Salt Lake Community College, Taylorsville, UT

April 25th , 2016

Brian Oveson
Area Manager
Western Region
Dear Brian,
We would like to thank you for the opportunity of letting us take a closer look at how Fairbanks Scales
operates, and allowing us to ask you questions with the intent to give you feedback of what we have found to
possibly provide a better work environment for you and your employees
Enclosed in this report you will find information of what our group has done to implement improved
communication and technological cooperation within Fairbanks Scales. You will find the results from the
surveys we created and charts and graphs to help you visually understand what they communicate. We have
laid out what we think would be helpful tools to implement and use to improve the overall communication at
Fairbanks Scales based on our findings.
We are grateful to you as a group to be involved with this project as it has opened our eyes to
improving communication and technological cooperation in our own personal and professional lives. We feel
that this undertaking has been successful and hope that its implementation will improve satisfaction for
Fairbanks scales employees and customers alike.
Sincerely,

Brooks Bachman

Carie Young

Ryan Taylor

Kimm Takemori

Jezreel Rodriguez

Keith Brewer

Chelsee Michaelis

Improving Employee Communications at Fairbanks

Scales

Prepared for
Brian Oveson
Area Manager
Fairbanks Scales
Salt Lake City, UT

Prepared By
Brooks Bachman
Carie Young
Chelcee Michaelis
Keith Brewer
Kimm Takemori
Jesreel Rodriguez
Ryan Tayler
Salt Lake Community College
Business Communications 2200
April 25, 2016

Company Description
Two brothers, Thaddeus and Erastus Fairbanks founded the Fairbanks Scales manufacturing company in
1830 in St. Johnsbury, Vermont; making Fairbanks Scales in the oldest service company in the United
States. The company began with wagon scaleshemp sales and today they are the number one
manufacturer of scales in the Unites Statesbeing able to weigh everything from a peanut to an
elephant.

Research Question
What are the current causes of communication barriers between Brian and his team at Fairbanks Scales?
And, what can be done to help ease/resolve these issues?

Problem and Mission

The basis of this project was to find an end conclusion of resolution for Brian Oveson, Area Manager,
and his traveling team a better system for daily communication. There are around eight employees
managed Brian at any given time; these employees being remote drivers that operate all over the West
Coast, making the task of communication between Brian and his team extremely important. In the past,
there have been a great deal of struggles in the communication department for Brian, which led him to
being open to our help.
With the help of surveys, including several detail-oriented questions, as well as a base look at the
communication handling as it is today, we have put together this project proposal for changes in the
communication field for Brian and his team.
We found, as an overall conclusion to the complications in the teams communication being a lack of
training on new technology provided for this very usecommunication. This posed the question to us,
what kind of training is being performed for this new technology? And, are there any improvements that
can be made in this training outline to better serve the Fairbanks Scales employees? These questions are
answered in depth throughout this project as we found many results to help improve all aspects of
communication for Brian and his team.

Timeline
Overall, this project took us about a month and a half complete. After being given the opportunity to
interview Brian in a one-on-one setting and finding out what his concerns, objections, and hopes to have
us accomplish with this project, we set right to work.

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We were able to get out a survey that both the employees could anonymously answer, as well as a
survey for the general public through means of word-of-mouth and social media through our group. This
survey provided us with ample amounts of data that we were able to use to discover underlying issues
with the communication in Brians team today, as well as an overview of what the general public
believed could be useful in todays business communications. After receiving enough data from the
survey answers, we were able to begin putting together this report.

Final Findings
After gathering all of this survey data, and compiling all of the training documents that Brian is currently
using to guide his team with new technology being implemented, we found the communication issues to
be a combination of several things, including:

Poor training on current Tablet use (as can be found in our Findings)
Poor training on proper communication ideals
Poor training documentation on the systems being used
A lack of a centralized location for all inter-company communication to take place
And, finally, a lack of employee involvement in company-wide changes being implemented

As to resolve most, if not all of these issues, our team has done the following:

Created new and improved training documentation for Tablets and communication systems
(apps) to help improve team involvement in these changes and offering encouragement to
learning and growth within their current positions.
Composed and discussed our findings with Brian in order for him to be able to present these new
documents to his team with the knowledge necessary to answer any questions or concerns they
might have.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

II

INTRODUCTION

PURPOSE..2
SCOPE 3
LIMITATIONS4
SOURCES.. 4
FINDINGS

INTERVIEW.. 5
WHAT WE LEARNED5
HIS CONCERNS. 5
WHAT HE EXPECTS. 6
SURVEY...6
QUESTION 1 RESULTS AND FINDINGS....6
QUESTION 2 RESULTS AND FINDINGS....7
QUESTION 3 RESULTS AND FINDINGS....8
QUESTION 4 RESULTS AND FINDINGS....8
TRAINING MATERIAL10

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

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CONCLUSION 11
RECOMMENDATIONS 14
APPENDICES

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APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW WITH BRIAN..16

