Floor for Windows rev 4.0 is a scheduling application specifically designed for real estate offices. The software helps you to prepare floor-duty schedules that equitably distribute shifts to your agents.

Floor for Windows allows you to create floor schedules using four different "engines." The SmartRandom engine attempts to produce the fairest schedule based on data you enter. The Shuffled engine produces a random schedule without attempting to minimize duplicate days of the week. The Horizontal Serial engine distribute agents in order, looping through the list of names. The Mixed Serial engine is similar, except that it loops first through the weekend shifts, then the weekday shifts.

The live-trial copy that you received in the mail or downloaded from the internet is a fully functional copy of Floor for Windows. It is designed to expire 45 days after installation, giving you an opportunity to test the software fully before purchasing. At any time during the live trial, or after the software expires, you may activate the software by ordering a license.

While General Entropy Software, Inc. does not guarantee functionality in the Year 2000, Floor for Windows rev 4.0 has been tested extensively for stability, millennium-straddling, date integrity, and leap-year support in the Year 2000 and beyond. Underlying hardware and operating system non-compliance, however, will affect software performance.

Floor for Windows rev 4.0 costs $49 for a single license, or $29 to upgrade from previous versions of the software.

Follow the dialog boxes that appear when you exit the program in order to print an invoice. After we receive the invoice and payment, we will send you an activation key. You will not have to reinstall any software.

Floor for Windows rev 4.0 requires the user to purchase a license in order to use the program past the 45-day trial period. In order to activate the program, you need to send us the six-letter software key that appears when you try to activate. The software key is a set of six random letters, displayed at the top of the activation screen. If the software is past the 45-day trial period, the activation screen will appear whenever you try to run the program. If the software is still in the trial period, exit the program and choose to view ordering information. Once we have processed your order, we will send you an activation key. You will type in this six-letter activation key on the activation screen, directly below the software key, thus activating your software.

When you purchase a license from General Entropy Software, Inc. you may use the software for as long as you like on a single computer. There are no renewal or subscription fees. However, you do need to purchase an additional license if you wish to use the program on a different computer in your office.

We highly recommend upgrading to version 4.0 for the minimal upgrade fee of $29. Version 4.0 is built specifically for 32-bit Windows operating systems, such as Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, and XP. In addition, version 4.0 supports emailing the schedule to your agents and exporting the schedule directly to the Microsoft Outlook calendar.

Like most software, you are allowed to install only one copy per each license purchased. Therefore, you must purchase additional licenses if you plan to run the program on multiple computers.

General Entropy Software, Inc. offers bulk rates for orders of ten licenses or more. Contact us by mail for the exact bulk rate.

General Entropy Software, Inc. always keeps the most recent copy of the program on its website. If you want to share the program with another office, just tell them to browse to http://www.generalentropy.com and click on the Download link.

You can add several types of restrictions. Vacations can be added for individual agents, and holidays may be configured for the entire office. In addition, an agent may be restricted from receiving floor time during a specific shift.

Floor for Windows saves completed schedules to disk using the suffix FLR. All information regarding agents, schedules, vacations, and restrictions is stored in the FLR file. In order to produce schedules for multiple offices, first set up the software for your first office. Add the agent names and shift restrictions, then generate a schedule. Save the schedule using a name you will remember, like OFFICE1.FLR. Delete all the agents and restrictions, and set up the software for your second office. Generate a schedule and save it as OFFICE2.FLR. Now, every month you can simply open the office's saved FLR file and use it as a template for the new schedule.

From time to time, you may want a specific agent to receive fewer shifts than average. Shift restrictions will not accomplish this end, since the software works to "make up" for restricted shifts. Instead, you can produce the effect by giving random vacation days to the agent. For example, if you give a vacation to an agent every odd day, the agent will receive approximately half the number of average shifts.

A generated schedule may be exported directly to e-mail, with each agent receiving his or her shifts as an e-mail message. Before exporting a generated schedule, each agent should have an e-mail address configured in the program. The e-mail address may be a valid SMTP address, such as info@generalentropy.com, or an internal mail address that references a valid MAPI provider, such as Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, or Novell GroupWise. Regardless of the system, you must have MAPI e-mail services configured on your computer. Once you have generated a schedule, select the E-mail checkbox under Export Schedule, then click the Export button.

A generated schedule may be exported directly to the Microsoft Outlook Calendar, so that each agent will receive a set of appointments that correspond to his or her scheduled shifts. You must have Microsoft Outlook installed on your computer, and all Outlook users must be connected to a Microsoft Exchange server. Before exporting a generated schedule, each agent should have a valid Microsoft Exchange mail address configured in the program. In addition, the shift times for each day must be in a standard format, such as 9:00am - 11:00am, so that they can be interpreted by Outlook. Once you have generated a schedule, select the Outlook Calendar checkbox under Export Schedule, then click the Export button.

If you ordered by credit card on our website, or included your email address on the invoice when you ordered by mail, your email address will be recorded in our database. Whenever we release a new version of the software, we send a short announcement to all email addresses we have on file, directing you to the download location. You can unsubscribe from this announcement list easily, and we guarantee that we will not sell or give away your email address to any other party.

The quickest way to contact us is to write to us at support@generalentropy.com. Make sure that you include your name, company, and address so that we can find you in our database. Demand for technical support has been rather low, since the software is very simple to setup and use.

In order to keep the cost of the software as low as possible, we do not offer technical support over the telephone. We have found that Floor for Windows requires very little technical expertise to install and maintain. The full-time staffing of a support center would at least double the price of the software. If you encounter problems installing or using Floor for Windows, please try the software on another computer, then contact our support department at support@generalentropy.com.