Windows

In Standard ERP, you can work with several windows on the screen at the same time. The window that is currently in use is known as the 'active window'. That is the uppermost window, where the title bar is not dimmed.

You can move the active window by dragging the title bar, and change its size by dragging the size box in the bottom right-hand corner. Close the window by clicking the close box or by pressing the Esc key on your keyboard. If you are using Mac OS X, clicking the close box of a window while holding down the Alt key will close all windows. In addition, you can save attributes such as size, sort order and position for a particular window using the Window menu. The Window menu is described here.

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You can have up to 100 windows open at the same time. It is however a good habit to close a window when it is no longer needed. Too many open windows may become confusing.


Types of window in Standard ERP:

  1. Browse windows

  2. Record windows

  3. Report windows

  4. List windows

  5. Specification windows

  6. File dialogue windows

  7. Business Communicator window
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Browse Window

Browse windows are used to display lists of records. On opening a register (i.e. on clicking the [Registers] button in the Navigation Centre and then double-clicking a register in the list), you will see a browse window listing every record stored in that register. In a browse window, you can search for a certain record and select a specific record for processing. You can have several different browse windows open at any time.

For example, if you open the Contact register, the window that opens is a browse window, entitled 'Contacts: Browse'. This window lists all the Contacts in the register.

You can scroll through the list using the scroll bar on the right. You can scroll down or up a screen at a time by selecting 'Next' or 'Previous' respectively from the Record menu, or using the PgDn or PgUp keys.

You can change the sort order of the list. Click the heading of the column you want to sort by, and the list will re-sort immediately. The heading of the column will be coloured blue to show the selected sort order. If you click on the heading a second time, the sort order will be reversed.

At the top of each browse window there is an area known as the Button Bar. This contains a set of buttons:

This button only appears in some browse windows. Click it to open the Operations drop-down menu. Highlight one or more records in the list (hold down the Shift key while clicking) and then choose a function from this menu. The function will be applied to all highlighted records. The contents of the Operations menu will vary depending on the browse window. Each function is described in full on the appropriate web page.

Create


The 'Create' button appears in every browse window and contains various functions that you can use to create new records. It always contains the functions described immediately below and may contain additional functions, depending on the browse window. For example, the browse window for Sales Orders contains functions that you can use to create Deliveries and Invoices. Usually you will need to highlight a record in the browse window before selecting one of the additional functions.

The Create menu always contains the following functions:
New
Windows/Linux keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-N
Mac OS X keyboard shortcut: ⌘-N
Select this function to open a new blank record for data entry.

Duplicate
Windows/Linux keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-K or Ctrl-Y
Mac OS X keyboard shortcut: ⌘-Y
If you need to create a new record that is a copy of one that already exists, first find the earlier record in the list and highlight it by clicking once. Then, select this function. A new record will be opened, a duplicate of that highlighted. In many cases, the new record will contain the current date, not the date of the copied record.
[Search]
Please refer to the 'Searching in Browse Windows' section later on this page for details about searching in browse windows.
If you want to view or modify an existing record, first find it using the Search facility described below. Then, open it by double-clicking its line in the list, or by selecting the line and pressing the Enter key.

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It is not possible to delete a record directly from the browse window. You must open the record first.


Some browse windows have three extra buttons in the centre of their Button Bars. You can use these buttons if the Limited Access module is present (i.e. if you are using the Limited Access option in the Configuration setting in the System module), as follows (Windows buttons illustrated on the left, Mac OS X on the right):

Lists all records in the register.

Lists records belonging to members of the same Sales Group as the current user (i.e. records whose Sales Group is the same as that of the current user).

Lists records belonging to the current user (i.e. records whose Person field contains the Signature of the current user).
You can use the Person register to prevent a user from seeing every record in the register by restricting their view to their own records or to those of their Sales Group. This feature is described here.

Finally, some browse windows also have a [Communicate] button in the centre of their Button Bars:

This button will appear if the browse window belongs to a register such as the Activity, Invoice and Contact registers where you may need to communicate with a Contact (e.g. with the Contact quoted in an Activity or Invoice). Please refer to the Business Communicator Window page for details.

Searching in Browse Windows

Use the Search field (on the right of the Button Bar) to find a particular record in a browse window. The Search field works in one of two ways, depending on whether you are using the Browse Filtering option in the Optional Features setting in the System module.

If you are not using the Browse Filtering option, follow these steps:

  1. Sort the list by the column that you want to use for the search. In the illustration below, for example, the list is sorted by Name allowing you to search for a Contact with a certain Name.

  2. Type your Search term in the Search field (there is no need to click in the field before typing). For example, referring to the example illustrated above, type the first few letters of the Name you are looking for.

  3. Press Enter or Return or click the [Search] button (Mac OS X users must press Enter or Return). The first row with an exact match in the sort column (or, if there is no exact match, with the nearest match) will be highlighted:

  4. If you are not certain of the exact spelling, use the * character as a wildcard. For example, referring to the illustration below, if you want to find The American Dream but are not sure if the name includes "The", sort the list by the Name column, type "*American" in the Search field and press the Enter key. If the first record found is not the one you want, press the Shift-Enter key combination to search again.

If you are using the Browse Filtering option, all you need to do is to start typing a letter, word, number, or date in the Search field (there is no need to click in the field before typing). As you type each character, non-matching records will be removed from the list. There is no need to sort the list first.

The search will be made in several fields, including some that are not shown in the browse window. In the illustration above, typing "gi" reduced the list to three records, two of which have "gi" in their names. "European Trading Co" is also listed because its country is Belgium. Note: the Browse Filtering option was removed from the application in June 2020.

Colour Coding

Invoices in the 'Invoices: Browse' window are colour-coded:

(no colour)
Invoices not yet due for payment

red
Invoices that are overdue for payment

green
Invoices that are fully paid or credited
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Types of window in Standard ERP:

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Record Window

You will use record windows are used to enter, view and edit individual records. The heading may read 'New', 'Inspect', 'Update' or 'Deleting', depending on the circumstance. All data entry will be made in windows of this type.

A record window will be opened when you open a specific record from a browse window by double-clicking, and when you create a new record. Below is the window that will be opened when you double-click a row in the 'Orders: Browse' window.

The record window is where you enter or edit information. Note that certain fields will only accept numbers or uppercase letters, while others cannot be changed at all. In some cases, all characters will be converted to uppercase automatically.

Use the Return, Tab or arrow keys to move from field to field. The Return key moves the cursor to the next editable field, while the arrow keys move to the next field, whether it can be changed or not. You can also use the mouse to click directly in a field to enter or change its data. When you click in a field, its contents will be highlighted, and the contents will be replaced as soon as you start typing. If you click twice in the same field, the insertion point will be placed at the point where you click, allowing you to enter or delete characters at that point.

Some record windows, such as the one in the illustration, are divided into two sections: the top half shows details of the parent record (in this case, an Order) and the lower half contains the individual items (or rows) that are listed on that Order.