APPENDIX B: FAIRBANKS EMPLOYEE SURVEY STATISTICS...18
APPENDIX C: PUBLIC SURVEY STATISTICS..28
APPENDIX D: ORIGINAL EMPLOYEE TABLET FAQS.39
APPENDIX E: REVAMPED EMPLOYEE TABLET FAQS..41
APPENDIX F: ORIGINAL EMPLOYEE OUTLOOK FAQS.50
APPENDIX G: REVAMPED EMPLOYEE OUTLOOK FAQS..53

APPENDIX H: ORIGINAL EMPLOYEE TABLET TRAINING POWERPOINT..56

APPENDIX I: REVAMPED EMPLOYEE TABLET TRAINING POWERPOINT..58

Fairbanks Scales is a professional company highly respected for its quality of products, workmanship and
resolutions to problems. They specialize is providing their customers with a range of scales from what
semi-trucks need to weigh their large loads on down to small scales to measure just ounces of product
for customers.
As technology has
continued to be
upgraded and
implemented
throughout the
business
world, Fairbanks
has also found it
needful in its line of
work to provide its
employees with the
ability and
opportunity to
better
communicate and
get their job done.
This makes for an
overall better
experience for
customers. It was brought to our attention first as a class and then came in more detail as a small
organized group that there might be improvements that can or should be made to streamline how the
work is being done and how to better communicate during and after this process.
We were able to start out by making plans on how to get started. We conducted an over-the-phone
interview with Brian who is the dispatcher of Fairbanks for a large western region of the United States.
This has led to a brief survey that we asked each employee at Fairbanks to take and then in addition also
used the power of social media to give us feedback in general on how to possibly improve the issues
that we found.

Purpose
The purpose of this project is to find out why communication isnt working as well as it could between
Fairbanks Scales employees, and with their customers. As much as we can, we plan to use our skills and
what we have learned about business in this class and put it to use in helping Fairbanks Scales and
others improve and simplify the process of making a business run more successfully.
As we see our world
become more and more
technologically advanced
we also see the need for
companies and personnel
to adapt and be flexible
in learning and acquiring
new skills to keep them
competitive. It is vital in
todays market and
business world to be on
the front lines of
communication and
familiar with the
upcoming and new and
improved ways of getting
things accomplished.
We feel that as we use the results of our survey with the responses of Fairbanks employees and also the
input from many others that we have reached out to that we will be able to better pinpoint
opportunities for Fairbanks to make changes to improve their overall goal of being more effective and
profitable in their pursuit of better business practices.
As we are made aware of the concerns from employees and their managers, and communicate that to
those who can make necessary changes, we believe it can influence Fairbanks scales in a positive and
productive way for years to come.

Scope
In the last couple years Fairbanks has implemented many technological advances in the way they do
business to improve their overall goals and performance. The most recent improvement has been
implementing Tablets to their employees who are always traveling to help them better document the
work they perform and communicate to the customer and their superiors.
The employees who use
these Tablets have
received training and find
them to work well but also
find certain aspects with
using them that makes
their job more difficult
especially when
unexpected things occur.
We will focus much of our
effort in trying to resolve
this problem as it seems to
be the most significant
issue for Fairbanks right
now.
The survey that we came
up with was created by
using our creative thinking skills as a group. It focuses great attention on the users of these Tablets to
express how well they feel they were trained, if they are open to using new technology and how
effective they feel they are. Survey Monkey was a great resource in our work to get a survey posted
online that could easily be used by anyone.

Limitations
Our biggest limitation in creating our Managerial Report is the time frame we had to complete it. We
feel like the amount of time we were given was sufficient, but it was just hard for us to all be able to get
together outside of class. All of us have jobs and
multiple classes so we could never really find a time
that worked well for everyone to meet. The time
that we were given in class to work together was
very valuable but also very limited.
We were able to overcome these issues by holding
everyone accountable on our team for the parts we
were assigned to complete. Another thing that
helped us overcome this and made our Managerial
Report even stronger was the communication we all
had with one another outside of class. We all had
access to a Google Docs account with all our report information and could easily give suggestions to one
another.
One of our other big limitations was the ability to meet face-to- face with the employees that were
having a hard time using the current means of communication for the company. Fairbanks Scales is a
national company and the employees are always on the road so we were never actually able to
communicate with them directly to get their feedback on the issue. We overcame this struggle by
conducting an interview with Brian who is a Regional Manager and has witnessed first hand the
struggles his team is having with their current communication processes.
We were able to get feedback from the surveys we sent out but only half of the employees actually
answered all of the questions. The most important questions where they could actually write in their
feedback were skipped over. We were able to overcome this by sending the surveys out multiple times
which was annoying and very time consuming.

Sources
The purpose of this report it to help us understand how we can help the employees of Fairbank Scales
with their intercommunication skills. Brian who is a regional manager for about 8 employees has
expressed to us his frustrations with how his team communicates. This report will include questions
that we have addressed through our primary and secondary research. This includes statistical data,
interview results, and most importantly our survey results from family, friends, and of course the most
useful, Fairbank Scales employees.

