Forefront enabled with new online help
Dexter + Chaney (Seattle, WA) has launched new online help that provides fast, easy access to information and answers about its Forefront Construction Management Software for contractors. Forefront online help uses the latest help-authoring technology and is available throughout the software simply by pressing the F1 key.
Online help provides fast, easy access to information and answers about Dexter + Chaney's Forefront Construction Management Software for contractors.
Forefront users can read, learn, browse or ask questions about the software and get answers online instantly—without searching through cumbersome printed materials. After the user has found the information that he or she is seeking, it can be printed directly from the help screen. Help bookmarks allow users to mark locations in the file for easy return (similar to Internet browsers).
AnswerWorks
AnswerWorks — an advanced search tool within Forefront online help — allows a user to type in a question or request, phrased as though he or she were speaking naturally, and then searches for the answer. All topics related to the question are listed onscreen in order of matching probability. The user can then click on the specific topic that they want to display.
Forefront online help is "far superior" to printed materials, says Dexter + Chaney, because every Forefront user has a complete resource at his/her fingertips. The help screen shots are identical to the software and feature "live" field level descriptions. The user simply clicks on any word or phrase in the screen shot with a blue underline and a small pop-up window displays a brief field description.
Online help is updated with each new version of Forefront. Dexter + Chaney estimates that online help has eliminated tens of thousands of printed pages. The company continues to provide certain printed documents like security manuals, user's guides and others.
"With today's excellent technology for creating online help, we decided to put significant resources into it," said John Chaney, Dexter + Chaney co-founder and president. "It offers many advantages for the Forefront user—including the way it works and looks and the fact that it's ‘live.'"
Help Yourself to Hawaii
To entice users to familiarize themselves with online help, Dexter + Chaney held a fun, interactive contest ("Help Yourself to Hawaii") that offered significant prizes. Dexter + Chaney buried 25 icons with tropical themes (starfish, parrot, pineapple, etc.) in the online help files; users were instructed to find their locations and fax them back to Dexter + Chaney on an official entry form.
Bob Haney, Max J. Kuney Company of Spokane WA, was the grand prize winner of a trip for two to Hawaii, including roundtrip airfare, six nights and seven days at an upscale hotel and spending cash. His was chosen at random from among hundreds of contestants who correctly located the icons.
Jonathan Olson, Palmer Paving of Palmer MA, won a trip for two to Las Vegas, including roundtrip airfare and three nights and four days at a hotel. Kaye Miller, Jordan Paving of Irving TX, won a Nikon Coolpix 800 digital camera.
Edited by Jerry R. Borland, P.E.
Managing Editor, EC Online
jborland@vertical.net