Topic Doc: Reach Media Network Interface
RecTrac 3.1
Table of Contents
Document Summary
The Reach Media Network operates the largest sports-related digital signage network in the United States; partnering with Municipalities, Park & Recreation Departments, Private Enterprises and Youth Sport Organizations. They provide a variety of customizable signage solutions to help businesses and brands reach active families in the community while simultaneously displaying your current facility events.
How Does RecTrac Work with Reach Media Network?
In RecTrac you make facility reservations as usual; whether you’re making reservations for your Activities, such as Yoga or Kickboxing; reserving the pool for a birthday party, scheduling League games, etc…. You then run the Facility Reservation Interface to create an export file. You can run the Interface manually ("on demand") or it can be scheduled to run at regular intervals. Reservation information is compiled in the export file and uploaded to Reach Media Network via file transfer protocol (ftp), or via manual import. Once the export file is uploaded, your information displays on the monitors.
Data in the export file can include some or all of the following data:
- Facility Location
- Facility ID
- Event Date
- Start/End Times
- Event Type (Scheduled Program, League Game, P/T Session, etc.)
- Reservee's Name/Organization (if the reservation is a standard facility reservation)
- League Name (if the event is a League Game)
- Activity Description (if the event is an activity)
- Instructor's Name (if the event is an activity)
Note: Facility Reservation status in RecTrac must be Firm. This interface does NOT export 'Tentative' or 'Hold' reservations.
License – Maintenance Agreement
The Facility Reservation Interface is a free program. Use of the interface requires a Vermont Systems license and annual maintenance agreement for RecTrac and the component modules discussed in this document. Prior to implementing any process outlined in this document, please contact the Vermont Systems Sales department at 1-877-883-8757 to verify that you are authorized to use the modules discussed in this document and if not, to obtain a quote and/or approval.
Setup Steps
This document provides instructions for using the Facility Reservation Interface program along with limited information for ensuring your Facilities are properly identified within the Reach software. This document does NOT provide operational instruction for the Reach software, as Reach Media Network is a third-party product.
If you have additional questions about the RecTrac Facility Reservation Interface program after reading this document, please contact Vermont Systems Customer Service by phone at 887-883-8757 or generate a Support Case through the Customer portal of the Vermont Systems website using your Customer ID and password.
Before You Begin
This document is written with the following assumptions. If any of the items listed below is NOT true, contact Vermont Systems Support prior to continuing, as the steps in this document may prove difficult to complete and unexpected results may occur.
- You have established a user account with Reach Media Network and can maneuver through their website.
- Your organization is running RecTrac 3.1.04.00 or greater.
- You have completed the setup of your Facilities, Activities, Leagues, etc… (as applicable) in RecTrac File Management
- You have processed Facility Reservations for your patrons, Activities, Leagues, etc… in RecTrac so that you have data for the upload file.
Initial Setup with Reach Media Network
Note: All file paths and screen/tab locations in this document refer to file paths and screen/tab locations as they appear in the standard, default Vermont Systems Design. Your setup and Design may vary.
After you have established your account with Reach Media Network, you need to provide them with a list of the facility locations where you plan to use a Reach monitor. You can run the Facility Reservation Interface to produce this list.
- In RecTrac, go to Management Ribbon • Facility Management • Facility Reservation Interface.
Click the Image to enlarge.
- Enter the Facilities where you plan to use Reach Monitors using either the Facility DataGrid, the Facility Range or both.
Note: RecTrac Process and Reporting screens offer numerous fields and widgets that allow you to filter the data for your process or report being run. RecTrac Widgets provides definitions and examples to show you how these work.
- Expand the Drop-down list and select your Begin and End Reservation Dates option.
THEN
Take appropriate action in the right-hand column to specify the actual date you wish to select. Facility Reservations made within the Date Range selected will be included on your export file.
