How Do I Connect Two Offices with PhonePad?

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To run PhonePad between offices you would need to install the PhonePad Server (DBServer.exe) on a file server or "host" computer in one office and set the users up in the second office to access PhonePad in Remote Mode.

Here’s one way to set up PhonePad for two offices. In this scenario, Office 1 hosts the PhonePad database while Office 2 connects to it via the Internet and the PhonePad Server.

Office 1 can connect to the database either directly (Local Mode) or via the PhonePad Server (Remote Mode). Office 2 connects via the PhonePad Server using Remote Mode (also known as client/server).



Here’s how to do it:

1. In this example we're assuming you already have PhonePad installed and up and running in Office 1.

2. The first step is to install the PhonePad Server 1 (DBServer) in Office 1. If you have a Local Area Network (LAN) you would install it on a file server. If your network is peer-to-peer (ie. you don’t have a file server) then you would select one of your computers to act as the host, and install the PhonePad Server on that PC.

3. The PhonePad data directory needs to be located in a shared folder on the file server or host PC.

4. Once the PhonePad Server has been installed, make a note of the IP address.



5. In Office 2, you can either install PhonePad in a shared folder on a file server if you have a LAN, or on each computer if you have a peer-to-peer network. If you install PhonePad on each computer, you will need to setup each machine to run in Remote Mode. If you install PhonePad on a file server you only need to go through the following process once.

6. Run DBConnect from the shared folder or on each computer (depending on whether you have a LAN or peer-to-peer network).

7. Select Remote Mode under the Connection tab.



8. Enter the server's IP address under the Server tab.



9. You can click the Server Test button to make sure that DBConnect can see the PhonePad Server.

10. Click OK.


Notes

1. Installing the PhonePad Server is detailed on pages 26-33 and 50-51 in the Installation Manual (INSTALL.PDF).

2. If you have any software or hardware firewalls installed, you may need to configure them to allow ports 12005 and 12006 to be opened. Please note there is no hacking risk in opening these ports, as they only provide access to the PhonePad Server application, which is not vulnerable to buffer overruns.

3. Clicking the Remote Settings button will display some additional options. It is recommended you check the Encrypt Data To/From Server checkbox so that your data is transmitted securely.