Using Multi User every day

Multi User is designed for you to actually not see it or ever need to do anything. So all our hard work will be forgotten about.

You do have total control over how it works if you need to and a lot of flexibility has been designed into the system. However, in most cases you will not even know it is working.

To recap, the idea is that a master machine (B000) will always have the very latest set of data (subject to synchronisation). This machine decides what data is to be sent to the other machines and how it will be sent. Whenever data is sent to a machine, the data from the other machine is sent back to the master machine so effecting 2 way synchronisation.

So at the point of synchronisation the master machine has the latest data set.

This process can use one of 3 transportation methods these being email, FTP server or direct connection via a network. Multi user will automatically detect what method is available to it and use whatever method is available at the time. If none of the methods are available at that time then Multi User will store it;s settings and wait until next time and try again. It is intelligent enough to work out what is waiting to be sent and retrieved.

The master user can also use the Log Manager to change the frequency of synchronisation. The default is usually 10 minutes but this can be changed to any period you like. We recommend however that all the machines are synchronised at least twice a day and a sensible setting would once in the morning and once in the evening. If the automated timing does not allow for that then the Log Manager can be used to "force" a synchronisation.

So for example, if the timer is set to every 2 hours and the last synchonisation was at 4pm, then clearly then next automated synchronisation would not be until 6pm. If however you need to synchronise at 5pm then simply go into the Log Manager and click Process and this will force a synchronisation.

Depending on how often you find your master data changing will determine the timing of the synchronisation. So for example, if someone at the office who has control of the master machine is adding bookings frequently, and you want those bookings to be sent to the other machines then you might set the timer to 10 minutes. If however the master machine is performing invoicing and does not need to update the other machines then perhaps the timer could be set to 4 hours.

Equally, if the machines on the road for example are invoicing and want the master user to be updated when the invoices have been prepared then perhaps again the timer needs to be set to a shorter interval.

Multi User does not care when synchronisation takes place as it will always store incoming and outgoing files and use them when available and it is up to you to determine what works best for you. Remember you can change the timing and force synchronisation at any time.  However there is no use in setting the master machine to receive data every 4 hours and have the other machines send their data every 10 minutes as the master machine will not pick that up automatically for 4 hours. So all the machines must have an identical or fairly similar setting preferably.

Timing is important

Having said that, it is important to understand a basic logical situation. As with any network, one person can only ever act on the latest information available to them.

So as an example let us say that the machine on the road updates a client record (a change of phone number) at 10am. That number might be 077665543. They have their timer set to every hour so that number will be sent to the master machine at 11am. If the client then phones the office at 10:30am to say they have a change of phone number to 0771123345 (a completely different number) and the master user updates that then perhaps you can see what will happen. When the synchronisation takes place, the number on the master machine takes precedence because it was changed after that on the other machine. So the number 077665543 will be ignored and the other machine will eventually receive the new number 0771123345 from the master user.

This is why it is crucial for you to understand the working of Multi User so you can adopt a strategy for the company on how best to operate.

Multi User is no different to any other network solution other than the way it physically operates.