Refer to RecTrac Date Select Fields for a listing of selection definitions and examples. - Expand the Drop-down list for Format Option and make your selection. Generally speaking, Normal is the preferred selection for Reach Media Network, but they will provide specific guidance.
- Enter an Export File Name as directed by Reach Media Network. This is the name of the export file you will generate, and it should be a .txt file type. Upon completion of the export process, this file will be available in the Document Center.
For Example: RecTrac-Rsvn.txt - Expand the Drop-down list for Delimiter and make your selection. Generally speaking, Tab is the preferred selection for Reach Media Network, but they will provide specific guidance.
- Expand the Drop-down list for Sort Option and make your selection. Reach Media Network will provide specific guidance as to the proper selection.
- Select the option to FTP File When Done?. Selecting this option will upload the reservation data file to the Reach website automatically upon clicking Process.
- Enter the ‘File Transfer URL’ given to you by Reach Media Network (i.e. their FTP URL)
For Example: ftp://ftp.reachschedule.com/rectracr3ach/<facility_name_here>/,passive
Reach Media will provide the /<facility_name_here>.Note: Reach Sports typically requires passive transport. Add ",passive" to the end of your URL, as shown in the example above.
Ask Reach Sports if you are unsure whether or not passive connection is required with your account.
- Enter the Username / Password credentials given to you by Reach Media Network
For example, RecTrac4rach / Rach4RecTrac
Note: Passwords are masked in RecTrac. All Passwords are encrypted in the database and appear either as a series of "pipes" or dots in password fields (i.e. | | | | | or •••••). There is no Permission that allows you see an actual password. There is no Report in RecTrac that will display a password.
- Upon receipt of the export file, Reach Media Network will be able to setup your location accounts.
- Next, you must setup your facilities in the Reach Media Network software.
Reach Media Setup Information
Upon receipt of your initial upload file, Reach Media Network representatives will work with the file and the screens you want (and where) to determine the best manner in which to import the data.
- Typically this is on the basis of resource. For Example: if you have three (3) resources set up: Studio, Pool, and Lobby, Reach Media should import the information into three (3) different headers by the same name.
- The second most common method would be to import all data into a single header. This is usually the case when they want one screen with a master schedule.
Refer to the Reach Screen Systems Manual for further information, if needed. An example of the more common method appears below.
Run the Facility Reservation Interface
Once you've completed the setup of your Facilities in the Reach Media Network software, you will be ready to run the Facility Reservation Interface in RecTrac. This program can be run "On Demand" or as a Scheduled Event. Confer with Reach Media Networks to determine how often you should generate and upload your Export File to their software.
Note: As a general rule, Reach Media advises a daily upload at a minimum to keep your information as current as possible. Based on your organization's needs, you may opt to upload your Reservation information on a more aggressive or less aggressive schedule.
To Run the Facility Reservation Interface
- Make Facility Reservations in RecTrac. Facility Reservation status in RecTrac must be Firm. This interface does NOT export 'Tentative' or 'Hold' reservations
- In RecTrac, go to Management Ribbon • Facility Management • Facility Reservation Interface.
Click the Image to enlarge.
- Accept the default settings (the last settings under which the program was run) for your Facilities
OR
Make alternate selections from the DataGrid, the Facility Range or both, if needed.
Note: RecTrac Process and Reporting screens offer numerous fields and widgets that allow you to filter the data which for your process or report being run. RecTrac Widgets provides definitions and examples to show you how these work.
- Expand the Drop-down list and select your Begin and End Reservation Dates option.
THEN
Take appropriate action in the right-hand column to specify the actual date you wish to select. Facility Reservations made within the Date Range selected will be included on your export file.
Refer to RecTrac Date Select Fields for a listing of selection definitions and examples.
Note: If opting to Schedule this program to run on a daily basis, consider using "Today" and "Today" in your Beginning and Ending Date fields. To upload "Today's" and "Tomorrow's" reservations, you would choose "Today / 0" in the Beginning Date field and "Today / 1" in the Ending Date field.
