Internet Cafe Administrator Server v.2.0
- short description of possibilities -
 

Internet Cafe Administrator Server is component of Internet Cafe Administrator software package. It is installed on server computer in internet cafe or club. It is used for managing complete registration, monitoring, paying bills and other activities for successful management of one internet cafe. From palette of options of this internet cafe software, we will mention here some of them.

Internet Cafe Administrator Server has three levels of authorizations, which can be assigned to persons who do not use Internet Cafe Administrator Server. Administrator has all authorizations on Internet Cafe Administrator Server, as well as on Internet Cafe Administrator Client, operator and operator+ are next two levels of authorizations, which have limited authorizations on Server and Client. Entering new administrator, operator or operator+  can be done only by already registered administrator.
Ways of counting and billing of spent time, and way of freeing  the computer in internet cafe, which is allowed by Internet Cafe Administrator Server are multiple.

There are two special ways of billing a service: prepaid - paying time in advance,  and post paid - paying after the completion of work for the time spent. Also, Internet Cafe Administrator Server differentiates three types of users and it treats them differently during billing: members, guests, subscribers.

Members are category of users who pay membership (program automatically keeps track of expiry of membership, makes bill for the member during login, and etc.) and it has its (special) tariff for billing spent time. Members pay their obligations according to post paid principle. They have their user name (login) and password for logging on one of the clients; when they finish, Internet Cafe Administrator Server makes bill for spent time. In case they want to pay by prepaid principle, administrator on Internet Cafe Administrator Server has the possibility to allow special discount  (in percentages %). This category is formed for those who will be constant or often visitors in internet cafe, students, pupils and etc., so that administrator has the possibility to grant them special benefits.

Guests are users who pay only for spent time by post paid principle (no membership, nor they pay in advance). Operator (administrator) on Internet Cafe Administrator Server frees them client computer for usage, and upon the completion of work Internet Cafe Administrator Server makes bill for spent time on that client, with special tariff intended for guests. This category is formed for those who want to use services of internet cafe seldom.

Subscribers are users who pay in advance for wanted period of time (number of hours). Administrator has possibility to make wanted number of classes (from-to hours) and assigns the price by hour to everyone, with expiry date. Subscribers like other members have their user name and password for logging to clients. Subscribers are subtracted spent time from their total amount of prepaid time. This category is  for users who want to be frequent visitors, but not as members who deserve some discount. Administrator is allowed to grant certain benefits, depending on number of prepaid hours.

The last of the possibilities for billing is the variation on the theme Subscriber. This is about possibility of generating more numbers (up to 99) of "cards" for number of hours. It is an assumption that cards will be made with smaller number of hours for categories who want to limit their work on one hour or say two hours. They buy card with login valid for say 1 hour, and afterwards it has no function. They get user name and password for client, on "card". Upon the expiry of time marked on "card", client will be blocked from further using of computer automatically.

Internet Cafe Administrator Server keeps constant contact with Internet Cafe Administrator clients, whereas it is possible to see at all times which of the clients are active, which are free or not in function. Each of the clients is represented with one button on Server (with appropriate icon). The view of these buttons - clients on Server, i.e. their disposal can be automatic or manual. Internet Cafe Administrator Server has the the possibility of restart, i.e. shutting down any, or all clients in network, which represents an excellent option for internet clubs with great number of client computers.

One of the big problems which emerge in internet clubs and cafes is that multiple users unintentionally or intentionally delete some system files, change some Windows parameters and etc., whereby obstructing normal functioning of internet clubs. Internet Cafe Administrator solves this problem by enabling restrictions and limits on clients. Internet Cafe Administrator Server allows administrator to define restrictions (by selecting certain fields) on server, and to apply them on one or more (all) clients directly from server. Administrator also has the possibility to set these restrictions on each client. This is very important and practical option which easily sets protégé and security on your computers.

All income made in internet club are recorded in database, which can be browsed at all times, and print it out on printer (A4 format). Income is shown by categories (subscribers, members, guests) and by total sum. It is possible to request for daily report for certain period, as well as total income. These reports, i.e. database, is possible to reset (a null).

Database, managed by Internet Cafe Administrator Server, is very important for the owner (administrator) of internet club (cafe), so therefore it ought to be taken care of. It contains data about income, members, subscribers, prepaid cards, other relevant data necessary for functioning of Internet Cafe Administrator Server. This is the reason for adding option Backup/Restore of saved database. This option saves database,  and also gives the possibility of restoring previously saved databases.  Backup copy is recommended to be made on daily basis, perhaps few times a day, if there is a frequent traffic in internet clubs.
 

Option which we shall mention now is monitoring and recording all activities on server, clients, and checking of clients. These are so called logs, they represent list of chronological activities on server (log activities on server), clients (log activities on clients), and checking clients every 5 minutes (in check log). This option brings stronger control and enables administrator to check logs and to determine exactly what occurred and what activities were made on server and clients. Check log for clients will show how many clients were turned on (with names) every 5 minutes. Like reports, logs can be printed and reset.
 

The last option which we shall mention in this short description of Internet Cafe Administrator Server is not strictly bound to the functioning of internet club, but it is an interesting one and we believe welcome. It is about the look of the Internet Cafe Administrator Server application, i.e. "skins". This version has five different "skins" for different flavors.