A R S A

  Automated

        Reservation

         System for

             Aircraft
 
 
 

Version 5.X

User's Guide
 
 
 
 
 

Copyright © 1991-1999 by John S. Booth, Jr. - All Rights Reserved
 

Revision 7 - May 20, 1999
















 

INTRODUCTION

ARSA is a computerized reservation system for use by flying clubs and FBOs to schedule their rental aircraft fleet and instructors. The system has two distinct and independent interfaces. One is the computer console where the club/FBO system operator, known as the SYSOP, may perform maintenance on the scheduling, voice mail, and bulletin board systems and configure some parts of the system's operation. The console may also be used by club members to schedule aircraft/instructors, if the system is so configured. The second, and most unique, interface is the dial-up telephone interface featuring voice-prompted menus and DTMF (tone dial) responses. Through this, the user may "view" or edit the aircraft schedules, send/receive private voice mail to/from other users, and post or "read" voice bulletin board messages accessible by all members. Only the aircraft schedule database may be accessed via telephone. The aircraft, instructor, and user databases may only be accessed by the system operator through the screen/keyboard interface.
 

SYSTEM FEATURES:

    - Up to 500 members/users

    - Up to 99 aircraft schedules (15 standard)

    - Up to 365 day schedule length (300 standard)

    - Private voice mail for users

    - Voice bulletin board system (VBBS)

    - Passcode protected access

    - 24 hour/day availability


TELEPHONE INTERFACE STRUCTURE

The ARSA telephone interface consists of multiple levels of voice-prompted menus. When a call is answered, the caller is greeted by the opening greeting message followed by the top level menu. Since this menu may be accessed by anyone calling the system, it has some choices that may be of use to prospective customers or club members. Presently, these items are a club/FBO description, an online questionnaire for those desiring information regarding membership in the club or the FBO, and an optional voice message option allowing callers to leave messages for the club. If enabled, this voice message option should be used only by guest callers, NOT club members. They should send messages to the SYSOP via the voice mail access in the Member Services area.

|The main item in the top level menu is the Member Services area. This passcode protected selection accesses the main areas for use by members. These areas include the aircraft and (if used) instructor schedules, voice mail, bulletin board, online membership directory, and user passcode maintenance. The following sections will attempt to outline the basic operation of the ARSA by a typical user or member.
 

TELEPHONE OPERATION

The operation of the ARSA system will be presented by menu level. Refer to the accompanying diagram at the end of this document while reading these instructions. User input is via a DTMF (tone dial) telephone.
 

GENERAL USAGE INFORMATION & HINTS

Enter digits at a reasonable pace, but be deliberate. Dialing too fast may cause your entry to be ignored or have errors. When entering digits while listening to a voice message, try to enter the digits during the pauses between words.

Where more than 1 digit may be required as input, you should signify that all required digits have been entered by pressing the '*' key. This works like the Enter key on a computer keyboard. If you do not do this, the system will wait for several seconds before proceeding. Using this will save you time!

ANY voice message will terminate if a DTMF digit is detected. You may always begin entering the requested digits prior to the message playback being completed, if you know what is required at that prompt.

When prompted for a time entry, you will be expected to enter, as a minimum, a 4 digit time in 24 hour format. Time entries for dates other than current requires use of the extended entry format. This format allows from 4 to 8 digits to be entered. Leading 0's may be left out, if desired. If a month is entered, the date MUST be entered using 2 digits. This means that dates 1 through 9 are entered using a leading 0. The correct year is automatic and is not entered. Some examples of using the format are:

0800 - 8:00 AM today
2130 - 9:30 PM today
141230 - 12:30 PM on the 14th of the current month
31100 - 11:00 AM on the 3rd of the current month
031100 - Same as the previous entry
07031530 - 3:30 PM on July 3rd.
7031530 - Same as the previous entry.

The maximum span of a schedule is one year from the current date (default is 300 days).

Any time entry may be from present time to the end of the schedule. Entries of historical times and/or dates is not allowed as they are presumed to indicate a time in the future.

The system may optionally disallow overlapping of schedule entries in multiple aircraft.