Our goal was to find out why communication isnt working as well as it could between Fairbanks Scales
employees, and with their customers. We decided to first, complete an interview with the area
manager to get a feel for what sort of an outcome he is looking for. After the interview the team felt
that we needed to conduct a survey of the employees to get a feel for what they feel is working and
what is not working. From there we decided the main focus should be on training of the new
technology, how it is prepared, and delivered to the staff. We then were able to take the findings to
Brian and help him better understand how this technology is beneficial to the companys
communication with employees, and with their customers.

Interview:
The interview was done over the phone with our entire
group with Keith conducting. At the end of the interview
we took a moment to each ask any questions we might
have had or for clarification. (Refer to Appendix A for
complete details on the Interview.)
What We Learned:

Brians background and background of Fairbanks

Scales.
He knows his staff would rather communicate Face-To-Face although he understands that that
is not always possible.
His moto is never send a text if you can send an email and never send an email if you can get
on the phone
They have used multiple methods of communication in the past: phone, texting, emails, Tablets,
laptops, and multiple computer programs.
He has a traveling staff he communicates with multiple times a day which means it is very
critical for them to have an effective communication method.
Staff is willing to change their current communication methods to a more streamlined process if
the system were easy to learn and understand.

His Concerns:

His main concern is the way the company transitions so quickly from system to system, which
causes frustration for him and his technicians.
Because of the influx of different communication methods Fairbanks Scales has gone through 5
different programs in the past 12 months which has caused confusion. (Currently using Tablets
with software on them).

Skype has recently been implemented as the main point of contact, this has been challenging for
the staff to learn.

He stated that training was implemented for different systems but they are still insecure
about them.
What He Expects:

Find out if we need special training for better understanding.

Team collaboration
How the staff feels about the current technology in place
How the company can achieve success using the new Tablets

Survey
Based on the interview with Brian, we decided to conduct a 10 question survey that went out to the
staff to get their thoughts and ideas about the current inter-office communication within the company.
After collecting and analyzing the information from the survey, we decided to focus on four particular
questions that felt it would be the most beneficial and relevant for Brian and his team.

Question #1) Please rate the following methods, using a scale from 1 (most preferred) to 4 (least
preferred), your personal preference for business communication.

This particular question was asked so we could better understand how the staff truly prefers to
communicate. After reviewing the results, we learned they preferred face-to-face communication but
they also recognized that technology is beneficial in their daily tasks and duties which is why it was
ranked second. Additionally, the results showed the staff would like to have more direct (verbal)
communication however they also recognize that is not always feasible due to the type of work they do.
After doing a more thorough analysis, we concluded that employees feel comfortable with technology
and they are also willing to learn new systems and devices. The reason why employees might feel there
is inter-office miscommunication is not because they don't want to learn how to use new technology,
but it might have to do with other factors.
We took a look to the following question to determine how many hours of training employees were
receiving when learning new technology at work. Figure shows how many hours of training employees
received to try to learn new technology such as Skype, Microsoft Outlook, a work app and to navigate
a Tablet the company provided.

Question #2) How much training have you received on new technology used to communicate at work?

The question was used to gage just how much training the staff received when they received the new
Tablets. We learned that all but one of the employees received 1-2 hours of training.
After reviewing the individual surveys, we learned that Brian was the one employee who had received 3
hours of training. As you will see below, this plays a significant part in our findings.

Question #3) Do you feel the training covered the necessities of this new technology?
This question was used to tell us just how comfortable the staff is with the new Tablets after the training
received. All but one of the employees answered NO. This was a huge turning point in our project which
led us to believe their training program wasnt as effective as it could be. After closer review of the
individual surveys, Brian was the only one who said yes.

Question #4) How Beneficial is technology in helping with job duties/responsibilities

We then wanted to know just how beneficial the Tablets were in completing their responsibilities at
work. The results showed three of the four employees rated it as somewhat effective, and one stated it
was very effective. This told us that there could definitely be improvements to the current system they
use. Which also led us again to the training side of things, our thoughts were maybe if the staff really
understood the Tablets, and new software they would change their thought from somewhat effective to
very effective.
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After reviewing the survey, we decided to take a look at the materials used for training the staff on their
new Tablets to see if maybe there could be any improvements made to help the staff better understand
them and the programs they use and use them to their fullest potential.

Training Material:
After reviewing all of the information received we learned that Fairbanks Scales would benefit greatly
from a training material overhaul. Brian was generous enough to let us read through his PowerPoints
and the FAQ sheets he uses for his employees.
The PowerPoint was very boring and we could see that it was probably overwhelming to the employees
so we decided to make some changes to it to be more learning friendly.
We also decided it might be helpful to the employees to have a small packet that was travel friendly,
just in case they needed answers to a question and werent able to reach anyone.
The purpose for the small packet is to help the employees at Fairbanks become more familiar with
Tablets. The packet will take the employees through a tutorial of how to use the tablet, solve technical
difficulties, and be familiar with the Tablets software. The small packet is a way for the employees to
know how to use the Tablets software. The small packet will be a good reference for when the
employees dont know how to perform a task. The small packet will give a walk-through of the Tablets
software. The small packet will help the employees know what do when a problem occurs.
Why did we plan on creating a small packet? We noticed with our survey that most of the employees are
having problems with the Tablets. We hope the small packet will help the employees who arent familiar
with technology be more comfortable using the Tablets. With the packet we hope there wont be
confusion with the Tablets software. We hope the small packet will reduce problems employees are
having with the Tablets software. The packet will help productivity with the employees. We hope the
packet will be a tool the employees can use when they need help with the Tablets.

