- Are Outlook and Google the only calendars that work with ReserveIt?
No. Any calendar that can export a text file with event information will also work. Many calendar systems have this ability, and some
even can be set to export the calendar automatically every so often. In addition, a simple spreadsheet saved in CSV (comma separated values) format
works fine too. The columns in the export/spreadsheet are the date, room name, start time, end time, and event subject. If the first row has
titles, then the columns can be in any order.
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- How many copies of ReserveIt! need to be running on the network?
Only one copy of ReserveIt! is needed. It will make agenda displays for all of the rooms and save them all to a web server folder, where the
players can retrieve them.
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- How many conference rooms can ReserveIt! handle?
Since ReserveIt! simply makes images and places them on a web server, it can handle any number of conference rooms. The displays 'pull'
the images to themselves on a periodic basis, so ReserveIt! is not doing that work - allowing many more rooms to be handled than would otherwise
be possible. Although the largest 'Pack' for licensing ReserveIt! is for 24 rooms, Packs can be combined for larger quantities. For example, if
you need 36 rooms you would license a 24 Pack and a 12 Pack for a total of 36.
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- Is there a way to show the agenda for all of my rooms on a single large screen?
Yes, ReserveIt! automatically creates a display for that purpose called 'All_Displays'. You can point a web browser or SMIL media player to
that just as you would any other room. You can also format the All Displays room just like any other.
- What has to be on the PC that is running ReserveIt! software?
If you are using Outlook, then it would need to be on the same PC. If you are using Google Calendar, a copy of Outlook Personal Edition
is required. For imported calendars there is no other software required.
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- Outlook keeps asking for permission to let ReserveIt! look at the address book. What can I do?
In the Outlook Trust Center, select 'Programmatic Access' and set it to 'Never warn me about suspicious activity.'
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- Can the displays being controlled by ReserveIt! be turned off at night?
If the displays are based on the SMIL digital sign standard, they can be turned off. Look in the Settings screen of ReserveIt! for
pop-ups to control the time off and time on for your displays.
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- How does the media player in front of each room know what agenda to display?
Media players and web browsers point to a specific URL to show specific content. ReserveIt! works the same way. You enter a URL in the
'content source' screen of the media player menu, or in the browser's address bar. The URL starts with the IP address of the web service,
followed by the word 'RCONTENT' then the name of the room, and either index.html for web browsers or index.smil for media player. For example,
a room named Board_Room would have the following URL if the IP of the web service is 192.168.1.100 and you are using a media player:
http://192.168.1.100/RCONTENT/Board_Room/index.smil Note that room names are case sensitive.
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- How does an Outlook user tell ReserveIt! what room to put an event into?
Outlook Exchange Server users would 'invite' the room to their meeting, just as they do now. Each room has its own internal calendar that
ReserveIt! reads to get the agenda. For Outlook personal calendars, the Location: field (just below the subject line) is used. After you use
this field for a room once, select the room name from the pop-up from then on. That way, it will always be spelled the same way.
- Can ReserveIt! work with touch screens to update the calendar from there?
No. ReserveIt! is not a calendaring system. It uses the calendar you already have, which is why it can be much less expensive than other
software in this category.
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- Can I see what is showing on a display screen from the ReserveIt! software?
Yes. There is a View tab within ReserveIt! where you can select any room, or the All Displays choice and see what
the current agenda screen looks like.
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- Even though ReserveIt! is running, my room agendas are not updating. Why?
The most common reason for this problem is that you have left ReserveIt! on the Format, Settings, or Displays tab. ReserveIt! should
be left running on the splash screen, or in the View tab. The other possibility is that you have set the update frequency to a higher value
than you think. Go to the settings screen and see what this value is. Remember to go to the View tab when you have finished.
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- I have entered the 'connection string' for a room on my media player, but nothing appears. Why?
The most common cause of this is that the room name is not exactly as it appears in ReserveIt!. Check that any spaces have been replaced
with underscores and that the case is the same as the pop-up in the View tab of ReserveIt!.
