Introduction to Solve360

Solve360 is an online service that enables people in business to engage, interact and execute tasks far more effectively than ever before. It provides an integrated suite of essential business tools that staff need to communicate and coordinate work.

It is quick and easy to become productive using Solve360. However, we recommended you spend a few minutes reviewing the online help sections to familiarize yourself with the numerous ways the service can improve your team's productivity.

Recently added/updated topics:

© 1998-2007 Norada Corporation

Setup and Login

To open the Solve360 login page start your web browser and go to http://www.solve360.com Enter your Organization Name, Username and Password which were provided to you by your administrator and click login. None of the parameters will accept a space character.

Your account is either configured to work as an independent account, where all data is private, or as a member of a team that works together where users can manage both private and shared data.

Solve360 is designed to be very easy to use and in most cases there is very little you need to do to start working with your account. However, here are some popular subjects:

Making Solve360 your Default Page

In Internet Explorer click Tools, Internet Options and in the Address field enter http://www.solve360.com then click OK. When you start the browser it will automatically open the Solve360 login page.

Changing Your Password

Both you and the Organization Administrator can change your password. You can change your password by clicking Personalize and under the User Options heading click on Password. A form will open that will allow you to change your password. The new password must be a minimum of five characters in length.

It is recommended that you change your password periodically to maintain strong security.

Core Features

Complete Mail System For Your Business Group Calendar Contact Manager Share Files Task Manager

How Safe Is Your Data Overview

All your data is protected by three parameter challenge/response authentication or URL encoding (access to user information is by invitation of the user only).

A 128 bit SSL encrypted data transfer option is available at login (this is the same system as banks use). Using this feature will make all data transmitted between the Solve360 hosting center and your computer incomprehensible to anyone who may have access to monitor the network and will result in slightly slower response time.

All user data is stored on a separate, secure and private network. Private Network refers to the actual servers that user data is stored on, and they are not directly connected to the Internet. Requested data has to go through multiple layers of physical and logical security in a separate, offline network located behind a firewall before it can be accessed (via the user account).

Sessions are automatically terminated after extended inactivity.

The Hosting Center has three levels of physical security with 24x7 video, surveillance monitoring and is only accessed by our operations staff. The Hosting Center also has backup power systems and is environmentally controlled.

All server operating systems are password protected patched to current releases. All server applications are password protected.

Data is backed-up daily and taken to secure offsite storage daily.

We follow a rigorous privacy policy (posted on the login page).

Unlike desktop applications your sensitive data is not stored on the local PC for prying eyes to discover and compromise. It is stored in our secure central computer operations facility and available from any Internet connection.

Viewing PC Files Online

Wherever the name PC File is shown (e.g. file attachment) an option is available to view a copy of that file within your browser in HTML format. Clicking on the icon will open a new window and display a copy of the file for viewing only. This unique feature prevents embedded viruses from executing, speeds up download time and allows you to view files even if you don't have access to the original software.

To edit the file you must download it to your PC using the icon and open it with a compatible desktop program.

Virus Protection

Solve360 is not affected by computer viruses the way desktop programs are. All data is viewed within the secure Web Browser environment preventing direct access to your computer and internal network. There is nothing special you need to do to prevent viruses from affecting your Solve360 data. However, if you download a file from Solve360 to the PC and open it, or if you upload and mail a PC file you must take normal precautions. It is recommended that up-to-date Virus scanning software be installed on the local computer.

Solve360 also prevents Mail messages which likely contain viruses from reaching your Mail Inbox.

Mouse

Solve360 is a Web-based application and requires only ONE MOUSE CLICK to complete tasks. Do not double-click your mouse.

Workspace

It is important to understand the concepts that make up the Solve360 workspace.

There are two menu levels (L1 & L2 navigation). The first level chooses which functional area to work in (e.g. Mail, Calendar) and the second will allow you to work within the functional area (e.g. create mail, search).

The Folder Selector allows you to switch views within a functional area. The choices in the list are specific to each area but generally follow the pattern:
  1. The most common view (e.g. mail inbox, your calendar day view)
  2. Quick searches (e.g. large messages, new files)
  3. Manage categories (e.g. mail folders, task projects, contact lists)
  4. View categories of data (e.g. specific mail folder, tasks by owner/project, contacts by owner/list)
  5. Proxy to a different user

If the Folder Selector needs to display a lot of data it will break the result list into separate pages. You move through the pages by clicking the desired page number in the Page Selector area.


You can quickly change data by selecting records by clicking on the checkbox and choosing from one of the Actions. Selecting the action will execute the command, no additional steps are needed. Just wait a moment until the change is complete and the screen is updated.

TIP: To select all checkboxes in a list click the field heading. To select a range of checkboxes click the first record and while holding the <shift> key click the last record.

The Layout Selector dynamically changes the format of the workspace providing you with the most productive and intuitive method to complete various tasks.

List: managing large lists
Record Preview: organizing/sorting data
Stacked Preview: working with record detail (most common)
Print: sends a print friendly page to the printer

The Splitter Bar allows you to adjust the Preview windows. Click and dragging in section #1 will change the size of the windows. Clicking on section #2 will bump the preview window to fill the area, clicking on it again will bump it back to normal.

Changing Data

There are two ways to change data:

  1. Select the desired record(s) and perform an action on them.

    Choose the records by clicking on the checkbox then click on an action link / action dropdown list at the top of the list (e.g. moving Mail messages to a different folder, changing Ownership). Selecting the action will execute the command, no additional steps are needed. Just wait a moment until the change is complete and the screen is updated.

    TIP: To select all checkboxes in a list click the field heading. To select a range of checkboxes click the first record and while holding the <shift> key click the last record.

  2. Opening a record, making changes to the detail and then clicking on the Save link.

Icon Glossary

Workspace List Layout
Workspace Record Preview Layout
Workspace Stacked Preview Layout
Print Detail
Unopened Message
Opened Message
Replied Message
View File as HTML
Download File
File Attachment
Private Contact or Shared Note
Shared Contact or Shared Note
System Generated Contact (Another User)
Change Value Dropdown
Flagged Record
Set Priority
Expand Section
Collapse Section
Send Mail Message
High Priority Message
Low Priority Message
Open Bookmark

Receiving Mail Overview

Mail sent to your Solve360 email address will automatically appear in your Mail Inbox. To refresh your screen to check for new messages click on Check Mail.

