Is Your Data Safe?

It always comes to mind at this time of year, when I'm doing lots of rollovers, that many customers have their BUSTOPS data saved on the C drive of their computer.  So I wanted to take this opportunity to remind everyone that you should periodically check with your School District's IT Department to make sure your BUSTOPS data is being backed up on a regular basis. 

If the data is on a server, you need to make sure it is being backed up by the IT Department through their daily or weekly backup procedures.

If your BUSTOPS data is on the C drive of a computer in your office, you need to make sure you are backing it up on a regular basis yourself. You can work with your IT Department to create a procedure to backup by copying the data to a server drive, a zip drive, or DVD, depending on their preference.  During the school year, a weekly backup is likely sufficient, however, when you are planning next year's routes, a daily backup would be best.

Regardless of where the data is saved, if it is lost and no current backup is available, it can be a lot of work to recreate the information.

Should you or your IT people wish to discuss this, please give us a call.

Hope everyone is enjoying this warmer weather!

Time to Spring into Action

It's been a long, cold winter for us, this year and it's hard to believe the end of the 2013-2014 school year is fast approaching.  And - it's time to start thinking about planning your routes for next year!

What types of changes are going to occur in your School District for the next school year?

• do  you need to eliminate a route(s)?
• are you closing buildings?
• will you be opening a building?
• are you considering re-configuring the grades in different buildings?

Bustops can be used to help plan routes for each of these scenarios.

Once you've booked your GoToMeeting appointment to upgrade your students' grades and then the rollover is done, you will need to:

• reassign students who switch schools to new stops for their new school
• import or enter your new kindergartners and assign them to stops
• optimize or adjust routes depending on your School Districts plans
• print letters, postcards or post new routes for parents
• print route sheets, student lists and maps for drivers and schools

Remember, we are here to help you as much as you need to get the information setup in Bustops for next year.  And, the more changes you need to make, the earlier you should get started.

Happy Spring!

BUSTOPS Holiday Schedule

Our office will be closed for the holidays from Monday, December 23rd, 2013 to Friday, January 4th, 2014. 

The office will reopen at 8:00 am on Monday, January 6th, 2014.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

from MicroAnalytics Staff

Support Talk

It’s almost time to start school and you have your routes ready to go.  Before you do another thing, take a moment to review what you should do with your BUSTOPS program to save yourself from potential problems. 

WHAT TO DO WITH BUSTOPS TWO WEEKS BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS…

The computer is your slave; you are not the slave to the computer. 

1.  Ensure the data is complete and print all reports needed. Think how upset you will be if your printer breaks or your network goes down the day before you need the report.

·         Before you start to print your letters or routes, you should review some of them in the Preview screen and compare the information to the information in your student and stops databases. 

·         Depending on the fields you are using in your reports, update commands within BUSTOPS may need to be run.

 2.  Keep a backup saved version of your BUSTOPS files.

 3.  Make last minute changes on paper:

There are always changes to be made.  Hand write your changes during start up on the paper reports.  Often times, changes are made and then those changes need to be reversed or changed again.  Save up your changes and input them in BUSTOPS shortly after school starts and things settle down.  This can save time and mistakes.

 

Following the above suggestions will decrease the rush to get things done, which in turn helps prevent problems.  With these pointers in mind, we wish you all the best in the new school year!

Planning

Just a friendly reminder to everyone - if you haven't booked an appointment yet to advance your grades in BUSTOPS so you can start planning your routes for the 2013-2014 school year, you should do so now.

The next 6-9 weeks will fly by and it will be time for the first day of school before we know it.

Have a safe and pleasant summer everyone!

Safe Guard Your Data

I wanted to remind everyone that you should periodically check with your School District's IT Department to make sure your BUSTOPS data is being backed up on a regular basis.

If the data is on a server, you need to make sure it is being backed up by the IT Department through their procedures.

If your BUSTOPS data is on the c drive of a computer in your office, you need to make sure you are backing it up on a regular basis yourself.  You can work with your IT Department to create a procedure to backup by copying the data to a server drive, a zip drive, or to CD or DVD, depending on their preference.

Regardless of where the data is saved, if it is lost and no current backup in available, it can be a lot of work to recreate the information.

As always, if you or your IT people wish to discuss this, give us a call.

Hope everyone is enjoying Spring so far!

Time to Start Planning

Now that Spring is here it's time to start thinking about a game plan for getting ready for the 2013-2014 School Year routing.

If you haven't already setup a GoToMeeting appointment to get your students' grades advanced, you need to think about when that needs to be done.

Once the grades are advanced you need to:

• reassign students who switch schools to stops for the new school
• enter your new kindergartners and assign them to stops
• adjust the routes for new stops
• print reports - updated route sheets, updated driving directions, send out letters or post cards to students, or create a file with information to be posted in the newspaper or on your School District's website, etc.

If you are comfortable with this process from previous years, call and book an appointment when you normally do.

If you are new to using Bustops or if you are opening, closing or moving locations of buildings this school year, you can always call us to discuss the steps specific to your situation and the timing of when you should begin getting ready.

Happy planning!

