1. CS3015 Beacon Module 4 Messenger & Setting Preferences
People and Technology Creating a Safer, Cleaner Environment
Updated 6/13

2. Summary Messenger/ Preferences:
This module will show users will learn how to use the “Beacon ” system.
Create messages, read incoming messages, respond to messages.
Will emphasize the functionality that allows users to send Call Notes, Pipelines, and Collection Notes to other Beacon Users and to use attachments via the Messenger system.
In this module, users will learn how to use the Beacon System – otherwise known as Beacon Messenger. *
We will review creating, reading and responding to messages
Sending Call notes, pipelines and collection notes to other beacon users, as well as using attachments
We will also review setting personal preferences and customized views to save time and improve system efficiency
- This module will also show the user how to set their personal preferences in the following Beacon functions; General, Pipeline, Call Notes and Collections. User will see how these preferences will save them time and improve efficiency.

3. Beacon Messenger
Messenger is a stand-alone mail application within BEACON. The messages sent and received with the messenger system remain within BEACON, they do not tie to any of our other systems. 
To access Beacon Messenger, click on the icon from the top of your screen and then click Messenger.
The messenger screen will then open – you are automatically in your inbox. Your message will preview below
Beacon Messenger is a stand alone application within Beacon.
The message sent and received remain in Beacon, they do not migrate to any other systems such as Microsoft Outlook. *
To access Beacon Messenger, click on the messenger link at the top of your screen
Your messenger screen will then open to your inbox, showing a preview of messages at the bottom of the screen.

4. Beacon Messenger At the top of your screen, you have several options
Create a new message
View Message
Reply to all
Hide preview pane
At the top of your messenger screen, you have several options to choose from *
You can refresh the screen at any time with the refresh icon
The plus sign allows you to create a new message
You can delete messages after you have reviewed them
Click the view message icon to view the message in its entirety
You can reply to the sender
Reply to all on the distribution list
Forward a message
And hide the preview pane if you wish. We will now look at each icon and its functionality in more detail.
Refresh
Reply
Delete message
Forward

5. Reading Messages
When the Messenger window opens it displays the list of messages currently in your inbox. The message list appears in the top half of the window, and a preview of the text of the active message appears in the bottom half. *
When the messenter window opens it displays the list of messgaes in your inbox. The message list appears in the top half of the window,
And a preview of the text of the message appears in the bottom half

6. Reading Messages
To view a message, select a row in the list and click You can also double-click a
message in the list to view its contents. The full message appears in a separate window.
To view a record attached to a message, click the link next to the word Attachment in the message header.
As we noted earlier, when the messenger window opens, it displays the list of messages in your inbox. The message list appears in the top half on the window, and a preview of the text of the active message will display in the bottom half. *
To view a message, select the message in the list and click the View Message Icon. Double clicking the message will also allow you to view the entire message.
To view a record attached to a message, click the link next to the attachment in the message header.
To reply to a message, you can reply to the sender or to everyone on the distribution list.
To reply to a message, click to reply to the message sender or click
to reply to the sender and all of the other recipients of the message.

7. Reading Messages
To forward a message, click All information in the current message, except for
the recipient list, is copied to the new message.
You can also forward a message to another user, or group of users. All of the information from the message you are forwarding will be copied into the new message except for the recipient list. *
You can then click the refresh icon to retrieve any new messages from the server. Note that messenger will automatically check for messages on its own, but you can force a check at any time by refreshing.
Once you have reviewed a message, you can delete one or more messages by checking the box in the far left column of the message list. Once selected, click the delete icon to remove the messages from the system. Note that Messenger does not have a “sent” items or “deleted” items folder.
You can use the up and down arrows to expand and hide the two half's of the window if desired.
Click to retrieve any new messages from the server. Messenger will periodically
check for new messages on its own, but you can force a check at any time by
clicking the button.
To delete one or more messages, check the box in the far left column of the message list
for each message to delete. Click to delete the messages from the system.
Use the button to expand and contract (hide) the two halves of the
window.

8. Sending Messages
Sending a message in BEACON is similar to composing an . Each message has a list
of recipients, a subject, a body, and (optionally) an attachment.
Click     from the Messenger window to open the Compose Message window.
To select recipients, click   to open the Recipient dialog box. Within the dialog, groups are represented by the      icon, and individual users are represented by the   icon.
To select users as recipients:
Click a group name to expand its list of users or subgroups.
Click a user name to select it. The user name appears in the Recipient box. - Continue selecting users by clicking their names.
When you have selected the appropriate names, click OK to close the dialog box.
Creating a new message in Beacon Messenger is similar to composing an within Outlook. Each message has a list of recipients, a subject, the message body and the ability to attach a record. *
To create a new message, click the plus icon to open the compose message window.
To select recipients, click the drop down arrow to open the recipient dialog box. Within the dialog, groups and represented by the multiple person icon, and individuals are represented by the single person icon.
To select users as recipients, click on the group name to expand the list of users. Click on a user name to select in. The user name will then appear in the recipient box. You can continue to select other users if desired.
When you have selected all desired recipients, click OK to close the dialog box.