If you configured an external POP3 mail account you need to click Check POP Mail to download mail from the external server into your Solve360 Inbox.

Storage Space (Quota)

Each account has a single storage quota that is dynamically assigned between Mail and Files. Files include Contact and Calendar Event File attachments.

The quota and current utilization is available on the Today screen and the right side of the Files detail screen.

Each of the shared group Files areas have an independent quota that is determined by the Organization Administrator.

Managing Quotas

The average mail message is typically very small and your account can hold thousands of mail messages without a problem. However, just a few messages with large file attachments can quickly consume the majority of your quota. To identify these large mail messages click Mail and in the Folder Selector choose Large Messages.

You can free up space in your account by downloading the attachments to your PC or Solve360 Files area and deleting the original message.

Exceeding the Quota

The system will try to deliver the incoming message once per hour for 24 hours. If it cannot be delivered within this time a message is sent to the sender reporting the message could not be delivered because the recipient is over their disk quota. While you are over your mail quota you cannot save new mail messages in any folder.

Creating Mail Messages Overview

Click Mail, New Mail and a new window will open.

Address your message:

Type your message in the large window at the bottom of the screen.

If needed add file attachments by clicking on Attach at the top of the window. The window will change allowing you to specify which file(s) to attach. Choose the files by clicking on the Browse button and selecting the file(s). When the files are chosen click Upload and wait until the files are uploaded (copied) to the Solve360 server. When the upload is complete the screen will return to the new message window and the names of the files will appear below the Subject box.

Click the Send link at the top of the screen. A confirmation will be displayed. You can now close the window.

Using the Editor

When creating a new mail message, you can switch between HTML and plain text modes by clicking on the checkbox in the bottom right corner of the New Mail screen.

Similar to a desktop word processor HTML mode offers a variety of rich formatting options. You can choose from styles, fonts, font sizes, text alignment, numbering, bulleting, and an array of other formatting functions. You can also insert hypertext links and graphics directly into the body of the message. When either replying to a HTML mail message, or pasting another HTML page inside the editor, all HTML formatting and embedded content will be preserved.

HTML Mode Keyboard Tips:

<ctrl-c> copy selection
<ctl-v> paste selection
<insert> overtype mode

Although Solve360 displays HTML mail messages properly, some mail programs are unable to understand HTML. To ensure all recipients are able to read your mail message Solve360 sends a plain text version along with the HTML message. If the recipient’s mail program cannot display the HTML version the plain text version will be shown instead.

What are To: Cc: Bcc:

To: Who the mail message is addressed to. Normally the person that needs to react to the information being sent.

Cc: Carbon Copy. The mail message is being copied to the recipient for information only. Typically no action is required.

Bcc: Blind Carbon Copy. Same as Cc: only the To: and Cc: recipients will not see that the message was sent to the Bcc: recipients.

Sending a Message to Multiple People

There are three ways to send a mail message to multiple recipients at the same time: entering multiple mail addresses, contact Lists, and user Groups.
  1. Entering Multiple Mail Addresses

    Enter multiple mail addresses in the To:, Cc:, or Bcc, fields. Each address must be separated with a comma, for example:

    sales@norada.com, support@norada.com

    You can optionally add the full name of the recipient in the address as well, for example:

    sales@norada.com (Norada Sales), support@norada.com (Norada Support)

  2. Contact Lists

    You can also send a mail message to a contact distribution List. First Create a List using the Contacts area. Then address the mail message to the list by clicking the icon and choose one of the Lists you created in contacts.

  3. User Groups

    When an administrator creates a user Group a mail alias is also created, for example:

    If the administrator sets the username for "Sales and Marketing" to "sales" you can address a mail message to everyone in the sales Group by using sales@yourdomain

Adding a Signature

Each FROM: mail address can have a different signature.

Configure your custom signature by clicking Personalize, under the Mail heading click Email Identities, click on a mail address record to open it, enter the signature and then click Save.

To add a signature while composing an email message click in the message body where you want the signature text to be placed then click on the Signature link.

TIP: The System Administrator can also configure individual user accounts, or all accounts in an organization to automatically add a custom text footer to the bottom of every outgoing message.

Sending Large Attachments

Before attempting to attach a file to a message you should check to see if the file is a reasonable size. Often PC files can be saved in a compressed / optimized format without altering the original content or quality. For example, graphic files can often be reduced to 1/100 of their original size. Reducing the file size prevents issues caused by mailing large files altogether.

Generally Internet mail services are not designed to handle large file attachments

Implications for the recipient

On average mail message are very small and mail accounts can hold thousands of mail messages without a problem. However, just a few messages with large file attachments can quickly consume the majority of a user's storage quota. Sending a message with a large attachment to multiple recipients can quickly fill up many mailboxes causing delays in normal message delivery for the other users; and perhaps a big clean up job.

Solve360 provides a fast and secure method to distribute multi-megabyte files

Instead of mailing large files simply upload the file to the Solve360 Files area and then send the other user(s) a mail message telling them where they can get the file from. Some of the benefits of using the Files area are:

Creating, Editing and Deleting Mail Folders

To create a mail folder click Mail, New Folder.

To edit the name of an existing mail folder click Mail, Manage Folders and then within the results window click on the folder to change. A form will open allowing you to modify and save the folder name.

To delete an existing mail folder and all messages within it click Mail, Manage Folders and within the results window check the folder(s) you wish to delete and then click Delete.

Special System Folders

Inbox, Junk E-mail, Sent Items, Deleted Items and Drafts are system folders and cannot be renamed or deleted.

Moving Mail to Folders

Select the message(s) by clicking on the checkbox corresponding to the message then open the Move to... dropdown list and click on the folder you want to move the messages to. The messages will be moved and the screen will be updated.

Stopping Spam / Junk Mail

Solve360 uses multiple procedures to protect your Inbox from spam / junk mail:

  1. Solve360 Mail Gateway

    Most importantly Solve360 prevent spammers from identifying your mail address and adding you to their lists. This is commonly known as a dictionary attack and Solve360 guards against this.