Sometimes a record window contains more information than can be shown on screen at once. If this is the case, there will be a series of tabs (marked 'Terms', 'Items', 'Currency', etc in the example of the Order illustrated above) that you can click to see more pages of information about the parent record. There may also be a series of flips (marked 'A', 'B', 'C', etc) that you can click to see more information for the rows.

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Types of window in Standard ERP:

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Record Window - Button Bar

At the top of each record window there is an area known as the Button Bar. This contains a set of buttons:

Windows/Linux keyboard shortcuts: PgUp and PgDn
Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts: ⌘-- and ⌘-+
These are the [Previous Record] and [Next Record] buttons. On the left are the Windows versions, on the right are the Mac OS X versions. The left-hand button of each pair is the [Previous Record] button.

Use these buttons to move from record to record. Once you have opened a record from a list in a browse window, click the [Next Record] button to move to the next record in that list. At the same time everything you may have changed in the record you are leaving will be saved. If you want to cancel the changes, close the record window with the close box or press the [Cancel] button on the right of the Button Bar. Similarly, clicking the [Previous Record] button will open the previous record in the list.

These buttons have the same effect as selecting 'Previous' and 'Next' from the Record menu.

This button appears in many record windows, such as those for Invoices and Orders. Click it to open the Operations drop-down menu.

The Operations menu contains different functions depending on the window. For the Order record, the following menu items are available:

For example, the first three functions will cause various figures in an Order to be recalculated and updated, while 'Order Status' opens a window containing a summary of the status of the Order, listing Deliveries, Invoices and any other connected records.

Each Operations menu function is described in full on the appropriate web page.

Windows/Linux keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-P
Mac OS X keyboard shortcut: ⌘-P
Click this Printer icon to print the current record. The Printer icon will only appear in the Button Bar when the record window contains a record that can be printed, e.g. an Invoice or Purchase Order. The 'Print' command on the File menu has the same function.

The record will be printed using a Form Template that you specify using the 'Define Form' function for the form in question. Please refer to the description of this function on the Forms page for details.

When you start a printout, it will print directly on your selected printer.

Windows/Linux keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-Shift-P
Mac OS X keyboard shortcut: ⌘-Shift-P
Clicking the Preview icon will cause the current record to be printed to screen in a new window. This will allow you to see what it will look like when you print it on a printer by clicking the Printer icon immediately to the left.

In some record windows, such as those for Activities, Invoices and Contacts, there is a [Communicate] button in the Button Bar. If you need to call the Contact quoted in the Activity or Invoice or whose Contact record you are viewing, click this button. Please refer to the Business Communicator Window page for details.

All fields containing telephone numbers will be marked with a similar icon. Click this icon to initiate a call to the telephone number using the Preferred Calling Method that you have chosen in the Local Machine setting in the User Settings module.

Create
The 'Create' button appears in every record window and contains various functions that you can use to create new records. It always contains the functions described immediately below and may contain additional functions, depending on the record you are looking at. For example, included in the Create menu for Sales Orders are functions that you can use to create Deliveries and Invoices:

The Create menu always contains the following functions:
New
Windows/Linux keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-N
Mac OS X keyboard shortcut: ⌘-N
Select this function to save the current record and to close it. A new blank record will then be opened for data entry.

Duplicate
Windows/Linux keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-K or Ctrl-Y
Mac OS X keyboard shortcut: ⌘-Y
Select this function to save the current record and to create a copy of it. The original record will be closed and the new copy opened. In many cases, the new record will contain the current date, not the date of the copied record.

Workflow Activity
Windows/Linux keyboard shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-C
Mac OS X keyboard shortcut: Shift-⌘-C
Use this function (or the [Workflow Manager] button described below) to create an Activity relating to the record you are working with. For example, if you are working with a Quotation, you could create an Activity to remind yourself to call the Customer as the Decision Date approaches. If you are working with an Invoice, the Activity could be a reminder about the Due Date. The Activity will be placed in the record's Workflow Manager from where you can return to the Activity at any time. Please refer to the descriptions of the individual registers for more details about this function (its operation will vary slightly depending on the register), and here for more details about Activities.
The other functions on the Create menu will vary depending on the record you are looking at, and are described in full on the appropriate web pages.
[Cancel]
If you have not saved the current record (i.e. the window title is 'New'), click this button to cancel the data entry process and to close the record window. The record will not be saved. If you have previously saved the current record (i.e. the window title is 'Update'), click this button to discard all changes made since it was last saved. In this case, the record window will not be closed.

[Save]
Windows/Linux keyboard shortcut: Shift-Enter
Mac OS X keyboard shortcut: Shift-Enter
This button saves all changes to the current record but does not close it.

This button opens the Workflow Manager, where you can create and work with any Activities that are connected to the record. Please refer for more details.

The colour of the icon in this button will signal the age of the oldest Activity in the Workflow Manager, as follows:

There are no Activities in the Workflow Manager, or those that are there are due to be done in the future.

The oldest Activity in the Workflow Manager was due to be done in the past.

The oldest Activity in the Workflow Manager is due to be done today.

This button opens the Link Manager, where you can link other records to the record you are working with, and open and review those linked records at any time.

This button opens the Document Manager, where you can attach notes and external files to the record you are working with.
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Types of window in Standard ERP:

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Record Window - Row Menu

Many record windows are divided into two sections: the top half shows details relating to the record as a whole (for example, in an Order, the top half will contain details such as the Order Number and Date and the Customer) and the lower half contains a matrix listing the individual items (or rows) that are attached to the record (e.g. in an Order, the matrix will list the ordered Items).

These windows will often have an Operations menu, which contains functions that refer to or affect the record as a whole. For example, in an Order, included on the Operations menu will be an 'Order Status' function that you can use to open a window containing a summary of the status of the Order, listing Deliveries, Invoices and any other connected records. The matrix in these windows will often have its own menu, which contains functions that refer to or affect an individual row in the matrix. This is sometimes known as the "Row Menu".

To use the Row menu, first click in any field in the row in question (i.e. the row to which the function is to be applied), and then right-click (Windows) or Ctrl-click (Mac OS X) the row number (on the left of the row). A menu will appear, where you can select the function that you need:

The functions on the Row menu will vary depending on the record you are looking at, and are described in full on the appropriate web pages.

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Types of window in Standard ERP:

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Record Window - Paste Special

When you enter a new record, you will frequently need to refer to another register or setting. For example, when you enter an Invoice, specifying a Customer Number will bring information about the relevant Customer in from the Contact register (e.g. the name and address of the Customer), while specifying a Payment Term brings information in from the Payment Terms setting. Using the 'Paste Special' command, you can find out the information you require from a selection list quickly and easily (e.g. you can easily choose the correct Customer or Payment Term). Use one of the following methods to activate the 'Paste Special' feature when the insertion point is in a field with a 'Paste Special' link:
The following example shows pasting a Customer Number into an Invoice:

With the insertion point placed in the Customer field, press the Ctrl-Enter (Windows and Linux) or ⌘-Enter (Mac OS X) key combination, or simply start typing. A new window will open, showing the contents of the register or setting from which you can select a record (in this case, the window will list Customers in the Contact register). This window is similar to a browse window in its behaviour, so you can sort the list by clicking any of the column headings and you can search in the same way (including using the Browse Filtering option).

