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Introduction

When you subscribe to the Aptora Hosted platform, we host Total Office Manager, Aptora Mobile II, and the Form Builder applications for you.  There will be no need to configure these applications within your local environment. Only the hosted remote applications will be accessible for any users on a macOS.  Contractor Compass and Aptora Teams require a Windows OS for installation.

Within ten business days of your subscription purchase, your hosted environment will be configured.  You will receive your login credentials from the Aptora Hosted team.  You will use those credentials to configure any workstation needing access to Total Office Manager and remaining desktop applications with the instructions below.

Password Setup

The first thing you will do is reset the password for the hosted user(s).  A default password of Temp1234 is generally set and must be changed before login is successful.  Once this password is set, you will be required to reset to a new password every 180 days.

To reset your password, you will do the following:

  1. In a web browser, enter the Aptora RDS access address: https://rds.aptora.com. Log in with your Aptora RDS username and password. Your username will be in the format of tomrds\user123. When entering this information, it is not case sensitive.
  2. You will receive a message indicating your password has expired. Click on here to reset.
    NOTE: If prompted to run add-on for Microsoft Desktop Services Web Access, click Allow.
  3. Enter your current password.  This password is the temporary one provided by the Aptora Hosted team.  If you are unsure of this password, please call our helpdesk at 913-322-4666. Enter a new password.  This password must meet the Windows 10 complexity requirements.  All passwords are required to have a minimum of eight (8) characters. They may not contain any part of the username or full name.  For example, a username of ashleya123 with a full name of Ashley Adams cannot have a password of Ashley$cores, Adam1975, ashley123!, etc.
    A minimum of three (3) of the following criteria must also be met:

    • Have at least one uppercase (1) letter.
    • Have at least one lowercase (1) letter.
    • Have at least one (1) number (0-9).
    • Have at least one (1) special character (~!@#$%^&*_-+=`|\(){}[]:;”‘<>,.?/).
  4. Click Submit to verify and set password. Please remember this password.  You will use it to access the hosted environment.  If you forget this password, you will need to call the Aptora Support Desk to get assistance in resetting it.

Configuring Work Resources

The next thing you will do is configure your local computer(s) for connection to the Aptora Hosted environment.  To do this, you will configure Microsoft Remote Desktop.

  1. Download the app from the Mac App Store. Make sure you are running macOS 10.10 or newer.
  2. Setup your PC to accept remote connections. For more information on how to do this, please review the linked documentation.
  3. Navigate to Applications, search for Remote in the search box, and double click on the Microsoft Remote Desktop App.
  4. Click on Workspaces then click Add Workspace.
  5. Enter the Connection URL as https://rds.aptora.com and click Add.
  6. On the next screen, verify the URL again, and click select Add User in the User account.
  7. You will be prompted for your TOMRDS username and password.
  8. PLEASE BE PATIENT!! After a minute or two (maybe a bit longer), you will see the following window showing a successful connection and configuration of the hosted work resources.
  9. You may quickly disconnect from the hosted solution by clicking Quit within the circle icon located in Microsoft Remote Desktop. Connections are limited to a single 12-hour session.  If you need to be connected more than 12 hours, it is recommended to disconnect all sessions at lunch and reconnect to restart the 12-hour session.

Connecting to Total Office Manager

To connect to the desktop application, double click on the Total Office Manager icon from the Work Resources.

The application will begin to configure your desktop connection.  The first time you login in may take longer than normal as Windows configures your desktop.

Once your session has begun, you will be connected to the last database you were connected to.  If this is the first time connecting, navigate to File | Open Company/Login.  Enter TOMHostServer##\######,#### as the SQL Instance in the Select a Server: field to select from the sample company database and, if applicable, your live company file.  (The #### will be replaced with the server details provided from the Aptora Hosted Team.)

If after entering the server details the database lists does not populate, click the server drop down to expand and collapse.  This will load the available databases for selection. Once you have selected a database, please click OK to connect.

After clicking OK to confirm you are entering a sample company file, you will be presented with the login screen.  While the users Administrator and Ashley M Adams do have full permissions to the company file, you are free to navigate the software with any user you choose.

If you have any connection issues while working on the hosted application, please do not hesitate to email (helpdesk@aptora.com) or call (913-322-4666) for support. For after-hours connection support, please call or text 913-201-6503.

Connecting to Aptora Mobile II

To connect to your mobile website, you will enter the URL provided for your company by the Aptora Hosted team.  This URL will be formatted like https://xyz.hosted.aptora.com:9876 or https://hij.cloud.aptora.com:4567. Before accessing your live company file in the mobile environment, you will want to configure their user and security access.  Setting this up is covered in Lesson 9 of the 12-Step Plan.

When performing the initial training on Aptora Mobile II, please use any web or device browser.  It is not necessary to download the mobile app during the training phase.  Once you are ready for your technicians to begin using the application, they may use either the browser or app.  If you are wanting to utilize the device tracking feature or credit card capture, usage of the app is required.

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