StorMan Software - Quickstart Guide

Transcription

1 StorMan Software Quickstart Guide Page 1

2 Table of Contents Introduction & Welcome 3 Software Licence Agreement 4 Installing StorMan & linking it to your new Company Datafile 4 Logging-in for the first time 5 Backups 5 Understanding the basics 6 Tasks to perform daily 7 Technical Support 8 What is Technical Support (and what is it not)? 8 How do I log into the mystorman website? 8 What is my 5-digit Sitecode? 8 What is my Website Password? 9 Remembering your 5-digit Sitecode & Website Password 9 How to get Technical Support 9 What if I have an emergency? 10 Tips for submitting Technical Support requests 10 Training 11 Get more out of StorMan 11 Page 2

3 Introduction & Welcome Welcome to the StorMan Software Quickstart Guide for new users. I would like to begin by thanking you for purchasing our management software for your business; I trust that you will find it to become a valuable part of your business. This Quickstart Guide aims to help you find answers to your questions - be they about using your new software, finding out about this exciting industry or simply finding out how to get in touch with us. From everyone here at StorMan Software, we hope you enjoy using your new software program and again, we thank you for choosing to power your business with StorMan - the world s leading vault & deposit box management software. Thank you. Yours sincerely, Matt McGown Chief Executive Officer Page 3

4 Software Licence Agreement Please note that the use of our software requires that you, your staff and any users of our software read, acknowledge and accept our Software Licence Agreement. As these Terms & Conditions may change from time to time, they are posted online for quick & easy access. Our Software Licence Agreement is also displayed upon installation of the software and a link is also provided via the software login screen. For more details and to view this legal agreement, please visit Should you have any questions, please contact us. Thank you. Installing StorMan & linking it to your new Company Datafile If we (StorMan Software) have created a new Company Datafile for you based on the information you entered into the Online Application Form, then we ll likely have installed the software & linked it to your company datafile already. All you ll need to do is launch the StorMan program from the shortcut on your Desktop or Start Menu (Windows PC) or via the Finder (Mac). If you are installing the StorMan program yourself (without our assistance), you will need to follow these steps Download a demo copy of our software from our website (vaultsoftware.info). 2. Run the installer, read the Terms & Conditions and, if you accept them, install the StorMan demo on your computer. We recommend using all default options. 3. Obtain the Company Datafile (and its accompanying files) that we have created for you and place these files inside the Database folder (this folder is located within the StorMan folder that was created during Step 2). 4. Once installed, launch StorMan & then quickly press & hold the ALT key on your keyboard. 5. After a few moments, a dialog will appear. Select the option to open an existing datafile. 6. Navigate to the Database folder and select your Company Datafile. StorMan will remember this link and will always open this file from now on. If you need a hand, please contact our Implementation Team. Page 4

5 Logging-in for the first time In most cases, your Company Datafile will have been setup with security enabled. As a result, when you open StorMan and your Company Datafile loads, you will likely be asked to login. Please login using one of the usernames and passwords that you specified on the Online Application Form (the form we used to create your Company Datafile). If you did not specify a username and password, the default logins will generally be used instead. The default login for an owner is admin, with a password of storman. The default login for a manager is manager, with a password of manager. If your datafile is using default logins, we strongly recommend that you reset these logins as soon as possible - as it would allow anyone with a copy of StorMan (demo or otherwise) to open your Company Datafile. You can do so in StorMan by selecting Maintenance, then Change Password. We also recommend setting up a login for each staff member who will be using the software. You can set this up in StorMan via Maintenance, then Users & Groups. If you need a hand with resetting a password or creating new logins for your staff, please contact our Implementation Team. Backups Your Company Datafile (and its accompanying files) are the key to your business. If there is one set of files that you need to backup and keep, this is it. It is the core of your business - it contains all of your Customer & Agreement data, transaction history and billing data. While we can teach you how to perform a backup, it is your responsibility to do your backups and ensure that they are working. Without your Company Datafile, the StorMan program is merely a shell with nothing inside. Therefore, it is very important that you backup your Company Datafile (and its accompanying files) every day. It is also important to take a copy of your Company Datafile off-site from time to time - that way, if there is ever a fire, flood, theft or other disaster at your premises, you still have a Company Datafile to go back to once life returns to normal. Again, without this file, your StorMan program is just an empty shell with no customer or company data. For information on performing a backup, contact our Implementation Team or refer to our knowledgebase article at Page 5