    Before the mail message reaches your Inbox the sender is tested against a confirmed list of threats (forged addresses and known bad guys). If the sender fails these tests the message is rejected immediately.

    If the message contains an attachment that can be executed on your PC the message is rejected immediately.

  2. Solve360 User Account

    At your option the entire message is tested to determine if it is likely spam. This is set by clicking Personalize and under the Mail, Junk Mail Filtering then choosing an option.

    The recommened setting is: On - most junk email will be filtered

    After enabling Junk Mail Filtering monitor the contents of the Junk E-mail folder until you are satisfied with the filtering results. To bypass filtering for a specific sender add their email addresses to the Safe List.

    The Safe List is used to always accept mail messages from specific senders (e.g. newsletters). All of your Contacts are automatically included in your Safe List. You can also add additional senders to your Safe List by clicking Personalize and under the Junk Mail Filtering heading click on Safe List, Add.

Drafts

You can save a new mail message you are working on by clicking the Save link. Once the message is saved you can safely logout and close the browser. To resume editing the message open the Mail Drafts Folder by clicking Mail, Drafts and click on the message in the results list. The message will (re)appear in a new window.

Emptying Deleted Items and Junk E-mail Folders

Click Mail and in the Folder Selector choose Manage Folders then click on the [Empty] link beside the Deleted Items and Junk E-mail folder names.

Editing the Frequent Contacts List

Click Contacts and in the Folder Selector choose Manage Lists then click on the Frequent Contacts record. A form will open that will allow you to manage the entries in the Frequent Contact list.

Using External Mail Accounts

Solve360 allows you to download messages from external mail accounts that support the POP3 protocol. POP3 is supported by almost all Internet mail systems. To add the external accounts click Personalize and under the Mail heading click on External POP3 Accounts. A form will open that will allow you to add and delete the POP accounts. Creating a POP account in Solve360 is similar to configuring an account in Microsoft Outlook.

To download mail from the external POP3 accounts to Solve360 click Mail, Check POP Mail.

Changing the FROM: Address

Using a different FROM: address when creating or replying to a mail message is useful when using external POP3 accounts or replying on behalf of a role account e.g. sales@yourdomain.

To add a new FROM: address click Personalize and under the Mail heading click Email Identities. A form will open that will allow you to manage the additional addresses. You can also specify which address will be used as a default.

The Email Identities feature changes the address the message appears to be coming from; it does not create a real mail alias that can be used to receive mail.

Enabling Auto Replies

This feature will cause an automatic reply to each incoming mail message. To prevent excessive mail each unique sender will receive one reply each time this feature is activated. The Solve360 service will automatically send replies on your behalf. You do not need to have your PC turned on.

To activate Auto Replies click Personalize and under the Mail heading click on Auto-Reply. A form will open that will allow you to specify the message that will be automatically sent and a check box to activate / deactivate the service.

This feature does not change the way mail messages are delivered to your account.

Configuring Email Software

The following links will provide you with step-by-step instructions on how to set up and use your desktop email software. These instructions are specific to Outlook Express and Outlook 2003, however, by following similar steps any standard email client (including other versions of Outlook) can be configured to work with Solve360.

Outlook Express is automatically installed along with Internet Explorer and provides better support for special folders (e.g. Drafts & Sent Items), offline message synchronization, and message deletion. In most cases clients will find Outlook Express faster and much easier to use than Outlook 2003.

Choose the one of the following:

Outlook Express (IMAP)
Outlook 2003 (IMAP)

Need technical support? Consider that the setup procedure typically takes less than two minutes to complete and will work if it is followed carefully. It is much easier to follow the sequence of screenshots provided here than to walk through the procedure over the phone. Clients that requested support most often find that they simply did not follow the instructions carefully enough.

Additional Information

Solve360 can also be configured to work with desktop email programs using either a POP (not recommended) or IMAP (recommended) protocol.

POP copies messages from your Solve360 Inbox to your local Outlook Inbox. Since the local messages are a copy of the original the two Inboxes are never in-sync. When using POP you should only work from one computer.

IMAP leaves your messages on Solve360 and automatically synchronizes everything within Outlook. IMAP is an ideal way to access your messages from multiple computers. Message management is easy/secure, and if the need should arise it is also more likely that Norada will be able to restore messages since all the messages are centrally maintained within the Solve360 service.

With IMAP you can import (copy) messages from local Outlook folders to Solve360, and archive (export) messages from Solve360 to local mail folders, by simply dragging and dropping messages between folders.

Step-by-step instructions are provided for POP for clients that have a specific need to use it:

Advanced: Summary of Available Solve360 Email Services

To use any of the services below you must first activate your Solve360's remote email interface by logging into Solve360, click Personalize, and under the Mail heading click on POP/IMAP Access. Take note of your Username, enter a POP/IMAP Remote Password, then click Save.

Service Server name Port Notes
IMAP imap.solve360.com 993 SSL required
POP3 pop.solve360.com 110 SSL supported on port 995
SMTP smtp.solve360.com 25 or 26 SSL supported on port 465

Configuring Outlook Express for IMAP or POP

The following screenshots span many pages and it is recommended that you not print this page.

Configuring Outlook Express for IMAP

  1. Configure your Solve360 account to accept a connection from Microsoft Outlook

    Microsoft Outlook will use a special Solve360 Remote Username and Remote Password - different than one used to login to the Solve360 web interface. To activate this special interface use your web browser to login to Solve360 and click Personalize and under the Mail heading click on POP/IMAP Access. Take note of your POP/IMAP Username, enter a POP/IMAP Remote Password, then click Save.

    The Remote Password must be 5-8 characters in length and must consist only of letters and/or numbers.

  2. Configure Microsoft Outlook to use the Solve360 mail account by following these step by step instructions:
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
2.10
2.11

Alternate "Outgoing mail (SMTP)" values:
  • If your ISP blocks outgoing connections to third party
    email servers use 26 instead of 25
  • If you want to use a secure connection (SSL) for outgoing
    email check the option "This server requires a secure
    connection (SSL)" and use 465 instead of 25
2.12
2.13
2.14
2.15

Important Outlook IMAP Considerations

IMAP deletes messages differently

When you delete a message it is only marked to be deleted, it is not immediately deleted and it is not moved to the Deleted Items folder. Messages marked to be deleted can be "Undeleted" by right-clicking on the message and choosing the option. To purge / expunge messages marked for deletion click Edit, Purge Deleted Items (this is like emptying the Recycle Bin on a PC).

