Mercury Direct: The Control Panel
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The Mercury Direct Control Panel is the program that allows you to configure Mercury Direct, and it connects with the Internet to send and receive orders and messages. It connects every few minutes to send and receive any waiting orders or messages.
The Control Panel is set up to start automatically each time your computer starts up. You must have the Control Panel running in order to access the Mercury Direct Client and send orders; therefore, it is suggested to always keep the Control Panel running while your computer is on.
NOTE: Because the Control Panel is the program that sends and receives orders and messages, you do not have to run the Mercury Direct Client to receive orders.
To access the Control Panel (if the Control Panel is already running), double click the Mercury Direct icon in the lower right hand corner of the desktop.
If the Control Panel is not running (you have manually exited the Control Panel and you want to start it up again), start the Control Panel by clicking the Start button on your computer’s desktop, then highlighting Programs, FTDI, Mercury Direct then clicking Mercury Direct Control Panel.
NOTE: When you minimize the Control Panel (when you click the button to move the Control Panel to the task bar at the bottom of your screen), you must double click the Mercury Direct icon in the lower right hand corner of the desktop to bring it up on the desktop again. Note that when you minimize the Control Panel, you are not closing it - the Control Panel is still running.
The buttons along the right hand side of the screen give you easy access to commonly-used functions:
- The Print button prints the highlighted message.
- The View button displays the message detail of the highlighted message (see “Viewing and Printing Message Detail” on page 58).
- The Refresh button refreshes the message log.
- The Connect/Disconnect button connects you with the Mercury Direct Host. Clicking this button will check for new orders or messages. The button at the bottom of the screen performs the same function when clicked on (it will change to green when it is connected and checking for new messages).
The bottom half of the control panel displays the Communications Log. This log will display any communications activity, such as when the Control Panel is checking for messages, or if there are any connection errors
Changing the Connection Frequency and Blackout Period (The Host Tab)
By default, the Control Panel connects with the Internet and sends and receives waiting orders and messages every 15 minutes. You can change the frequency that the Control Panel connects to the Internet in the Host tab of the Edit Options window.
To access the Host tab, from the Control Panel click the Edit menu, then click Options. Then click the Host tab.
To change how often the Control Panel connects, change the number of minutes in the Polling Interval field (for example, the number 15 in the Polling Interval field means that the Control Panel will connect to the Internet and send and receive any waiting messages every 15 minutes) or type a lower number in the Message Count field. When you are finished, click the Apply button.
To change the blackout period, type new Begin and End times in the Black Out section of the screen. The Black Out period is a span of time where Mercury Direct will NOT try to connect to send or receive orders.
Please do not change any other fields in this window, unless you are instructed to do so by Mercury Direct Support.
Customizing the Message List (The Grid Tab)
The heading at the top of the Control Panel Message List tells you what type of information is being displayed for each message. By default, the fields on the Message List heading are: Status, Mercury #, Type, In/Out, Recipient, Received, Related to, Viewed, and Printed. If you would like to change the information that is displayed for each message in the Message List, you can customize this heading in the Control Panel in the Grid tab.
To access the Grid tab, from the Control Panel click the Edit menu, then click Options. Then click the Grid tab.
To remove a field from the Message List, highlight the field in the Display box and then click the left arrow to move it to the Available box. To add a field to the Message list, highlight the field that you would like to add in the Available box, then click the right arrow to move it to the Display box.
When you are finished making changes, click the Apply button.
Printer Routing (The Message Tab)
The Message tab allows you to select a default printer, and set up your printer routing. Here you can specify if you would like to print certain message types when they are sent or received, and if so, where you would like them to print.
To access the Message tab, from the Control Panel click the Edit menu, then click Options. Then click the Message tab.
For each message type listed in the Type column, the program displays in the Auto Print column whether the message will print to your printer when it is sent or received. The Printer column displays which printer the order or message type will print to. If the order or message type is set to print to your default printer, this means that it will print to the printer that you have set as the default printer in Windows. By default, all orders and messages are set to print to your default printer.
If a message type displays Always in the Auto Print column, then you cannot change the Auto Print setting (but you can change the Printer setting).
To change a message type Auto Print setting to No, click inside the Auto Print column for that message type so that a down arrow appears. Then click the down arrow and select No:
To change the printer that the message type prints to, click in the Printer column for that message type so that a down arrow appears. Then click the down arrow and select a new printer from the list.
You can quickly change the printer for all message types by using the field located at the bottom of the screen. In the field that reads “Set all message types for this code to this printer,” you can select a printer from the drop down list and then click Set all to change all printers. When all of your changes in this window are complete, click the Save button at the bottom of the window.
Printer Settings (The Printer Tab)
The Printer tab allows you to change settings for an individual printer. To access the Printer tab, from the Control Panel click the Edit menu, then click Options. Then click the Printer tab.
First select a printer from the Printer field, then change any settings for the printer.
Following is a list of field descriptions for this window:
- Printer - this field displays a list of your printers. Select a printer from the list to change the settings for that printer.
- Copies - the number of copies that you would like this printer to print.
- Color printing - check this box if you would like this printer to print in color (only available for color printers).
- Quality - select a print quality: High, Medium, Low or Draft. High quality uses the most ink when printing, and Draft quality uses the least amount of ink.
- Paper - select from this field the size of paper that is loaded in the printer.
- Orientation - select if you would print Portrait (vertical) or Landscape (horizontal).
- Notification - when a message is printed, a message pops up. This section of the screen allows you to configure when and how this pop up is displayed. You can select any combination of the following:
- Incoming Messages/Orders Only - when checked, this causes a pop up message to display only when incoming messages are printed.
- Visual - when checked, this causes a message to pop up when any message has been printed.
- Audible - when checked, this generates an audible “beep” noise when any message has been printed.
- Ink Saver Mode - when this field is checked, the printer will not print graphics or any bold type (to save on toner).
When you are finished making changes, click the Apply button at the bottom of the window.
Florist Search Settings (The Client Configuration Tab)
The Client Configuration tab allows you to change Florist Search settings.
To access the Client Configuration tab, from the Control Panel click the Edit menu, then click Options. Then click the Client Configuration tab.
By default, only City/State and/or Zip Code are used when performing a Florist Search when creating an order. This dialog allows you to specify more options.
Florist Search Options: The following options affect how Florist Search behaves when accessed from the order screen.
- Auto Correct City Abbreviations - If you type an abbreviation for a city when creating an order, the system will correct it for you automatically:
- St, St., or Snt is corrected to “Saint.”
- Mt, Mt., or Mnt is corrected to “Mount.”
- Ft, Ft., or Frt is corrected to “Fort.”
- Only Show Mercury Terminals - When checked, Mercury Direct will filter out florists who are not codified as having a Mercury terminal.
- Include Price in Florist Search - When checked, Mercury Direct will use the shop/product minimum when searching for a filling florist.
Autoselect Search Criteria: The following options are used when using Auto Select in the order screen.
- Price Including Delivery - When checked, the Price Including Delivery amount from the order screen is used as a product minimum when searching for a filling florist. Auto Select will not select a florist with a product minimum higher than the Price Including Delivery on the order.
- 1st Choice Product - When checked, the 1st Choice product on the order will be used as criteria when searching for a filling florist. If this option is checked and you have not yet selected a product code as the 1st Choice product, the product will not be criteria when selecting a filling florist.
- Use Price Including Delivery as a shop minimum - When checked, the Price Including Delivery is used as a shop minimum when searching for a filling florist. Auto Select will not select a florist with a shop minimum higher than the Price Including Delivery on the order.
When you are finished making changes, click the Apply button at the bottom of the window.