6 Understanding the basics Our software is designed around your Customers. That is, Customers are the key element in our database design. It is the Customer who can rent & purchase many items from you, and it is the Customer who can have multiple Deposit Boxes (Vaults), on multiple Agreements within the one system (as outlined in the diagram below)... Once this core concept is understood, it is easy to realise that a Customer (for example, Rob Fitifiti) can have multiple Agreements (for example, Agreement and Agreement 00100). Furthermore, this Customer can have multiple Deposit Boxes per Agreement (for example, Box B2 on Agreement and Boxes A7 + D36 on Agreement 00100). The next step is understanding the concept of how a Customer flows through the StorMan system. This is illustrated in the diagram below... The process essentially begins when a prospective Customer makes an enquiry - known in StorMan as a Sales Enquiry. At this stage, you would record their details & provide a quote (or several) for any rentable (eg. Deposit Boxes) or purchasable (eg. merchandise) items StorMan will remind you to follow them up the next day (this can be altered in the settings). If successful, the Customer is converted to a Reservation and eventually a Move In (known in StorMan as an Agreement). Whilst on an Agreement, the Customer will automatically be billed as per the set billing cycle (eg. Monthly, Weekly, etc). During this time, you can also invoice the Customer for merchandise purchases & other add-on services. Eventually, when they no longer require your services, the Customer will Move out - completing the cycle. To learn more about the basics, please refer to the following article: Page 6

7 Tasks to perform daily The following is a suggested method for using StorMan on a daily basis... Print a Vacant Deposit Box listing (from the Reports menu). Check Gate & Alarm log for unusual activity (for sites with an access control system). Check the Calendar Notes section. Run Daily Processing (this will print and/or your various Notices, bill Customer rent + any recurring charges and charge Late Fees). Follow up on past enquiries (this is an essential part of the StorMan Customer Process to increase your let rate). Print a list of Overdues and follow up. Enter any telephone / Sales Enquiries into StorMan. Process Move In s & Move Out s as they occur during the day. Apply any payments to Customer accounts as you receive them. Issue tax receipts and invoices as needed. Around site closing time, run the Banking. Backup your Company Datafile & its accompanying files (remember: as per our Software Licence Agreement, this is YOUR responsibility). For more details, refer to the Backups section in this booklet. Visit to catch up on the latest news articles & blog posts from StorMan. Visit to see if we have any training courses, PowerSessions or other events coming up soon. We may also be attending an Industry Association meeting or function in your area! Page 7

8 Technical Support What is Technical Support (and what is it not)? StorMan phone- & - based Technical Support offers after-sales support for troubleshooting issues with the StorMan system. It is not training, nor does it provide information regarding how-to queries; that s what our Client Support & Services Portal (called mystorman ) is designed for. mystorman contains hundreds of step-by-step how-to articles (many with videos). Our Technical Support team will generally provide links to knowledgebase articles (on mystorman) where they exist, to assist you with how-to style questions. As such, we recommend that ALL of your staff know how to access the content available via the mystorman website. Important: A valid and paid-up Technical Support & Upgrades subscription is required to access most of the content on the mystorman website. Access is granted as part of your Technical Support & Upgrades subscription. How do I log into the mystorman website? As mentioned above, mystorman is our Client Support & Services Portal, which contains hundreds of step-by-step how-to articles, application forms, information about new software releases and details about any upcoming outages or system upgrades... just to name a few! The majority of pages on mystorman are password protected. To access these pages, you will need to log into mystorman using your 5-digit Sitecode and your Website Password. What is my 5-digit Sitecode? This is your unique company identifier - you ll need it to access our telephone based Technical Support as well as the mystorman website. To locate your 5-digit Sitecode, open your copy of StorMan and locate the floating window (near the top-right of the StorMan Dashboard). Your 5-digit Sitecode is written here in green text. We recommend that you write down this code & ensure all of your staff know what it is and where to locate it. If your 5-digit Sitecode ever appears in red text, this means that your Support & Upgrades subscription has expired. You will no longer be able to log into mystorman, access Technical Support or receive any product updates & releases. Contact our Sales Team to renew your subscription. Page 8

