Check In on Ipad or Android

[allonloven]

i have been doing some research, and would love to know if there is any way of running check in through a mobile device. (even if that means remotely controlling a different computer) is there any way to do this? i would love to start powerchurch check in as our church already uses powerchurch. the benefits, of face to face without a counter seems it would make the check in experience a bit more personal, along with the self check in kiosks. is this a possibility like it is with fellowship 1?

secondly, i know this is probably not in the right forum, but will it ever be possible to get a simple app to connect to our database, so i don't have to constantly call the secretary for a number or carry around some big print out that changes often...?


thanks for what you do!

Allon
Children's Pastor
Minot First Assembly of God

[NeilZ]

i have been doing some research, and would love to know if there is any way of running check in through a mobile device. (even if that means remotely controlling a different computer) is there any way to do this? i would love to start powerchurch check in as our church already uses powerchurch. the benefits, of face to face without a counter seems it would make the check in experience a bit more personal, along with the self check in kiosks. is this a possibility like it is with fellowship 1?

secondly, i know this is probably not in the right forum, but will it ever be possible to get a simple app to connect to our database, so i don't have to constantly call the secretary for a number or carry around some big print out that changes often...?


thanks for what you do!

Allon
Children's Pastor
Minot First Assembly of God

1. There is no way currently.
2. There is no way currently.

I'm not sure whether item number 1 is feasible with a local networked copy of Powerchurch. Item 2 has been on the wishlist since the demise of Pocket Powerchurch, but there again, which platform should be the target? Android, iPhone, Windows Mobile ???

[allonloven]

i would start with the iphone and ipad. that way they are not dealing with the multiple android devices. ( in the future, and with more demand, it would also make it easier to expand a mac app to the google app as well)

IF NOT,
with the remote desktop feature using an app like winadmin, (i know it is basically a hack) could you remote into a computer... like this: http://developer.fellowshipone.com/inde ... _the_ipad/

it seems it doesn't matter as much the program( f1 or pc+) but, connecting the devices.... could be a way around this? what do you think?


Allon Loven
Children's Pastor
Minot First Assembly of God

[NeilZ]

i would start with the iphone and ipad. that way they are not dealing with the multiple android devices. ( in the future, and with more demand, it would also make it easier to expand a mac app to the google app as well)

IF NOT,
with the remote desktop feature using an app like winadmin, (i know it is basically a hack) could you remote into a computer... like this: http://developer.fellowshipone.com/inde ... _the_ipad/

it seems it doesn't matter as much the program( f1 or pc+) but, connecting the devices.... could be a way around this? what do you think?


Allon Loven
Children's Pastor
Minot First Assembly of God

First off, I have been using Powerchurch for over 11 years or so, I am not affiliated with the company, nor do I have any interest in the company other than their continued success. All the following statements are my own, but I come from a programming background, and understand the situation that Powerchurch is in.

The problem is not if it can be done, of course it could. The problem is, would it be worth the cost to develop such an application? Exactly how many churches would take advantage of such a development. When you have a small development staff, such as Powerchurch has, you have to focus your development into areas that would give as many of your customers more bang for the buck.

FWIW .. if this is a requirement for your church, forget about the iPad, you could get a Dell touchscreen laptop for around $550 and run the program natively, and get the same results/

[Jeff]

The method F1 is doing to connect from an IPad to their check-in would work with PowerChurch check-in as well. This method might require Windows 7 professional or higher to work. Windows 7 home has remote assistance in it but does not have remote desktop. I am not sure you could accomplish this with remote assistance. There maybe other programs to accomplish this with Windows 7 home such as VNC.

The advantage of setting this up this way is the PC can still print the labels that would not be available in an Ipad client solution.

To build on Neil's comment earlier, part of testing of the Check-In was done an $400 Lenova touch screen netbook/tablet running windows 7 basic. We did this to make sure the check-in kiosk will work on an 1024x600 screen resolution that most of these devices have.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind ... -questions

Which editions of Windows 7 include Remote Desktop Connection?

All editions of Windows 7 include Remote Desktop Connection.

You can use Remote Desktop to initiate a connection from any edition of Windows 7.

You can connect to computers running Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, or Windows 7 Enterprise.

You can't use Remote Desktop Connection to connect to computers running Windows 7 Starter, Windows 7 Home Basic, or Windows 7 Home Premium.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind ... Assistance

What is the difference between Remote Desktop Connection and Windows Remote Assistance?

Even though they have similar names and involve connecting to a remote computer, Remote Desktop and Remote Assistance are used for different things.

Use Remote Desktop to access one computer from another remotely. For example, you can use Remote Desktop to connect to your work computer from home. You will have access to all of your programs, files, and network resources, as if you were sitting in front of your computer at work. While you are connected, the remote computer screen will appear to be blank to anyone at the remote location who sees it.

Use Remote Assistance to give or receive assistance remotely. For example, a friend or a technical support person can access your computer to help you with a computer problem or show you how to do something. You can help someone else the same way. In either case, both you and the other person see the same computer screen. If you decide to share control of your computer with your helper, you will both be able to control the mouse pointer.

[dustinbrownman]

Allon, I feel your pain. I wish PowerChurch would branch out and start supporting more platforms (not even an OS X client? Are you kidding?). As far tablet support, the best way I've found is to use the web interface. This is EXTREMELY dumbed down (again, not sure why) but it'll at least let you check kids in. And, you can customize the interface, though it's a little obtuse, even for someone who's familiar with HTML and CSS.

On a related note, I don't buy the excuse of lacking features out of fear of people not using them. If you build good features, they will be used. Period. PowerChurch is a solid program, but it is clearly built by programers, not designers. A little bit of investment into interface would go a long way for them.

[NeilZ]

Allon, I feel your pain. I wish PowerChurch would branch out and start supporting more platforms (not even an OS X client? Are you kidding?). As far tablet support, the best way I've found is to use the web interface. This is EXTREMELY dumbed down (again, not sure why) but it'll at least let you check kids in. And, you can customize the interface, though it's a little obtuse, even for someone who's familiar with HTML and CSS.

On a related note, I don't buy the excuse of lacking features out of fear of people not using them. If you build good features, they will be used. Period. PowerChurch is a solid program, but it is clearly built by programers, not designers. A little bit of investment into interface would go a long way for them.

Again, read my previous post, Powerchurch Software is not a very large company. Unlike Intuit, they do not have hundreds of thousands of customers. Nor do they have customers that upgrade every year or every other year as does a company like Intuit. Powerchurch has never required its customers to upgrade until it made absolutely no business sense to maintain support for that version. That said, they still get calls for support about version 7.

This affects what can be done with the resources at hand. This is not fear of people not using features, but a targeting of resources to add features that benefit the majority of users, at a price that allows churches of all sizes to have a church management program at a fairly low price, still only $395 for new users, and $149 for an upgrade to a new version.

And what is wrong with the interface?? Now's the time to speak up as the company is getting ready to start requirements for the next version. And I suspect that the next version will not be based on Visual FoxPro, but on C++ or C# and a fully SQL compliant database.

Disclaimer: I have no interest in Powerchurch software of any type except that of a long-time user who wants to see the company continue for many more years.

[JeffBusse]

Best Solution here would be to expand upon the web interface by adding ssl encryption then you could set it to do ALL that the kiosk is doing now, use SVG graphics OR html5 and it would scale to any platform, one design and with browser standards now you could run it on any platform. Add a security certificate requirement to the mix and you could run the full blown power church plus through the web interface.