Virtual Shelter Information
- Stephanie Weggeman
May 9, 2024 at 5:23 PM
This is the process to follow when a customer contacts us asking for a Virtual Shelter.
For a new VS enquiry
A "new" enquiry means the customer either has never had a VS set up for them before or they've asked for an all-new region to be set up for them.
In the initial reply:
Ask the customer to supply a wireframe of their shelter layout. The format doesn't matter, as we redraw it anyway, but it is important that all the areas they want to see on the VS are clearly marked and all kennels are labelled as they want to see them.
Give them the price range for VS and let them know we will provide a quote based on the drawing they send in. Prices range from $950 - $2200.
If they would like to know the process or ask how long it will take, let them know that:
Once they have approved the quote, we will send the drawing out to be created as a wireframe.
Then, we will provide them with a copy of the wireframe to examine and approve. During this phase, they should make sure that all areas are labelled correctly, that numbers are going in the right direction, and that the wireframe looks EXACTLY as they want to see it on the VS. There is often back-and-forth during this process.
Let them know they are entitled to 3 edits. An Edit is a change made because THEY made a mistake, overlooked something, or changed their mind about something. After 3 edits, we start charging them.
If we have made mistakes, typos, etc., we will keep working at it until it is correct, no matter how many changes it takes.
Once the wireframe is approved, we map it in and make it live. This time-consuming part of the process can take up to a week, so it has to be mindfully scheduled, among other work.
Once they send the wireframe, you can ask the CS team for their opinions if you are unsure what to quote them.
Prices depend on how large/complex the design is.
Small (simple): $950
Medium: $1450
Large (complex): $2200
For a request to make changes to an existing wireframe
If a customer would like to make small changes to an existing wireframe, they can do this up to 3 times a year without incurring charges (unless they make more than 3 additional edits during the approval process).
Any changes over that limit incur a $250 fee.
If the changes they want are extensive but still based on the original wireframe, this attracts a $500 fee. Once the new wireframe is drawn up, they will also attract fees if they make more than 3 edits on top of the original edits requested.
Mistakes we fix for free.
Once the quote has been approved
Send the drawing provided by the customer to Arif via Upwork (if you don't have an account, ask Harry to set you up or ask Selena or Sheila to do this step on your behalf).
Arif typically takes between 24-48 hours to create a wireframe (longer over holidays/weekends)
When Arif has sent back the wireframe, send a version of it to the customer to check for errors, paying particular attention to spelling, correctness of labels and direction of text/numbering. Ensure no kennels were accidentally duplicated.
During this process, it's usually a good idea to check the wireframe against their Shelter Buddy site to ensure the labels and kennels are all represented there and make sense. Some sites forget to update their SB site to match changes to the VS, so if you find discrepancies, ask the customer to resolve them for you.
This continues back and forth until the customer approves the wireframe and confirms it's ready to go live.
To set up a VS:
Go into System Options
Select Regions
Click on Set Virtual Shelter Kennels
Upload the image (just a regular photo/doc upload) and set it as the default
Use the links at the top to draw the kennels/Shelter locations
Note: A Shelter Location will only display on the VS display if there are no kennels linked to it, or, if there are kennels linked, all of those kennels have been mapped.
To draw a kennel:
Select the link Add Kennel in the top-left of the screen
Select the Shelter Location from the drop-down
Select the Kennel from the drop-down
Click [Done, let me draw the kennel!]
The modal will close.
Find the kennel in question on the wireframe
Place your mouse cursor in the top left corner of the kennel.
Click the left mouse button and hold it.
Drag the mouse down and to the right until the entire area of the kennel is covered with orange.
Release the mouse button.
A modal will appear: from here, you can make changes such as redraw, rotate, move, or resize. You can also Save or Cancel from this modal.
When you are satisfied with the position of the orange square, click Save on the modal.
The modal will disappear, replaced by a pop-up telling you the kennel has been saved. Click OK to proceed.
Repeat until all kennels are drawn.
NB: once you've drawn a kennel, it will vanish from the drop-down list.
To draw a Shelter Location:
Select the Shelter Location link in the top-left of the screen.
Select the Shelter Location from the drop-down menu.
Click [Done, let me draw the kennel!]
Follow the same process as the kennels from here.
Note: once you've drawn a Shelter Location, it remains in the list unless you refresh the page, but it will "remember" where you left it, so the next time you open the modal, the last item you drew will be selected. If you refresh the page, it will clear the list, leaving only those you have not drawn available to be selected.
It can be useful to view progress on the VS map in another window. Remember to refresh to see any changes.
If you make a mistake:
Select the Clear Shelters/Kennels link from the menu at the top (second from the right)
Click on the end of the drop-down for whichever you would like to clear (NB: in this case, you don't need to select the Shelter Location before the kennel. The Kennel list is arranged by Shelter Location, so if you need to clear a Kennel, just click the Kennels drop-down.
Locate the option you need to clear and click the box to select it.
Alternatively, you can click Check all to mark ALL items in the list.
Uncheck all removes any and all check marks against any Shelter Location or Kennel in the list.
When your selection is made, click [Clear Selected Shelters/Kennels]
The item will appear in the drop-down once more. However, you may need to refresh the page to see a Shelter Location.
You can check your progress by keeping the Virtual Shelter page open on a different tab and refreshing it periodically. The changes you make are immediately live unless the VS has never been activated on that site before.
If the site has not had a VS before:
Go into System Options > Customise Options
Find the option "VirtualShelterConfigured"
Make sure it is set to "True"
Sync Customise Options
Ask engineering to sync Customise Options for AWS for that site.
Once the VS is mapped in and you are happy with the result, communicate this to the customer and close out the ticket.
Suggested inquiry email text:
The virtual shelter is set up to look like a map of your actual site, and is married in to the region and shelter locations loaded into Shelter Buddy. It will recognise when an animal has been allocated a specific kennel number and will show this on the map with a designated colour. The colour will indicate how many animals are in that particular kennel. It will also indicate if a specific kennel has been marked with an ongoing cleaning requirement (e.g. in the case of infectious disease) or if there are animals allocated to the shelter location that have not yet been allocated a kennel number.
There is also a cost re Virtual Shelter, but we charge for the amount of time it takes a programmer to build your individual virtual shelter, e.g. some plans are very easy and simple and other shelters are complex and very detailed so we just charge for time spent, its normally between $950.00 and $2,200.00.
To set it up, you would need to forward us a diagram of the facility and we would base the design on this, so on-screen it matches as closely as we can make it remembering that if a particular room has many small cages then the proportions may have to be changed so each kennel number is clearly visible on the Virtual Shelter map.
We would provide a quote for the work based on this plan. Insofar as the format is concerned, the image needs to be in landscape, ideally with a width of 26.5 cm and a height of 14.2 cm, but you don’t need to use any specific program to create it.