Overview of PageGate GUI (Windows) Client Transcript for Video:
Welcome to the overview of the PageGate Client. In this tutorial, we’ll be going over the different features and functions available to use in PageGate’s GUI Client.
The GUI Client is a windows based application that can be installed on any system that has network access to the PageGate server’s database. This program provides a messaging interface that displays a list of recipients and groups to select from and the ability to immediately send or schedule messages for delivery. It also offers the ability to report on messages and supports a security system that allows administrators to control which recipients and groups users are allowed to message.
Let’s also take a moment to talk about station numbers. Each instance of the PageGate Client has a Station Number associated with it. These station numbers can be set on a user or machine basis and provide an identifying number that all sent traffic will have associated with it.
Workstations that share a station number will be able to see and report on each other’s messages. Workstations that do not share a station number will only be able to see and report on messages sent from their station ID; they won’t be able to see or report on any other workstation’s messages.
So, let’s start by breaking down our interface window.
Across the top, you have the Menu bar. This section provides quick access to quite a few functions.
The File menu provides access to the program’s setup and should only be accessed by an administrator. Details about program’s setup can be found in the ‘How to Configure the PageGate Client’ video tutorial.
The Tools menu provides the ability to temporarily filter the list of recipients and groups, modify this workstation’s preset messages, create and modify a ‘local’ recipients and groups list and check spelling, assuming the spellchecking function has been enabled in the program’s setup.
The View menu provides the ability to review pending, sent, bad and scheduled messages. It also provides the ability to review the history of all messages sent from the client’s station ID as well as the ability to review the local and network recipient lists.
The Reports menu provides the ability to run reports on sent, scheduled and repeating messages sent from this client’s station ID. For more detailed information on the reports, have a look at the ‘Running Reports’ PageGate Client video tutorial.
Last we have the Help menu, which provides quick access to our documentation, the program’s keyboard and mouse shortcuts and general information about the Client.
Now we can get to how the PageGate Client sends and schedules messages.
Here on the left, we have the Recipient List section. This section will display all recipients and groups this client is able to message. To select a recipient or group, simply click the name you want added.
Here on the right, we have the Selected Recipient section. This section displays the recipients and groups who will receive the next message sent. To remove a recipient or group, simply click on the name you want removed.
Next we have the Message Text section. This section is where you’ll type the message you want to send to the selected recipients and groups above.
To send a message immediately, all you have to do is select the recipients and groups you want the message delivered to, enter what you want to say and click the Send button. All in all, it’s an incredibly straightforward messaging interface.
Now let’s go over the other options and buttons we see here in the client.
First, here along the bottom, you’ll see programmable message buttons. These buttons allow you to pre-program certain messages to save yourself a lot of typing and can be edited by right clicking on them. Let’s say that we know we’re going to have to send out the same reminder to different people, so let’s make our lives easier by configuring a pre-programmed message button. If this pre-programmed message should always go to a particular recipient or group, you can select it in the ‘Recipient’ dropdown menu here.
Here in the ‘Message’ section, enter the text you want to send. In this example, let’s say that we want to send a reminder to Check pump 4. You might enter something like this:
<TechName>, please check pump 4.
When finished, click Apply.
And now that we have a pre-programmed button, to use it, simply click on it and it will insert any recipient and message information you’ve configured.
You’ll also notice we have a few buttons on the right hand side. The clear button next to ‘Selected Recipients’ will clear any selections from the ‘Selected Recipients’ list. The clear button next to the ‘Message Text’ box will clear any text entered in to the ‘Message Text’.
The ‘Options’ button is used for configuring scheduled and repeating messages. To configure a scheduled or repeating message, you’ll first need to select the recipients and groups this message should go to.
Next, you’ll need to specify what the message should say. Then you’ll need to configure the ‘Options’ to tell the program when the message should be delivered and whether or not it should repeat.
For example, let’s say that we want to send out a weekly meeting reminder every week for the next six months. Let’s also say that we want this meeting reminder sent to the Shift Supervisors group every Monday at 8:30 AM and that the message should say “Reminder: 10:00 AM Meeting in Conference Room 3”.
To do that, you would select the ‘Shift Supervisors’ group, then enter the message to deliver in the ‘Message Text’ section, then click ‘Options’.
The ‘Send Message When’ section determines the first date and time this message will be sent. To use our example, you would find the closest Monday and use that date, then set the time to 8:30 AM.
The ‘Resend Message Every’ section determines how often this message will repeat. If this message should not repeat, leave these fields blank. To use our example, you would use 7 days to indicate that this message should be sent once per week.
The ‘Stop Sending Message’ section determines the final date and time this message will be sent. To use our example, you would set the Date to six months after your start date and the time would be set to 8:30 AM.
When you’ve finished configuring the schedule, click Apply. The final step is to click the Send button; the message will not be scheduled if you don’t send it after configuring the schedule.
It’s also important to note that scheduled and repeating messages may be edited at any time by going under the View menu and selecting Scheduled. Once here, you can select any scheduled or repeating message to modify it.
This concludes the overview of the PageGate Client.
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