MEMBER SERVICES DESCRIPTION

On entering this level, the user will hear a greeting followed by any club bulletins recorded by a SYSOP. Following the bulletin the user will be informed of the number of voice mail messages he/she has waiting to be read, if any exist. No message will be heard if the user has no messages waiting.

If you have not scheduled an aircraft within the last 90 days, you will hear a currency warning as a courtesy.

Also, ARSA will warn the user if their medical or BFR due date is near or past expiration. The system may be configured to restrict your ability to schedule if one of these has expired and (optionally) any defined grace period has also expired.

During the opening greeting message, the user has several short-cut options to bypass some or all of the opening messages. To use these options, they must be entered during the opening greeting message. The options are:

    '*' Terminate the greeting, but let the bulletin and voice mail message count be played, if needed.

    '#x' Terminate the greeting and go immediately to 'x' where 'x' is a menu item number from the Member Services menu.

    'x' Terminate the greeting and select item 'x' after the pre-menu messages have played.
 

MEMBER SERVICES MENUS

Each menu level is described in the following pages in their approximate levels within the menu structure. When a lower menu is selected from the one being described, it will be described on a later page in this document.
 

MEMBER SERVICES TOP LEVEL MENU:

1- Reservations menu

    Access the aircraft and/or instructor schedules

2- Voice mail menu

    "Read" or send private voice mail to other users

3- VBBS (voice bulletin board system) menu

    "Read" or post voice bulletins for other users

4- Online member directory:

    A member's home and work phone number may be retrieved using the their ID number. This is a quick method for getting a member's phone number after listening to the schedules (from a convenient phone booth) so that you may call them, if need be.

5- Change passcode:

    Allows you to change your user passcode. Any sequence of six digits may be used as your passcode. You must use six digits. When prompted, enter the new passcode followed by a '*'.
 

RESERVATIONS MENU*

1- Aircraft Reservations menu

    Access the aircraft schedules.

2- Instructor Scheduling menu

    Access the optional instructor schedules.

*NOTE: If there are no instructors defined in the database this menu will be bypassed and the user will be sent directly to the Aircraft Reservations menu.
 

AIRCRAFT/INSTRUCTOR RESERVATIONS MENU (from RESERVATIONS)

The aircraft and instructor reservations menus are functionally identical. They are presented jointly here to avoid duplication. Any differences will be noted.

1- Access Schedules

    Access the scheduling menu level. From this level you may "read" and edit the aircraft schedules.

2- Check Availability Within a Group

    Ascertain the availability of all aircraft or instructors within a group for a specified minimum amount of time within a specified time frame. You will be prompted for start and stop times, the minimum number of hours desired, and the group number in which to search. All aircraft and instructors must be assigned to a group to be available for scheduling. Typically, all planes of like make or performance will be assigned to the same group. Likewise, instructors may be grouped by their levels of training preference. The SYSOP can provide you with the current group assignments.

3- Reservation Bulletins

    Reservation bulletins are heard whenever you enter the reservations area. Their purpose is to provide the users with a method of informing other users of information regarding the use or scheduling of aircraft such as a maintenance problem or concern. It is also recommended that you leave a message regarding any last minute cancellation of an aircraft so others may benefit from the availability.

    From this option you may play or record reservation bulletins in a manner similar to voice bulletin board messages. You may delete any messages that you recorded and, if the system is so configured, delete messages recorded by other users.
 

ACCESS SCHEDULE MENU (from Aircraft or Instructor Reservations)

To get here you have selected the desired aircraft or instructor schedule to access.

1- List Current Entries

    List all current entries after a beginning time on the selected scheduling date. You will be prompted for starting time to begin reading the schedule. The default date will be the present date. Entering "1200" will only tell you of entries after 12:00 PM today.

2- Add Entry

    Schedule an aircraft or instructor in your name. The default date is today unless you use the extended time entry format. You will be prompted for the starting time and ending time of your desired schedule block. Entries are made in increments of 30 minutes, beginning on the hour and half-hour. Times entered that fall between these points within an hour will be rounded up to the next half-hour point. By using the extended time entry format, you may schedule the aircraft over multiple days.