Select the Customer you want by double-clicking or by highlighting and pressing Enter. When you press Tab or Enter again to move the insertion point to the next field, the Customer Number and other details will be transferred to the Invoice screen.

If you need to close the 'Paste Special' window without choosing an option, press the Tab or Esc keys on your keyboard.

You can make the 'Paste Special' feature more powerful by saving the sort order of the 'Paste Special' list. For example, whenever you need to choose a Customer, you will probably know its Name but not its Number. The first time you use the 'Paste Special' feature to choose a Customer, sort the list by Name and then select 'Save Position' from the Window menu. From now on, the list will be sorted by Name when it opens. Now you can type the first few characters of the Customer Name in a Customer field and, when the 'Paste Special' list opens, the highlighted Customer will be the first one to match the typed characters. If this is the correct one, all you need do is press the Enter key and carry on typing without interruption. In the example shown below, we typed "OSLO" into the Customer Number field of an Invoice. When the 'Paste Special' list opens, the first Customer whose name begins with will be "OSLO" highlighted:

If you have more than one record that matches what you have typed, you can continue typing until the correct record is highlighted, or you can move the highlight using the keyboard arrow keys. You can also remove what you have typed and start again. When the correct record is highlighted, select it by double-clicking or by pressing Enter.

If the 'Paste Special' window opens and you then decide you don't want to choose an option, simply press Tab or click in another field to close it.

If the record you are looking for does not exist and so is not shown in the 'Paste Special' list, you can often enter it on the fly. In the 'Paste Special' window, click the [New] or [Duplicate] buttons as appropriate (or use the relevant keyboard shortcuts, Ctrl-N/⌘-N and Ctrl-K/⌘-Y respectively). A new Customer record (in this example) will be opened. Enter the new Customer, click [Save] and the new record will be saved. At the same time, the new Customer Number will be entered in the Invoice.

If you are entering an Invoice and realise that your information about the Customer is out of date (they might have changed their address or telephone number, for example), highlight the Customer in the 'Paste Special' window and press F2 (Windows and Linux) or ⌘-Shift-V (Mac OS X). The Customer record will be opened, allowing you to make the necessary changes. You can also do this if you have already entered the Customer Number in the Invoice. With the insertion point in the Customer Number field, press F2 or ⌘-Shift-V. This feature is available from most fields with a 'Paste Special' link.

You can control whether individual users can use the F2/⌘-Shift-V feature and create records on the fly using the Access Groups setting in the System module. If you want to allow 'Paste Special' access to a register or setting, but you also want to deny access to the F2/⌘-Shift-V feature and to creating records on the fly, you should grant Browse or Read access to that register or setting. For example, if a user only has access to the Invoice register, you should grant them Browse or Read access to the Contact and Item registers if you want them to be able to choose Customers and Items using 'Paste Special' when they enter new Invoices.

You can use 'Paste Special' when you are in a date field. When you press Ctrl-Enter or ⌘-Enter, the 'Paste Date' window will open:

The current date is marked with a square and a highlight. Press the Enter or Return key (or double-click) to bring the current date into the date field. If you need a different date, use the arrow keys to move the highlight to the date you need:

Use the PgUp and PgDn keys or the buttons in the top left-hand corner of the 'Paste Date' window to change to a different month.

If you need to close the 'Paste Date' window without choosing a date, press the Esc key on your keyboard.

If dashes appear instead of Week Numbers in the 'Paste Date' window, the probable cause is that there is no record in the Weeks setting in the System module, or the record that is there is incomplete.

You can also use 'Paste Special' when you are in a time field. Simply press Ctrl-Enter or ⌘-Enter and the current time will be entered straight away.

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Types of window in Standard ERP:

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Record Window - Drag and Drop

You can drag and drop records from a browse window onto the record window of a particular record. For example, you can drag a Customer Number from the 'Contacts: Browse' into an Order or Invoice. With both the 'Contacts: Browse' and 'Invoice: New' windows open, find the correct Customer in the list, click on the Customer Number and drag it to the Customer Number field of the Invoice. You can add Items and information from settings such as Payment Terms to Invoices, Orders and other transactions in the same manner. In the case of Items, you can open the 'Items: Browse' and select a range of Items by clicking while holding down the Shift key. Then, drag them to the Item field in the first empty Invoice row.

In certain circumstances, you can also create records by dragging and dropping. For example, you can drag an Order from the 'Orders: Browse' window to the 'Deliveries: Browse' window to create a Delivery for all the Items on the Order. Once you have approved that Delivery, you can then drag the Order from the 'Orders: Browse' window to the 'Invoices: Browse' window to create an Invoice for all delivered Items.

You can also copy lists from spreadsheets or word processing documents. For example, you can copy a list of Item Numbers from a spreadsheet and paste it in the Item field in the first empty Invoice or Order row. All appropriate Item Descriptions, Prices, etc will be brought it automatically. Similarly you can copy a list of Invoice Numbers from a spreadsheet and paste it in a Receipt or Payment.

If you have several Companies, you can transfer information from one Company to another by dragging and dropping between browse windows. For example, when you create a new Company, you can drag all the Accounts from the 'Accounts: Browse' window of an existing Company to that of the new Company. This makes it easy to transfer basic information to the new Company. If you transfer accounting transactions of any kind that have been marked as OKed using this method, they will not be marked as OK in the new Company. A transaction that has been marked as OK is one from the Sales Ledger, Purchase Ledger or Stock module that has been posted to the Nominal Ledger.

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Types of window in Standard ERP:

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Record Window - Workflow Manager, Link Manager and Document Manager

In the top right-hand corner of every record window, there are three buttons:

Please click the following links for details about these buttons:

Workflow Manager

Link Manager

Document Manager
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Types of window in Standard ERP:

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Record Window - Changing the Fields in a Record Window

This page describes how to change the attributes of fields and check boxes in record windows.

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You can change some of the attributes of the fields and check boxes in a record window. For example, you can change field labels, hide fields and make fields mandatory. Follow these steps:

  1. Log in as a Global User or Person belonging to an Access Group in which Full access has been granted to the 'Field Settings' Action.

  2. Choose 'Edit Field Settings' from the File menu. This option will only be available to users with Full access to the 'Field Settings' Action mentioned in step 1.

  3. A 'Field Settings' window will appear:

    This window contains an Access Group field and a View changes check box, as follows:

    Access Group
    Paste Special    Access Groups setting, System module
    When you change the attributes of the fields in a record window, you will do so for the members of a particular Access Group. Choose that Access Group here using 'Paste Special' and then press [OK]. Note that the selection of an Access Group is case-sensitive, so it is recommended that you use 'Paste Special' to ensure the spelling and case usage are correct.

    View changes
    When editing the fields in a record window, use this check box to switch between the original version of the window (as originally defined in Standard ERP) and your edited version.

