ArcSend is built on top of Microsoft's SQL Server Express and the .NET Framework Version 2.0. If these are not already on your computer they will be downloaded and installed. Up-to-date Windows configurations, such as Windows Vista and Windows XP with the latest service packs, will already have the .NET framework. SQL Server Express is a 36MB download. Finally, the ArcSend software itself is installed. ArcSend is a ClickOnce application. If you are not using Microsoft's Internet Explorer you will need to have the appropriate ClickOnce plug-in for your browser.

Immediately after the software has been installed on your computer, database set up commences. At the outset you will see the following screen:

At this point you can elect not to record any of your details and leave the fields blank. The information entered at this stage is just stored in the database on your computer and nothing is transmitted. This information is used at a subsequent step should you choose to subscribe.

As ArcSend does not allow anonymous message broadcasts, if you wish to subscribe and send messages ArcSend needs to have your sender's details. ArcSend uses these details during the subscription validation process, and subsequently when you send messages. By way of illustration, if you subscribe as fred@abc.com, ArcSend requires that you use this ID for sending emails. This is an anti-SPAM measure. Similarly, SMS messages cannot be sent anonymously. This means that when you provide a mobile phone number as the sender of the SMS, it must be your mobile phone number. Again, this is an anti-SPAM measure.

SQL Server is Microsoft's powerful database product. By using SQL Server ArcSend gains the following benefits:

• High performance - storing and retrieving information is very quick.
• Able to handle large data volumes - you can store tens of thousands of contacts in your ArcSend database
• Multi-user - a common database can be shared by multiple ArcSend users. The standard version of ArcSend downloaded from the Web Site is single user. Please get in touch with us if you would like more information about the multi-user version.

If your are interested in finding out more about Microsoft's SQL Server 2005 Express details are can be found at the Microsoft Web site SQL Server .

ArcSend is very useful even if you do not subscribe. It is a powerful contact management application. You can use ArcSend to record and retrieve details of your contacts or to filter your contact list based on a range of criteria. You can export data to Excel, and from there produce reports, or print mailing labels. If you are technically inclined, you can produce reports directly via an ODBC connection to the 'Results' table in the ArcSend SQL Server database.

For assistance send an email to support@ozalerts.com. We will get back to you within 24 hours. Telephone support is available during Australian business hours.

Each time you run ArcSend it will check if there is a later version. If there is, the next time you run the application you will be asked if you wish to install the latest version. Only the changes are downloaded, so usually the download of the update will be very quick.

You should back up your data regularly. Back up is done from within the ArcSend application, via Tools - Options. You can save the backup file in whichever directory you choose. This backup file can be used to transfer ArcSend information on one computer to ArcSend running on another computer.

ArcSend runs perfectly well in Windows running on a Mac. You can run Parallels or VMWare's Fusion Windows products.

Bulk email and bulk SMS services typically are provided via Internet web sites. The way they work is that the customer generates a list of addresses, and uploads that list to the web site. The web application then broadcasts the message.

ArcSend has a different model. Firstly, it runs as a desktop application. Secondly, a message broadcast in ArcSend typically is addressed to an enquiry result set. So, for example, a query can be designed and saved in ArcSend that retrieves all French restaurants in the USA. A message then can be broadcast to all the recipients retrieved by that query.

With bulk email and bulk SMS, generating the list of contacts can be complex, time consuming and sometimes inaccurate. ArcSend's enquiry facility, that allows you to design, save and run enquiries, is a very powerful method for pinpointing exactly the group of people to send messages to.

ClickOnce is a Microsoft technology that makes it easy to deploy applications from the Internet. It provides security measures to ensure safe installation of the software. ClickOnce also supports software updates. When ArcSend runs it checks to see if there is a newer version available for installation. If there is, the next time you start ArcSend you will be asked if you want to install the latest version. Your data will not be affected during a software upgrade.