1. The system will be accessible upon demand
All that is needed is:
Internet access, and
Your volunteer ID number
During the Fall and tax season, a link will be posted under “Hot Topics”
Outside of this period, the link will be moved to “General Program Communication”
To Access the System, go to a computer with access to the Internet
Log onto the internet
Go to the volunteer extranet at
Once at the volunteer extranet, you will be able to select the appropriate link

2.
From the log in screen, you would enter in your volunteer ID number.
Your volunteer ID number can be entered with dashes, or without – it does not make any difference
It can also be entered with leading zeros, or not, once again it does not make any difference
The system is flexible as long as you get the digits in the correct order
Then hit “login”
One note: The data shown in the next slides are fictitious. It is shown to illustrate the screens only.

3. Once into the system, a listing of all the sites in the National Database, VMIS, to which you are currently assigned AND that are currently listed as active, will be listed
If you do not see a site that you should see, please contact your state’s ADS
The sites will be listed in SIDN order, and will show the SIDN, the Site Name (as it appears in VMIS), and the address
To select a site, you can either type in the SIDN for the site (including the capital letter “S” at the beginning) and hit the “Go” button, OR
You can use the scroll bar to the right to find the site, and then click on the SIDN number

4. When you select a site, this screen will appear first
When you select a site, this screen will appear first. Now let’s get you oriented to what data is included on this and each of the associated screens
The site information will be presented in a series of “tabs”. These tabs are shown along the top of the screen and consist of the following topics: Site Information, Schedule of open hours, E-File availability, Other Information, and Prior Year Activity Reporting. You can open each tab by moving your mouse over it and “clicking” on the tab name
At the top of the Site Information screen, you will see the SIDN, the Site Name, and the last time that the site’s information was updated in the National Database
To the Left, you will see information on the location of the site, including its address, split state, and region. Additionally you will see information about the site contact person’s name and phone number.

5. On this screen, do you notice something different about the Contact Information fields from the address fields? The Contact information (Contact Name, Contact Phone Number) is shown in a colored box. The address fields are not.
This difference is important to notice, because you can change the fields that are shown in a colored box. If the field is not shown in a colored box, you can read the entry in the field(s) but can not change it. If these non-colored fields do need to be changed, you must contact your ADS to ask them to make the change. The ADS’s name and address are listed on the right side of screen. Additionally, you can see who is assigned as SC, and who the DC and LC are that are assigned to the site.
By now, you may have also noticed something else…..To the right of some fields there is a “Star.” Also to the left of some fields there is a “?” These are important on-line tools for you.
The “Star” means that this field is sent to the IRS-STARS system: Please know that VMIS information on sites is sent to the IRS-STARS system 2 times each week, all 52 weeks out of the year. So, if you are told that Tax-Aide site information is not correct in the IRS-STARS system, yet you see it is correct here, please contact your ADS or SC. They will contact the Tax-Aide National Office who will work with the IRS-STARS system administrator to resolve the issue
If you click on any “?” icon it will, provide additional information about the field such as the definition of what information should be recorded as well as other important information about the field. The example shown here provides additional information about the Contact Name data and how it is used. By the Way – The screens shown here were produced before the final version of this new system had been developed, so we could show you how the system works. There will be some additional changes made as suggested by our end use testers – but they should not be material changes in terms of becoming familiar with the system.

6. The Schedule Tab contains information on the dates during the tax season that a site is open
The AARP National Office automatically sets the dates each year to February 1 and April 15. You can update them if you want something more specific. (note that you can update the month and the day of the month but not the year)
The hours per day that the site is open can also be edited by you. These field are updated using a pull-down listing of hours. There are also two separate sets of hours. You can choose to use both sets if you have defined shifts and the site closes down between shifts.
The “Yes” and “No” markers at the bottom of the page are also something that you can change. The default will be set to the value currently in the national data base
You may also include comments about the schedule in the box to the right, if you think it would be helpful for the public to know about your site. Some site managers enter “Appointment Preferred, Walk-ins Welcome” as an example.
Finally, the more accurate the schedule information is, the more informed the public will be about sites in their area. Also, accurate schedule information can be used to determine total hours of operation, which some local management uses to oversee activities in their area

7. This tab illustrates the efile information related to this site in VMIS
The ERO information, as well as the e-filing “Yes” or “No” fields can be updated in this system
EFIN numbers, and the EFIN holder’s name, can not be changed in this system. If this information needs to be updated, you should contact your ADS
A Note about the EFIN information:
There have been questions raised about the appropriateness of this information being listed here. The National Database is a secure system. Apart from the reference to e-filing shown towards the bottom of the screen, be assured that these fields will not be listed on the Site Locator information available to the public. Listing this information is optional, but the screen is available if you find it to be valuable.
Even though most of the data in this tab is optional, all sites must be marked with either a “Yes” or “No” to E-filing

8. This tab enables you to update all the fields shown here
If a site sponsor requests a Certificate of Insurance you can use the button at the bottom right to complete an Insurance Certificate request to be sent directly to the AARP Insurance Department.

9. By hitting that button, you will be taken into an on-line request form that is sent directly to the AARP Insurance department.
Specific fields are required and are marked with a “*”.
Once the on-line form is completed, the request is automatically received in the Insurance Department and you should receive a Certificate within a few days.

10. This tab shows a high level summary of the activity reporting counts listed in the Activity Reporting system as final counts in the last tax season.
This information is view only at this point and not even the ADS can change the counts reflected here.
When LC’s or DC’s submit activity counts for the current tax season, they will log on to the Activity Reporting system available from the Extranet using their Volunteer ID to gain access to the system.

11. Now just a couple more things…..
There is a “Print Page” function, to give you a clean print out of all the information listed for this site. It is at the top right of each page.
Hitting “Save” at the bottom right on any of the screens, will save any and all the changes you may have made to those fields you can update
If you need to go back to the complete list of sites accessible to you, or to look at another site also hit the “Save” button….Just remember this will save what you have changed and return you to the site list menu. If you hit the Back to Sites List menu without saving then any changes you made will not be saved.
If you are finished making data entries and want to leave the system, you should log out by pressing this “Log out” button at the top right of the screen….But don’t forget to first save what you have changed
Hitting “Cancel” on any of the screens, will undo any and all changes you made after you last time you hit the “Save” button on the page being viewed or any other page
There is a print me function, so that you can get a clean print out of all the information listed for this site
Hitting “Save” on any of the tabs, will save any and all changes you have made to the fields you can update
If you need to go back to the complete list of sites, to look at another site, hit this button….But don’t forget to save what you have changed
If you are finished and want to leave the system, you can log out by pressing this “Log out” button….But don’t forget to save what you have changed
Hitting “Cancel” on any of the tabs, will undo any and all changes you made after you last hit the “Save” button

13. Questions?
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