Web Applications

The administration and using the system are all performed in the same environment. Using a supervisor login simply causes a wider range of options to appear.

The permissioning system is very fine-grained, allowing users to be set up with a wide range of specific rights. For example, this could be used where a reseller wants somebody in their office to be able to log in and update customer records but not to be able to make modifications to their subscriptions.

The customer's legacy system had also made it very difficult to obtain certain datasets. This was solved here, bringing obvious benefits to the customer's support desk and marketing department. The customer is now able to understand which subscribers globally are using which services, whether they have current model satellite cards, distribution of services by location, churn rates and so on.

The inbox system also brings significant reduction of administration.

When a new announcement is posted, each recipient receives a notification by email with the direct url of the announcement (accessed by logging in). Each user has an inbox with a large number of search and filter options so that they can backtrack easily through announcements. There is a an icon always visible, indicating whether the user has any unread mail. Announcements can contain html and multiple attachments and be sent only to specific resellers or groups if required. A requested feature from the customer's management was that it would be possible to tell which recipients had read a particular announcement.

The document and file download areas were an elegant solution to the problem of secure file access via a web browser. Usually this is done using password protection. However, this is easily crackable by brute force and presents an extra hurdle to the user. We designed a different technique, with the files themselves located completely outside the web tree and piped in.

Browse screens have a large number of sorting and filtering options along with useful tooltips and record highlighting. This results in a very comprehensive and easy to read view of the data in a small screen area.

The system has been designed to hide as much complexity as possible from the user whilst maximising data capture. The user is taken through 3 simple steps: entering their personal details, choosing their services, and finally reviewing the order and entering payment information.

Each service has two fees: one from the client and one from the 3rd party supplier. The client usually collects both of these. 3rd party supplier fees are in various currencies and have their own price schemes which can be based on various factors such as number of terminals, professional status of subscriber, location of terminal etc. These fees are subject to change from time to time and it was specified that it should be possible to create scheduled fees (this also allowed time-limited special offers if required). In addition the customer charges fees for each service which again vary in amount and currency dependent on subscriber's professional status, terminal number and location.

Administration of services, prices, exchange rates and contracts is performed by a small browser-based application suite. Contracts are maintained in a browser-based WYSIWYG editor which also allows the administrator to cut+paste Word documents.

There is also a simple reporting application which allows an administrator to see which users have signed up ordered by name, country or date. This also allows the administrator to view data captured from incomplete orders, choosing by the various stages completed.

The client is letting a holiday apartment. The requirements include:

• Complex pricing with supplements, discounts and visits that may cross seasons
• Calculation of a booking deposit to be paid online as part of the booking
• Dates to be automatically blocked when a booking deposit is paid during a booking
• Auto-responders to the customer and client
• The option to let multiple apartments within the same system

A back-end admin where the client can:

• Search bookings
• See upcoming bookings at a glance
• Edit all the details of bookings
• Send emails with booking details to the customer and client's representatives
• Manage admin accounts and permissions for client's representatives
• Update availability calendars on third party sites

The user is presented with a simple form which checks availability, calculates the price of their booking and the deposit required to secure it. This is a link via the PayPal API. On successful payment, they are returned to the site which completes their booking, blocking their dates and sending an email to the client and a separet email to the customer with confirmation details and information about the apartment.

AJAX implementation in admin back-end allows owners to manage bookings intuitively from a single page