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NOTE: This feature is available in the Essential, Professional, and Enterprise versions of both Spectra and Stratus Desktop. |
Google online – You’ll need
to sign up for a free Google account (not a Google App account) if you
don’t already have one. Go to https://www.google.com/accounts/
to sign in or create a new account.
The software uses Google as
the “conduit” for syncing your calendar and client records
online. Google has a number of apps for various brands of mobile
devices and your device itself may have built in apps to sync
directly with a Google account. Check with your device provider
about installing, setting up and using these apps on your mobile
device. The Google site has extensive support articles for various
devices as well as how to use the Google calendar and Gmail contacts
online. You can even simply go to the Google site on your mobile
device to view the calendar through it’s own web browser.
Managing Your Syncing Client Records #
Adding Your Client Records #
The Spectra/Stratus client sync will sync any client records that are in the
client group you chose in your Google user preferences. You could use
notes on the wizard pages to remind users to add any new client records
created to the appropriate group. Different users can sync with
different client groups if so desired. If you would like to sync all your clients you will need to add them to the syncing group. You can
use the Add Clients to a Group
under the Tools menu to add all
your current client records. Follow these steps:
-
Open Add
Clients to
Group command under the Tools menu. -
Choose New group
if you have not yet created your sync group or Existing
group if you have. Click Next. -
Enter the desired name of the group if you are
creating one or choose your syncing group from the drop-down list
to use an existing one. Click Next. -
Leave the radio button selection at Filter
and choose the All Clients
filter. Click Next. -
Review the changes you are about to make and then
click Finish if you are ready.
Depending on the number of clients in the software, this may take a while.
Note: This process will run through
all your client records, even if you have done this before. -
Be sure to set this group as your syncing client
group in your User Preferences
if you created a new group.
You can use this procedure over and over again as you gain more clients.
Since a client record can only be added to a group once, only newly created
records will be added. Note: If you
have manually removed clients from your syncing group, they will be re-added.
Merging Contacts #
Gmail contacts can be merged on the Gmail website. However, Spectra/Stratus will still try to sync both records. It is best to manage your client
records from Spectra/Stratus and not use the merge feature on the Google site
or in your mobile app.
Deleting Contacts #
Since Spectra/Stratus clients cannot be deleted without deleting any associated
records (like sessions, appointments, invoices, or payments), deleting them
from Google or your mobile device will not delete them from Spectra/Stratus. You
will need to manually delete records from both your Gmail contacts and
Spectra/Stratus.
Adding Contact Records to Google #
When new contacts are added in Google, the full address is not separated
into individual fields. This means the address may not sync properly into
Spectra/Stratus. Even though you are allowed to type in a street address, city,
state, and zip in Google, that information is stored as one big field.
It will appear fine on the Google site, but Spectra/Stratus needs to have the
address broken down into individual fields. You will want to verify and
adjust the client’s address in Spectra/Stratus. However, there are certain mobile
device apps that provide individual fields for address information and,
even though you will be using Google as the conduit, those field changes
will sync back to Spectra/Stratus properly. This is an issue that Google seems
aware of and may change in the future.
