USING magic5 Professional

1. Which devices are supported?
2. Are there any other device requirements?
3. Can I access magic5 Professional on my laptop, tablet or smartphone?
4. Can I access magic5 Professional when I’m abroad?
5. Do I need to download any software?
6. Do you supply mobile devices?

EXISTING CUSTOMER INFORMATION

1. Can I import contacts & information from Outlook and Excel?
2. Can I link a particular contact with an organisation or group?

INTEGRATION WITH EXISTING SYSTEMS

1. Can jobs logged by our existing back office system be sent to magic5?
2. Can the completed jobs then be returned to our existing back office system?
3. Do I have to do both import and export?
4. Do you have to set up the interface with our existing back office system?
5. How versatile is magic5’s interface?

ON-SITE/OFF-SITE WORKING

1. What happens if we don’t have time to complete everything on the mobile device while on-site?
2. Is this only available to the person who started the form on the device?
3. Can the originator of the form alert another person that a form requires their attention?
4. Forwarded or delegated?  What does that mean?
5. Why can’t I see my completed form on the Office Portal?
6. What do you mean by ‘magic5 Text snippets’?

CUSTOMISED SOLUTIONS

1. Can I have my form not one of yours?
2. Can I scan my existing form into magic5?

EMAILS

1. Can I include attachments with emails?
2. Can I upload my own email template?
3. Why might I use a plain text version?
4. Can you create an email template for me?
5. Can magic5 send other people notifications about a job’s progress?
6. Can copies and blind copies of my emails be sent automatically?
7. Can magic5 do other things automatically?

ESCROW

1. Can you enter into an Escrow agreement?

Accessing magic5 Professional

1. Which devices are supported?
   The mobile app requires an Android device and can be installed on some Windows devices  – the magic5 Portal can be accessed anywhere that there is an internet connection, regardless of operating system.  We support Android devices (phones and tablets) running Android 2.2 and above (ie. anything from the last few years onwards). The software also runs on Windows, except for the Surface Pro RT.  It doesn’t run on iPhones/iPads/Blackberry/Windows Phone.  Please contact magic5 support if you wish to discuss this further.
2. Are there any other device requirements?
   No.  Depending on your site environment, you may wish to use rugged or large screen devices such as tablets.  Specialised activities such as on-site printing may require a particular type of phone.  If you are in any doubt about suitability, please contact magic5 support to discuss this further.
3. Can I access magic5 Professional on my laptop, tablet or smartphone?
   Yes. Reports, job dispatch, workflow engine and designer suites are all available anywhere that there is an internet connection – on a laptop, tablet, smartphone or PC – whatever the operating system.
4. Can I access magic5 Professional when I’m abroad?
   Yes.  magic5 Mobile can be used anywhere that there is a mobile data connection and magic5 Adminstration can be used anywhere with internet access.
5. Do I need to download any software?
   Only the app for your mobile device, which should take less than a minute over WiFi.  The rest of magic5 Professional is stored on a secure web server which will have been set up specifically for you and is accessed through an internet browser.
6. Do you supply mobile devices?
   No.  In our experience you will get better contract deals and more up-to-date devices by negotiating with your existing provider.  Rugged devices are obtainable from several places, such as Barcode Warehouse.

Existing customer information

1. Can I import contacts & information from Outlook and Excel?
   Yes.  Customer and user information can be imported from an Excel spreadsheet, which can be created from an Outlook address book.  Also any lists can be imported from a spreadsheet, for example products, pricing, call-out type, inventories, safety codes – anything that you currently use.
2. Can I link a particular contact with an organisation or group?
   Yes.  There is a great deal of flexibility regarding grouping of both customers and users, controlled by you.  Additional links can be made to regions or locations, also defined by you.

Integration with existing systems

1. Can jobs logged by our existing back office system be sent to magic5?
   Yes.  Jobs can be picked up from your own system by magic5 and received on the device. This can be automatic, in which case you need to use the magic5 API, or manual using spreadsheets.
   
2. Can the completed jobs then be returned to our existing back office system?
   Yes.   Completed jobs can be returned via magic5 into your system. This can be automatic, in which case you need to use the magic5 API, or manual using spreadsheets.
3. Do I have to do both?
   No.  These are two distinct steps here, either of which can be implemented without the other.
   
4. Do you have to do this?
   No.  In fact we recommend that it is done by your in-house technical experts.  The magic5 API is straightforward and versatile, and documentation is available as well as free support and advice.  If you do not feel able to do this in-house, we can do it for you but you will incur extra costs.
5. How versatile?  Can magic5 cope with an in-house piece of software?
   We have customers running a significant number of different back office systems with links in to magic5 – many of these system are bespoke, in-house systems which have been modified to work with magic5 either with a 1-way or a 2-way link.