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During our initial research on communication challenges for Fairbanks we spoke to Brian Oveson via
conference call. We wanted to hear and understand his frustrations. He shared the problems they face
in trying to stay technologically advanced; and the struggles the team experiences when new tools are
introduced. It soon became apparent that we would benefit from the employees version too; it was
critical we take into account all opinions of this important issue.
Due to their various locations and schedules, we determined a survey would be the best option. We
came up with ten questions that covered employment time, schooling, and several around technology.
The questions were critical; they needed to be quick and easy, yet very concise to ensure the best
output. Fairbanks only has eight employees on this particular team. In order to get a better sampling
Team Fairbanks sent the survey to Facebook contacts, co-workers, friends and family.

Results Overview: Quick look at first insights

Schooling:
Fairbanks employees
25% 2+ years of College
75% High School Diploma/GED
Others
15% High School / GED education
34% 2+ years of College
Employment:
Fairbanks employees
25% Less than 1 Year / 1-5 Years
50% More than 10 Years
Others
17% employed 5-10 years
40% employed 1-5 years
Rate personal preference for business communication from 1-4 (Face-To-Face, Verbal (telephone),
Technology Driven and Paper):
Fairbanks employees / Weighted average
Top Choice = Face-To-Face
Second = Verbal (telephone)
Third = Technology Driven (Skype, emails, text)
Fourth = Paper (memo, business letter, reports, notes)
Others / Weighted average
Top Choice = Face-To-Face
Second = Verbal (telephone)
Third = Technology Driven (Skype, emails, text)
Fourth = Paper (memo, business letter, reports, notes)
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Learning new technology (Very Easy, Somewhat Easy, Difficult, and Very Difficult):
Fairbanks employees
3 = Very Easy
1 = skipped, no answer chosen
Others
52 = Very Easy
37 = Somewhat Easy
3 = Difficult
How much new technology training have you received (Under 1 hour, 1-2 hours, 2-3 hours, 3 or more
hours):
Fairbanks employees
1 = Under 1 hour
1 = 1-2 hours
1 = 3 or more hours
1 = skipped, no answer chosen
Others
51 = Under 1 hour
21 = 3 or more hours
14 = 1-2 hours
6 = 3 or more hours
Did training cover necessities of new technology (Yes or No)?
Fairbanks employees
3 = No
1 = skipped, no answer chosen
Others
66 = Yes
26 = No
Rate how beneficial the new technology is in helping get your job done (Not Effective, Effective,
Somewhat Effective, and Very Effective):
Fairbanks employees
2 = Somewhat Effective
1 = Very Effective
1 = skipped, no answer chosen
Others
32 = Somewhat Effective
30 = Very Effective
28 = Effective
2 = Not Effective
*For some questions above only highest and lowest are reported
What proved to be most telling were the Fairbank employee surveys; there were compelling differences
in the amount of training time received. Each noted a different amount of time, one said under an hour,
other one-two hours and still another three or more hours. We do believe all employees received the
same allotment of training time. The most discerning answers were whether the Fairbank employees
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felt the training covered the necessities of the new technology; all answered No. That told us a good
first step would be reviewing the training documentation being used. Although in speaking to Brian we
understood he had taken it upon himself to help by creating documentation, we wanted to utilize our
tools from class to review and possibly revise them.
Brian allowed us to see the Tablet Training and Overview as well as the FAQ document; after review,
we could see the benefits revising the documentation might have. It could make a significant difference
to apply some of the new PowerPoint logic we learned in class.
This would provide Brian with a template he could start using right away, and even reuse for other
technology going forward. Although we know employees will only get out of it what they want to
absorb, we hoped it would gain their interest. We wanted it to help get them feel secure about the new
technology and give them the opportunity to benefit from training. It was just as important to assist
Brian, he has such a passion about communication with his team, and since they cannot always meet
face-to-face this could at least bridge the training gap that existed.

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There are several key changes we believe to be important to Fairbanks. Some of which will be
suggested documentation changes, and others will be things they would need to create and implement
within their business structure.

