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Contents
1. What is iCafe Manager? .................................................................................................................................................. 4 1.1. Server ...................................................................................................................................................................... 4 1.2. Client Terminal ........................................................................................................................................................ 4 2. Downloading, Registering & Activating Cafe Code ......................................................................................................... 5 2.1. Downloading iCafe Manager:.................................................................................................................................. 5 2.2. Registering the Cyber Cafe:..................................................................................................................................... 6 2.3. Obtaining and Activating the Cafe Code: ................................................................................................................ 6 3. Installing & Activating Server .......................................................................................................................................... 7 3.1. Installing the server:................................................................................................................................................ 7 4. Running iCafe Manager Server for the First Time........................................................................................................... 8 4.1. Welcome Screen ..................................................................................................................................................... 8 4.2. Activating iCafe Manager Server: ........................................................................................................................... 9 4.3. Creating a Rate Plan: ............................................................................................................................................. 10 4.4. Finishing the Startup Wizard: ................................................................................................................................ 10 4.5. Logging in to Server............................................................................................................................................... 10 5. Installing iCafe Manager Client on a Terminal .............................................................................................................. 11 5.1. Checking Client-Server Connectivity: .................................................................................................................... 11 6. Home Screen ................................................................................................................................................................. 12 6.1. Home Screen Layout: ............................................................................................................................................ 12 6.2. Terminal States & Icons ........................................................................................................................................ 14 6.3. Remote Management ........................................................................................................................................... 15 7. Logging in a (Walk-in) User ........................................................................................................................................... 15 8. Adding a Registered User .............................................................................................................................................. 15 9. Closing a User Session & Creating an Invoice ............................................................................................................... 17 9.1. Credit Feature ....................................................................................................................................................... 17 10. Creating a Membership Package .............................................................................................................................. 18 11. Print Manager ........................................................................................................................................................... 19 11.1. Adding a Printer to iCafe Manager ................................................................................................................... 19 11.2. Configuring a Service for a Printer .................................................................................................................... 20 12. Website Tracking & Blocking..................................................................................................................................... 21 12.1. Website Blocking............................................................................................................................................... 21 12.2. Website Tracking............................................................................................................................................... 21 13. Bandwidth Monitor ................................................................................................................................................... 23 14. Inventory Management ............................................................................................................................................ 24 14.1. Adding a Product ............................................................................................................................................... 24 14.2. Viewing Products and Services ......................................................................................................................... 25 14.3. Selling a Product/Service .................................................................................................................................. 25 15. Speed Enhancer ........................................................................................................................................................ 26 15.1. Power Saver: ..................................................................................................................................................... 26 16. Reports ...................................................................................................................................................................... 27 16.1. Daily Register Report ........................................................................................................................................ 28 17. Settings...................................................................................................................................................................... 29 17.1. General .............................................................................................................................................................. 29 17.2. Client Configuration .......................................................................................................................................... 29 17.3. Auto Close Session ............................................................................................................................................ 29 17.4. Backup and Restore .......................................................................................................................................... 29 17.5. Employees ......................................................................................................................................................... 29 17.6. Rate Plan Configuration .................................................................................................................................... 30 18. More Features........................................................................................................................................................... 30 18.1. Notice Board ..................................................................................................................................................... 30
18.2. Lock Server ........................................................................................................................................................ 30 18.3. Switch Employee ............................................................................................................................................... 30 19. More Information ..................................................................................................................................................... 31
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iCafe Manager is a Client-Server application and is made up of two parts the Server and the Client Terminals.
1.1. Server
The iCafe Manager application is managed from the server, and all its features and functions are available on the server screen. It is possible to perform all tasks such as viewing the Status of the Client Terminals; viewing and managing Rate Plans, Customer Information, Products, and Services; editing the Application Settings; viewing various Reports; and obtaining Help on all features.
