Accessing the website Volunteer Visiting Scheme Website In order to access the volunteer visiting scheme website you need to ensure that your computer is connected to the Internet. Start your choice of internet browser, in this case Microsoft Internet Explorer. You should see the following picture at the top of the application: The address bar (circled above) will normally contain the web address of your default web address. You need to replace the entry in the address bar with the website address of the volunteer visiting scheme website. Either type, or if you have received these instructions electronically, copy and paste the following web address into the address bar (Don t forget to replace the hashes with your own Visitor Code): http://www.bbc.co.uk/mypension/sites/visitingscheme/volunteers.shtml?#### Notes The web address for the volunteer visiting scheme website ends with four hashes (####). You need to replace these with your issued Visitor Code which consists of two letters followed by two numbers i.e. ZZ99. If you have forgotten or mislaid your visitor code please see the Retrieving your visitor code section of these instructions. As with any web address or even an email address it does not matter whether you use upper or lower case letters. For example, in an internet browser http://www.google.com, HTTP://WWW.GOOGLE.COM and HtTp://WwW.GoOgLe.CoM mean exactly the same thing. For the rest of this guide we will use all lower case characters, but it will be your choice. Once you have typed in the website address you can then either press the Enter key to take you to the website or press the Go button as illustrated below: You only need to manually enter the web address once. Please visit the Saving a shortcut to the website section to save you time in the future. Once you have gained access to the site you should see the following:
If you are taken to an error screen please forward to the Troubleshooting section for help. Available options Once you have accessed the website you currently have two available options: 1) Report a visit you have made to a BBC Pensioner/Widow(er) 2) Let us know that a BBC Pensioner/Widow(er) either wants to receive a visit in the future or has decided that a visit is no longer required.
Retrieving your visitor code If you have forgotten (i.e. left off the 4 characters at the end of the website address) or entered an invalid visitor code you will now be automatically directed to the following screen: Follow the onscreen instructions and enter your Pension Number, which can be found on most of the correspondence sent to you. After you click retrieve you should see a similar screen to the following:
The displayed screen will remind you of your visitor code and will also display a corrected website link for you to click. Clicking the newly generated link will take you to the correct website page for you to record your visits etc.
Reporting a visit (Available Option 1) To report a visit you select the first option by clicking the following button (circled in red): On clicking the button you will be shown the following screen that you need to complete in order to report the visit(s): Previously the website limited you to input each visit separately. The new version allows a maximum of 10 entries at a time.
In order to report a visit there are a maximum of three parts of information we need, they are: 1) The pension number of the Pensioner/Widow(er) you are visiting. (Required) The pension number always consists of 7 characters (one character, followed by five numbers, followed by one character). The first character is normally an M if they are paid their pension monthly, although it can possibly be Q for quarterly or A for annually. The five numbers are unique to the Pensioner/Widow(er). The final character will normally be A if they are the pensioner and X if they are receiving a Widow(er)s pension. There are other final characters which represent dependants, which you are unlikely to come across. If you are uncertain of the Pensioner/Widow(er) pension number then please contact us so that we can confirm the correct one you should use. 2) The date you visited the Pensioner/Widow(er). (Required) The website asks for dates in the format dd/mm/yyyy although it will automatically adjust dates if they are in similar formats i.e. 2 digit years or single digits for days or months. 3) The telephone number of the Pensioner/Widow(er). You only need to enter this if the Pensioner/Widow(er) has changed their telephone number and they want the Pension Centre to be aware of the change. Only digits should be entered in the telephone number field(s) but the website will automatically remove other characters if you have input any. If you want to remove any complete entry you can click the next to the entry. This will remove the input information and reorder the remaining entries on the screen. Once you have entered the required information you need to click on the Submit button as shown below: You will then be taken to a confirmation screen, which will confirm the information you entered. Please see the Confirmation screen section for more details.