9 What is my Website Password? Your Website Password will be set to whatever you entered into the Online Application Form when you initially purchased StorMan. To locate this password in StorMan, go to File, then StorMan Website - your Website Password will be shown here. Please ensure that all of your staff know what it is and where to locate it. Should you need to reset this password, please contact us. Remembering your 5-digit Sitecode & Website Password If you are reading this Quickstart Guide as part of your Welcome Pack, we ll also have included for you, a desktop tent card containing your 5-digit Sitecode & Website Password. If you need extra desktop tent cards, please contact our Sales Team. You can also print your own using our Card- O-Matic 5000, at How to get Technical Support You can lodge a support ticket via the mystorman website. You can your request to support@storman.com. For tips, refer to the Tips for submitting Technical Support requests section in this booklet. You can telephone us for Technical Support Page 9

10 What if I have an emergency? We refer to emergencies as a Sitedown. If you cannot open or use your StorMan software program in any way, this is classed as a Sitedown. To access Sitedown telephone support, please contact your local StorMan office and select the option for Technical Support. Then, select the option for Sitedown emergencies. In any instances where our Technical Support Team are taking other calls, please leave a message when prompted - as these voic s are automatically tagged as Sitedown emergencies in our system and they will jump towards the top of the queue. Important: Please note that your company must have a valid (and paid-up) Technical Support & Upgrades subscription with us in order to receive assistance - even for Sitedown emergencies. Tips for submitting Technical Support requests Use a short, descriptive, subject line. For example: Credit card processing failed during Daily Processing. Simply writing Please help!!!!!!!!!!! makes it harder for us to search for your ticket by issue AND means that our staff can t easily scan for commonly-occurring issues to spot trends that may be taking place at the current point in time. Be clear & descriptive. We must be able to understand what you are telling us; please use proper grammar & spelling. Describe how to replicate the problem. In other words, what steps do we need to follow, in an attempt to get the same problem to occur on our test computers? Also, don t forget to describe the things you ve tried so far. This ensures that we don t ask you to run through a bunch of things that you ve already tried. Submit ONE issue per (ticket). If you include more than one issue in a support ticket, the response on your first issue may be held up because the person dealing with your second issue is not available. Stay focused. Keep your ticket to the point and focused on the problem at hand. Our Technical Support Team only cares about locating the issue and fixing the problem for you. Be Courteous; this should be common sense. Tickets that have unnecessary language will not be tolerated. Page 10

11 Training A brand new software system can sometimes be a little daunting. As such, we recommend that ALL of your staff (who will be using StorMan) watch our free Introduction to StorMan video at To get the most out of your investment, we also recommend that you and your staff attend a Beginners Training Course and then, should you wish to enhance your knowledge after some time, an Advanced Training Course. To find out more about these courses, visit go.vaultsoftware.info/trainingcourses/. StorMan also offers free (to customers on a valid and paid-up Technical Support & Upgrades subscription) online training sessions called StorMan PowerSessions. These are quick sessions (20 minutes max) designed to let you learn a new StorMan feature and then get back on with your day. View upcoming session times at or watch recordings from previous sessions at Get more out of StorMan Monthly enews: If you haven t already done so, feel free to sign-up for our fantastic Monthly electronic newsletter - containing lots of great tricks, tips & offers. To do so, visit and while you wait for the next issue, why not check out some of our previous issues? They re available at the same link. Video recordings: We have many great videos available on our website... everything from How to use Twitter, right through to StorMan product demonstrations. View these and more at your leisure, via Thank you for your time - we hope you enjoy using StorMan! Page 11