Recommendations
Training PowerPoint to be provided:
Tablet Training and Overview document (original provided by Brian)
Team Carie will create a new PowerPoint
verbiage will be from current document
visual changes to include
format
pictures
font changes
transition / animation
background style
Frequently Asked Questions document to be provided:
Tablet Frequently Asked Questions document (original provided by Brian)
Team Carie will create a new document
verbiage will be from current document
visual changes to include
layout
Fairbanks logo header
pictures
font changes
background style
Supplementary items of importance _ from survey or proposal by Team Carie:
Intranet for employees to access
Documents to be accessible
o Training PowerPoint
o Frequently Asked Questions document
Additional training with in depth details on new technology, employees expressed interest in
not only knowing which button to choose, but 1) why it is being chosen 2) what happens when it
is chosen
Outlook calendar with appointments of all team members
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Employees expressed the need for personnel schedules to be posted on Outlook

calendars
Reduction in amount of programs being used
Employees feel this would benefit them by minimizing the confusion, specifically
relevant when having to explain things to customers, or getting things completed

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Interview Questions
Brian: Retired from military, communications officer for 23 years. Used to structured communications.
Canada to Saint George, all the way to Wyoming and Nevada. Multiple technicians. Communications in
the vast area is problematic. Implemented several things in the past: phone, texting, emails, Tablets,
laptops.
Fairbanks Scaleswhat do they do?
Oldest service company in the US, formed in the 1830s. Developers were the ones who formed this
company. Started with wagon scaleshemp sales. Number one manufacturer of scales in the UScan
weigh everything from a peanut to an elephant.
1. What ways do you prefer to communicate with your employees?
a. The best way to communicate is face-to-face and talking. With the area surroundings,
thats not always possible. Never send a text if you can send an email, never send an
email if you can get on the phone with them.
b. How long ago did you receive a text? Minutes.
c. How long ago did you receive a letter? . Forever
d. Prefer to talk to them, or sit down and talk to them. Technicians need to be personable.
2. What methods of communication have you used in the past?
a. Implemented several things in the past including: phone, texting, emails, Tablets,
laptops and computer programming that goes along with it.
b. Technicians have gone from paper copies, Skype, fax in things.
c. Anything you can do with a smartphone, weve implemented.
3. How often do you communicate with your employees?
a. Every employee, multiple times a day.
4. What is your main concern with your current communication process?
a. How quickly transitions have occurred within the company. Technicians are finally able
to do what they are meant to be doing, they are frustrated with being able to work
through changes. Skype is being implemented as the main point of contact, challenges
with learning how to operate the programs.
5. What strengths do you see in your current communication techniques?
a. They have provided good training and good experts. Tablets: working very hard to make
these a practical tool. They do have a program to be used for tech issues and help
calling tool for assistance.
6. What technology do your current employees own that could help in streamlining your
communication process (i.e. smartphones, app downloading functionalities)? Are there
company paid devices?
a. Every communication pieces are paid for by the company. Policies of what can be
downloaded on them.
7. What percentage of your work force would you consider tech savvy?

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8.

9.

10.
11.

12.

13.
14.

a. All of them would be open to themless one person. The speed and rate at which these
communications changes are being forced upon them is making it difficult.
Meaning they are comfortable with receiving text, or checking an email box, utilization of an app
like Skype?
a. Employees are very compliant. They know that they have to do it, but they dont like it.
For them to keep up with technology they have to make changes, they know that it is
important because they hear it from their customers.
How willing are your employees to change their current ways of communication to a more
streamlined process?
a. Employees are very compliant. They know that they have to do it, but they dont like it.
For them to keep up with technology they have to make changes, they know that it is
important because they hear it from their customers.
Is the type of communication being sent to your workforce sensitive?
a. Yes. Based off their customers ability to make a buck, federal regulations and state
government. Using secured data networks.
What do you hope to have accomplished by the end of this?
a. That we have a good understanding of the focus of where Fairbanks has been and
where they are going. Special training for product improvement that may or may not
help for employees that may need it. The main point is that WE as a team are able to
understand what Fairbanks faces as well as what many companies are facing.
Training for implemented items are they still insecure about them?
a. Yes. Training was more of a process training and not a product system. They are not
trained for things that are not out of the ordinary. Who they call for help, Brian or his
administrator (who is out of Denver).
Did you make the PowerPoint?
a. Yes. And yes he is willing to share with us.
Is there a one-stop application that houses their emails, policies and procedures, etc. or is it all
in different locations.
a. They have multiple serversemail, matrix, scale form, renting space from an internet
provider (specialty programs that are used on Fairbanks internet)

Review:
Highly open area and employees that need to communicate with one another, but there is a large
communication gap. Tablets are working, but they need to have a little more training on them and being
able to combine them together.

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(July 7, 2015)
Tablet Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: Where is HyperTerminal?
A: Microsoft no longer includes HyperTerminal in Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 because of
security reasons. You will find two other programs have been installed to replace
HyperTerminal. They are TeraTerm and PUTTY. TeraTerm has been verified to work with
flashing serial port printers.
Q: The Anker stand will not open. Or I cannot get the stand to kick out.
A: There is a button on the side of the Anker stand hinge. Press the button as you pull on the
stand and it will open.
Q: My tablet will not fit in the Anker stand supplied with the tablet.
A: You will find there is a placed piece in the bottom of the cradle. Remove this plastic piece and
the tablet jacket will now slide down into the cradle of the stand.
Q: The ports on my docking station do not work.
A: The docking station must be plugged into power for the ports to work.
Q: There were two adapters shipped with the tablet, USB to Serial and USB to Ethernet, do I
need to install the drivers for them?
A: No, the drivers have been preloaded and tested to work on every tablet. When needed, plug
in the adapters and Windows will automatically find the drivers.
Q: How do I install my inkjet printer?
A: Your printers drivers most like came on a DVD. To install on the tablet you will need to
download them directly from the manufacturers site. DO NOT DOWNLOAD FROM A THIRD
PART SITE, only download from the manufacturers site to avoid downloading malware or
viruses that will infect the new tablet setup. Here are links to the most popular printer brands,
have your printer model number handy:
HP: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/drivers.html
Canon: https://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/support/consumer
Epson: http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/SupportIndex.jsp?UseCookie=yes
Lexmark:
http://support.lexmark.com/index?page=driverSupport&locale=EN&userlocale=EN_US
Brother: http://www.brother-usa.com/Support/#.VZnOMkYzlqM