Messages marked for deletion still use storage space in the account. When messages are purged they are immediately and permanently removed from the account.

TIP: To automatically purge deleted messages, on the Tools menu, click Options. On the Maintenance tab, select the Purge deleted messages when leaving IMAP folders check box. You must be connected for the deletions to occur; if you are not connected, the purged messages will be deleted the next time you connect

TIP: Instead of deleting a message drag it to the Solve360 Deleted Items folder

You cannot start Outlook in the IMAP Inbox

Even if the IMAP account is set as your default mail account, Outlook starts using the local personal Inbox. This is because IMAP cannot act as the default message store.

Modifying Folders

When creating, renaming, or deleting IMAP folders use Solve360 web interface. Do not change folders through the Outlook interface.

Additional Help and Support using Outlook's features:

  1. Outlook's Help (start Outlook click Help and search for IMAP)
  2. Microsoft Outlook Express Online Support

Configuring Outlook Express for POP

The following screenshots span many pages and it is recommended that you not print this page.

Configuring Outlook Express for POP

  1. Configure your Solve360 account to accept a connection from Microsoft Outlook

    Microsoft Outlook will use a special Solve360 Remote Username and Remote Password - different than one used to login to the Solve360 web interface. To activate this special interface use your web browser to login to Solve360 and click Personalize and under the Mail heading click on POP/IMAP Access. Take note of your POP/IMAP Username, enter a POP/IMAP Password, then click Save.

    The Remote Password must be 5-8 characters in length and must consist only of letters and/or numbers.

  2. Configure Microsoft Outlook to use the Solve360 mail account by following these step by step instructions:
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
2.10
2.11
Alternate "Outgoing mail (SMTP)" values:
  • If your ISP blocks outgoing connections to third party
    email servers use 26 instead of 25
  • If you want to use a secure connection (SSL) for outgoing
    email check the option "This server requires a secure
    connection (SSL)" and use 465 instead of 25
Alternate "Incoming server (POP)" values:
  • If you want to use a encrypted connection (SSL) for incoming
    email check the option "This server requires an encrypted
    connection (SSL)" and use 995 instead of 110

2.12
2.13

Additional Help and Support using Outlook's features:

  1. Outlook's Help (start Outlook click Help and search for POP)
  2. Microsoft Outlook Express Online Support

Configuring Wireless Email Devices

To use any of the services below you must first activate your Solve360's remote email interface by logging into Solve360, click Personalize, and under the Mail heading click on POP/IMAP Access. Take note of your Username, enter a POP/IMAP Remote Password, then click Save.

Windows Mobile 5.®
  1. Tap Start, Messaging, Menu, Tools, New Account...
  2. Enter your entire Solve360 E-mail address
  3. Tap Next, Windows Mobile will attempt to automatically configure your email settings, when the status box displays "Completed", tap Next
  4. Enter your Solve360 User information
    used when sending messages
    identified above
    set by you above
  5. Tap Next, enter Account information
  6. Tap Next, enter Server information
    leave empty
  7. Tap the Options button, Options (1/3) - accept the default values e.g. the "Connect and check for messages every" checkbox should be left unchecked
  8. Tap Next, Options (2/3) - enter required connection parameters
    daysenter your preference
  9. Tap Next, choose preferences for what mail will be synced to the device and how much of each message will be downloaded, normally the defaults work best
  10. Tap Next, you will be asked whether you want to download email for this new account, tap Yes

Palm® VersaMail®
  1. Tap Menu, Accounts / Account Setup, New, enter the Account Name and Settings
  2. Tap Next, enter account information (1)
    identified above
    set by you above
  3. Tap Next, enter account information (2)
  4. Tap Next, Advanced, set Incoming Server Settings
  5. Tap Next, set Outgoing Server Settings
    identified above
    set by you above
  6. Tap the Done button

BlackBerry®

The BlackBerry device is configured using the "BlackBerry Internet Service Web Application" that should be provided to you as part of your BlackBerry service.

The exact steps depend on what version of software your BlackBerry provider is using. We recommend you configure your BlackBerry account using "Secure IMAP" according to the online instructions provided here.

Managing Other User’s Mail

Solve360 allows a user to grant other user(s) access to their Mail.

To allow another user access to your Mail open the Solve360 Tools dropdown and choose Proxies then click New Proxy. A form will open that will allow you to choose the user to grant access to and what areas the user will be able to manage.

The user you grant access to switches between Mail accounts by clicking Mail and in the Folder Selector choose the Mail account by name near the bottom of the list. The Mail account name will have the text (proxy) beside it.

Changing Views

You can choose from countless calendar views to complete a given task; start by choosing:

  1. Calendar(s)

    In the Folder Selector choose the calendar(s) you want to work with. In most cases you will see your own Personal Calendar, a Merged Calendar containing events for all users within a specific user group, all the Group Calendars (created by the Administrator) and any Other User's Calendar you have been granted proxy access to.

  2. Format

    Select Day, Week, Work (Week), Month from the L2 menu.

  3. Target / Start Date

    Select the date by clicking on the Date Selector icon located beside the current date heading, or when in the Day view click on a date in the month calendar on the right side of the screen.

The Day view can be displayed as a Grid, simple List, or Free/Busy chart. You change formats by choosing the value from the dropdown list beside the current date heading.

Creating Events

  1. Choose the Calendar to add the event to by clicking Calendar and within the Folder Selector choose the desired Calendar.
  2. Open the new event window by clicking New Event, or clicking on the appropriate time on the Day view grid.
  3. Enter the event title, choose the date/time and duration, click Save, then close the window.

Scheduling Meetings with Other People

Create a new calendar event and click the Attendees tab. Choose the individual users, or groups of users, you want to meet with then click Add. Click on the Availability tab to review the best meeting date/time to accommodate everyone's calendar. Confirm the final date/time on the General tab.

Click Save and a meeting notice will be sent to each attendee. The notice is sent as an email message and will ask each attendee to confirm, decline or mark their attendance as tentative. The meeting organizer can view the status of each attendee's response by opening the event's attendees tab and looking at the status field beside each user's name.