    The presence of this 'Field Settings' window signifies that you are in 'Edit Field' mode. While you are in this mode, you will not be able to edit any records. Instead, whenever you open a record window, you will be able to change the attributes of the fields in that record window. As a further reminder that you are in 'Edit Field' mode, the window title of every window that you open will include the word 'Editing' (instead of 'New', 'Inspect', 'Update' or 'Browse').

  4. To change the attributes of the fields in a record window, open the window in the usual way. For example, if you need to change the attributes of a field or fields in the Invoice window, you can either open an existing Invoice from the 'Invoices: Browse' window or you can open an empty new Invoice. When the window opens, you will see it as it will be shown to members of the Access Group specified in step 3.

  5. Click in the field whose attributes you need to change. This must be a header field, not a row field. You can also click a check box. A second 'Field Settings' window will appear. In the example illustrated below we clicked on the Attention field:

    Access Group
    Paste Special    Access Groups setting, System module
    When you change the attributes of the fields in a record window, you will do so for the members of a particular Access Group. The default here will be the Access Group that you chose in step 3. You can change the Access Group, but do not leave the field empty.

    Window
    This field displays the internal name of the window (the internal name is the name given to the window inside the program) and cannot be changed.

    Field
    The internal name of the field or check box whose attributes you are changing and cannot be changed.

    Custom Label
    If you want to change the name of the field in the window, enter the new name here.

    Mode
    Choose an attribute for the field or check box as follows:

    Show
    The default attribute for the field (as originally defined in Standard ERP) will be used.

    View only
    The field will not be editable. Choosing this option for a check box will have no effect.

    Hide
    The field or check box will not be visible.

    Hide when not Empty
    The field will not be visible if it contains a value. Choosing this option for a check box will have no effect.

    Type
    Specify whether it should be mandatory for members of the Access Group specified above to enter a value in the field whenever they create or modify a record in the window in question. Choosing this option for a check box will have no effect.

  6. Press [OK] to save the new field attributes. The second 'Field Settings' window will be closed, and the changes will immediately be visible (in a single-user installation only):

  7. If you need to compare the original version of the window with your modified version, select and deselect the View changes check box in the first 'Field Settings' window.

  8. Repeat steps 5 and 6 if you need to change the field attributes of other fields or check boxes.

  9. If you need to change the field attributes of a field or check box for other Access Groups, the following options are available:

    1. Change the Access Group in the first 'Field Settings' window and press [OK], as described in step 3. The appearance of the record window (e.g. of the Invoice window) will be changed so that you will be shown what is visible to members of the new Access Group. When you next click on a field or check box, the new Access Group will be the default in the second 'Field Settings' window.

    2. Change the Access Group in the second 'Field Settings' window.

    3. Duplicate a record in the Fields Settings setting as described below in step 11 and change the Access Group there.

    You must specify an Access Group in the second 'Field Settings' window. Leaving the Access Group field blank in this window will not mean that the field attribute change will be visible to every Access Group.

  10. To leave 'Edit Field' mode, select 'Edit Field Settings' from the File menu once again.

  11. The field attribute settings will be saved in the Fields Settings setting in the Technics module. This setting will contain separate records for each window/Access Group combination. An individual record will contain a matrix listing the changed field attributes. If you need to change the field attributes in a particular window for several Access Groups, you can duplicate the record created in steps 5 and 6, and change the Access Group and the options as necessary.

    You do not need to be in 'Edit Field' mode to work in the Fields Settings setting. However, note that the Window Class and VcName fields are not editable, so you cannot create a new record in this setting and specify the window or register (VcName). In other words, if there is no record in this setting for a particular window, you must create at least one record for that window following steps 3-6 above. You can then duplicate that record in this setting as needed.

    Any records that you add or change in this setting will not take effect until you close Standard ERP and restart. You don't need to restart the server.

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Types of window in Standard ERP:

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Report Window

Report windows are used to display the reports you print to the screen. Below we show an example of a report from the Nominal Ledger module. You can scroll up and down in the window, and search for information in the report.

Below the Button Bar there is a report header, which shows the name of the report and the selection on which it is based. This is important information, since you can produce every report using different selections.

Below this is the report itself, always shown to its full width in its own resizeable window. You can scroll up and down through the report using the scroll bar on the right-hand side or using the PgDn, PgUp, Home and End keys on the keyboard.

Since each report is shown in its own window, you can print several reports to screen at the same time, totally independently. This gives Standard ERP an unmatched reporting power. You can for example show two versions of the Balance Sheet simultaneously, in two different windows. In one you might show the result without simulated transactions and in the other with simulations. You can easily extract information from Standard ERP that would require some complicated manoeuvring to obtain from other accounting systems.

There is no practical limit to the number of reports that you can print to screen simultaneously, and you can freely mix reports from the different modules. Since windows in Standard ERP are completely independent, you can mix report windows with record windows and lists from different parts of the system.

In the following picture we show an example where four reports from the Nominal Ledger and Sales Ledger are shown at the same time.

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Types of window in Standard ERP:

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Report Window - Printouts

If you print a report to screen, you can then print it to paper by clicking the Printer icon in the Button Bar of the window containing the report. The page format is set in advance for each report so that the report will fit in a portrait or landscape page.

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Types of window in Standard ERP:

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Report Window - Searching in Reports

A useful function built in to every report in Standard ERP when you print to screen is the ability to search for a text string in a report. The search string can contain any sequence of letters and digits occurring in the report.

In this example you might want to search for the Nominal Ledger Transaction resulting from Invoice 960054. Enter "960054" into the Search field on the right of the Button Bar and press the Enter key. The first text string in the report that matches the search string will be highlighted. Press the Enter key again to find the next match.

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Report Window - Recalculating Reports

While a report is on screen, it may be that you change one or more of the records that contribute to the calculations. If so, you can easily update the report without closing and recreating it. Simply bring the report window to the front and select the 'Recalculate' command from the Operations menu (or use the Ctrl-Shift-R/⌘-Shift-R keyboard shortcut). This will update the report, using the same specifications. If you want to produce an updated version of the report using different specifications (e.g. you want to change the report period), select 'Reopen Report Specification' from the Operations menu (or use the Ctrl-Shift-E/⌘-Shift-E keyboard shortcut).

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Report Window - Drill-down

Many reports include drill-down feature when you print them to screen. For example, when you have a Profit & Loss statement on the screen, you can click on any Account Number in the report. Subject to you having the necessary access rights, the Nominal Ledger report for the same selection and period will be opened in a separate window, listing the Transactions that contribute to the Account balance on the Profit & Loss statement. If you then click on one of the Transaction numbers in the Nominal Ledger report, the Transaction record will open, showing all the details recorded for the event. This example is illustrated below:

Text with the drill-down feature is shown underlined in a screen report.

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Report Window - Attaching Reports to Records and the Personal Desktop

The Button Bar of the report window contains a [Document Manager] button that allows you to attach a report to a record or to the Personal Desktop. Please refer to the 'Attaching Reports to Records' section on the Document Manager and the 'Reports in your Personal Desktop' section on the Personal Desktop pages respectively for details.

