Frequently Asked Questions
Schedule Set Up
How far in advance can I schedule?
How many employees can I schedule with VSS Pro?
Can I import my employees to VSS Pro?
Can I modify the schedule, so it works according to my needs?
Do I need to create a separate schedule each week or month?
Can I include additional notes in my schedule?
Staffing
Can I schedule employees based on their skills and certifications?
Can I schedule my employees based on their seniority?
Can I schedule my employees according to their desired workload?
Will I be able to see if I have enough people scheduled?
Will VSS Pro help me identify employees with overtime hours?
Can I see how many people are scheduled to work a particular shift?
Can VSS Pro help me identify shifts with inadequate coverage?
Can I see how many hours I've scheduled for a specific department?
Will I be able to see a list of available employees?
Can I see how many employees are scheduled at a particular time?
Can I keep track of where my employees are working?
Scheduling Automation
Can I apply specific scheduling patterns and rotations?
Can I assign the same information to a group of employees at once?
Can I copy scheduling information from one employee to another?
Can I set up scheduling reminders?
Creating and Sharing Schedules and Reports
Can I break down employee schedules by location, or position?
Can VSS Pro generate personal schedules?
Can I create a cover page for my schedules and reports?
Can I e-mail schedules to my employees?
Can I publish schedules and reports to a web site?
Can I print a time-off report?
Can VSS Pro produce an estimated cost report?
Can I create custom schedules?
Access to Schedule Data
Can I control access to work schedules?
Can I share schedule data with other programs?
Does VSS Pro work with QuickBooks?
Can I track changes made to the schedule?
Can I store employee information in VSS Pro?
Technical Aspects
Does the product come with any learning resources?
Can I contact someone if I have any questions?
What's the difference between the single- and multi-user versions?
Does VSS Pro create back-up files?
What is the cost of the application?
What do I need to run VSS Pro?
Schedule Set Up
How far in advance can I schedule?
With VSS Pro, you can schedule as far into the future as you need. There is no limitation on the schedule starting or ending date, so you can create a schedule file long
enough for you to pre-schedule shifts, rotations, holidays and time-off requests well into the future. You will be able to see instantly how time-off requests, or other
shift changes, impact the overall schedule, allowing for conscious decisions regarding approving or rejecting leave time, or making any other schedule changes.
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How many employees can I schedule with VSS Pro?
VSS Pro allows you to schedule an unlimited number of employees. Each schedule file allows up to 500 employees, with no limit to the number of
schedule files that can be created. In addition, you can use dividers to further define departments, locations, and/or positions.
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Can I import my employees to VSS Pro?
Yes. With VSS Pro, you can import employees’ name, position, hire date, e-mail address, phone numbers, and other contact information from .csv or text files. Information can
be imported into VSS PRO when creating a new schedule, or at any time to add new employees or update existing employee information.
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Can I modify the schedule so to meet my needs?
Yes. VSS Pro gives you the ability to make adjustments so the software meets your own specific scheduling needs. With VSS Pro, you can define your own shifts; including
starting/ending times, breaks, and color codes. You can also change the information displayed on the screen and in reports, or set up any day of the week as the beginning
of your work week.
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Do I need to create a separate schedule each week or month?
No. You do not need to create individual schedule files for different time frames. You can use one schedule file to enter all scheduling assignments and time-off information
and print, publish or email schedules for a specific time period or a group of people, using VSS Pro's many built-in functions that do the sorting and filtering for you.
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Can I include additional notes in my schedule?
Yes. VSS Pro allows you to add special notes and explanations. For example, you can include the location, task, or client information to a shift, or explain time-off as
a vacation or sick day.
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Does VSS Pro handle split shifts?
Yes. VSS Pro allows you to schedule up to two non-conflicting shifts per employee.
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Staffing
Can I schedule employees based on their skills and certifications?
Yes. With VSS Pro, you are able to schedule staff based on required attributes, such as skills, training, credentials or certifications. By assigning each employee specifically
defined skills, and utilizing a skill filter, you will be able to see which employee meets the defined criteria. In addition, setting shift requirements can help determine
whether particular shifts are under- or over-scheduled based on skills required at a certain time, or in a specific department or location.
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Will I be able to see if I have enough people scheduled?
