Inova Solutions Fall 2009 Newsletter

Online Forum a Great Venue for Questions, Ideas

Our Fall Online User Forum proved to be a great success, bringing together more than 90 call center professionals from across the United States. Attendees first heard from Tom Muccia, Director of Product Management, who shared Inova’s product development plan for the next year.

“We are committed to maintaining an open dialogue with our customers,” said Muccia. “Our development plans are largely dependent on what customers want, and if those needs shift we want to know that too.”

Trainer Tara FitzPatrick dicussed some best practices for using System Manager during the live forum. Helpdesk Manager Rob Chapman also educated users on some common technical issues, such as how to set up a monitoring function to determine if IP LED displays lose their connection.

A recording of the user forum may be accessed here.

These online user forums will be held online quarterly at no charge for customers with active ISAs. Stay tuned for the next forum invitation!

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Q&A with Tara FitzPatrick

Many of you have worked with Tara FitzPatrick, Inova’s Training Manager and resident expert on all things LightLink. Tara has been working in software training for 4 years, and in education for 6 years prior to that. We recently sat down with Tara to gain some insights on training and how to maximize utilization of LightLink software.

Q: Can you share a training success story?

A: A few months ago I went on-site for a new installation training. The group was small, and extremely motivated to learn. They prepared for the training by bringing sketches of their goals and ideas, which allowed me to customize the training even further. Their motivation and preparation were integral in facilitating their ability to create a series of Broadcaster displays designed to garner the attention and provide information. The displays used a variety of scheduling features, multimedia, and data sources. When I left the training a few days later, the confidence of the trainees was evident in their ability to apply what was instructed.

Q: What is the most common question you get about training?

A: How long will it take. We designed training sessions with the belief that everyone learns differently, and each customer has access to different resources. As a result of the differentiated instruction, the length of the sessions may vary. While we can give approximate timelines, we don’t want to limit the learning experience. We work to achieve comprehension.

Q: Why should users invest in training?

A: LightLink users should invest in training to get the most out of their system. In addition to gaining knowledge of the multitude of features available, trainees engage in discussions that encourage the development of a well-designed series of messages.

Q: How often do you recommend that users should brush up on training?

A: New users are encouraged to attend a training. For experienced users, recommendations for when to schedule training will vary depending on the level of use, and the size of the system. For supervisors who use the system regularly, follow-up training allows for optimum utilization. If a user feels that they aren’t getting the most of their system, they probably aren’t.

Q: Do you have any tips for making the most of a training session?

A: Adults are more inclined to retain new ideas when they are able to integrate them with what they already know. For this reason, working on-site for immediate hands-on training or by breaking up remote training sessions with a designated time for practice is best. We also work to build a strong foundational understanding of our software, while encouraging open, candid discussions that emphasize the relationship between LightLink and other types of software which they may be comfortable with.

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To ask Tara your own question, contact her at training@inovasolutions.com.

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Please Check your LightLink Backup Validation

Attention LightLink 5.7 users: please pass the following instructions from the Inova helpdesk to your LightLink administrator.

Gather_inova.bat is a built in batch file located by default in the middleware server location of C:\Program Files\Inova Solutions\core\bin. Executing this batch file creates a complete backup of the inova system and writes to the default location of C:\Program Files\inova_logs folder. The backup is a .zip file format time stamped with the current date. In certain circumstances with version 5.7, the inova_gather.bat creates an incomplete backup. The backup is missing a .bak file located in Program Files\Inova Solutions\Server\srvcfg\datadir.

But fear not. Just follow these simple instructions, and you can avoid any problems.

1. Open the most recent gather .zip file (example: lightlink_hostname_10-27-2009-1234.zip), which should contain in its name the date/time of the gather. Within this .zip, browse to ‘Program Files\Inova Solutions\Server\srvcfg\datadir’.

2. Check for the presence of a ‘LightLinkdb.bak’ file in the folder: if the file exists, the gather is valid, otherwise it is not valid.

3. To permanently resolve the issue with the gather_inova.bat file, simply go to Windows Add/Remove control panel, then select the change button on the Inova middleware installation, then select repair.

Please contact support@inovasolutions.com if you have any further questions.

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