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List Window

The list window is used whenever you need to choose from a list of options, usually after you select the 'Imports', 'Settings', 'Maintenance', 'Reports' and 'Forms' functions. Double-click your choice in the list, or click it once with the mouse and then press the Return or Enter key.

You can use the scroll bar to find the item that you want, or you can navigate to and select an option using the keyboard if you so prefer. Type the first few characters of the name of the option you want and then press the Enter or Return key twice to confirm your choice. For example, referring to the example illustrated below and assuming 'Contact List' is the item you want, type "co" and then press the Enter or Return key to highlight 'Contact List'. Press the Enter key again to activate the report. You can also use the arrow keys on your keyboard to help with navigation.

When the list window contains a list of forms, it will also contain an Operations menu allowing you to assign a Form Template to each form (the Form Template contains the design that will be printed). This is described here.

The following example shows the list window from where you can choose a report in the Sales Ledger module.

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Specification Window

Specification windows allow you to specify the contents of a report or form, or how a Maintenance function is to operate. A specification window will usually appear after you have selected an option in a list window. Once you have entered the report criteria or specified how the Maintenance function is to behave, click [Run]. The example below shows the specification window for the Transaction Journal report.

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File Dialogue Window

Standard ERP uses the standard Windows, Linux or Mac OS X file dialogue window when it requires you to select a file for import, or to give a file name to an export file.

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Business Communicator Window

The 'Business Communicator' window allows you to communicate with any Contact (both external and internal) using any method (e.g. telephone, mobile, Skype, SIP, email, text SMS and the chat feature built in to Standard ERP).

To open the 'Business Communicator' window, click the [Communicate] button in the Navigation Centre:

This button can also be found in record and browse windows belonging to registers such as Activities, Invoices and Contacts where you may need to communicate with a Contact (e.g. with the Contact quoted in an Activity or Invoice). Clicking the button here will open the 'Business Communicator' window with the relevant Contact's telephone and mobile numbers, Skype Name, email address and so on shown in the Contact Methods list, ready for you to open communications.

The 'Business Communicator' window contains the following sections:
The Contact List
This is a list of the records in the Contact register in your current Company.

As with all lists of records in Standard ERP, you can scroll through the list using the scroll bar on the right, and you can sort the list by clicking a column heading. By default, the list is sorted by Contact Name.

Use the Search field and button (above the Contact list) to find a particular Contact in the list. First, sort the list by the column that you want to use for the search. In the illustration above, for example, the list is sorted by Name allowing you to search for a particular Contact Name. Then, type the first few characters of the Name in the Search field (there is no need to click in the field before typing). Then press Enter or click [Search]. The first exact match (or, if there is no exact match, the nearest match) will be highlighted. If you are not certain of the exact spelling, use the * character as a wildcard. For example, in the illustration shown above, if you want to find a Contact named Giacomelli but are not sure of their first name, sort the list by the Name column, type "*Giacomelli" in the Search field and press the Enter key. If the first record found is not the one you want, press the Shift-Enter key combination to search again.

By default, the list shows every record in the Contact register. You can restrict the list so that it only shows your Personal Contacts. To do this, click the button marked 'Company', hold down the mouse, and choose the 'Personal' option. The button text will change to 'Personal'. Repeat the procedure to change the list back to showing every record. A Personal Contact is one where you are the Salesman, or one with your Signature in the Address Books field (on the 'User Defined' card). The Address Books field can contain the Signatures of more than one Person, separated by commas, so a Contact can be the Personal Contact of more than one Person.

To create a new Contact, click the [New] button above the list. The 'Contact: New' window will open, allowing you to enter the details of the new Contact. By default, the new Contact will be marked as a Customer. To edit an existing Contact, double-click their name in the list. Please refer here for full details about creating and editing Contacts.

To communicate with a Contact, click their name once in the list. The available communication methods (telephone and mobile numbers, Skype names, etc.) will be shown in the Contact Method list, described below.

To find out more about a Contact, click their name once in the list and then click the [Customer Status] button. If the Contact is a Customer or a Contact Person who works for a Customer (i.e. a Contact Person linked to the Customer in the Contact Relations register), a Customer Status report will be printed to screen. This report will display the current account status of the Customer, with its contents being user-definable. If you would like a Customer Status report to be shown automatically each time a call is established (i.e. when the Contact answers your call and when you answer an incoming call), select the Auto Display Cust. Status on Incoming Calls option in the Local Machine setting in the User Settings module. This option can be set separately on each client machine.

The Call List
The Call list in the lower left-hand corner of the 'Business Communicator' window shows the open calls being made by everyone in your Standard ERP system. This same list is shown on every client. This list will help you manage calls as you will easily be able to see whether a Person is already engaged before transferring a call to them or inviting them to a conference call. You can also interrupt another Person's call by highlighting it in the list and then clicking the [Hold] or [Hang Up] buttons.

The Contact Method List
To communicate with a Contact, click their name once in the Contact list. The available communication methods (telephone and mobile numbers, Skype names, etc.) will be shown in the Contact Method list. Choose a communication method by clicking, and then click the appropriate button below. Please follow the links at the bottom of this page for details about the various communications methods.

In the cases of Asterisk, Switchboard and Mobile calls, when a call is established (i.e. when the Contact answers your call and when you answer an incoming call), a new Activity will be opened, allowing you to record the details of the conversation immediately, thus adding the call to the Contact's call history. When the call ends, click the [End Activity] button in the Activity: this will bring an End Time and Cost (Time) in to the Activity and will also save the Activity. In the case of a Skype call, a new Activity may also be opened, depending on the version of Skype you are using. From 2014 onwards, Skype began to reduce the level of communication their product has with other applications. Skype no longer reports to other applications when calls are answered, so there is nothing to trigger the creation of Activities. Activities are described here.

If you have more than one Company in your database, the new Activity will usually be created in the Company in which you are currently working. The exception is when you have a Global User record in which a Main CRM Company has been specified, in which case the Activity will be created in the Main CRM Company (you must also be working in your Main CRM Company for the Activity to be created). Please refer here for details about Global Users.
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Skype

To call a Contact using Skype, first open the 'Business Communicator' window:

Click on the Contact in the Contact list and then:
You can end Skype-to-Skype and SkypeOut calls either in the Skype application itself or by clicking on the call in the Call list in the 'Business Communicator' window and then clicking the [Hang up] button.

You can use the [Skype] button to answer an incoming Skype-to-Skype call, as well as doing so in Skype itself. If you already have an open call, it will be put on hold when you click the [Skype] button to answer the new call.

Communication using Skype requires the following:

Note that from 2014 onwards, Skype began to reduce the level of communication their product has with other applications. Therefore, depending on the version of Skype you are using, you may find that some of the features described in this section are no longer valid.