Each attendee's calendar is marked as tentative until they confirm with their own response. Meeting times are always displayed in the user's correct time zone.

Scheduling Multiple Events for the Same Time

Events can have conflicting/overlapping times. To ensure that events do not conflict deselect the Ignore conflicts checkbox in the new event screen.

Public and Private Events

Marking an event as Public does not automatically share it with other users.

By default a user can only see the free/busy times of all other users. They cannot see the event detail for any other user.

Granting other users Proxy access to your calendar allows them to work directly with your calendar and view the detail of your calendar events in the merge views. Setting the Public/Private setting of a calendar event to Private overrides the proxy setting and hides the detail from all users who have proxy access to your calendar.

Spanning Days / Recurring Events

Events can span multiple days and be scheduled to reoccur following a specific pattern.

To span days edit an event, click on the Recurrence tab and set the recurrence pattern and range (if needed).

Managing Contact Activities

Activities that are created in the Contacts area will appear as a scheduled event in the Calendar and are noted using a contact icon . Clicking on a contact activity within the calendar will open the contact record for review or editing.

Contact Activities and Calendar Events have similar properties and both appear in the Calendar views, each has slightly different features and relationships with other types of data.

To create a Contact Activity click Contact, open a contact record, click on the Add... dropdown list under the Activities section and click on Event, fill in the information and click Save.

Managing Personal Tasks

The Calendar day view provides an area to manage personal tasks. To add a task click in the area below the month calendar that shows "Click here to add new task", enter the task name and press <enter>.

To complete a task click the checkbox beside the task name and wait a few seconds for the status to change. Wait until the task status is updated before clicking on another one. Completed tasks will be shown until the end of the day they are completed. Completed tasks can be managed by using the Tasks area (see below).

Tasks that are overdue (past their end date) will appear in red text.

All personal tasks (including completed ones) can also be managed by using the Tasks area. Click Tasks and choose the Unfiled category under your name in the Folder Selector.

Group Calendars

Group Calendars are useful when managing events for a particular process or initiative. They are unrelated to any user's calendar, do not appear in merged views, and cannot have attendees.

A Group Calendar is created by the Administrator and any user within the user group can manage events for it.

Viewing the Event Detail of Another User’s Calendar

By default you can only see the free/busy times of another user's calendar; you do not have access to see the event detail. Note: marking an event as Public does not automatically share it with other users.

To see the detail of another user's calendar events that user must first grant you Proxy access their calendar by clicking Solve360 Tools, Proxies, New Proxy.

Proxies

Creating a Proxy enables you to grant another user, or all users in a user group, access to your entire calendar. You can keep an event private, thereby overriding the proxy access on an event by event basis, by changing the event’s Category setting from Public to Private.

Other user(s), whom you granted proxy access to, can manage your calendar by clicking Calendar and choosing your name from the Folder Selector.

You grant other users proxy access to your calendar by clicking Solve360 Tools, Proxies, New Proxy.

Types of Contacts

The Contacts area is a comprehensive feature that helps you manage:

Contacts, Accounts and Lists can be private or shared with a group of users.

The staff Directory is created automatically as users are added to your Solve360 workgroup.

Finding a Contact

Click Contacts, the default selection for the Folder Selector will be "All (merged)" which will list all contacts you have access to (private, shared, & staff directory). If many contacts need to be displayed they will be broken up into separate pages. You can browse to a specific contact by scrolling within the results window and by clicking on the various page numbers.

You can narrow the result list by choosing a different selection in the Folder Selector. Options include:

The result list can be filtered by contact name by using the filter bar:

Contacts can also be found by using custom search criteria. Click Contacts, Search to open the search screen. Enter the criteria then click Submit.

Attaching Information to a Contact

Attaching information to a contact is a powerful way to record your correspondence for future reference and organizing work. If the contact is shared the information attached is also available to the other users in the group.

Find a contact and click on the name to open the contact's detail. Expand the sections if required by clicking on theicon.

To attach a PC file click on the Attach link at the top of the contact's detail, browse to select the file(s) and click Upload. The file(s) will be uploaded to the Solve360 sever and attached to the contact record. The file(s) will be shown in the files section which is just below the contacts comments section.

To add activities scroll down to the activities section, click on the Add... dropdown and select one of the following:

Call Log: Record of a telephone call

Task: A task that will also appear within Tasks area.

Event (Meeting, Appointment): A type of scheduled event that will also appear in the calendar.

Note: Simple document that is edited online and has a maximum size of 15KB. Contact notes are not shown within the Notes area.

If an email address is entered for the contact, mail messages owned by the currently logged in user will automatically be linked into the activity list.

Creating and Maintaining Contact Lists

Lists are an effective way to group and categorize contacts. A contact can be in multiple lists and lists can contain both external contacts and Solve360 users.

To create a list click Contacts, New List, enter a list name, add contacts then click Save. To have the list appear in the Folder Selector check its Flagged checkbox.

Lists can be edited in two ways:

  1. If editing multiple contacts at once click Contacts, in the Folder Selector choose Manage Lists then click on the list name. Add/remove contacts as needed then click Save.
  2. While editing a contact's detail click on the Lists tab, check the lists the contact should be in and click Save.

Sharing Contacts with Other Users

The contact's owner determines who has access to it. A contact is shared by changing its owner to the user group it needs to be shared with.

Changing ownership is done by selecting the contact record and choosing the new owner from the Ownership... dropdown.

Importing from Outlook

Importing contacts from Outlook is a simple process that normally takes less than two minutes to complete. Contacts can also be imported from other programs by following similar steps.