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Q: My USB thumb drive is not detecting.

A: This is an issues with Windows 8.1 not with the tablet. There are some USB thumb drives
that will not detect in W8.1. Brands so far we have confirmed to work; HP, Kingston, Fellows
and ADATA
Q: I cannot get my Topaz Signature Pad to work in Excel.
A: You are to no longer use the Topaz Sig pad in Excel. There are new forms loaded on Mobile
Portal that will work with:
in Excel to sign using the on-screen pen. You will find the pen icon at the very top quick
launch toolbar in Excel. Use pinch zoom to zoom into the Excel cell you want the signature to
be. This will help size the signature to the form. Sign by using your finger on the tablet screen.
DO NOT USE AN INK PEN OR THE TOPAZ STYLUS on the tablet screen.
Q: What are all these shortcuts on the desktop for?
A: The tablet was setup with easy to find shortcuts to frequently used Fairbanks software. If you
find shortcuts to software you know you will never use, it is okay to delete them from the
desktop. This will not remove the software, just the shortcut to them. So if you need the software
later, it will still be there under all programs.

40

Tablet Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Where is HyperTerminal?
A: Microsoft no longer includes HyperTerminal in Windows 7 or
Windows 8.1 because of security reasons. You will find two
other programs have been installed to replace HyperTerminal,
they are TeraTerm and PUTTY. TeraTerm has been verified to
work with flashing serial port printers.
Q: The Anker stand will not open. Or I cannot get the stand to kick
out.
A: There is a button on the side of the Anker stand hinge. Press
the button as you pull on the stand and it will open.
Q: My tablet will not fit in the Anker stand supplied with the tablet.
A: You will find there is a placed piece in the bottom of the
cradle. Remove this plastic piece and the tablet jacket will now
slide down into the cradle of the stand.
Q: The ports on my docking station do not work.

41

A: The docking station must be plugged into power for the

ports to work.
Q: There were two adapters shipped with the tablet, USB to Serial
and USB to Ethernet, do I need to install the drivers for them?
A: No, the drivers have been preloaded and tested to work on
every tablet. When needed, plug in the adapters and Windows
will automatically find the drivers.
Q: How do I install my inkjet printer?
A: Your printers drivers most like came on a DVD. To install on
the tablet you will need to download them directly from the
manufacturers site. DO NOT DOWNLOAD FROM A THIRD PART
SITE, only download from the manufacturers site to avoid
downloading malware or viruses that will infect the new tablet
setup. Here are links to the most popular printer brands, have
your printer model number handy:
HP: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/drivers.html
Canon: https://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/support/consumer
Epson: http://www.epson.com/cgibin/Store/support/SupportIndex.jsp?UseCookie=yes
Lexmark:
http://support.lexmark.com/index?page=driverSupport&locale=
EN&userlocale=EN US
Brother: http://www.brotherusa.com/Support/#.VZnOMkYzlqM

42

Q: My USB thumb drive is not detecting.

A: This is an issue with Windows 8.1 not with the tablet. There
are some USB thumb drives that will not detect in W8.1. Brands
so far we have confirmed to work; HP, Kingston, Fellows and
ADATA
Q: I cannot get my Topaz Signature Pad to work in Excel.
A: You are to no longer use the Topaz Sig pad in Excel. There
are new forms loaded on Mobile Portal that will work with in
Excel to sign using the on-screen pen. You will find the pen
icon
at the very top quick launch toolbar in Excel. Use
pinch zoom to zoom into the Excel cell you want the
signature to be. This will help size the signature to the form.
Sign by using your finger on the tablet screen. DO NOT USE AN
INK PEN OR THE TOPAZ STYLUS on the tablet screen.
Q: What are all these shortcuts on the desktop for?
A: The tablet was setup with easy to find shortcuts to
frequently used Fairbanks software. If you find shortcuts to
software you know you will never use, it is okay to delete them
from the desktop. This will not remove the software, just the
shortcut to them. So if you need the software later, it will still
be there under all programs.
Q: What is this short on the desktop called Backup to SD Card?
A: That is a quick way to back up your Fairbanks Service folder
under Documents and the Outlook Archive under
Documents>Outlook Files. You can run this backup any time, it
43

