NEWSLETTER #8       MAY 2004
Newsletter Index:
  • Product Information
    • Coming Soon - Version 5.0
    • Your Product Enhancements wanted!
  • Technology Trends - Web+Center and WiFi Hots Spots
  • Web+Center Support Contracts and Web+Center Support
  • Web+Center User Spotlight - K-12 Education / Oxnard Unified High School District

Product Information
    Coming Soon - Version 5.0
    The next version of Web+Center, version 5.0, is currently under development by the ISS engineering team and it is scheduled for release in Fall 2004. Many new features will be included in this major release including:
      New Invoicing/billing/report features
      Active Directory integration
      Enhanced customer and asset importing utilities
      Remote Control options and included free software


    Your Product Enhancements are wanted!

      The Web+Center product has been successful by incorporating many of the features that our users have requested. If you have any enhancements you would like to see in the product for this next 5.0 release, please either send an email to Support@inet- science.com or submit a trouble ticket on the ISS web-based support page and select the Enhancement category so it can be routed to engineering for review for the 5.0 release.


Technology Trends - Web+Center and WiFi Hot Spots
    The world of Hot-spots and WiFi connectivity is growing exponentially as businesses, and industry add "Hot Spots", small areas where wireless Internet connectivity is available for lap top and Pocket PC users.

    Recently in Palo Alto, California, an entire 10 block section of downtown University Avenue has been wired to provide WiFi to shoppers and customers in those businesses. In addition to this larger coverage provided, other smaller areas offer free WiFi options by individual merchants inside or in front of their stores.

    Internet Software Sciences saw this trend of free or low cost wireless connectivity options and developed the latest Web+Center application called the Pocket+Center.

    The Pocket+Center is a re-engineered version of the Tech+Center for Pocket PC’s and Pocket Browsers. It allows almost all of the Tech+Center functionality to be performed through a Pocket Browser. Many of the newer Pocket PC devices come with built-in WiFi remote connectivity options making Pocket+Center a reality for many users. Other cell phone connectivity options for Pocket PC’s perform full roaming options.

    What makes the Pocket+Center and the Web+Center suite of web-based Help Desk and Customer support applications powerful is the flexibility and mobility in a web-based application. Since the trouble ticket case information and dispatch functionality is all performed from the back end web server and database, a user does not have to be at their primary "Desktop" computer to access and dispatch their support cases.



Web+Center Support Contracts and Web+Center Support
    Internet Software Sciences offers annual support/maintenance and software version update contracts for license systems of more than 5 techs. Support contracts must be purchased at the time of the original purchase and must be renewed each year. To perform major version updates when they are available, (i.e. from version 4.0 to 5.0), a current support contract must be in place. If you are a licensed user of the system and either need to confirm the status of your support contract or you feel you did not receive your annual support renewal notice, please send an email to support@inet-sciences.com.

    To accommodate organizations that need to purchase their annual support/maintenance contract based on a fiscal calendar date (like July 1st) instead of their original purchase date, please contact Internet Software Sciences and request that the annual renewal date for the maintenance date be moved to a different date. One can contact Internet Software Sciences by calling (650) 949-0942 or by sending an email to Support@inet-sciences.com.

    When contacting Internet Software Sciences for support, please have your company name and Web+Center License contact name available so we can confirm your maintenance agreement status.



Web+Center User Spotlight - K-12 Education/Oxnard Unified High School District
    Many K-12 education IT support organizations have discovered the Web+Center product and implemented it for their internal IT operations. Many users of the California Educational Technology Professional Association (CETPA - www.cetpa-k12.org), an organization consisting of about 1,200 members whose mission is to increase information sharing and communication among K-12 technologists on technology-related issues, now use the Web+Center for their help desk. CETPA members including San Francisco USD, Pasadena USD, Madera COE, Oxnard UHSD, and Golden Valley USD and others have chosen Web+Center to automate their support processes.

    Internet Software Sciences recently wrote an article for the CETPA “DataBus”publication titled “Help Desk: From Evaluation to Implementation”. This article can be viewed on- line at the CETPA website at:

    Click here for Help Desk Article

    Part of that article is a case study about Oxnard Unified High School District that is listed below.

    Case Study - Oxnard Unified High School District

      Stephen Wolodkin, Director of Information Technology at Oxnard Unified High School District, found his support process needed to be evaluated when he first started his job there. Originally the support process consisted of a set of seven cell phones. Every morning, techs would come in and take one of the seven cell phones. School district employees were provided a list of seven phone numbers and were instructed to start at the top of the phone list and call until they got an answer. Stephen quickly identified the need for a better process to track and manage their IT support help desk. The Web+Center product was chosen. Stephen describes his situation as: "Prior to using Web+Center, the end-users dialed the cell phone numbers of our techs in sequence until somebody answered the phone! We needed a simple, budget-friendly, Web-based solution that we could deploy rapidly to remedy this situation. Web+Center was chosen and deployed very quickly and we have loved using it ever since."