Cyber-Time 4.1

Customer Monitor

The Customer Monitor is the hart of Cyber-Time. It is the software that monitors the workstation's activity, the amount due for clients, and basic system security.

Starting the Customer Monitor

IMPORTANT! : Before starting the Customer Monitor, you MUST have a drive and path mapped to the server computer, have read/write accesses rights to the server, and have run the Server Finder Application to a successful conclusion. If these conditions have not been established, the Customer Monitor will not run and will in most cases lock the system up. The only way to get control of the system again it to re-boot the workstation.

IMPORTANT! : The Customer Monitor has several security features that prevent users from using the system unless a valid user name and password are entered. Once the Customer Monitor is run, several Windows 95/NT functions are turned off. The CTRL-ALT-DEL, ALT-F4 (Close App) , and the ALT-TAB features are all disabled. Cyber-Time must maintain these setting to insure system security and integrity while in use.

To start the Customer Monitor, go to the Cyber-Time 4.1 program group under START- PROGRAMS. Click on Customer Monitor.

When the application begins running, it will try to establish the connection to the server and the database files. If an error occurs, such as a "BDE Database Engine Error", try running the Server Finder application again. If the problem persists, contact Cyber-Time technical support via e-mail and describe the problem.

Once the connection has been established, the Customer Monitor will then begin showing the advertisement bitmaps (if there are any specified) on a black background. A large button at the bottom of the screen will indicate to click on the button to login. Once clicked, the login screen will appear asking for the user name and password.

There are three possible inputs available here.

-The first is a valid user name and and password for a customer account. This will log the user in and allow for monitored system access.

-The second is a valid user name and password for an employee account to shut down the Customer Monitor. Only employees with the permitted access rights can use their user name and password at this point.

-The third option is for the master user name and password to be entered to shut down the Customer Monitor.

If anything but a valid user name and password are supplied for the above possible accounts, the Cyber-Time will not permit access to the system. Incorrect entries will result in an error message indicating an improper attempt, or the user may select the "Cancel" button to go back to the advertisement screen.

Once the login process continues, One of two things will happen. If the user name and password entered was that of the master/valid employee, the Customer Monitor program will immediately terminate. The CTRL-ART-DEL and ALT-TAB functions should be restored. The ALT-F4 function was only invalid for the Customer Monitor.

If the user name and password entered was that of a customer, the Customer Monitor will display a screen showing any disclaimer text available. The text that appears in this area is accessed via the Account Manager.

After the user reads the text and clicks to "Proceed" button, the Customer Monitor will re-size into a smaller window and begin timing and logging information to the server about the user and system activity.

The window will display the name of the user, the account type, and other various status points based on what kind of account the user has. A Flate Rate account will show how much time the user has been on-line and how much he or she currently owes. A block Of Time or Date Block account will show how much time is remaining. If either of these two accounts run out of time and the Aut-Extend feature is tuned on, the window will change at the expiration time to a windows very much like a Flat Rate kind of account.

The "Hide" button will place the Customer Monitor on the task bar. The critical data, such as how much time remains or how much money is due should appear either on the task bar button, or in a bubble over the task bar button when the mouse cursor is near. Simply click the task bar button to restor the Customer Monitor window. It may take a brief moment to redraw and re-size.

The "About..." button is a small window that tells the user and administrator about the program and its version number.

The logoff button will log the user off, print a bill (if appropriate) and return the system to the advertisement screen and await another user.

Important Items To Consider

There are several things that are very important to take into consideration when using the Customer Monitor.

First, Cyber-Time is not meant to be an global security package for the workstations, networks or servers. Since there are many diverse ways to use Cyber-Time, the security is limited only to what the software needs to do its job. Any other security issues, such as limiting access to the control panel, network drives and paths, and applications packages should be dealt with by the organization running the software. There are several packages (most are free) that have been posted on the Cyber-Time home page that will allow you to control the security of your system to whatever specifications are required. Left alone, Cyber-Time is a somewhat secure application. However, anyone with sufficient Windows 95/NT knowledge would subvert it easily. This is where the third party security software should come into play. Please check the Cyber-Time home page for more details on available security software.

Cyber-Time also does not control applications control. The Policy Editor included on the Windows 95/NT CD-ROM or other security software can control what applications can and can not be run. Cyber-Time can also not shut down applications that are running, or prevent running applications (other than itself) from shutting down. Again, other security software should be employed here to meet the individual customer's needs.

Cyber-Time has been tested with a variety of software applications. While most programs tested worked perfectly, there are a few that have proved to be unreliable. All problems found with causing system instability and occasional unpredictable crashes were with DOS based programs. While many DOS based games and applications worked fine, there were some packages that would sometimes cause a system crash or become unresponsive to Cyber-Time's request to log the user off if the user ran out of time. This is an issues that will have to be addressed with the individual customer and packages to be used on the system. However, no guarantees can be made with DOS software. DOS is quickly becoming an unsupported platform and increasingly difficult to service and maintain. While Cyber-Time will probably work with any DOS applications our customers may have, there is simply no guarantee that there will not be problems.