Helping us to Help You Better
By Bob Glover
The main operation here in the HYPACK support department is to find solutions for our clients when they encounter a problem using HYPACK®. We take phone calls and receive emails daily from clients with questions and concerns regarding all facets of HYPACK®. Some can be answered with just a few quick words while others involve quite a bit of time and thought. Whichever might be the case, our goal is to get it right and to provide this support in a timely manner. The following is a list of tips our clients can use to better help us help them.
Use our Online Technical Support System
Our Tech. Support system will automatically create a ticket once you log in. This provides you with a ticket ID and a confirmation that the ticket is opened. Most people can describe the issue that they might be having very well; however, we do run into problems at times understanding the scope of the issue. Please be detailed, try to include a screen capture of just what is causing the problem, sometimes a picture is really worth a 1000 words. In many cases, we will request a file for us to better resolve an issue. If possible, please try to attach the problem file to the email. This will save time as we will already have the file and won’t have to go back and forth with emails asking for it. Keep in mind that our email system has a limit of 6 Mb; larger files can get bounced back or stuck in the system and prevent us from ever getting the ticket. When sending large files please use our FTP site at ftp.HYPACK.com
Posting to our FTP:
1. Use the address of ftp://ftp.hypack.com/ in Windows® Explorer.
When the page is opened in Explorer it will be necessary to log in to the site in order to post any files.
2. Right-click anywhere on the page and choose the option to Log in as . The Log In dialog will appear.
FIGURE 1. Logging in to the HYPACK, Inc. FTP Site
The site user name is visitor and the password is humperthewhale, all one word. After logging in, the incoming folder will become visible. Files can now be uploaded.
It’s best to create a new folder or have your data already collected in a folder that you can upload. Random files become difficult to find. just include the name of the uploaded folder in your email and we will be ready to download it and start working on a solution. Time saved!
Will HYPACK® Interface with my Device?
As new products are released daily, we are constantly asked if HYPACK® can interface with new devices. While our programming department is always developing new drivers for the latest and greatest products on the market, it is nearly impossible to keep up with the speed that equipment manufacturers are delivering them to the marketplace. Although HYPACK might not have a driver written for a specific piece of equipment, that doesn’t mean that we cannot interface with it. Most manufacturers provide many different output formats, many of which are industry standards with which HYPACK® has interfaced for years.
When inquiring about new equipment it’s best to send us all of the information regarding the product that you might have. A manual is very helpful along with any test data or captured output data using Wcom. This program is built into HYPACK® and can record raw data coming from a serial port.
To record data from Wcom, follow these simple steps.:
a. Open Wcom from the HYPACK® shell. Select UTILITIES-COMMUNICATIONS-COMTROL’S WCOM.
b. Select PORT-OPEN PORT and choose the port to which you have your device attached.
c. Select SETTINGS-PORT SETTINGS and select settings that match those of your device.
d. Select PORT- SAVE TO DISK and let it run for a minute. e. Select PORT-SAVE TO DISK again to stop the capture.
FIGURE 2. Capturing Device Data from a Serial Port through WCOM
The captured data will be saved into the \Hypack\Support\Com folder which will be found in the Support folder located inside the main HYPACK root.
FIGURE 3. The Captured Data File
When sending us the data capture, please send along a description of the string so we might be able to help configure one of our available drivers to interface with your new device. Check your device documentation or contact your device manufacturer for the string description.
W
E KNOW A LOT BUT NOT EVERYTHING
.
Although all of the support team prides itself on knowing a good deal about the many units with which HYPACK can interface, we might not know every last function or feature that your
unit might have. Sometimes the answer lies at the source: with the equipment manufacturer. They know their products far better than we do. If the answer is to call the OEM, please understand that this is only to serve you, the HYPACK user, better.
W
HY HAVEN
’
T
I
RECEIVED A REPLY FROM MY EMAIL
?
The entire support team takes calls and emails from all of our clients and, over time, bonds are formed, perhaps with a certain tech who handled a onsite training or taught a seminar that you attended or the tech who was able to resolve it in record time the last time you had a problem, and you want to work with the same person.
One word of caution: when sending emails, it’s far better to send them to
Help@HYPACK.com and not directly to only one support tech. The support team members are always on the go, be it to onsite trainings or teaching classes, and even though we are all very diligent in checking our emails, things do get missed. Emails to Help get sent to every support tech. This way everyone gets a chance to see them and can respond, just in case the tech you know is unavailable.
C
AN YOU HELP ME MAKE CONTOURS
?
Everyone in the support department here at HYPACK has the same goal: to help our
customers to the best of our ablity. Some clients require more help than others and, although we rarely say we can’t do that, there does come a time when support becomes training over the phone. HYPACK offers some fantastic avenues for training including onsite training visits. Below are some of the easiest ways to learn more about everything HYPACK® can do.
• The Help folder, contained in the HYPACK® install folder, has all of the interfacing notes with valuable information about device configurations.
• The HYPACK® Training Notes DVD with all of the presentations used at our HYPACK training seminars. These shipped with the latest release of our 2012 software.
R
EMEMBER TO KEEP THAT
M
AINTENANCE
P
LAN CURRENT
.
A current maintenance plan is needed in order to assure access to the latest HYPACK updates, future software versions and the support that will be here to answer your questions.