Yes. With VSS Pro, you can indicate the number people or hours you need scheduled by position, shift, department, or location, and see if you have over-scheduled or
under-scheduled based on your requirements. If your staffing level is based upon external variables (i.e. patients, packages, units, etc.), you can use VSS Pro to perform
staffing calculations. For example, if you schedule nurses based upon patients per hour, or acuity, VSS Pro will help ensure that you have enough people scheduled to meet your
targeted level of care.
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Can I schedule my employees based on their seniority?
Yes. With VSS Pro, you are able to schedule staff based on their seniority. You can input your employees' hire dates and sort available staff based on this criteria.
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Will VSS Pro help me identify employees with overtime hours?
Yes. With VSS Pro, you can assign the number of authorized hours your employees can work, and VSS Pro will show all employees and their authorized number of hours compared to
the hours already scheduled for the week. You can then quickly determine who has exceeded the number of authorized hours and by what percentage.
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Can I see how many people are scheduled to work a particular shift?
Yes. VSS Pro can automatically calculate shift coverage and total hours scheduled and display this information in an easy-to-read table at the bottom of the schedule worksheet.
You can also see the number of people working a specific shift or the number of employees scheduled time-off.
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Can I schedule my employees according to their desired workload?
Yes. VSS Pro gives you ability to enter the number of hours your employees wish to work in a week. At any time, you can view the percentage of completion, which compares
desired work hours the to actual hours scheduled.
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Can VSS Pro help me identify shifts with inadequate coverage?
Yes. VSS Pro is designed to help prevent over- or under- staffing. With VSS Pro, you can set shift requirements and easily determine whether those requirements are being met.
For example, by defining the number of employees needed for any given shift, VSS Pro can automatically calculate shift coverage. You can see the (+/-) totals if there is an
over- or under-staffing situation.
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Can I see how many hours I've scheduled for a specific department?
Yes. In addition to viewing the number of people scheduled by position, shift, or explanation (i.e. department, location, job, etc.), you can also track the number of
hours scheduled.
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Will I be able to see a list of available employees?
Yes. VSS Pro can show you a daily list of available employees sorted by name, position, number of hours already scheduled, desired workload, or seniority (hire date). This list
is dynamically updated each time you schedule an employee. In addition, you can apply a skill filter to identify employees with the appropriate skill or skill set. This will
ensure the right people are scheduled and will help avoid or reduce overtime costs.
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Can I see how many employees are scheduled at a particular time?
Yes. VSS Pro gives you an instant view of the number of employees you have scheduled in one-hour, 30-minute or 15-minute increments. You can see your labor distribution (by
position, department, etc.) dynamically updated as you make schedule changes and select different days.
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Can I keep track of where my employees are working?
Yes. You can use explanations to locations, departments, jobs, etc. when assigning a shift. You can then produce a report for each location, department or job
you have scheduled.
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Scheduling Automation
Can I apply specific scheduling patterns and rotations?
Yes. VSS PRO allows you to define specific scheduling patterns and apply them to one or many employees in a single operation. With VSS Pro, you can automatically copy a
schedule rotation, and place it in future dates without having to manually enter this information multiple times.
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Can I assign the same information to a group of employees at once?
Yes. Once you've scheduled an employee, you can assign the same schedule information to many employees. You can copy shifts, explanations, and assignments to multiple persons
in one easy step.
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Can I copy scheduling information from one employee to another?
Yes. With VSS Pro, you can copy schedule information from one employee to another, or even to a group of employees in one single step. You can select the date ranges and the
level of information you want to copy.
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Can I set up scheduling reminders?
Yes. VSS Pro can help you remember when you have tasks to complete, such as e-mailing schedules, preparing reports, and scheduling time-off requests. You can indicate the number of
days prior to the due date you want to be reminded and whether the reminder is one-time or recurring.
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Sharing Schedules and Reports
Can I break down employee schedules by location, or position?
Yes. With VSS Pro, you can break down employee schedules as needed. This allows you to creat schedules that separate personnel into different groups, such as position, primary responsibility,
location, or shift type.
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Can VSS Pro generate personal schedules?
Yes. VSS Pro gives you the flexibility to print customized, individual schedules. You can print 1 to 42 day schedules, or a monthly calendar for any employee or group of
employees.
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Can I create a cover page for my schedules and reports?