3- Delete Entry

    Remove an entry from the schedule. You may remove only those entries made by you or for you. You will be prompted for the start time which is the point to begin removing your entry from the schedule. The schedule entry will be removed from this point to the end of your block of time. NOTE: You are not required to remove your entry from the beginning of your scheduled block of time. The deletion may begin at any point in your scheduled block of time. This allows you to truncate time from the end of your block should you return from a trip early and wish to return the aircraft to available status (highly advisable!). This entry accepts the extended time entry format.

4- Select Aircraft/Instructor

    Re-select the schedule you wish to access. If you wish to switch from an aircraft to an instructor, you must exit back to the member services top menu, select reservations, and then select instructor schedules.
 

VOICE MAIL MENU (from Member Services)

1- Read Messages

    Listen to any messages sent to you by other members. If you select this and have no messages, you will hear a message to that effect. Messages will be played starting with the oldest existing message. The first message will be played upon selecting Read Messages. After each message is played, you will have the option to replay the message, delete the message, play the next message, play the previous message, or forward the message to another member.

2- Send Messages

    Send voice mail messages to other members or to the SYSOP. You will be prompted for the member number to send the message to. After that point, recording a message is identical to using an answering machine. Just wait for the beep and talk. Messages may be a maximum of approximately 1 minute in length, depending on the system memory available. When finished talking, enter a '*'.

There are three special addresses you may use as the member number when sending a message. These are:

0 - Send a normal voice mail message to the SYSOP(s). If routine notification is enabled, someone will be notified of your message during a time period convenient for him. This means you shouldn't worry about waking someone up.

911 - Send a priority (emergency) message to the SYSOP(s) regarding any emergency or high priority matter concerning the aircraft, a club member, or the operation of the club. Using this guarantees the immediate attention of the SYSOP(s) as soon as possible. Someone will be notified of your message by an alerting function in the ARSA system, regardless of the time of day. PLEASE USE DISCRETION! Use this ONLY when your message is important, NOT routine! Yes, you WILL wake someone up if it is late!

0000 - Send a group voice mail.

There are 2 types of group voice mail messages: 1)a specified group of members or 2)all members. When starting a group voice mail message, you are prompted first member number in the group. You may then specify the first member number (don't forget the '*' key to enter it!), after which you will be prompted for additional member numbers. To end the group, indicate a null member entry by pressing the '*' key only. To send a broadcast group mail message to all members, enter '0000' for the first member number.

0- Return to previous menu
 

BULLETIN BOARD MENU (from Member Services)

1- Scan for New Messages

    This will scan and play all messages recorded since you last listened to messages, regardless of the interest area they are in. This is the best option for reading new messages.

2- Read Messages by Area

    Read messages by area of interest. You will be prompted for the area of interest before hearing the first message. Afterwards, you will have the same Read Messages options as in the Voice Mail area (except forwarding).

3- Send Message

    Leave a message in the interest area of your choice. You will be prompted for the area of interest in which to place your message. Record your message after the beep and end it with a '*'. The message may be a maximum of approximately 1 minute in length, depending on system memory.

0- Return to previous menu
 

READ MESSAGES MENU (from Voice Mail or Bulletin Board)

The following menu is used when playing voice mail or BBS messages:

1- Replay Message

    Replay the message just heard

2- Delete Message

    Delete the message just heard. When one message in a group of messages is deleted, the others will reshuffle to close the gap, if any.

    NOTE: When using this option from the BBS area you may delete ONLY those messages recorded by you.

3- Next Message

    Play the next message, if one exists.

4- Previous Message

    Play the previous message, if one exists.

5- Forward Message (Voice Mail Only)

    Forwards the message to another member. You must know the member number of the user you wish to forward to. Once forwarded, the message is no longer available to you.

0- Return to previous menu


CONCLUSION

This guide is meant to give the new ARSA user an easy path to follow when learning to use the system. If you should experience any difficulty while using the ARSA, contact your club's system administrator (SYSOP) for assistance.
 

HAPPY FLYING!!!