Issue
Many of our customers need to work remotely for some period of time. You may be asking "How do I prepare for this?"
We'd like to provide some guidance to ensure you can continue to get your work done.
Discussion
Our primary concern is, of course, with our customers and employees well-being, so we want to be as accommodating as possible. If you need help, please, contact Support right away.
When you work from home and you're using On-Screen Takeoff, Quick Bid, and Digital Production Control, there are a few things you'll need:
- A machine (computer) on which to run the applications - if you use a laptop at work, that's great, if not, be sure to review our System Requirements
- The product(s) - relatively easy you can download the installers from our website
- Your data - depending on the type of database your company employs, there are different solutions
- Your license - depending on the versions of OST/QB/DPC you're using and how your company has chosen to distribute licenses, there are a couple ways of licensing your products, see Licensing On Center Products for details
Resolution
Software
So, first, you'll need software. Depending on the version you're using, you can download it from the Product Information pages or MyOnCenter.com.
Be sure you install the same version at home as you use in the office. To see what version you have installed, on your office PC, open the program and click Help > About (product). Note the full version, such as v."3.96.00.23".
If you can't locate your product/version, just submit a Support Case and we'll send you the link you need.
Be sure your home computer meets our System Requirements - if you use a MAC at home, you must have Parallels or some other virtualization software - OCS Classic products cannot be installed in Apple's OSX environment directly. (See Using Apple hardware (a MAC) with On Center's Products)
Your Data
By far, the easiest way to work on something you started in the office is to export the job as a Bid Package and send it to yourself (or copy that bid package to a thumb-drive). Then, you can just import it into a database on your home machine, reconnect any interactive bids, and go about your bidding.
Review these articles for help exporting OST and QB bids to packages:
OST Importing and Exporting - Overview
QB Importing and Exporting - Overview
You can also move your entire databases from one machine to another, if you're using MS-Access databases, that is. Review: Moving your data to a new Computer - OST QB DPC.
If your company uses SQL databases, your IT department will need to figure out the best solution, you may want to use Citrix or Remote Desktop for example to access your company's network resources, or your IT department may decide to migrate your team to locally-stored Access databases.
Need a little extra help? Please contact Support, we're here to make sure you succeed.
License
All licenses for On-Screen Takeoff, Quick Bid, and Digital Production Control are portable. Just be sure to "de-activate" your licenses on your work machine so it'll be available to activate on your home machine.
See: Licensing On-Screen Takeoff, Quick Bid, and Digital Production Control - OST DPC QB (scroll down to "Returning" section)