Desktop The iCafe Manager Client screen is called the iCafe Manager Desktop. In addition to the regular desktop, it has Google Search, News, Movies, Cricket scores, links to popular and useful websites, and exciting offers for your cafe users. It also provides shortcuts to frequently used applications on the computer such as various messenger services, internet browsers, My Computer, My Documents and My Network Places. It prevents users from changing the terminals settings or deleting shortcuts. These features reduce your maintenance and troubleshooting efforts. o Deep Freeze Faronics Deep Freeze is an application that freezes your computer settings so that any changes made to it will not be permanent. This protects the computer from many problems such as viruses and incorrect driver configurations. If such a problem occurs, simply rebooting the system immediately restores it to the state it was in when last frozen. Note: During auto updates, iCafe Manager prompts the cafe administrator to thaw the terminal if it is in a frozen state in order to continue with the update.
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click Submit.
4) Please select the correct Country and City. This helps us ensure that we are complying with the laws applicable in
your region
5) Please enter a valid email ID. Your Cafe Code will be sent to this email ID. The Cafe Code is required for successful
With this step you have Activated your Caf Code. During installation you have to Activate your iCafe Manager Sever and Client installation using this Caf Code Page 6 of 31
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Before you can start using iCafe Manager you have to activate the Server and create a Rate Plan.
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information and clicking Next. When the client is successfully installed, click Finish.
3) In the confirmation box that appears, click OK to Restart the computer and complete the installation. 4) In the activation window that appears when the computer restarts, provide the Cafe Code and click Verify to
activate the client on the terminal. Upon cafe verification, click Activate. Note: Repeat these steps on all the terminals that will act as an iCafe Manager client.
Client-Server Connectivity
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6. Home Screen
6.1. Home Screen Layout:
You can perform all tasks of managing your Cafe from the Home Screen. The servers Home screen is made up of the following sections: Top Menu Bar
Left Quick Access Menu Bottom Updates Pane Switch Employee Centre Pane for Terminals
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Top Menu Bar: The menu bar appears at the top of every screen of the server and provides links to screens for different tasks and features of iCafe Manager.
Left Quick Access Menu: The Quick Access Menu appears on the left of every screen and is contextual; it changes according to the Feature you click on the Top Menu. It provides links to the most frequently used tasks and features of iCafe Manager. These features are also available on other screens of the server. Centre - Pane for Terminals: The central area of the screen displays all the Terminals in your Cafe network that have the iCafe Manager client installed, and allows you to manage them. This section can be displayed in two ways by selecting either the Icon View or the Table View in its upper-right corner. Icon View: The terminal name and the customer name is displayed for each terminal. A different ion is used to show different states of the terminals. These icons are explained in the following section A summary section at the bottom of the terminals pane displays additional information like the number of total, connected, disconnected, busy, and idle client terminals in the cafe. Bottom - Updates Pane: The updates pane at the bottom of the Home screen has the following three tabs:
Terminal Information This section does not appear if the terminals pane is displayed in table view and the
Quick Help section is collapsed. It provides details about all the active terminals, including the terminal name; the name and type of the user; the amount charged separately for internet usage and other products/services purchased; the total amount payable by the user; the sessions login time, duration, and time remaining; and the amount of data downloaded at the terminal during the session.
Closed Sessions This section is updated whenever a customer logs out from a terminal and the session is
closed. It provides details about all the closed sessions, including the name and type of the user; the terminal name; the sessions login and logout time as well as duration; and the amount charged for the session. It also provides a link to the invoice for the internet usage. Event Log This section displays a record of events that occur on the terminals, including a description of the event and the date and time when it took place.
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Registered User
Member
The Icons shown below are a combination of the type of User accessing the Terminal and the state of the Terminal. Terminal State Idle Description When the terminal is connected but no one has logged in Icon
Switched Off
Busy
Awaiting Re-login
Session Finished
When a user or registered user has logged out of a session and has still not paid the amount due
Abnormal Off
When a customer is logged in at the terminal and it disconnects from the server
The colour of the user on the icon will change to Green for Registered User and Blue for Member Page 14 of 31
This feature of iCafe Manager makes it easy for the cafe owner or server administrator to manage a number of client terminals from one location without having to be present at each terminal when needed.