First, export the information from Microsoft Outlook:

  1. Open Microsoft Outlook 97, 98, 2000, or 2002
  2. Open the File menu and select Import and Export
  3. Select Export to a File and click Next
  4. Select your Contacts folder and click Next (Outlook 98 and Outlook 2002 users: Perform step 5 first.)
  5. Select Comma Separated Values (Windows) and click Next
  6. Select the Contacts folder to export from and click Next
  7. Specify a location on your computer where you would like to save the file, and enter a name for the CSV file, then click Next
  8. Make sure to check the box next to "Export Contacts from folder: Contacts", and then click Finish to export the data to the CSV file
Next, import that file into Solve360:
  1. Login to Solve360 and click on the Solve360 Tools dropdown then choose Import
  2. Click the "Contact" option and click Submit
  3. Choose the "Owner" of the contacts and click Submit - The contact's owner determines which users will have access to it
  4. In the file format list choose "Outlook '98 - 2002 (comma separated)" and click Submit
  5. Enter the location and name of the file you exported from Outlook, or click the Browse button to find the file on your computer, then click Submit
  6. Solve360 will map the Outlook fields to Solve360 fields and prompt you to confirm, make changes if necessary then click Submit once to go to a confirmation screen, then click Submit again to begin the import

Solve360 can only import data that Outlook places in the CSV file. Some of your data may be excluded if Outlook does not place it in the CSV file. Outlook 97 may export different fields than Outlook 98. Also, make sure you have data in the "First," "Last," or "Company Name" fields before importing.

The CSV can be opened and modified using Microsoft Excel before it is imported into Solve360.

Exporting & Mail Merge

Solve360 provides a quick way to export the entire list of contacts by clicking the Solve360 Tools dropdown and choosing Export, then clicking Contacts and follow the instructions. However, sometimes it is more desirable to export only a specific list of contact records (e.g. when creating mailing labels, or populating a local database).

Solve360 provides a quick and flexible export feature that downloads only the records currently show in the Contacts area. The fields exported using this method are the ones displayed in the List Layout and Record Preview modes which are configured by clicking Personalize, and under the Contact Manager heading clicking Output Fields.

To export the list:

  1. Click Contacts, and using either the Folder Selection, Filter Bar, or Search feature choose the desired result list of contacts to export
  2. Click the icon that is located to right of the [Delete, Ownership, Status] functions
  3. A comma separated value (CSV) formatted file will be prepared for download to the local computer, depending your computer's configuration you can choose to save the file to a local drive or open the file with the default program (normally Microsoft Excel).
  4. choose Open or Save when prompted

Working with Accounts Concepts

The features and functionality within Accounts works very similar to Contacts. The Accounts primary function is to roll-up, or connect, selected Contacts to a common organization (Account) and maintain information specific to that Account, which may or may not apply to each of the linked Contacts.

Accounts can be used to manage organizations without linked Contacts.

Differences From Local Files

Files stored in Solve360 must be downloaded to the local PC before they can be accessed directly by desktop software (e.g. edited).

To download a file click on the icon beside the filename.

A special option is available to view common PC files within your browser in HTML format. Clicking on the icon will open a new window and display a copy of the file for viewing only. This unique feature prevents embedded viruses from executing, speeds up download time and allows you to view files even if you don't have access to the original software.

Adding File Folders

Click Files and in the Folder Selector choose the area to work in. Open the folder tree on the left side of the workspace to the position you want the new folder created and click New Folder. A window will open prompting you for the name of the new folder and confirm the location where it will be created. Enter the new folder name and click Save.

Managing File Folders

  1. Locate the Folder you want to work with

    Click Files and in the Folder Selector choose the area to work in. Open the folder tree on the left side of the workspace to the folder's parent folder. The target folder will appear in the right side of the workspace.

  2. Renaming a Folder

    Click on the folder's name, a window will open allowing you to change the name, make the change and click Save.

  3. Moving or Copying a Folder

    Select the source folder's record and click Move or Copy. A window will open displaying a dropdown for you to choose the target area, and once selected, the corresponding folder tree for you to specify the target folder, click OK to complete the process. Moving or copying a folder will include all the sub-folders and files within it.

  4. Deleting a Folder

    Select the source folder record and click Delete. Deleting a folder will delete all the sub-folders and files within it.

Adding Files

Click Files and in the Folder Selector choose the area to work in. Open the folder tree on the left side of the workspace to the position you want the new files saved and click Upload Files. A window will open confirming the target folder location and prompt you to select up to five files. Choose the files, click Upload to start the process, and wait for the transfer to finish before continuing.

Viewing Files

A special option is available to view common PC files within your browser in HTML format. Clicking on the icon will open a new window and display a copy of the file for viewing only. This unique feature prevents embedded viruses from executing, speeds up download time and allows you to view files even if you don't have access to the original software.

Most graphics files such as JPG and GIF can be viewed by clicking on the icon and choosing Open.

If you need to view the file using a desktop program you should download the file to the PC by clicking on the icon and choose Save. When the download is complete open the file directly using the desktop software. Choosing Open instead of Save will download the file as a temporary copy and any changes you make to it will be lost.

Managing Files

  1. Locate the File you want to work with

    Click Files and in the Folder Selector choose the area to work in. Open the folder tree on the left side of the workspace to the folder containing the file. The file will appear in the right side of the workspace.

  2. Editing a File (using a desktop program)

    You must first download the file to the PC by clicking on the icon and choose Save. When the download is complete open the file directly using the desktop software. Choosing Open instead of Save will download the file as a temporary copy and any changes you make to it will be lost. Once the revisions are made the updated file can be reuploaded to Solve360 to replace the original.

  3. Renaming a File

    Click on the file's name, a window will open allowing you to change the name, make the change and click Save.

  4. Moving or Copying a File

    Select the source file's record and click Move or Copy. A window will open displaying a dropdown for you to choose the target area, and once selected the corresponding folder tree for you to specify the target folder, click OK to complete the process.

  5. Deleting a File

    Select the file's record and click Delete.

Sharing Files with Other Users

Files can be kept private, or shared with a user group. The location where a file is saved determines who has access to it. A file is shared by uploading, copying, or moving it to a specific user group's shared file area.

The user group's shared file areas are listed in the Folder Selector and are created by the system Administrator.

Managing Other User’s Files

Solve360 allows a user to grant other user(s) access to their personal files.

To allow another user access to your personal files open the Solve360 Tools dropdown and choose Proxies then click New Proxy. A form will open that will allow you to choose the user to grant access to and what areas the user will be able to manage. In most cases you will need to grant access to both Files and Folders.

The user you grant access to switches to your files by clicking Files and in the Folder Selector choosing your name near the bottom of the list. Your name will have the text (proxy) beside it.