On-site/off-site working

1. What happens if we don’t have time to complete everything on the mobile device while on-site?
   Editing can be completed using the magic5 back office portal.  Inputting on the device is very quick using lists, multiple-choice, tick boxes, annotated drawings, sketches, photos and well-designed contravention findings.   Even text entry can be quick using magic5 Text snippets.  However, even these tools are sometimes not enough so details can be further edited in the form processing portal.   This can be done anywhere with an internet connection (eg. at home or back in the office) to add to (or amend) what was entered on the device.
2. Is this only available to the person who started the form on the device?
   No.  This facility is available to registered user who has suitable access rights.
3. Can the originator of the form alert another person that a form requires their attention?
   Yes.  When a form is forwarded or delegated to specified users they will appear in a device user’s work list, but an email can also be sent to alert them if required.  Similarly, a back office user can be alerted that a particular form has been sent back from a device so that they know it is available for editing.
4. Forwarded or delegated?  What does that mean?
   If a device user is unable to complete a form that they have started (due to time constraints, availability of parts, skills level, etc), they can send the form back to the Job dispatch module for re-allocation to an unspecified user.  Alternatively the form can be delegated to a specified user.  These options are used for on-site work.
5. Why can’t I see my completed form on the Office Portal?
   The most likely reason is that it hasn’t yet left the device, for a reason such as mandatory items have not been completed or the internet connection has not been consistent enough to send them.  Try the following:
   1. If the form was completed from Work List, check whether the job is still there. If it is, tap to open it, Save and then choose the Release option.
   2. If the form was completed from New Form then go to Edit Form, tap to open it, Save and then Release.
   3. If the form was not found, or steps 1 or 2 didn’t work force the device to send the form straightaway (as with texts, if there is no connection for a while there is an increased delay when it back online).   Tap on Send Reports in the menu and the app will try and send the form back.  If it can’t find any forms, the message Nothing to send will appear – check the Office Portal again.   Keep tapping Send Reports until Nothing to send appears.
   4. If the form still hasn’t appeared on the Office Portal, tap the menu icon on the login screen of the device app and choose Support: send database.   Email magic5 at FAQs@magic5software.com with any information about what you have been doing and someone will look at the sent database and be in touch to help you further.
6. What do you mean by ‘magic5 Text snippets’?
   Text snippets are phrases, sentences or paragraphs that can be allocated to questions on a device and inserted into the text via the context menu.  See the learn page for more details.

Customised Solutions

1. Can I have my form rather than one of yours?
   Yes. The main feautre of magic5 is that you can create your own forms, not just use the ones that we provide. You don’t need to be a programmer or particularly technical – if you can use a web site then you can create your own forms with magic5.
2. Can I scan my existing form into magic5?
   No.  However, we will support you to set up your own or, for an additional cost, set it up for you.

Emails

1. Can I include attachments with emails?
   Yes.  Anything attached to a report will be emailed with that report, including photographs, sketches, maps and GPS data.
2. Can I upload my own email template?
   Yes.  Emails can be sent as text or HTML, and can merge in data such as customer, date of site visit and operative name.
3. Why might I use a plain text version?
   Your contacts may not have enabled their email client to accept HTML emails which means that your emails might not be viewable.  If you are sending to known contacts (such as internal notifications) you might be confident that the HTML version will be received.  However if you are sending to unfamiliar email addresses (for example, an address collecting while a job is in progress), a plain text version of the email is a more reliable distribution format.
4. Can you create email templates for me?
   Yes we can, although there may be an additional charge for this service.
5. Can magic5 send other people notifications about a job’s progress?
   Yes.  Email notifications can be automatically sent to a number of specified recipients.  These might be explicitly stated (eg johnsmith@acustomer.com) or refer to a relationship to the job or form being completed (eg all location contacts or email address entered on form).
6. Can copies and blind copies of my emails be sent automatically?
   Yes.  The same options are available for CC copies (where all recipients can see who has received copies) and blind (BCC) copies (which are hidden from other recipients) as for the main recipients.
7. Can magic5 do other things automatically?
   Yes.  Automatic actions triggered by form or job status include exports, emails, creating new or supplementary jobs or forms, updating data items, creating summary documents and printouts.

 Escrow

1. Can you enter into an Escrow agreement?
   Yes.  The peace of mind offered by Escrow can be important to a customer and we have the facilities to enter into an agreement.  However, we may have to charge to cover our costs, which will be on top of your own costs. We have a number of Escrow agreements in place using NCC Group based in Manchester. NCC Group are the leading providers of Escrow in the UK.