Yes. With VSS PRO, you can add Microsoft® Word documents to any work schedule or report. You can use it to post important schedule notes or company announcements you don’t want
your employees to miss.
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Can I e-mail schedules to my employees?
Yes. You can e-mail schedules and reports directly from VSS Pro. You can send personal schedules as text message or any schedule or report in a PDF format.
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Can I publish schedules and reports to a web site?
Yes. You can publish any schedule or report as a .pdf or .html file and post it to your company network, web site, or intranet. You can also e-mail them to individual
employees
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Can I print a time-off report?
Yes. With VSS Pro, you can print a time-off report that lists all of your employees' scheduled time off, plus days they're not scheduled for any date range. You can quickly see
when an employee has taken vacation, sick, or personal days, or days when an employee has not been scheduled.
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Can VSS Pro produce an estimated cost report?
Yes. VSS Pro can calculate hours scheduled and provide an estimate of labor costs for a given work period.
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Can I create custom schedules?
Yes. VSS Pro offers unbeatable flexibility when it comes to printing schedules and reports. You can run custom reports using just about any combination of schedule information,
including shift, job, department or location.
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Access to Schedule Data
Can I control access to work schedules?
Yes. With VSS Pro, you can set up a password to restrict access to your schedule file. With a multi-user version of VSS Pro, you can set passwords for read/write and
read-only access.
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Can I share schedule data with other programs?
Yes. VSS Pro enables you to automatically export all schedule data. You can set up your export preferences and share data with time and attendance systems, database
applications, spreadsheets and reports writers.
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Does VSS Pro work with QuickBooks?
Yes. Users of QuickBooks Pro/Premier 2003 or Enterprise 2.0 (or newer versions) can import employee names and e-mail addresses into VSS Pro schedule files from a
QuickBooks company file. You can use the import feature to update employee information in VSS Pro at any time.
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Can I track changes made to the schedule?
Yes. VSS Pro gives you the option to track each scheduling session, including date and time, as well as a user's network and computer name. You can also prompt a user to enter
session comments prior to closing a schedule, which can be used as an audit trail and to help track schedule changes.
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Can I store employee information in VSS PRO?
Yes. VSS Pro can store e-mail addresses, phone numbers, pager numbers and even employee notes. You can also give your managers and employees access to employee contact
information for swapping shifts or to find replacements.
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Technical Aspects
Does the product come with any learning resources?
Yes. VSS Pro comes with a complete User Guide PDF. VSS Pro also has a comprehensive, built-in Help menu.
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Can I contact someone if I have any questions?
Yes. You can contact Technical Support via email at any time, or by phone between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM, CST, Monday through Friday.
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What's the difference between the single- and multi-user versions?
The programs operate similarly, with the multi-user version intended for companies who require more than one person to have access to VSS Pro, or have access to the same
schedule file. The multi-user version features read-only and read/write passwords for each schedule, which offers greater security options. Intelligent file locking ensures
that two people cannot simultaneously make canges to the same schedule file. In addition, the user always has the most up-to-date schedule, and only people you designate
can edit your schedules. Multi-user versions, and their respective licenses, cover users either on single PCs, a network, or any combination thereof.
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What is the cost of the application?
A single-user license of VSS Pro is $495.00. Multi-user licenses start at $695.00 for a 2-user license, with additional licenseas available at $100.00 each. The number of
“users” is equal to the number of computers on which VSS Pro would be installed. ABS can provide a custom quote based on a specific number of licenses.
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Does VSS Pro create back-up files?
Yes. VSS Pro automatically creates a backup file each time the user saves a schedule file. If VSS Pro is installed on a stand-alone computer, ABS recommends periodically saving
the schedule file to external media. In cases where VSS Pro is installed on a server, the backing up of VSS Pro’s schedule files can follow internal procedures set up by user.
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What do I need to run VSS Pro?
The minimum software and system configuration you need to run VSS Pro includes:
- A PC with a Pentium Processor (75+ MHz, and at least 64 MB of memory)
- A CD-ROM drive
- A minimum of 20 MB free hard disk space for VSS Pro, plus additional disk space for schedule files
- Windows operating system: 2000/XP/Vista
- A mouse supported by Microsoft Windows is recommended
- A monitor supported by Microsoft Windows (SVGA monitor recommended)
- An optional printer supported by Microsoft Windows
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