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Asterisk

Asterisk is switchboard software that runs on computers using Linux and other operating systems. It is an open-source software project that is available for anybody to download and install without charge. It supports the SIP standard for connecting to IP-based telephones (e.g. softphones such as EyeBeam and X-Lite, hardphones from Cisco and other vendors, Nokia E-series cellphones with built-in SIP softphone etc.). Standard ERP integrates with the Asterisk switchboard, not the telephones themselves.

To call a Contact through an Asterisk-based switchboard, first open the 'Business Communicator' window:

Click on the Contact in the Contact list and then click on their telephone or mobile number in the Contact Method list (you cannot call a SIP address using Asterisk). Alternatively, enter a telephone number in the Dial field. Then, click the [Asterisk] button.

A call will be established between you and the Contact. First, your SIP client (softphone (e.g. EyeBeam, X-Lite) or hardphone) will ring. When you answer, the Contact's telephone will ring.

You cannot use the [Asterisk] button to answer an incoming Asterisk call. You can only do this using your soft- or hardphone.

Communication through an Asterisk-based switchboard requires the following:

To configure your Standard ERP database to communicate through an Asterisk-based switchboard, follow these steps:
  1. Ensure the Asterisk Management Interface has been enabled on your Asterisk server, and that a context named "HansaWorld" has been configured.

  2. Log in to your Standard ERP system as a system administrator with access to the Technics module, as described here.

  3. Open the Configuration setting in the System module and make sure that the Telephony and Asterisk Gateway options on the 'Technical' card are checked.

  4. Open the PBX Connection register in the Telephony module and create a new record:

    Enter the following details to allow your Standard ERP server to log in to your Asterisk server(s) automatically:
    Code
    Enter a unique code for the PBX Connection record.

    Type
    Paste Special    Choices of possible entries
    Choose the relevant version of your Asterisk server using 'Paste Special'.

    Hostname
    Enter the address of the Asterisk server. This should be its domain name (e.g. sip.companyname.com).

    Port
    Enter the port number used by the Asterisk Management Interface on the Asterisk server. Usually this will be 5038. This port should be open on the firewall between the Standard ERP server and the telephony server.

    Host IP
    Enter the IP address of the Asterisk server here. This field is used for IAX authentication, so will be useful if you have several Asterisk servers that need to communicate with each other. This field is also used if the IP address of the Asterisk server is different to its public IP address, in which case you should enter its IP address here.

    Username, Password
    Enter the login details of the administrator account for the Asterisk Management Interface. This account needs to have sufficient access to be able to monitor what's happening on the server, and to be able to "originate" calls.
    Save the PBX Connection record and then restart the Standard ERP server application. After restarting, it will connect to the Asterisk server(s).

  5. The next step is to register the SIP user names of each member of staff. Create records in the Contact for each member of staff, and enter their SIP user names in the SIP field. The Contact records should also contain extension numbers that other members of staff can call within the Asterisk server.

    Connect these Contact records to the relevant Person or Global User records using the Contact Code field on the 'Access' card. Please refer to the following pages below for more details about this process: Named Users; Concurrent Users; or Global Users.

    Each user name should use the format username@sip.companyname.com.

    The user names must be registered in the relevant Asterisk server. If they are not, you can enter them in the Asterisk Users setting in the Telephony module or on the 'Asterisk' cards of the relevant Person or Global User records and then use the 'Asterisk SIP Configuration Files' Maintenance function in the same module to register them in the Asterisk server. The Asterisk Users setting will be useful if you need to register SIP user names for members of staff who are not Standard ERP users, or SIP user names that are not tied to particular users (e.g. a phone for public use).

    If the SIP user name is changed in a Person, Global User or Contact record, the relevant member of staff should log out of Standard ERP and log in again for the change to take effect.

  6. The next step is to ensure incoming calls can be identified correctly so that they can be matched to numbers that are already in the database. For this matching process to be successful, the format of the originating telephone or mobile numbers of incoming calls must be the same as that of numbers in the database. Follow these steps:

    1. Log in again as a system administrator with access to the Technics module, open the record in the PBX Connections setting and go to the 'Location Settings' card:

      Standard ERP will use the information in these fields to identify the originating telephone numbers of each incoming call made to each Asterisk server. After identification, it will use the Normalized Phone Numbers setting (step iii below) to attempt to match the telephone number to a record in the Contact register, and to open an Activity for that Contact.
      International Dial Prefix
      Specify the international dialling code that must be dialled from the country where the Asterisk server is located. In Europe, this will be 00.

      Country Code
      Specify the country code of the country where the Asterisk server is located. For example, if the Asterisk server is located in the UK, this will be 44.

      Default Area Code
      Specify the local area code of the area where the Asterisk server is located. This is only required in countries where you do not need to dial the area code when you are calling numbers in the same area. This is the case in the UK and Sweden.

      Skip Digit for International Calls
      If the Asterisk server is located in a country where the first digit of telephone numbers is not dialled by incoming international callers, specify that digit here. For example, if the Asterisk server is located in the UK, this will be 0.

      External Line Prefix
      For outgoing calls, if you need to dial a number to obtain an outside line, specify that number here.
      For example, if the Asterisk server is in London and receives a call from the London number 3222 1234, the effect of these fields will be to add the international dialling prefix, the country code and the area code less skip digit to produce 00442032221234. If it receives a call from the Reading number 0118 222 1234, the effect of these fields will be to add the international dialling prefix and the country code and to remove the skip digit, producing 00441182221234.

    2. Having ensured that incoming numbers all use the same format, you should now ensure the Contact numbers in the database also use the same format, so that they can be matched up. To do this, you will use the Telephony Settings setting.

      Note that records in the PBX Connections setting are stored in Company 0, a partition of the database that stores information at database level (i.e. information that is available to every Company). Connecting to an Asterisk server and receiving and identifying incoming calls from that server are database level operations. This means you only need configure dialling information in the PBX Connections setting once, and you can do so working in any Company. However, if you have more than one Company, you will need to configure the Telephony Settings setting separately in every Company. This allows for the possibility that different Companies might represent departments in different parts of the country (with different area codes) or even in different countries.

      In each Company, open the Telephony Settings setting in the CRM module:

      In configuring the Telephony Settings setting, bear in mind the telephone and mobile numbers that are already in the database, and also think about how users will enter telephone and mobile numbers in the future. For example, numbers local to the Company may have been entered without area codes. So, while the location of the Asterisk server will determine what you entered in the SIP Servers setting, the location of the Company will determine the country and area codes here.

      Do not include the Skip Digit in the Default Area Code. For example, if the area code is 020 for London or 0118 for Reading, enter 20 (as shown in the illustration) or 118 respectively.

    3. If you already have Contacts in your database, you should now ensure that their telephone and mobile numbers are in the correct format. You can do this by running the 'Rebuild Number Recognition Register' Maintenance function. This will not change the numbers in the Contact records themselves. Instead, it will use the Telephony Settings setting to convert all numbers to the correct format and save them in a central setting in Company 0 known as the Normalized Phone Numbers setting.