Managing Storage Space (Quota)

Each file storage area has a separate file quota. For example, you have a quota for your personal Mail and Files and your team has a different quota for their shared Files.

The quota and current usage is displayed at the bottom of the right side of the files workspace whenever a files area is selected.

Quotas are set by the system Administrator.

Working with Tasks Concepts

Solve360 organizes tasks by linking them to projects. A user designated as an owner of a project can see all the tasks that are linked to it. For example:

The project's owner is set when the project is created and cannot be changed.

Tasks entered in the calendar day view and any other tasks not linked to a project are assumed to be linked to the user's "Unfiled" project.

The basic steps to track tasks within your team are:

  1. Create a project and set its owner to the user group (shared)
  2. When creating tasks link them to the project you just created and set the task's "Assigned to" dropdown to a specific user

Working with Notepad Concepts

Notepad allows you to create and manage simple documents which can be kept private, or shared with a user group. Each note can contain up to 10,000 characters.

Notes that are attached to contacts will not appear in the Notes section.

To create a note click Notepad, New Note, enter a subject and note detail, click save, close the window.

The note's owner determines who has access to it. A note is shared by changing its owner to the user group it needs to be shared with. User groups are created by the system Administrator.

The Folder Selector allows you to filter notes by ownership.

The Search feature allows you to search by subject, detail, created & last updated dates.

Working with Bookmarks Concepts

Bookmarks allow you to create and manage shortcuts to Internet resources. Bookmarks are accesible from any computer and will not be lost when you upgrade / change systems.

Adding Bookmark Folders

Click Bookmarks and in the Folder Selector choose the area to work in. Open the folder tree on the left side of the workspace to the position you want the new folder created and click New Folder. A window will open prompting you for the name of the folder and confirm the location where it will be created. Enter the new folder name and click Save.

Managing Bookmark Folders

  1. List the Source Folder

    Click Bookmarks and in the Folder Selector choose the area to work in. Open the folder tree on the left side of the workspace to the folder's parent folder. The target folder will appear in the right side of the workspace.

  2. Renaming a Folder

    Click on the folder's name, a window will open allowing you to change the name, make the change and click Save.

  3. Moving or Copying a Folder

    Select the source folder's record and click Move or Copy. A window will open displaying a dropdown for you to choose the target area, and once selected, the corresponding folder tree for you to specify the target folder, click OK to complete the process. Moving or copying a folder will include all the sub-folders and bookmarks within it.

  4. Deleting a Folder

    Select the source folder record and click Delete. Deleting a folder will delete all the sub-folders and bookmarks within it.

Adding Bookmarks

To create a bookmark click Bookmarks, New Bookmark, enter the address of the Internet resource in the URL field and a name in the Bookmark field, click save, close the window.

Opening Bookmarks

To open a Internet resource saved as a bookmark click on the icon beside the filename.

Managing Bookmarks

  1. List the Source Bookmark

    Click Bookmarks and in the Folder Selector choose the area to work in. Open the folder tree on the left side of the workspace to the folder containing the bookmark. The bookmark will appear in the right side of the workspace.

  2. Renaming a Bookmark

    Click on the bookmark's name, a window will open allowing you to change the name, make the change and click Save.

  3. Moving or Copying a Bookmark

    Select the source bookmark's record and click Move or Copy. A window will open displaying a dropdown for you to choose the target area, and once selected the corresponding folder tree for you to specify the target folder, click OK to complete the process.

  4. Deleting a Bookmark

    Select the bookmark's record and click Delete.

Sharing Bookmarks with Other Users

Bookmarks can be kept private, or shared with a user group. The location where a bookmark is saved determines who has access to it. A bookmark is shared by creating, copying, or moving it to a specific user group's shared bookmark area.

The user group's shared bookmark areas are listed in the Folder Selector and are created by the system Administrator.

Working with Messaging Concepts

Messaging is a secure text-based Instant Messaging (IM) application that offers a simple and instant way to communicate and collaborate with other users. It is an alternative to sending multiple emails back and forth with the same person to discuss a particular item and is a handy way to catch someone's attention when trying to coordinate a phone call etc.

As soon as user logs into Solve360 they will appear in the "Users Online" list. This does not however, guarantee the user is actually sitting at their computer.

Clicking on another user's username will open a messaging window on your computer, and open a pop-up message on the other user's computer informing them that you would like to message with them. If they accept the invitation the same type of messaging window will open on their computer creating a private person-to-person messaging session between you and them.

All of the transcripts of the messaging session are stored securely in your Solve360 account. You can carry on private messaging sessions with different Solve360 users at the same time.

You may notice that your browser appears to be downloading a file related to messaging and the download never appears to complete. This is normal; the messaging feature keeps a communication channel open with the Solve360 service at all times. This connection does not slow down your network or computer.

Data Relationships

The following general descriptions and examples explain how Solve360 relates and secures different types of data. The term record refers to any specific data record saved within the application such as an individual contact, event, note, task, call log etc.

With Solve360 users can:

Linking records

Linking is a method of establishing a parent-child relationship between records, e.g. when an event is linked to a contact the event becomes a child and the contact is the event's parent. Links are most often established automatically e.g. when creating a task under a contact the task will automatically be linked to the contact, or a link can be created manually e.g. when linking an existing independent task to an existing contact.

As records are linked the child record automatically assume the same ownership as its parent and will follow subsequent parent ownership changes. Once child records are linked to parent records they cannot be unlinked.

If a parent record is deleted all of its linked child records are also deleted, e.g. if a contact is deleted all of its activities are also deleted.

Categorizing records using lists and projects

Categorizing records makes managing sets of related data records easier. Categorizing has no effect on ownership or security, i.e. what user(s) can access the record. Examples of how records can be categorized:

Giving other users access to records

Setting a record's "Ownership" field determines what user(s) can access it. Ownership is either private (owned and only accessible by a specific user), or shared (owned by a user group and accessible by all users listed in the group).

When the ownership of a record is changed:

Meta-Data

When working among a team it is often necessary to track or assign work/responsibility to a particular user. Examples of special meta-data data fields are provided to do this are:

Contact/Account's Activities = Creator

Contact = Account Manager

Calendar events = Attendee

Tasks = Assigned-To

Meta data is not linked; it remains even if the related user's account is subsequently removed from the system.