Pensioner/Widow(er) requesting a visit (Available Option 2) You need to use this section of the website to let us know if a Pensioner/Widow(er) is requesting a visit in the future or has decided that they no longer need a visit in the future. To use this option select the second option available on the main website page, as below (circled): On clicking the button you will be shown the following boxes that you need to complete in order to report the decision of the Pensioner/Widow(er):
In order to let us know whether or not a Pensioner/Widow(er) requires a visit in the future there are two parts of information we need, they are: 1) The pension number of the Pensioner/Widow(er). (Required) 2) Whether or not they require a visit in future. (Required) Once you have entered the required information you need to click on the Submit button as shown below: You will then be taken to a confirmation screen, which will confirm the information you entered. Please see the Confirmation screen section for more details.
Confirmation Screen Once the Submit button is pressed the website will check each of the entered pieces of information to ensure they are in the correct format. If there are errors you will be notified which section is incorrect so that you can make the necessary changes. If all the entries are correct the website will send the data to the pension centre and you will automatically be taken to a confirmation screen. This will allow you to print or save a copy for your own records. The confirmation screen will take two different formats depending on the original option selected. Examples of the two formats are:
To print a copy of the confirmation screen, click on the appropriate link highlighted below: Your default printer setup screen will then be displayed so that you can select your own printer options i.e. print quality, colour etc. If you have another report to submit you can click on the appropriate link highlighted below: You will be taken to the front of the volunteer visiting scheme website so that you can begin the next entry. Your visitor code will be remembered from the previous entry and you will be able to see that it is included at the end of the web address in the internet browser address bar.
Saving a shortcut to the website There are many methods to save the link to the volunteer visiting scheme website. Each method will depend on the operating system that your computer uses and the variation of internet browser you are using. The two methods shown in this guide are based on the Microsoft Windows XP operating system and the Microsoft Internet Explorer version 7 browser. Most other combinations will be very similar. If you have any issues with your own particular operating system and internet browser please contact the systems team at the pension centre. Method 1 Saving the link in Favourites Open the internet browser application and type the full web address for the volunteer visiting scheme website, not forgetting to replace the four hashes with your own specific visitor code, as described at the beginning of this guide. Click on the Favourites button on the toolbar, as indicated below: The first option will be to Add to Favourites. After selecting this option the Add Favourite form will be shown on the screen. To complete the process you just need to click the OK button, as indicated: After you have completed this process you will be able to access the volunteer visiting scheme website by selecting the saved entry in your Favourites list. To begin this process you would open your internet browser application in the normal way then click on the Favourites button on the toolbar:
You will then be shown your list of Favourites in which you can select the link to the volunteer visiting scheme website: You will then be taken to the correct starting page. If you want to close the Favourites pane you just need to re-click on the Favourites button on the toolbar. Method 2 Saving the link on your desktop Another method of saving the link is to store a shortcut on your main operating scheme desktop. Click the Right mouse button on any empty portion of your desktop. You will then be shown the context menu, as shown below: On the context menu select New and then Shortcut, as shown: The shortcut creation screen will then be displayed:
In the box titled Type the location of the item: you need to insert the full web address for the volunteer visiting scheme website, as described at the start of this guide. The full will be: http://www.bbc.co.uk/mypension/en/sites/content/pages/volunteersurvey.shtml?#### Note: remember to replace the four hashes with your unique visitor code. Click the Next button, which will become active once you have typed in the web address. You will then be shown the following screen: This screen gives you the opportunity to rename the shortcut to something other than the default of New Internet Shortcut. An example would be BBC Visiting Scheme Website but the choice is yours. Once you have entered the new name click the Finish button to complete the process. You will now notice a new icon on your desktop which will look similar to the following, depending on what you renamed the shortcut to: In future, you will be able to go directly to the website by double-clicking on the newly created link.
Troubleshooting There are very few errors that you are likely to come across while using the volunteer visiting scheme website. The following are the most common, along with the procedure to correct them. Error 404: Page not found The above picture is an example of the Error 404 page. It essentially means that the web site address in the address bar is not valid i.e. the website page cannot be found. The solution to this error is to correct the website address entered. Submission error After you complete one of the available options on the website and then click the Submit button, it is possible, in rare cases, you will come across the following error: This error essentially means that the website is not able to accept any submissions at this time, normally due to maintenance work on the BBC main servers. It is advisable to try the submission again after a couple hours. If the error appears for more than 24 hours please contact the systems team at the pension centre.