will copy the data from the tablet to the removable 32GB Micro
SD Card preinstalled in the tablet. Remember for the email
archived to be backed up, you must have Outlook closed or the
file will be locked and will not copy over.
Q: I cant put the tablet in the stand and have the USB adapters
plugged in at the same time.
A: On the top right side (opposite side from the power switch)
there is a switch. This switch will turn on or off the screen
Auto Rotate feature. With auto rotate turned on, you can
turn the laptop so the two USB ports are on the top or the side
of the tablet. Be very careful, if the USB adapters pull too much
on the USB port, they will start to pull apart. This will cause the
ports to loosen and the USB adapters will begin to continuously
install/uninstall and never keep a constant connection in
Windows.
Q: There is no room to plug the keyboard RF receiver in the tablet
jacket while its powering on the docking station.
A: The only fix here is to remove the USB RF receiver from the
tablet and plug into the docking station when the tablet is
docked.
Q: Windows appears to have frozen and pressing the power button
isnt shutting down.
A: Though it is never good to power dump Windows on any
device, if Windows is locked up, hold down the power button
till you feel the tablet vibrate in your hands. When the tablet
44

shuts down correctly, it is set to vibrate so you know it has been

powered off successfully.
NOTE: In Windows 8.1, shutdown actually puts the tablet into
hibernation so it has a faster boot up time. If the tablet is not
acting right, a reboot is the very first thing to try. Rebooting
is the only way to finish apply Windows updates successfully. A
reboot is also the first thing to try of the broadband modem
disappears from the network device list.
Q: I shutdown Windows at the end of the day, by morning both the
internal battery and the jacket battery are dead.
A: Be careful when you put the tablet in your carry bag,
something might be hitting the power switch on the tablet
turning it back on which will flatten the batteries. This switch is
sensitive and seems to power the tablet on at the slightest
touch. Currently the switch is set to suspend Windows when
touched. If you set the power switch to shut down when
pressed, this might be a problem if you accidentally hit the
switch while in the middle of a program or a customer signing a
form causing the tablet to shut down losing all your data.
Q: The broadband modem disappeared.
A: First, reboot Windows.
Second, in Device Manager scan for hardware changes and
reboot Windows.
Third, run Windows Updates and reboot when completed.
Fourth, contact Pam Harris in the I.T. Dept. (802-473-5278) to
have newer drivers installed.
45

Q: Broadband modem is there but shows no service.

A: In this case, shut down Windows. Once the light in the
upper right of the tablet has gone out and you have felt the
tablet vibrate in your hands, we know it is complete shut off.
Now power the tablet back on and check the AT&T 4G
connection again.
Q: I have run out of hard drive space.
A: The tablets after Windows, Windows updates and all the
required software loaded, only have 50GB of usable hard drive
space. Keep only important work related data on the tablet.
Remove any personal pictures, music, videos, downloads, nonFairbanks software etc. to gain more hard drive space.
If all this has been done and still hard drive is full, you may want
to move the 6GB of Competitive Manuals off to a USB thumb
drive or other data that you might not access on a daily basis.
Q: The keyboard is not being seen; I cannot type or move the mouse
pointer.
A: If the keyboard USB RF receiver is plugged into the dock,
make sure the dock is connected to ac power. Next, verify the
AA batteries in the keyboard have a full charge. If you dont
switch the keyboard power off when you put into your laptop
bag, it will discharge the batteries if a key is continuously
pressed down. Last, try resyncing the RF receiver to the
keyboard using the Logitech Unifying Software found under
46

All Programs at the Start Screen. If none of this works, contact

Pam Harris in the I.T. Dept. for a replacement keyboard. This is
a very popular keyboard model; you might even be able to find
one locally.
Q: The software running in the desktop view is too small, can I
make it larger?
A: Windows has a Magnifier program that can be used in the
desktop view. It will allow you to type in fields and scroll the
screen side to side to see everything. You will find the
Magnifier program under All Programs on the Start Screen side.
Scroll to the right to find the program then right click
Magnifier and choose Pin to taskbar. This will put the icon
for it on the taskbar in the Desktop view.

Q: Charms Bar is not appearing and the Windows Start button is not
allowing me to click it.
A: Starting and stopping the explorer.exe process is the fix.
Hold Ctrl+ALT+delete at the same time.
Select task manager, choose the Processes tab at
the top.

47

 Find windows explorer in the list (near the end) and

click it
Click the restart button in the bottom right side of
box --- OR right click Windows Explorer and click end
task (dont panic when you can no longer see our
desktop or windows)
Hold Ctrl+ALT+delete again, click task manager
Then click file at the top, select run new task, then
type explorer.exe
Your desktop will re-appear (possibly re-arranged and you may need
to re-organize your icons the way you desire). But after that, the
programs should again be working properly and allowing the charms
menu and other program menus to appear as they did before.
Q: Can I tile my Desktop, with an Excel form open, next to the
ScaleForms app so I can see both at the same time?
A: YES! You can split screen any program on the desktop with
any app, or between two apps.
Have your Excel form open on the desktop. Now startup the
ScaleForms app.
If using a keyboard, put the cursor at the very top of
ScaleForms screen, a menu bar should drop down. Move the
cursor to the left edge and click on the ScaleForms logo. Here
should give you a choice to Split Left, Split Right or Close. Now
you will see ScaleForms taking half the screen. Click on the
blank side of the split screen to get back to the Start Screen.
Click on Desktop, now both the desktop and ScaleForms should