Exceptions

The concepts of sharing, linking and categorizing are powerful however additional rules are necessary to ensure the system works as a user would naturally expect it to:

Mail messages shown in a Contact/Account's activity form are owned by the current user only (Mail messages cannot be shared).

For Internet Explorer Users

To ensure the best response time we recommend all Internet Explorer users check the following browser settings.
  1. Click Tools, Internet Options and on the Advanced tab enable both HTTP 1.1 options.

    Internet Explorer has the option Use HTTP 1.1 through Proxy connections disabled by default. By enabling HTTP 1.1 you are allowing Solve360 to reduce the amount of data it must transfer across the Internet improving response time considerably. It is very unlikely you are accessing the Internet through a proxy / firewall that does not support this feature.

  2. Click Tools, Internet Options and on the Advanced tab enable the option "Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed".
    >
    Web browsers were originally designed to access static web sites over slow dial-up network connections. To improve overall web browsing speed they often saved a copy of the web page and related graphics on the local hard drive so that if the file was needed again it could be accessed locally instead of being retransmitted over the network connection. Over time this temporary file cache becomes very large and slows the browser down considerably. Clearing it out frequently will speed up your browser and improve security.
  3. Click Tools, Internet Options and on the Security tab click Trusted Sites, and add "*.solve360.com" to the list of trusted web sites.
    Adding the Solve360 URL to the browser's list of Trusted Sites will bypass various local filtering reducing the possibility the browser will generate unnecessary errors or delays loading pages.

Recommended Browsers

Windows Mac OSX Mac OS9 Linux Not supported on any operating system

You can check your browser's version by clicking Help, About on the browser's menu. Free updates are available for download from: Microsoft, Mozilla, Firefox, Camino or Netscape.

Solve360 uses JavaScript and a minimal amount of cookies and pop-up windows. If you are using ad-blocking software, a PC firewall, or have increased your browser's security settings you may need to enable these features for this service to work as it is intended.

Checking System Performance

If the service appears to be slow you should check the following items. In ever case the slowness can easily be identified and remedied.
  1. PC / Web Browser

    Empty your browser's cache by clicking Tools, Internet Options, Delete Files then restart your browser and relogin.

    Ensure you are using the most recent version of the web browser software.

  2. Server Time

    Right click on the Solve360 page that was slow to appear then choose View Source, at the bottom of the page look the number beside the Ti: parameter. This is the time in milli seconds it took the servers to generate the page and on average the value should be less than 300msec (0.3 seconds).

  3. Network Speed

    To test the network speed between the PC and the data center open a "Command Prompt" window on your PC and enter: tracert www.solve360.com <press enter>. In order for the service to appear very responsive the time should be less than 300msec (0.3 seconds). Note that some firewalls may not permit this test.

When activating your Solve360 account you need to decide how you want Norada to configure your email accounts

Option 1

Have all email for ANY_ADDRESS@YOURCOMPANY.COM automatically delivered to a Solve360 account

  1. Before we activate your Solve360 account our sales staff will ask you if you want to use your own domain name; answer YES and provide them with the name of your domain.
  2. After your Solve360 account is activated ask your DNS administrator (typically the company hosting your website, or the company you registered you domain name with) to set the MX (mail exchange) record for your domain to point to our service which is: dc01m01.norada.com   Norada's Support staff would be happy to help you with this if needed.

Option 2

Have Norada provide you with ANY_ADDRESS@SOLVE360.COM email address(s)

  1. You can use the the @SOLVE360.COM as your primary email address (e.g. put it on your business cards), and/or
  2. You can use Solve360 to manage up to four external email accounts. For example you can download email from other servers using Solve360's POP feature and specify what email address to reply from (just like you would with any other email client such as Microsoft Outlook)

Additional infomation about using your own domain name

The steps needed to use your own branded email address are

  1. Register a domain name
  2. Have someone host your DNS for your domain. A DNS server associates the text-based domain names to the numeric Internet addresses. Basically its job is to tell other users know what computer is hosting your website and what computer to send your email to.
  3. OPTIONAL - Have someone host your website at a particular Internet address (your DNS A record)
  4. Tell Norada you wish to use your own domain name and set your DNS MX record to: dc01m01.norada.com

Here are two easy ways to check the status of your MX record (what server your email is being sent to):

Technical Support

Common Technical Support Questions and Answers

  1. Internet Explorer 7 Performance Issues

    Start IE7, press <ALT>, from the IE7 menu click Tools, Internet Options, click the Advanced tab, under the Security heading click Disable Phishing Filter, click Apply, click OK, restart IE7.

    Install the IE7 update from Microsoft - 928089

    Review Microsoft's recommendations on troubleshooting Internet Explorer 7 issues - 926449

  2. General Internet Explorer Issues

    Empty your browser's file cache by clicking Tools, Internet Options, Delete Files then restart your browser and relogin.

    Review the special browser settings For Internet Explorer Users

    Defragment your hard drive.

  3. Cannot create new mail messages, calendar events, contacts, or add addresses to new mail messages

    Your PC has software installed that prevents the browser from opening new windows. This software is intended to prevent annoying pop-up advertisements and could have been installed as a component of firewall, antivirus, browser toolbar, or independent utility software. To correct the problem find the application and disable the pop-up blocking feature, or it the software package supports it simply add www.solve360.com to the list of excluded/trusted sites.

    Example: Norton Internet Security

  4. Frequently receive the "session expired" screen

    The cause is likely that Internet Explorer is configured to use a local file as it's default startup page. For more information please read Microsoft's Knowledge Base Article - 300895.

Contacting Technical Support

Solve360 includes e-mail based technical support. All support inquires should be submitted by nominated contacts within your organization (the Primary Customer Contact). Primary Customer Contacts can obtain technical support by sending a mail message to: support@norada.com

Norada Corporation does not commit to specific response times for issue resolution. However, normal operating parameters are:

Description Response
Interruption to a production service Immediately, anytime
Administration requests, feature questions and bug reports Within 24 hours, anytime

Working with Third Party Products

Solve360 interoperates with various third party software and hardware products such as Microsoft Outlook, PDAs and Mobile Phones. Norada provides support for these third party products on a best-effort basis.