      To run this function, ensure you are in the CRM module, click the [Routines] button in the Navigation Centre and then the [Maintenance] button in the 'Routines' window. Double-click 'Rebuild Number Recognition Register' in the subsequent list. The following window appears:

      Choose the Erase and Update option and click the [Run] button. All numbers (i.e. telephone, mobile, alt phone and fax numbers) in the Contact register will be converted to the correct format and saved in the Normalized Phone Numbers setting. Skype Names will also be saved in the setting, but without any processing. You can open the setting from the CRM module if you need to see its contents:

      If a Contact for example has the London number 020 3222 1234 in the Contact register, the effect of the Maintenance function will be to add the international dialling prefix, the country code and the area code less skip digit to produce 00442032221234. This will match the incoming number described above in step 5 i. When you receive an incoming call from this number, Standard ERP will find it in the Normalized Phone Numbers setting and match it to a record in the Contact register using the Contact Number. The Contact Name will then be shown in the Call list in the 'Business Communicator' window. When you answer the call, a new Activity will be created with the correct Contact Number and Name.

      You only need run the 'Rebuild Number Recognition Register' function once, to make sure the Normalized Phone Numbers setting contains numbers for the Contacts already in your database. As you add new records to the Contact register or modify existing ones, the Normalized Phone Numbers setting will be updated automatically. However, if you make a change in the Telephony Settings setting or to the dialling information in the relevant record in the PBX Connections setting, you should run the 'Rebuild Number Recognition Register' function again. This will update the format of the records already in the Normalized Phone Numbers setting.

      If you have more than one Company in your database, you need to configure the Telephony Settings setting separately in each Company, but you only need run the 'Rebuild Number Recognition Register' function once, from any Company. All numbers in every Company will be reformatted and copied to the Normalized Phone Numbers setting.

    4. Periodically, you should use the List Invalid Phone Numbers report in the CRM module to list telephone and mobile numbers containing illegal characters. If you print the report to screen, you can drill down to each Contact to make the correction. You should do this separately in each Company.
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Switchboard - TAPI (Microsoft Telephony API)

The TAPI gateway allows Standard ERP to connect to a switchboard via the Microsoft Telephony API (TAPI).

To call a Contact using this method, first open the 'Business Communicator' window:

Click on the Contact in the Contact list and then click on their telephone or mobile number in the Contact Method list. Alternatively, enter a number in the Dial field. Then, click the [Switchboard] button. The number must be one that can be understood by the switchboard: for example, if you need to dial 9 to get an outside line, include 9 in the number. This means including 9 in every telephone and mobile number in the Contact register.

A call will be established between you and the Contact. First, your telephone (i.e. the telephone with the extension number in your Contact record) will ring. When you answer, the Contact's telephone will ring.

Communication through a switchboard via TAPI requires a HansaWorld TAPI software gateway, which must be on a Windows computer. This can be your Standard ERP server (an "internal" gateway) or a separate machine (an "external" gateway). This computer will usually need to be connected to the switchboard by a USB or RS232 cable, although some switchboards support TCP/IP connections. The switchboard must have "TAPI 2.1 (or later) with third-party support" enabled. This will allow the TAPI gateway to initiate new calls and monitor existing ones for every extension. Without third-party support, the gateway would only be able to do this for one specific user.

The provider of your switchboard will have supplied a TAPI Telephone Service Provider (driver) that must be installed on the internal or external gateway machine. To install this new driver and to see those already installed, open the Phone and Modem Options control panel in Windows and go to the 'Advanced' card.

To use an internal gateway, your server must be a Windows machine. To configure the gateway, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to your Standard ERP system as a system administrator with access to the Technics module, as described here.

  2. Open the TAPI Gateway setting in the Technics module:

    In the TAPI Service Provider field, use 'Paste Special' to specify the service provider of your TAPI service. 'Paste Special' will list the Telephone Service Providers (drivers) installed in Windows. If your TAPI driver is not included in the 'Paste Special' list, the probable reason is that "TAPI 2.1 (or later) with third-party support" has not been enabled on your switchboard. Alternatively, the driver might not be supported by the switchboard. Please refer to the provider of your switchboard for more assistance.

    Leave the Username and Password empty.

  3. Open the Configuration setting in the System module and make sure that the TAPI Gateway option on the 'Technical' card is checked.

  4. Restart the server.

  5. Create records in the Contact register for each member of staff, with the Extension field in each one containing the relevant extension number. Connect these Contact records to the relevant Person or Global User records using the Contact Code field on the 'Access' card. Please refer to the following pages below for more details about this process: Named Users; Concurrent Users; or Global Users.
If you will use an external gateway, the gateway machine must be a Windows machine that is able to connect to your main data server. It is not necessary for the gateway machine to have an interface. The following configuration options are available:
The slave version of the application is a client that does not have an interface. You can control it using a command line interface. It is included in the Standard ERP server installer package, so run this installer on the machine where the slave is needed.

In more detail, follow these steps to configure an external gateway:

  1. Log in to your main Standard ERP system. If you have several Companies in your database, log in to the first Company.

  2. Go to the System module and create an Access Group that only has full access to the TAPI Gateway module:

    Access Groups are described in more detail here.

  3. Remaining in the System module, create a record in the Person register (i.e. a User Account) that will allow the external gateway to log in. This Person should belong to the Access Group that you created in the previous step, and the Start Access Level should be No Access:

    You can specify that the external gateway will log in as this Person to your server in one of two places:

    • in the TAPI Gateway setting (step ix below)

    • as a parameter in the parameters.txt file (step xiii below)

    If you will use the first method, it is recommended that you select Password Never Expires for this Person. If you have used the Password Security setting in the System module to enforce periodic password changes, you will also need to change the password for the gateway user periodically. However, as the gateway user does not have access to the Technics module, it will not be possible to get to the TAPI Gateway setting to change the password that it will use when logging in.

    On saving the Person record and returning to the 'Persons: Browse' window, remember to specify a Password for this Person. If the Person is a Named User, remember to create a Mailbox as well.

    User Accounts are described in more detail here.

  4. Create records in the Contact register for each member of staff, containing their extension numbers. Connect these Contact records to the relevant Person or Global User records using the Contact Code field on the 'Access' card. Please refer to the following pages below for more details about this process: Named Users; Concurrent Users; or Global Users.

  5. Change to the gateway machine. If this machine has a graphical interface and is accessible, install the standard client Windows .NET application (with graphical user interface). If you will be using the slave application to run the gateway, install this as well in the same directory using the server installer package. Launch the GUI application.

    If the gateway machine does not have a graphical interface and/or is not accessible (e.g. it is in a different building), you should work on a normal local machine to create the gateway database, which you will then copy to the gateway machine when the configuration work is complete. On the local machine, ensure there is no "HANSA.HDB" file in the directory containing the Standard ERP client application and launch the application. A new database will be created.

  6. In both cases, when the 'Welcome to Standard ERP' window appears, click the [Single User Database] button.

  7. In the 'Enter Company Name' window, enter the Company Name of the Company on the main server in which you were working in steps i-iii above. Click the [Next] button.