Walk-in On the Add User Form, type the users name in the Name box. To assign a client terminal to the user, select a terminal in the Select Terminal box. You can enter the Session Time to limit the amount of time the User can access this terminal All other details on this form are optional You cannot enter Login ID and Membership Package for a User Click Start Session.
Session: The time duration for which a User uses a Terminal is referred to as a session. A session starts when a User is assigned a Terminal and Logs in to the Terminal A session ends when a User Logs out or the Session Time is over A session is closed when you create an Invoice for the user and collect money. Transferring a Session: If a User wants to change the Terminal, you can use the "Transfer Session" feature to assign a different Terminal. Right click on the User's Terminal and select "Transfer Session". His Session Time will continue on the newly assigned Terminal Renewing a Session: If a User wants to use the terminal for more time, you can increase the Session Time. Right Click on the Terminal icon & select Renew Session Time and enter additional time.
Note: The Name and Login ID fields are mandatory and cannot be left blank.
3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8)
To assign a client terminal to the user, select a terminal in the Select Terminal box. Optionally, you can add pictures of the user and the photo ID from a disk/drive or by using a webcam. Optionally, you can fill in other details for the user Click Finish. The Users Login ID will appear in the Login ID box on the Client Login Screen (Lockdown) The User must set his password and security question before starting his browsing session
Creating Registered Users and Members help you manage user accounts for frequent customers in your Cafe. Once a user is registered, you can quickly search the user in your database and assign a Terminal. This saves your time. Page 15 of 31
Screenshot 8.1-1 Add User, Add Registered User and Add Member
You can allow Users (Walk-in) and Registered Users to directly Log in to Terminals. These options can be set in the Client Configuration section of Settings tab
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then click Close Session 2) The Close Session dialog box appears with information about the User, Invoice No., Terminal, Date, and the Total (Rs.) that the customer has to pay. 3) In the dialog box, add any products or services purchased by the client besides internet usage. 4) Click Pay.
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Note: In the dialog box, the fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory and cannot be left blank. 4) Click Add.
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11.Print Manager
You can use the Print Manager feature to monitor all printers in your cafe and collect money from users for their printouts. The Print Manager feature of ICafe Manager enables you to track printouts automatically and save money. Printing charges can be automatically added to the user's Invoice, which ensures that no print charges are missed out. Using this feature, you can track multiple printers in your cafe and configure different rates for different types of printers.
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or choose a printer and then select Enable print manager on this printer. 4) Select Automatically add Print charges to users invoice. 5) In the Select a Service box, select the service to be automatically added to the users invoice when the printer is used. Note: If no service appears in the Select a Service box, select Add New Service and then define a new service.
6) Click Save.
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13.Bandwidth Monitor
iCafe Manager lets you monitor the bandwidth used by every terminal in your cafe. It tracks the amount of data being downloaded by the user at each terminal and displays this information on the server. You can set download limits for terminals, after which the percentage of download limit utilized on the terminals is highlighted on the server using different colours. You can even set an alert to inform the users whenever their download reaches 90% of the download limit.
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14.Inventory Management
iCafe Manager also acts as an inventory management system for your cafe. It maintains an inventory of products such as CDs, pen drives, other computer peripherals, snacks, etc. that your cafe sells besides providing internet services. It also allows you to define additional services that your cafe offers such as printing, scanning, and CD writing. Every purchase of a product or service is accounted in the system against an invoice. The purchase cost, quantity, and selling price is maintained for each product. Product: Products are items other than internet surfing time that you sell at your cafe. For example, CDs, computer peripherals, coffee, soft drinks, and snacks. Service: Services are facilities other than internet surfing that you sell at your cafe. For example, printing, CD writing, and scanning. Warning Level: If a warning level is set for the in-stock quantity of a product, an alert is raised whenever this level is reached. Detailed Inventory Reports: Reports are also generated that help in making better purchase decisions and enhancing profitability.