- Expand the Drop-down list for Format Option and make your selection. Generally speaking, Normal is the preferred selection for Reach Media Network, but they will provide specific guidance.
- Enter an Export File Name as directed by Reach Media Network. This is the name of the export file you will generate, and it should be a .txt file type. Upon completion of the export process, this file will be available in the Document Center.
For Example: RecTrac-Rsvn.txt - Expand the Drop-down list for Delimiter and make your selection. Generally speaking, Tab is the preferred selection for Reach Media Network, but they will provide specific guidance.
- Expand the Drop-down list for Sort Option and make your selection. Reach Media Network will provide specific guidance as to the proper selection.
- Click the Combo Box icon to select the Reservations Types you wish to include in your export file
OR
Make no selections from the Combo Box to "Include All" Reservation Types. - Make other selections in the Additional Criteria group as needed. Use the "i" and "?" Help icons for field definitions, if needed.
- Select the option to FTP File When Done?. Selecting this option will upload the reservation data file to the Reach website automatically upon clicking Process OR when the Scheduled Event runs.
- Enter the ‘File Transfer URL’ given to you by Reach Media Network (i.e. their FTP URL)
For Example: ftp://ftp.reachschedule.com/rectracr3ach/<facility_name_here>/,passive
Reach Media will provide the /<facility_name_here>.Note: Reach Sports typically requires passive transport. Add ",passive" to the end of your URL, as shown in the example above.
Ask Reach Sports if you are unsure whether or not passive connection is required with your account.
- Enter the Username / Password credentials given to you by Reach Media Network
For example, RecTrac4rach / Rach4RecTrac
Note: Passwords are masked in RecTrac. All Passwords are encrypted in the database and appear either as a series of "pipes" or dots in password fields (i.e. | | | | | or •••••). There is no Permission that allows you see an actual password. There is no Report in RecTrac that will display a password.
- Skip the Skylogix Settings group.
- Click Process to run the export "On Demand."
THEN
Click Schedule, if desired, to continue to the Schedule Generator program to run the program on a regular basis using its current settings.
The Facility Reservation Interface Output File
Regardless of whether you opt to FTP the Output File to Reach Media Networks, a copy of it will be placed in the Document Center.
The following example displays a Normal, Tab-Delimited .txt output file like you might upload to Reach Media Network and lists four (4) Reservations, two (2) for Activities (Community Volunteers and Writer's Workshop), one (1) for a patron reservation (Ernest Hemingway), and one (1) for a League reservation (Mon/Wed Men's Softball). The file has been imported to a Table and color-coded for purpose of example.
Bedford Falls Community Center | Bed Falls Action Office | 10/17/2016 | 8:00AM | 9:00AM | Scheduled Program | Community Volunteers | No Instructor Linked |
Bedford Falls Community Center | BEDCC MEETING A | 10/17/2016 | 12:15PM | 1:45PM | Scheduled Program | Writer's Workshop - Mystery | Agatha Christie |
Ernie Bishop Teen Center | Bishop Big Game Room | 10/17/2016 | 3:00PM | 4:00PM | Ernest Hemingway | Ernest Hemingway | |
Potter Park | Potter PK Softball 1 | 10/17/2016 | 5:30PM | 9:00PM | League Game | Mon/Wed Men's Softball |
In the example above, Bedford Falls Community Center, Bailey Teen Center, and Potter Park are the Facility Locations that Reach Media Network would use to create the appropriate accounts. Refer to Reach Media Network Setup Information above.
Bed Falls Action Office, Potter PK Softball 1, BEDCC MEETING A, and Bailey Big Game Room are the Facilities that would need to be added to Reach Media Network (see above). The remaining information on each line (event date, start/end times, etc…) populates Reach Media automatically upon uploading the Export File from RecTrac to Reach Media.