I. INTRODUCTION

The following set of instructions can be used as a guide for:
  • Logging in to CARS+ Internet
  • How to use the items on the Switchboard screen
  • How to login multiple times

II. CARS+ INTERNET SWITCHBOARD

A. SIGNING IN (LOGGING IN) TO CARS+ INTERNET

Double click on the CARS+ icon. The screen that appears will have a few lines of connection information followed by the prompt :

Username:
Note that the username prompt is in lower case. Enter your username in lower case. Typically the username is your company code and your initials. (In this example, the login code "thermabc" is used. ('therm' is the company code and 'abc' is the user code.)

Username: thermabc

Another prompt will show for your password. For security purposes, the password will not display when typed. Do not tell anyone your password. Because data in CARS+ is entered in UPPERCASE letters, it will be easier for you if you create a password in UPPERCASE letters. (More on creating a password later on in this document.)

Password:

The following screen will display showing:

|-- Client --------| |-- Menu ------------------------------------------------|
| thermeon-us | | Connect to your session |
| | | Connect to another user |
| | | Create a new Session |
| | | Change Password |
| | | Change Secret |
| | | Exit |
|__________________| |_________________________________________________________|


|-- Information ----------------------------------------------------------------
| Last Password Change: 2019-05-21 |
| Password Expires in 7 days, on 2019-08-19 |
| |
|______________________________________________________________________________|

Select a switchboard item by highlighting it and pressing (RET).

Connect to your session
 This is the most frequent option chosen. It is used to access your own session in CARS+. (See Section B Below.)
Connect to another user
 Use this to join another user's session (called “shadowing”). To shadow someone, that person must tell you their “secret”. A secret is different from their password. (Refer to the section "Change Secret" below.)

To disconnect from shadowing someone's session and return to the switchboard, press CTRL-Z.

User tip: Some owners and/or managers are set up so that they can shadow any other employee without knowing that employee’s secret. Contact Thermeon Customer Support to apply this feature.
Create a new Session
 This selection allows you to create another session in CARS+. For example, you could use one session to run certain reports and another session to tend to daily tasks. The login process works the same as "Connect to your session".

When exiting the system, be sure to logout of all sessions.
Change Password
 Use this option to change your Password. For convenience in CARS+, be sure to use UPPERCASE letters for passwords. Additionally, the following Cars+/Password/Policy rules need to be observed:
  • User must choose their own passwords.
  • The password must be at least 8 characters in length.
  • It must include at least one number.
  • It must not have more than 30% numbers.
  • It may include special characters
  • The password will expire every 90 days.

Do not share your password with anyone.
Change Secret
 To allow someone to shadow your CARS+ session, a “secret” must be set up first and then given to the person who will shadow you. Your secret should not be the same as your password!

When someone shadows your session, a notification is given on the screen that they have joined your session.

To prevent being shadowed, set a “blank” secret, i.e. don’t type anything at the prompt, just press (RET).


Exit
 Use this option to exit the system.



B. CONNECTING TO YOUR SESSION

When choosing “Connect to Your Session”, the Employee Login Screen displays. This program determines:
  • Which CARS+ programs the user will access.
  • Which set of data files the user will access.
Notice that the username is converted to uppercase letters and placed in the EMPLOYEE field. The cursor then goes to the “COMPANY” prompt. This is a two-digit code which determines which company (set of data files) will be accessed. Normally this will default to “00”. Press (RET) to accept the default Company and proceed to the CARS+ Main Menu.

To access an alternate set of data files, such as a training company or accounting company, enter the Company code for that data set. When a Company number other that the default is entered, the Company Password must be entered. For security purposes it will not show on the screen.

Example:


CARS+ BY THERMEON


EMPLOYEE: THERMABC

COMPANY: 00

TIME ZONES

Users are set up with a default Time Zone designation (John Smith always works at Los Angeles, California [LAX] so he should always be in the US Pacific Time Zone). If when signing into CARS+ a user's default Time Zone differs from the Location's time zone, the location's time zone is used and a pop-up window will will display the current time that will be used in this session. If this information is not correct, use the program Change User Environment to change the session orientation.


C. ENDING YOUR SESSION

Type END at any menu " OPTION " field to return to the switchboard. Then choose EXIT to end your session.

To change companies or login again, it is not necessary to go back to the switchboard. Simply type LOGIN at any menu " OPTION " field.

Caution: Remember to always END the session when done for the day or when an extended period of time will elapse before needing to use the system again.


D. RETURNING TO THE SWITCHBOARD WITHOUT ENDING YOUR SESSION

Type [CTRL-Z] (hold down the “Ctrl” key and press the letter “Z” key) to return to the switchboard at any time from within CARS+. Returning to the switchboard in this manner does not end your CARS+ session. When "Connect to your session" is selected again, your session will be exactly where it was when [Ctrl Z] was used.

Caution: Remember to always END the session when done for the day or when an extended period of time will elapse before needing to use the system again.


E. MULTIPLE SESSIONS

For convenience in using CARS+, users are allowed to log in to more than one active session. This can be very helpful to use one session to run reports while using another session to open and close RAs.

There are two ways to start another session:

1. Using [CTRL-Z]
Return to the switchboard with [CTRL-Z] as described in Section D above.
Highlight “Create a new Session”.
Upon pressing (RET), the login screen will come up and you can login to another session.

To switch between sessions:
Use [CTRL-Z} to return to the switchboard and select "Connect to your session". Each session will be listed. Highlight to select the session desired.
2. Creating a second tab
Click on the CARS+ icon another time and login as usual.
This will give you two tabs at the top of your CARS+ screen.
From the switchboard, select: Create a new session
Login as normal

To switch between sessions, click on the appropriate tab.

NOTE: Remember to always END all of your sessions when done for the day or when an extended period of time will elapse before needing to use the system again. To "END" your session, you must be in CARS+ and type "END" at a menu option.