Transfer Facility

The Transfer Facility enables you to have separate copies of the Adminsoft data at two or more locations - with the speed advantages and greater autonomy that this provides.  New and changed data records are transferred between sites over a VPN, by email, or using a directory mirroring application like DropBox over the Internet.  Remote locations can be the file server at a branch offices, a desktop computer used by a single partner or staff member based in another town, or a notebook computer that is used from home, in a vehicle, or from another remote location.  The Transfer Facility keeps the separate copies of the data in-sync with each other, and has additional administration tasks to help ensure the integrity of the synchronisation.  You can schedule the frequency of synchronisations (e.g. 20 - 30 minutes between two servers, and several hours or even once per day for a single remote computer).  You can run ad hoc extra syncs whever necessary (e.g. some change that has just been done needs to be viewed urgently at another location).  With a notebook computer it is possible to have no scheduled transfers at all, but merely send or receive data on an ad hoc basis when required.

Branch Offices

The Transfer Facility works very well where branch offices need to operate independently, but transfer data to the Head Office for monitoring and consolidated reporting. It also works well in situations where specialist expertise in one branch is shared around several branches (i.e. specialists work on jobs/projects that are managed by other branches, and need to forward timesheet information to the respective office for work done on their projects).  The Transfer facility will synchronise data between the respective office servers (and can relay changes to other branch offices).

Notebook Computers

Having a copy of the data on a notebook computer, can be useful for managers and other staff who need to work away from the office in locations where Internet may be unreliable (or non-existent).  The Transfer Facility will let them re-sync with the server when they get back to the office, or remotely via the Internet.  Data can be viewed passively (i.e. no changes or new data added on the notebook). But the Transfer Facility will also synch both ways, supporting remote data entry on a notebook.

Hosted Servers

The Transfer Facility can be used to maintain a copy of Adminsoft data on a hosted server in synch with the master copy on the server in the head office.  Remote users can then easily connect to the server and work from home or elsewhere (e.g. connecting a notebook or tablet over the Internet - even using 4G or 3G access through their smartphone from their vehicle or in a motel in the evening).