Time to Update away from XP / IE8 - POODLE vulnerability being patched at ACS

December 9, 2014

Effective December 29, 2014, due to recent security exploits, computers not using the latest browsers will no longer be able to access our servers until these browsers are upgraded to current versions. In some cases, this may require you to upgrade your Windows operating system.  We are contacting you because our records indicate that you use one or more of our hosted solutions. Windows XP computers or other operating systems running outdated browsers now face a variety of security threats.  ACS Technologies takes the security of your data seriously, and we are preparing to protect our servers from the latest security vulnerability, known as the POODLE attack. To allow you and your staff time to address the same security concerns on your computers, please take this opportunity to determine if you are affected and update at least one computer in your office so that you will not experience a disruption in service.  In addition, if your church utilizes online giving, please plan to notify members that computers using Internet Explorer 8 and below, or other outdated browsers, will not be able to access online giving after December 29, 2014, until their browser is updated.  Take action  If you are still using Windows XP, upgrade your version of Windows and upgrade all of your browsers to the latest version. What's my operating system? If you are using Windows 7 or higher, upgrade all of your browsers to the latest version. What's my browser? Are automatic updates to your browsers turned off? If so, turn them on (recommended) or manually download the latest updates for Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, or Internet Explorer. We are here to help Two years ago, Microsoft announced the end of life for Windows XP. In February 2014, we began notifying customers via multiple channels to take action. (See The End of Windows XP and Internet Explorer 8.) As ACS Technologies learns of new vulnerabilities, we take steps as quickly as possible to secure our customers' data as well as our internal systems.  As our corporation is impacted, we strive to give as much notice as possible to customers, but unfortunately, new security vulnerabilities often leave very small windows to make changes or to notify customers.  Between now and December 29th, we will closely monitor activity on our servers. As always, our staff is happy to assist you or clarify the information shared in this message. To contact Support call 800-669-2509.   Sincerely, ACS Technologies

Photos form Ideas to Impact 2014

I had a blast at the 2014 Ideas to Impact Conference in Nashville, TN - wonderful venue, loved the omni.

Great city too, so much music everywhere.  It was my first conference and very fun!

Changes to Mass Email from the ACS People Suite in Ondemand

ACS has updated the mass email tool in Ondemand ACS People due to a change in the way that a number of email hosting companies handle email authentication.  It boils down to if the from address is different than the server sending the email, the mail will not be delivered to many services (aol mail , yahoo mail , gmail, ect)

We are no longer using the smtp server of 10.99.1.41 in Ondemand, instead it will be shown as "OnDemand E-mail Server.  These changes have taken place for when you are sending a mass email, emailing a report or on an individual’s profile and sending from there (Use SMTP has to be checked on the Contact Information tab).

Look at the screenshot below, you will see a few new fields and an old field has been removed. Now when a someone receives an email sent from the ACS Technologies server, it show as being sent from notifications@ondemandmail.com (can be seen in the screen further down).

Reply To:

Since the emails are now getting delivered from notifications@ondemandmail.com, recipients wouldn’t be able to reply to that email address and actually get a response from anyone at the church. This Reply To field will allow the clients to choose where the reply emails go. This is a required field and must be filled in with an email address. If they try to use their name in this field, it will appear to send out successfully but no one will receive the email.

Name

This is the display name that will show on the email. Since, no one will know the email address of notifications@ondemandmail.com, this Name field will allow for the recipient to see who sent the email. In the church’s case for their newsletter, they could even use the Church’s Name here and it will appear as such.

 Senders are still able to enter their own SMTP settings by selecting Email Accounts and then Manage Email Accounts… You will not see the “OnDemand E-mail Server” in the list but you will see it in the dropdown after selecting E-mail Accounts for them to use.

 

ACS Church Life updated!

Checkpoint on a tablet

Checkpoint on a tablet

Yes you can use checkpoint on a tablet for check-in; There are a few different ways to implement this, each has pros and cons:

RDP Connection to Server:

With a normal network install of ACS you would need to basically remote desktop into your server to run acs from the tablet, we have instructions for using a app called RDP lite to do this here:  http://wiki.acstechnologies.com/display/ACSDOC/Setting+up+Checkpoint+on+an+iPad

You would also have to have the server setup to be a terminal server and possibly buy a license for each machine you want to run from Microsoft

A note about printing with this technique:

*Printers not connected to your network?

If you cannot connect your badge printers to your network through a computer, you can still connect them to your network using a wireless adapter. Purchase a wireless network adapter for your printer and you can connect it directly to your network. Then, you can access the printer from any computer on your network. This is especially handy for printing badges with an iPad: you don't need another computer in the check-in area, just the iPad and the printer. Dymo Corporation offers an adapter called the Labelwriter Printer Server. HP, Linksys, IOGear, and Lexmark offer similar products.

MS Surface Pro:

Another approach is the new Microsoft Surface Pro tablets – the Pro version of Microsoft Surface Tablet runs a full normal version of windows so you could install and use the full ACS product just like you would on a laptop and use that for check-in.  This includes a USB port for hooking up a badge printer if needed.

Ondemand:

Another solution is our Ondemand product – Ondemand is a service we offer where instead of you having ACS on your server onsite, we install it here in our machine and you connect to it via a thin client, of have apps in both the iOS and android app stores that will allow tablets to connect to that server and let you use a tablet for check-in.  You can print from PCs as normal but currently there isn’t a easy way to print from the tablets, only check-in.

ACS church life iphone app update

The Latest Version of the ACS Church Life app on the iphone is available on the app store .

You can now view calendar events from the built in Access Acs calendar rather than just from Facility Scheduler

You can now also submit feedback/help requests from within the app.

You can also change a expired password at login where before you had to login on a desktop browser to do so.

Text Messages in Access ACS

To send a Text Message in Access ACS members will first need to opt in to receiving them.

There are a few different ways to opt in.

1) You can place the opt in script from admin/options/weblinks on your website:
admin/options/weblinks:

link on webpage:

With most providers you can also send a message to sms@churchlife.mobi with the text "JOIN" and it will opt you in.

Also in access acs if a member edits their phone number they can opt in at that point as well:

As long as they have opted in to receive them you can send a txt message in access acs:

 To send a text message

1. View an activities, class, small group, or special group roster.
2. Select the individuals you want to send a text to. To select all the individuals displayed, select the checkbox beside Name.
3. In the second I want to drop-down list, click Send a text.
4. Click Go.
5. Enter your text message in the text box. You are limited to 140 total characters for your message.
6. Click Text Now.

If any of the individuals you select are not signed up to receive test messages, you are given the option to send those individuals an e-mail instead. See Composing a Messagefor more information about messaging options.