Note: In the dialog box, the fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory and cannot be left blank. 4) The total cost (Quantity x Cost) is automatically calculated and displayed in the Total Cost (Rs.) field. 5) Click Finish.
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15.Speed Enhancer
iCafe Manager enhances the performance of your Cafe Terminals and secures terminals from misuse by Users. With the Speed Enhancer feature you can control 25 settings to on Client Terminals to boost performance. These settings enable you to: Reduce Start-up & Shutdown times, Block access to Disk drives & USB connections, Block access to system settings & configurations, Prevent downloading of files, Prevent changes to Internet Browser and Network settings. This ensures that you get the best system performance, always. To use this feature Right Click a Terminal and Select iCafe Speed Enhancer Each Button on this screen has two links Enable (or Disable) and Help. Click on Enable to enable a feature. The link changes to Disable Click on Disable to disable a feature. The link changes to Enable
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16.Reports
A variety of reports can be generated on iCafe Manager to quickly view and understand useful information about your cafes operations. This helps you in planning and maximizing your business. The reports are categorized as follows:
Financial reports to view daily collections, purchases, and other cash transactions of your cafe User reports to view user details, sessions details, historical user data, and other information that is mandatory in some countries as per government laws Product and service reports that help in making better purchase decisions and enhancing profitability Cafe management reports that provide details about the usage of cafe terminals, including the server Printer reports that track the usage of each printer in your cafe Internet usage reports that provide details of bandwidth usage and websites blocked in your cafe These reports can be generated for specific dates or durations, specific users & specific products.
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OR If you are already on the reports screen, in the left panel of the screen click Daily Register Report. 2) In the Date box of the Daily Register Report screen that appears, select the date for which you want to view the daily register report. 3) Click Show.
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17. Settings
The Settings feature provides different options to customize iCafe Manager in your Cafe Click on Settings on the Top Menu Bar to view and change these settings
17.1. General
To close all applications opened by a User after the user logs out, enable the "Close Application on User logout" option in the General section.
17.5. Employees
iCafe Manager avoids unauthorized access of the application by providing unique logins to every employee working in a cafe. Unlimited number of logins can be created for employees. Permissions for the application can be individually granted to each Employee. Unauthorized use of the client or server application can be avoided by setting the appropriate permission for each employee. Click on Add Employee to create an account for an Employee and assign permissions to this account Page 29 of 31
Pulse based Membership If pulse based membership is enabled in iCafe Managers application settings, minutes are deducted from the users Membership Package at fixed intervals. This interval of a fixed number of minutes is the pulse defined for all the Membership Packages of the cafe. For example, if the pulse time specified in the settings is 5 minutes, then 5 minutes is 1 pulse, and for each pulse (i.e. every 5 minutes) a deduction takes place from the users membership package.
18.More Features
18.1. Notice Board
The Notice Board is an informational page that provides information such as the iCafe Managers new features and product releases. On the day when new information is to be conveyed, the notice board becomes the default screen on the server. The Notice Board colour changes to orange for the next five days. After that, the Notice Board tab returns to its normal state.
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19.More Information
You can get additional information on iCafe Manager on our website www.iCafeManager.com/support FAQ
Frequently asked questions on Installation and Usage.
Download Manual
Complete Document from Installation to Backups. All features and processes explained in detail with appropriate screenshots and notes.
Knowledge Base
A collection of Knowledge Articles which provides solution to common issues faced in cafes.
Training Videos
Learn iCafe Manager with free training videos. Each video explains all the steps for every feature available in iCafe Manager.
Useful Downloads
.Net Framework Team Viewer Hotfix for Pint Page Count problem in Word 2007 Hotfix for Pint Page Count problem in Word 2003 MS Office 2003 SP 1 MS Office 2003 SP 2
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