Re: Monitoring user working hours in microscopy core facility

Posted by Periasamy, Ammasi (ap3t)-2 on
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/Monitoring-user-working-hours-in-microscopy-core-facility-tp7588749p7588763.html

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Hello,
We use Infinity Core Management software by Idea Elan LLC at our Keck Center to manage our imaging facility and to track actual usage of instruments. Users have multiple options to start actual usage of the instrument.
Users can start actual usage from IE Infinity mobile app, or from the desktop actual usage tracker application or directly from the calendar page. There is no manual task involved it's all automatic after the quick initial setup.
Infinity provides a lot of options for advanced reports and invoicing options based on actual or scheduled or combination of actual and scheduled usage time.
Hope this helps.
Best wishes,
Ammasi

Dr. Ammasi Periasamy
Professor & Center Director,
WM Keck Center for Cellular Imaging,
Department of Biology, University of Virginia,
90 Geldard Dr., Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA.

http://www.kcci.virginia.edu/people/profile/ap3t
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FRET/FLIM Workshop-March 11-15, 2019: http://www.kcci.virginia.edu/workshop 

-------- Original message --------
From: "Alison J. North" <[hidden email]>
Date: 28/09/2018 23:24 (GMT+00:00)
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: Monitoring user working hours in microscopy core facility

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Hi all,

We too use the PPMS from Stratocore. I usually keep quiet on such questions, since it was partly written within my facility, but we no longer receive any free access (we keep paying to use it though) so I think it's fair for me to comment nowadays.

When we started using it, I soon worked out that about 30% of the time booked on our systems is not used, and also about an equal proportion of time used was never booked. Thus charging for a combination of time booked AND additional time used does indeed make a big difference to cost recovery - which can far outweigh the cost of paying for a good facility management software, whichever one you choose.

The flexibility and options within the PPMS are ideal for an imaging facility, which is not surprising since it was largely written by somebody who worked in two different microscope facilities. We have also asked them to add many additional features over the past few years. My favourite new one, which we requested earlier this year, is the option of automatically deactivating a user on a certain microscope after a specified time of being inactive on that system - e.g. 3 months.  We have implemented this to avoid the typical problems (such as equipment damage or last-minute requests at 5pm on a Friday for instant re-training!) that crop up when somebody was trained on a microscope and returns a year later...  They have to contact us to get reactivated, at which point we test them on the system. The particularly nice thing is that you can deactivate the same person on one system but choose to leave them active on other systems, e.g. the image processing workstations or a more basic microscope.

Hope this is helpful,
All the best,
Alison

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE DROID


Louis Kerr <[hidden email]> wrote:

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We use PPMS from Stratacore as some others have mentioned.  Users register for an account through the online system, the core gives the users rights to approved instruments and then users can reserve time through the schedule. Once at the microscope users need to log in to get past a security screen. This starts real time logging using the tracker option so they will be charged for actual usage plus any unused scheduled time if you choose this option.


There are plenty of configurations and options plus lots of possible reports.


We charge an hourly rate and income did increase which might offset the cost of implementation.


Louie


Louie Kerr | Director, Imaging Services; Staff Scientist Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA  02543
508-289-7273 | [hidden email]<mailto:[hidden email]> | www.mbl.edu<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.mbl.edu_&d=DwIF-g&c=JeTkUgVztGMmhKYjxsy2rfoWYibK1YmxXez1G3oNStg&r=RBx0-WJrAO5vwSOLNmFbqYvikvIZS5ns3-USwvMOuLo&m=YXUNEcJ3YadLlkQ5KkPX1MhoxJ2Ct5aVMCr87xZqykk&s=dYeV_qYaxrI5RGKK-1kFc38XKOmSfaqIhXjrJygaBJs&e=>




________________________________
From: Confocal Microscopy List <[hidden email]> on behalf of Cammer, Michael <[hidden email]>
Sent: Friday, September 28, 2018 1:48 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: Monitoring user working hours in microscopy core facility

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The best way, IMHO, would be to have a two part system where the parts talk to each other.  Optional 3rd part.

1.  Online scheduling system.
2.  Each users logs in using their unique ID.  This unique ID is served out and allows for file permissions on remote servers etc.  Logging is performed via login/logout of computer.  (You can set up a script to give you a list of all logouts logins, but even with some programming applied to simplify the list, still requires human intervention.) 3.  An additional 3rd part could be login in to the online scheduling system to turn on/off a hardware or software interlock for equipment that is not controlled by computer or doesn't allow for individual logins.

The goal of the system is to audit all usage and allow for complex reporting (e.g. "How many Diabetes Center users worked after hours on confocals in the last FY?") with no staff time doing tallies, spreadsheets, etc.

The online scheduling system or addl database would compare scheduled times to logins.  Also, connect directly to institution's finance system for billing and updating internal accounting numbers.  This is an enormous challenge which requires administrative support; routing internal funding is a moving target and shouldn't be the burden of scientists.  But this may be beyond your inquiry.

I like the policy whereby billed time always starts at scheduled time but allows for people to leave early (a minimum billed time, e.g. one hour, could be in the system) or allows people to work past the scheduled time with no need for user to do anything except log out when done.

Happy to talk privately about our experiences attempting to have a sane auditing/billing system, the successes and failures, and issues with implementing.

Best regards-

Michael Cammer, Sr Research Scientist, DART Microscopy Laboratory NYU Langone Health, 540 First Avenue, SK2 Microscopy Suite, New York, NY  10016 [hidden email]  https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__nyulmc.org_micros&d=DwIF-g&c=JeTkUgVztGMmhKYjxsy2rfoWYibK1YmxXez1G3oNStg&r=RBx0-WJrAO5vwSOLNmFbqYvikvIZS5ns3-USwvMOuLo&m=YXUNEcJ3YadLlkQ5KkPX1MhoxJ2Ct5aVMCr87xZqykk&s=U6T_AakHax0lnn8obInZVef0PxdQcrPa5zQX0-8ICg0&e=  https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__microscopynotes.com_&d=DwIF-g&c=JeTkUgVztGMmhKYjxsy2rfoWYibK1YmxXez1G3oNStg&r=RBx0-WJrAO5vwSOLNmFbqYvikvIZS5ns3-USwvMOuLo&m=YXUNEcJ3YadLlkQ5KkPX1MhoxJ2Ct5aVMCr87xZqykk&s=pk6vWMWj7xTUk0Uod0onFqCozt0mRih7iiyHYPUJptE&e=
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-----Original Message-----
From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Hanna Sas Nowosielska
Sent: Friday, September 28, 2018 11:50 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Monitoring user working hours in microscopy core facility

Dear All,

In our microscopy core facility, we are trying to find a way to monitor users working ours on our systems. This is particularly important for the users working outside facility staff working hours. After talking to Zeiss and Leica service, it seems that setting user accounts on Windows is hard to do, especially with over 100 users. Thus, I would like to ask you about your experience. How is this monitored in your core facilities? Is there any easy way to do it?

Thanks,
Hanna
--
Hanna Sas-Nowosielska

Laboratory of Imaging Tissue Structure and Function Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology Warsaw, Poland

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