allows you to choose a sibling and all of that
sibling's data when entering a new student. This can dramatically lower the
entry time by copying things like address, parents' name and work numbers,
medical numbers, etc. -- all of the data that is common among family members.
It also helps to insure that your data is more accurate.
|
The program allows you to schedule both printouts and utilities so that they take
place at a later time. For example, if you wanted to run the Scheduler but not
until the evening when everyone has left, you can schedule it to start at a
particular time. Once the utility is finished, the program can send an email to
inform you that it has finished. You can also schedule recurring tasks such as
Quick Backups and computing students' ages.
|
Now you can quickly backup your data at any time using the WinZip routines. We even
allow you to access this feature from within utilities that will change data so
that you can always have the ability to restore your data should you do
something that you really did not want to do.
|
Now you can record those events that you perform at only certain times of the year
in a special place so that you can refer to them in the future. You are
provided with a date-stamped unlimited length window that can hold anything you
wish.
|
You are provided with the ability to send email internally to other users of the
system as well as send email externally if you are using Windows. The program
uses this feature internally to notify you of the completion of tasks that you
have scheduled.
|
Practically every field in the program can have validation on it so that you can control
what data is entered into the field. If validation is applied to a field, the
valid entries appear as you enter data so that you can see what is acceptable.
Only Superuser can make entries or adjust the valid entries.
|
Most fields in the program allow you to enter default data so that, when entering
new records you do not constantly have to re-enter the same data. For example,
the Area Code field is likely the same for all of your students; the City and
State/Province is likely the same for most of your students, etc. If you need
to enter a field that requires something other than the default value, you
simply remove the default entry and enter the desired data. The default data
will reappear when you attempt to enter the next record.
|