9. Sending Messages
Double-click a group name to select all users within that group.
To add the active customer record as an attachment, click   . To search for another record to attach to the message, click    . Complete the search form and click a record to attach to the message.
Click     to clear all message information. Click    to remove the attachment from the message.
Click     to check the spelling of the message text.
To send a message to a group of users, you can simply double click on the group name and it will automatically select all users within that group. *
To add the active customer open in the power page to your message, click the paperclip icon. To search for another record to attach, you can use the search icon. Complete the search fields and click the record you wish to attach.
The eraser icon will clear all message information. The icon that is a paperclip with a line thru it will remove the attachment from the message.
You can spell check your message by clicking on the spell check icon.
When complete, click the send icon.
We will now review setting preferences.
When you are finished composing the message, click       to send it.

10. Preferences
User Preferences enables you to customize BEACON. You can configure BEACON to better meet your personal workflow needs by making changes to your system preferences. There are preference settings for the overall behavior of the application and there are settings for the default values that are given to new incidents.
User preferences can be accessed by clicking at the top of the screen. *
User preferences allows you to customize beacon. You can configure beacon to better meet your personal needs by making changes to the system preferences. There are preference settings for the overall behavior of beacon and there are settings for the default values that are given when creating new incidents.
To access user preferences, click the icon at the top of you screen shown here.

11. Preferences (General)
The screen below shows the General Tab and selections that can be changed.
Select the country to use in the primary address when you create a new customer
Select the language that appears in BEACON.
Select the view that you want to appear every time you log on to BEACON
This field allows you to choose what tab (pipeline, profile, etc.) that is showing when you access a company record.
Select the tab that you want to be active when you open the Advanced Search window. *
First we will review the GENERAL preferences. You can alter any or all of the fields on the tabs.
The screen shown here is the general tab and the selections that can be made.
Select the country to use in the primary address when you create a customer
Language allows you to set the language that appears in Beacon
Startup view allows you to choose which view appears first when you log into beacon
Default tab allows you to choose which tab shows for the customer first – for example, pipelines or collections. When you choose this option, every customer record you access will always default to the information on the tab chosen.
Default search tab allows you to choose which search tab will default each time you open the advanced search window.
List manager maximum rows, expand groups with selected users and display notification for new messages should not be changed.
If you select YES in the display preview pane in messenger window, you will not need to double click on each message to see the contents.
Finally, the default worknotes view allows you to select the layout in which you want notes to appear in a pipeline, call not or collection note.
Select Yes to have the preview pane appear in the messenger window when it loads. Select No to keep the preview pane hidden.
Select the layout in which you want notes to use when they appear in a pipeline, call note or collection note.

12. Preferences (Saving)
The screen below shows the Savings Tab and selections that can be changed. Changing any of the drop downs to NO configures BEACON to only notify you when a save fails. *
The next tab we will look at is the SAVINGS tab. Changing any of the drop downs to NO configures beacon to only notify you when a save fails.
Choose save only to have incidents and comment edit windows remain open after you save the record. Select save and close to have the windows close after you have saved the record.
Choose Save Only to have incidents and comment edit windows remain open after you save the record. Select Save & Close to have the windows close after you save the record.

13. Preferences (Pipeline & Call Notes)
On the Pipeline and Call Notes tabs, you can choose the fields you would like to automatically fill out when you create a new pipeline or call note. Once you click on the appropriate tab, you can choose the field values in the drop down lists (Pipeline tab is shown as an example below). *
The next 2 tabs are for setting defaults for pipelines and call notes.
On both tabs, you can choose the fields you would like to automatically fill in when you create a new pipeline or call note. Once you click on the appropriate tab, you can choose the field values in the drop down list.
Here is the pipeline tab
Note that you should NOT set preferences for collection notes in Beacon, only set preferences for pipelines and call notes.
NOTE: Preferences should not be set for collection notes as no one has the ability to create new collection notes in BEACON.

14. Configuring Tabs
To view the List Configuration Dialog (LCD) from a list in BEACON, click     in the lower right corner of the tab.
You can also set preferences for how your tabs appears, such as pipelines, and call notes. *
This is called List Configuration, or LCD. To view the LCD from one of the beacon tabs, click the LCD icon in the lower right hand corner of the tab.
Each tab has its own configuration.

15. Configuring Tabs
Use the available arrows to add or remove display fields. You can customize the order of the display columns by using the up and down arrows. *
Once the list settings opens, you can use the available arrows to add or remove display fields.
You can also change the sort order of the tab.
You can also change the sort order of the tab and the Maximum Rows (999 is the maximum).

16. Configuring Tabs
To save your changes directly from the list or within the LCD, click   . The entire state of the list will be saved. This saves all configuration items located on the LCD, and includes the current column widths and the view state (multiple pages vs. all records visible at once).
To discard any unsaved changes to a list and return to the saved settings, click    . This button is visible in the lower right corner of a list and appears in the LCD. Only available within the LCD is another button that you can use to return the list to the system default settings. Click     to discard all modified changes and view the list as it is configured by your system administrator.
To save your changes click the save icon. The entire state of the list will be saved. This saves all configurations on that tab, including column widths and view state. *
To discard any unsaved changes and return to the saved settings click the double back arrow icon located in the lower right corner of the tab.
If you click the single back arrow icon it will change the defaults back to their original system generated settings.
All of the lower tabs with the exception of the Budget and Quote tabs can be customized.
All tabs in Beacon can be customized with the exception of the Quote and Budget tabs.