48

be showing. You can move the center divider by clicking and

holding on the divider then moving it either right or left.
If using touch screen, swipe in from left edge to about an inch
right and hold there. The desktop will appear, let go and it will
now be a split screen.
Q: Lync is prompting me for a user name and password. What do I
enter?
A: Enter in your first initial last name @fairbanks.local
Example: pharris@fairbanks.local
Password will be the same you use for both Windows and
Outlook sign in.
Q: How do I quickly get a screen shot of my desktop or an app I am
running?
A: At any time, either in desktop mode or in the Start Screen
tile mode, press the Windows key + Prt Scr buttons at the same
time on the keyboard. This keystroke will take a screen shot of
what you are looking at, automatically save it as a jpg and put
the file in your Pictures folder under the Screenshots
folder.
NOTE: If you are working with the Logitech keyboard, to have
the Print Scr button work you also will need to press the
FN key (this key has a blue FN on it to the left of the
spacebar). So you will need to press Windows Key + FN + Print
Scr.

49

HOW TO MOVE OUTLOOK ARCHIVE OVER TO NEW TABLET

The Outlook archive can be in two places on the Toughbook and have different names than
what is in this example.
All archives will end with a .pst file extension. DO NOT copy over the .ost file, this is a
locked file and is unusable. You could have more than one archive, if you see two in your
Outlook Client software, then you should be copying over two .pst files. Example archive
names to look for: archive.pst, personalfolder.pst, archive1.pst
BEFORE backing up the email archive, Outlook MUST BE CLOSED or the file will be
locked and you will see an error when trying to copy over to a USB stick.
Here are the two locations to check using Windows Explorer
Where you see username in the locations below, that will be your profile. Example: jsmith
Those using Windows XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\My Documents\Outlook Files
Those using Windows 7:
C:\Users\UserName\Documents\O
utlook Files
C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local
\Microsoft\Outlook
When you find the archive.pst file AND have Outlook closed, right click the archive and choose
COPY.
Locate your USB stick in Windows Explorer, right click and PASTE. This copy could take
some time depending on how large the archive(s) is.
When the copying to the USB stick is done, move the USB stick over to the new tablet.
Using the docking station (connected to power) Windows 8.1 will recognize the USB
stick when you plug it in. Find the archive.pst file on the USB stick, right click and
COPY
You will PASTE the archive(s) into Documents > Outlook Files
Or if it is easier to find using windows explorer paste in
C:\Users\UserName\Documents\Outlook Files
We are almost done . . . .
Now we need to get the archive to show in the Outlook 2013 Client software.
Open Outlook
50

on the new
tablet. Click on
blue File tab

On the left, click on Open & Export

51

On the right, click on Open Outlook Data File

In the next window, highlight the archive you just pasted into Documents > Outlook Files by
clicking on it once. Then click the OK button at the bottom right.

Now your archive will show in Outlook.

52

HOW TO MOVE OUTLOOK ARCHIVE

OVER TO NEW TABLET
The Outlook archive can be in two places on the Toughbook and have different names than
what is in this example. All archives will end with a .pst file extension. DO NOT copy over
the .ost file, this is a locked file and is unusable. You could have more than one archive, if you
see two in your Outlook Client software, then you should be copying over two .pst files.
Example archive names to look for: archive.pst, personalfolder.pst, archive1.pst
BEFORE backing up the email archive, Outlook MUST BE CLOSED or the file will be locked
and you will see an error when trying to copy over to a USB stick.
Here are the two locations to check using Windows Explorer
Where you see username in the locations below, that will be your profile. Example: jsmith

Those using Windows XP:

C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\My Documents\Outlook Files

Those using Windows 7:

C:\Users\UserName\Documents\Outlook Files
C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

52

When you find the archive.pst file AND have Outlook closed, right click the archive and choose
COPY.
Locate your USB stick in Windows Explorer, right click and PASTE. This copy could take some
time depending on how large the archive(s) is.
When the copying to the USB stick is done, move the USB stick over to the new tablet.
Using the docking station (connected to power) Windows 8.1 will recognize the USB
stick when you plug it in. Find the archive.pst file on the USB stick, right click and
COPY
You will PASTE the archive(s) into Documents > Outlook Files
Or if it is easier to find using windows explorer paste in
C:\Users\UserName\Documents\Outlook Files

We are almost done . . . .

Now we need to get the archive to show in the Outlook 2013 Client software.

Open Outlook on the new

tablet. Click on blue File tab

On the left, click on Open & Export

On the right, click on Open Outlook Data File

In the next window, highlight the archive you just pasted into Documents > Outlook Files
by clicking on it once. Then click the OK button at the bottom right.

52

Now your archive will show in Outlook.

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