  8. In the 'Create User' window, enter the Signature, Name and Password of the Person you created in step iii.

  9. Open the TAPI Gateway setting in the Technics module. Specify the service provider of your TAPI service as described in step 2 of the internal gateway configuration instructions above. In the Username and Password fields, you can optionally enter again the Signature and Password of the Person you created in step ii. If you do so, the gateway will log in to your main server automatically as this Person. Be aware though that it may not be easy to return to this setting later to change these details (e.g. if this Person's Password changes).

    This setting is stored in the gateway database, not the main server database. So, you can only edit it by working on the gateway machine.

  10. Open the Configuration setting in the System module and make sure that the TAPI Gateway option on the 'Technical' card is checked.

  11. Return to the 'Companies: Inspect' inspect window by opening the Company register in the System module or by clicking the [Companies] button in the Navigation Centre and selecting 'Open Companies Setting' from the Operations menu. Enter the IP address of the main server. In the Port field, enter the Server Port entered in the Program Mode register in the Technics module in the main database (illustrated on the Progam Mode page). By default, this will be 1200. If necessary, specify your Encryption Key on flip B. When you click the [Save] button, the application will quit automatically. When it restarts, quit again.

  12. If you were not working on the gateway machine for steps v-xi, connect to it through a remote desktop connection and install the slave application on it using the server installer package. Copy the database (named "HANSA.HDB") from the machine you were working on to the directory on the gateway machine containing the slave application. Then, remove the database from the client machine you were working on, or at least move it out of the folder containing the GUI application.

  13. The slave will have a name that uses the format "Standard ERP-Slave.exe". Start the slave version of the application using the following method:

    1. Use Notepad or a similar text editing program to create a text file named "parameters.txt" file as described in the 'Launching the Server with Parameters ' section on the Loading an Existing Database and Company page. This file should contain this parameter as a single line of text:
      --gateway
      If you did not specify a Username and Password in the TAPI Gateway setting (step ix above), you should also add these as parameters:
      --autouser TAPIGW --autopassword password
      If the password will change from time to time, it will be easier to change it in the parameters.txt file rather than in the TAPI Gateway setting.

      You can also add a final parameter if you need full logging information to be recorded:

      --verbosity=debug-detailed
      These parameters can be on the same line in the "parameters.txt" file as the first, or on separate lines.

    2. Launch the slave application by double-clicking, or by opening the Command Prompt, navigating to the directory containing the slave application and typing:
      standard erp-slave
      (where "standard erp-slave" is the name of the slave application).
    The slave application will log in to your Standard ERP server automatically using the log in details contained in the Company register and the TAPI Gateway setting or in the parameters.txt file. Check the log file on the server machine to make sure the TAPI Gateway user has logged in.

  14. If you need to close the gateway, bring the Command Prompt window to the front and press the Ctrl-C key combination.
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Mobile Phone

To call a Contact via your mobile phone, first open the 'Business Communicator' window:

Click on the Contact in the Contact list and then click on their telephone or mobile number in the Contact Method list. Alternatively, enter a number in the Dial field. Then, click the [Mobile] button. Your mobile phone will be activated, and a call will be established between you and the Contact, so the Contact's telephone will ring immediately. You can end the call from the phone or by highlighting the call in the Call list in the 'Business Communicator' window and clicking the [Hang up] button.

Calling a Contact via your mobile phone requires the following:

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Text (SMS) Messages

To send a Text (SMS) message, first open the 'Business Communicator' window:

Click on a Contact in the Contact list and then click the [Text Message] button. The 'Message' window opens:

The Contact's mobile number will appear in the To field. If the 'Message: New' window doesn't open, the probable reason will be that the Contact doesn't have a mobile number.

Enter the message in the Text field or choose a Standard Text using 'Paste Special' and click the [Save] button. Your Signature will appear in the Owner field, your mobile number will appear in the From field and the Sent box will be marked automatically, signifying that the message has been sent.

The Owner field in the Message record will take your Signature from your Person record. Your mobile number in the From field will be chosen as follows:

  1. The Mobile Number in your record in the Contact register will be used. Your record in the Contact register is the one quoted in the Contact Code field on the 'Access' card of your Global User or Person record;

  2. If you do not have a record in the Contact register, or this record does not have a mobile phone number, it will be taken from the Phone 1 or Phone 2 fields (in that order) in your Person record.
If you have access to more than one Company, you therefore need the following, depending on the circumstances:
Sending a Text (SMS) message also requires the following:
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Email

To send an e-mail, first open the 'Business Communicator' window:

Click on the Contact's email address in the Contact Method list and then click the [E-mail] button. By default, a new Mail will be created, with the Contact's email address as the To Address. Please refer to the Sending and Receiving Mail page for details about sending Mails. However, if you are using the Use External Mail Software option in the Mail and Conference Settings setting in the E-mail and Conferences module, your default mail application (e.g. Eudora, Outlook, Mail, etc) will be opened and a new mail will be created, addressed to the Contact's email address.

Sending an email requires the following:

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Managing Calls

The 'Business Communicator' window offers you various tools that you can use to manage your calls:
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Communicating with other users in your Standard ERP system

You can communicate with other users in your Standard ERP system. Open the 'Business Communicator' window and click the [Who Is Online] button. This will print a report to screen listing the users currently logged in (only users with Mailboxes will be listed, but the list will include users logged in to every Company if you have more than one). Click a user's name in the list, and then choose whether you want to communicate with them using Skype-to-Skype, SkypeOut, email, text (SMS) or the chat feature built in to Standard ERP. The chat feature is described here.

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Producing a Map showing the Location of a Contact

To see a map showing a Contact's location, first open the 'Business Communicator' window:

Click on the Contact in the Contact list, then click the [Map] button. A new browser window will open in your default browser, using maps.google.com or bing.com/maps and the address information in the Contact record to show you where the Contact is. In the UK and US, this feature requires Contact addresses to be entered as follows:
In other countries, Contact addresses should be entered as follows:
By default, maps.google.com will be used as the map type. If you would like bing.com/maps to be used, you can specify this in the Map Setting in the CRM module. Here you can specify which type of map will be used for addresses in each country:

Choose each Country and Map Type using 'Paste Special'. maps.google.com will be used for countries that you do not list in the setting. If you need bing.com/maps to be the default, enter a row in which the Country is empty and the Map Type is Bing Maps.

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Contact Numbers

To call a Contact from the 'Business Communicator' window, you should have entered their telephone or mobile number as follows:
International numbers are required to send Text (SMS) messages. SkypeOut calls made from Mac OS X require country codes, but they are not necessary on Windows. The format of telephone numbers required for outgoing calls through Asterisk and TAPI depends on the individual server and gateway. However, as described on the 'Asterisk' page, you should use a consistent format so that incoming calls will be identified correctly.

You can use the List Invalid Phone Numbers report in the CRM module to list telephone and mobile numbers containing illegal characters. If you print the report to screen, you can drill down to each Contact to make the correction.

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