Mini BenchMark User Guide

Overview

Mini BenchMark is a system for capturing productivity information from technicians and tracking the case through the lab. There are 2 components of Mini BenchMark:

Figure 1: Memory Scanner

Figure 2: Memory Scanner Cable

The production information that is captured flows into the Piecework Pay, Productivity Pay and Technician Productivity features of Case Manager.

System Requirements

Mini BenchMark requires both a Windows 98/NT/2000/ME/XP desktop computer and a Memory Scanner. The desktop computer should have at least 64 megabytes of RAM, a floppy disk drive and a free USB or 9 pin Communications Port.

Driver Installation (USB only)

There are 2 types of cables for the scanner available: USB and 9 pin serial. The USB cable just dynamically adds a new Communications Port to the PC. The USB cable also requires the installation of a driver. The drivers are located on the Mini BenchMark CD. When you first plug the USB cable into the PC Windows will prompt you for a driver. Let Windows search the CD-ROM for the driver. It should locate and install the driver for you automatically. Remember that no driver is required for the 9 pin serial cable.

Software Installation

Put the Mini BenchMark CD in your desktop computer. When the AutoPlay menu comes up take the option to install Mini BenchMark.

Running the software

After installation you’ll notice that there is a new icon on your desktop PC called "Mini BenchMark."

Use this icon to start the program.

The Mini BenchMark Window

Figure 3: Mini BenchMark Window

Please notice the following areas of the Window above:

• Comm Port. This is the communications port. The Memory Scanner can be attached to either a USB cable or a serial cable. The USB cable adds a new Communications Port to your computer while the serial cable plugs into a 9 pin port on the back of the PC. Determining which Communications Port you are using can be tricky. Typically the the port number will in the range 1 to 4. It's ok to experiment with each port until you make the connection. It will be obvious when the connection is made because the green light on the scanner will blink as it establishes communications with the Mini BenchMark software on the desktop PC.
• SQL Server. This is the name of the computer that is running the Case Manager’s SQL Server. In a single user installation please use "(local)". If your SQL Server is running on a different computer then click the ... button to start the database wizard. Except for the database server name you should choose the default settings.

  

• Log. This is the space where all the dated messages are displayed. These messages confirm the normal operation of the program.
• Get Bar-Codes from Scanner button. When the Memory Scanner is attached to your computer click this button to begin the process of reading barcodes from the Memory Scanner and updating Case Manager. With the keyboard Alt + G or Enter will also click this button.
• The Close button ends the program.

Licensing

Before you use Mini BenchMark you must install the licenses for you scanners. Mini BenchMark is licensed per scanner. This means that you should only get scanners from Key Automation. When we send your scanner we will include a licensing disk. To add a scanner to your Mini BenchMark please do the following:

1. From the File menu choose Load License File
2. Put the floppy disk in the computer
3. Click Ok
4. You should see a message in the log for each scanner that you have licensed. When licenses for all scanners have been loaded you will see a message that "Load license file is complete". Now you're ready to begin scanning with Mini BenchMark

Basic Operation

Scan Bar-codes

1. Scan a technician bar-code. *
2. Scan 1 or more task bar-codes
3. Repeat 1 and 2 as required

* Note that if you don't scan a technician bar-code first the tasks will be marked complete in Case Manager without a technician.

Synchronize with Case Manager

1. Connect the Scanner cable to the Desktop PC. It can remain connected between synchronizations.
2. Start the Mini BenchMark program using the Desktop icon.
3. Connect Memory Scanner to the cable. The green light on the scanner should begin blinking. Wait until it stops blinking (approximately 20 seconds) before continuing. If it doesn't blink please check the cables and/or Comm Port.
4. Click the "Get Bar-codes from Scanner" button on the Mini BenchMark window.
5. When the Log says "Bar-codes cleared from device" it is ok to disconnect the scanner from the cable.

Correcting a Mistake

If you’d like to remove a bar-code that has already been scanned press the small "minus" button (-) and then re-scan the bar-code. This will remove the bar-code from the Memory Scanner.

If a task was scanned for the wrong employee just rescan the task for the correct employee.

Maintaining the Memory Scanner

Please see the Owners Guide that accompanies the Memory Scanner for instructions on replacing the battery, cleaning, adjusting the volume, etc.