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- Can ReserveIt! be run on a server?
ReserveIt! is designed to run on a workstation computer. You can try setting it to compatibility mode for Windows
XP Service Pack 2, but that is not guaranteed to always work on every server operating system.
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- Is ReserveIt! compatible with Windows 7 and Vista?
ReserveIt! is compatibile, but might have issues if it is installed in the typical installation folder. Windows 7 and Vista
can, depending upon security settings, block the writing of files within the Program Files folder. In that case, you can install
(or move) the Best Wave folder from Program Files to the root of your C: drive.
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- My company's firewall is preventing downloading the installer from your web site. What can I do?
You can use an FTP client software program to download from our Guest FTP service. The userId and password are
BestWaveGuest and bwguest. You can also try this link in Explorer:ftp://BestWaveGuest.bestwave.com:bwguest@bestwave.com
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- Where does the content for ReserveIt! reside?
Everything related to ReserveIt! is housed in a single folder. You select the location for that folder when you initially
install ReserveIt!. The folder name is RCONTENT and is placed inside the root folder of your web service. If your web service is Apache,
then the folder will be named 'htdocs' - if the web service is Windows I I S, then the folder will be 'InetPub/wwwroot'.
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- Can I change the RCONTENT folder location?
You can change its location to another web service... to do this, find the present location of the RCONTENT folder. If you don't remember
where you placed it originally, you can see the path to the folder in a text file named 'serverpath.txt' which is located inside the folder where
ReserveIt! is installed, in the sub-folder named 'Preferences'. You can modify this file using WordPad. Do not point to the RCONTENT folder
itself! Select one level up, the folder that contains RCONTENT.
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- I am installing ReserveIt! on a different workstation. Can I use the Activation Code from last time?
No. ReserveIt! activation codes are computer and time specific. When you reach the Activation screen, click on the Get Code button, and
fill in the form. You will receive a new activation code for this computer in a few seconds.
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- Do I have to install Apache web service on my computer?
Not necessarily. You can use your corporate web service if you prefer, or you can use Windows IIS on many Windows operating systems.
If you do decide to install Apache, you will find the installer inside of the folder where ReserveIt! is installed.
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- I am using IIS and my media player does not show any content. But, I can see content from my web browser. Why?
Windows IIS does not automatically recognize files that end with smil. To make it see those files, you have to
add the 'smil Mime Type' to IIS. Instructions for doing this are found in the ReserveIt! user guide. A brief description follows here:
Open IIS Manager and navigate to the level you want to manage.
1. In Features View...
2. double-click MIME Types.
3. In the Actions pane, click Add.
4. In the Add MIME Type dialog box, type '.smil' in the File name extension text box.
5. Type 'text/plain' in the MIME type text box.
6. Click OK.
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- How can a web browser be used to display ReserveIt! agenda screens?
Media players and web browsers point to a specific URL to show specific content. ReserveIt! works the same way. You enter a URL in the
browser's address bar. The URL starts with the IP address of the web service,
followed by the word 'RCONTENT' then the name of the room, and index.html. For example,
a room named Board_Room would have the following URL if the IP of the web service is 192.168.1.100:
http://192.168.1.100/RCONTENT/Board_Room/index.html Note that room names are case sensitive.
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- Can I display ReserveIt! agendas with DisplayIt! software?
Yes. You can create a presentation that uses the 'Full Screen Playlist' template. Then add a Web Page for each room's agenda that
you want to display. You can also set how long that page will be displayed. This only works if your media player is set to the same reslolution
as the background image that you used for your ReserveIt! room format(s). That will be 1366x768 for wide-screen or 1024x768 for 4x3 screens.
You can also make the agenda display for a room display in a web zone if your screen resolution is larger than those above.
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- Is DisplayIt! required to use ReserveIt?
No. They are separate programs. You can display ReserveIt! content within DisplayIt!, but the programs are not dependent upon each other
in any way.
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