Holiday Hours

 

 

 

 

Our office will close on Friday, December 21, 2012 at 4:30 pm and will reopen on Wednesday, January 2, 2013 at 8:00 am.

 

During this closure if you have an emergency with your BUSTOPS program and need assistance, please e-mail your request to maryb@bustops.com.

 

The Management and Staff of MicroAnalytics wish  you and your families

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

 

 



Thanksgiving Closure

In observance of Thanksgiving, our office will be closed on Thursday, November 22nd and Friday, November 23rd.

We will reopen on Monday, November 26th at 8:00 am.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Forward Thinking

So, here we are, 55 days until Christmas and coming up to about half way through the school year.

It's time to start seriously thinking about, and coming up with a game plan, if your School District is looking at making significant route changes for the 2013-2014 school year.  These may involve:

• creating more efficient routes
• moving from single tier to double tier routing or vice versa
• opening a school(s)
• closing a school(s)
• investigating different bell times
• or just cutting a bus as you have a driver retiring

Investigating how these changes may affect your routes can be done in Bustops, but it does take some time.  Plus, you will need to discuss the options with your Superintendent, then the Board and finally, relay the information to parents.

We are here to help you with getting the information you need using Bustops.  Call and talk to one of our Support Staff to discuss your changes and how to proceed.

Have a great day!

October 8th, Office Closed

In Observance of Columbus Day, our office will be closed on Monday, October 8th.

The office will re-open at 8:30 am on Tuesday, October 9th.

We wish you all a nice long weekend.

It's almost time

I know some of you returned to school this week, some will next week and the rest will return on September 4th.

I wish you all a smooth startup to the 2012-13 school year.

We are here to answer any last minute questions you may have about BUSTOPS, however, we anticipate that you have your reports printed and ready to go by now. 

Please remember, our offices are closed on Monday, September 3rd in observance of Labor Day.

Have a great day!

Time is Flying

Wow, it's already July 16th.  That means that, at most, you have 7 more weeks until school starts.  And, less than that to get information to your parents, drivers and schools.

I hope most of you are ready to start checking your data in the next week or so.  This is important so that you are confident the correct information is being sent to parents - either via postcards, letters, in newspapers or on your school district website.

If you'd like to discuss with us how to check your data, please call.  Also, you should always preview and scan through some of the reports you will print to make sure the information is up to date.  There might be update commands that need to be run in Bustops before your print.

I trust you are all enjoying your summer.  Take care!

July 4th Office Closing

In observance of the July 4th Holiday, our offices will be closed on Wednesday, July 4th, 2012.

The office will reopen on Thursday, July 5th, 2012 at 8:00 am.

Have a great holiday!

Local Broker

I've been thinking about how helpful Local Broker is for transportation staff.  Local Broker is a program that will automatically import a student file that has been downloaded from the School Districts' student administration program into the BUSTOPS program.

This can save time as Transportation Staff do not have to type in new students, or address changes.  Local Broker imports the new file, and flags students who are new or who have changes that can affect their transportation such as a changed address, school or grade.

If you are interested in more information about the Local Broker program, give the office a call.

Have a great day!

End of the School Year

I know everyone is getting very close to being finished school for the year, or has already finished.

I also know many of you have had your students rolled over in Bustops and are well on your way to having your routes planned for 2012-2013.

If you have not yet booked your appointment for your roll over, give the office a call and arrange your time.

And, don't hesitate to call with any questions or issues that arise during your planning process and we'll get them answered.

Have a safe, fun summer!

Memorial Day

The MicroAnalytics' office will be closed on Monday, May 28th, in observance of Memorial Day.

The office will reopen at 8:00 am on Tuesday, May 29th.

Wishful Thinking

With the current school year winding down, I have been musing my daughters progress through the year.  One is finishing their Senior Kindergarten year and the other, her Junior Kindergarten year.

During the 2010-2011 school year my eldest daughter rode a bus to school and evidently enjoyed it very much.  This year, as we have moved to a different town, both girls now walk to school.

Over the past year, when my older daughter has had a tiring day and we are walking home from school, she will ask why she can't take the bus to her new school.  I  always try to explain the logistics of our living in town and therefore are in the walk area for the school, while almost all of her friends live outside the town and get to ride the school bus.

Her only comfort right now, is that when she goes to High School, she will get to ride the bus to school.  Meanwhile ... I'm secretly wondering when she'll start asking for a car once she enters High School.

The joys of parenting!

Get your appointment booked!

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful spring weather.

It's hard to believe that for most of you, school will be finished for the year in just over a month.  I'm sure you're all busy with the end of year trips and other activities.

If you haven't yet booked your GoToMeeting appointment to upgrade your students and begin your route planning for the 2012-2013 school year, it's time to do so.  I encourage you, whether you want to wait until school is over or want your appointment in May, to reserve your time as we are booking up quickly right now.

As always, we are here to help you with any questions you have about using Bustops for your route planning.

Take care!

Office Closed for Good Friday

In observance of Good Friday our office will be closed on Friday, April 6th.

We will reopen at 8:00 am on Monday, April 9, 2012.

Happy Easter!