You might want to move to Express for the freedom and convenience of being able to access your PPS diary, add notes and book clients in on your different devices with ease but there are differences to be aware of between the full PPS system that you are used to and the Express system.
Section 1 - Log-in details and access rights
When moving from PPS to Express v2 you will be able to use your same login details to log into Express but you will also be provided with a new Registration Number for Express.
If your PPS system is on v4.0.92 or older we will need to reset your passwords but a new password will be provided when your Express system is ready.
If you have multiple users that will need to log into Express you will still have one PPS System Administrator that can add new users, reset passwords and update access rights. Please read this guide for more details on User Management in Express.
Section 2 - Treatment Rooms/Locations/Departments and Slots
The Express system simplifies the diary set-up so you do not have the option to assign a location/department/room or slot description to the different diary sessions. You will not see these options when setting up the diaries or adding an appointment now.
If you have already got Treatment Rooms/Locations/Departments or Appointment Slots set up in your PPS system these can be left in place but you will need to be aware that you wouldnt have access to modify or remove any of these and you would not be able to add any new Treatment Rooms/Locations/Departments or Appointment Slots through Express.
Section 3 -Activities
The Express system will be able to process the confirmations and reminders automatically for you.
You will have access to basic templates that you can set up for email or SMS confirmations and reminders and there is more information about the templates in this guide.
You will not have access to set up or use any other activity templates that you had in the full PPS system but you are able to send an ad-hoc email or SMS to the client.
You are also still able to send messages through the Express system to other Express users in your database. You can read more about this feature in this guide.
Section 4 - Email Settings
You are able to send emails to your clients through the Express system as detailed in Section 3 above.
Emails are sent through PPS using Sendgid, our default email provider settings but these emails will all be sent with an unsubscribe link meaning that your clients will be able to opt out of emails sent through your Express system, even the transactional ones, so you are able to update your email settings to use your own email provider for more control over your emails. For more information on changing your email settings read this guide.
Section 5 - Diary and Appointment Settings
All settings like Diary Availability, Appointment types, Standard Charges, Reasons for Non-Attendance and Blocked Out Time Reasons are all available in Express but will look slightly different due to the simplified settings in Express so have a look at this guide to familiarise yourself with the Diary and Appointment Settings n Express.
Section 6 - Mandatory Fields
You will not have access to the same settings that you had previously in the General System Options in PPS. This means that if you had a mandatory field selected in your full PPS system you will not have access to turn that mandatory field off in Express. Similarly; you wouldn't be able to make a different field mandatory in the Express system.
With this in mind, we do advise that you set these fields up as you want them before moving to Express Only.
You can have a look at the Mandatory options by going to Tools > Options > General System Options > Custom Client Fields. You will see the mandatory tick boxes that, if ticked, will prompt you to fill in the field when adding a new client. Only the 2 standard fields will be visible in the Express system now.
Another Mandatory Field can be found by going to Tools > Options > General System Options > Client Contact Preferences. Here you will see mandatory fields for entering a new client record. The surname is always mandatory but you can make other fields, like post code, town, country and DOB mandatory too.
Section 7 - Client Contact Preferences
Similarly to Section 6, any clients that were added into your system before moving to Express will have the same contact preferences in Express but you will not be able to see them or modify them like you would have in the full system. Before moving to Express you should ensure that your preferences are set up in the way that you want any new clients added to the system to be set up.
You also have the ability to restrict clients and exclude clients from processing in Express and you can read more about these features in this guide.
Tip: Set up any Mandatory Fields and Client Contact Preferences in PPS the way that you want them before moving to Express only.
Section 8 - Billing
The billing process is simplified in Express. You are able to bill the client by completing the appointment which will link the charge to the appointment type selected.
You can read more about the client billing process in Express in this guide.
The Express system does not offer the option to set up and bill to third parties. This is only a feature in the full PPS system.
Section 9 - Reports
Reporting in Express is simplified but you do still have access to report on Clients appointments and accounts in the Express system and these reports can be exported to allow you to view the results as a spreadsheet. For more information on reports in Express you can read this guide.