emPower

The emPower system has the capability of storing any type of data that can be stored in a file on a computer. The predominate use is the storage of scanned images.

emPower Forms

emPower Client Software

The emPower system can be accessed by using the emPower client software (not available for the Macintosh) or through a web browser. The emPower client software requires installation on each Windows PC where it will be used. The RADS team in Computing Services can perform the installation, which takes approximately twenty minutes. For a successful installation, the Windows PC must be equipped with a network card and must have a working connection to the campus network.

Net emPower

Net emPower is the "lightweight" version of emPower for users who will be viewing documents rather than adding or scanning documents and gives users almost all of the features of having the emPower client without having anything installed on their computers. To access, go to the Net emPower login page. Documents can be accessed from a Windows PC or a Macintosh using a web browser. The user must have software capable of handling the type of document retrieved. In most cases, this is a program capable of viewing multipage .tif files. Internet Explorer must be used on a Windows PC, but a browser other than Internet Explorer must be used on a Macintosh. Printing is also available through Net emPower.

emPower for Macintosh

Using emPower on a Macintosh requires the use of a web browser other than Internet Explorer, a basic understanding of how to locate files on your computer, and Graphic Converter to view archived images files which are stored in TIFF format.

Macintosh Web Browser Setup for Graphic Converter

1. Download Graphic Converter.
2. Open the recommended web browser.
3. Edit the preferences or options in the browser, and find the listing of applications that will be used by the browser to open specific files.
4. Delete any listing used for TIFF files.
5. Specify a new helper application for TIFF files with the MIME type, "image/tiff" and the suffix/extension "tiff".
   You should then be able to view emPower Invoices.

Cost

emPower licenses their product on a concurrent user basis. Our policy is to allow the owners of the data to cover the license cost for those people with access to their data. For an individual needing access to data, there is no charge, but for the department putting data on the emPower system, there is a charge. To determine this charge, contact Randy Putt of University Information Technology Services at 575-2528 or at rputt@uark.edu.

Using emPower

Multiple users can access emPower data simultaneously. Documents are stored in folder, and each folder and each document can have multiple indexes (labels). Documents are retrieved by using the index information to perform searches. The index information is kept in an SQL Server database accessed using ODBC.

The built-in emPower viewer (AllView) can handle many different types of images and some text documents If AllView is not the best choice, then emPower can be set up to allow the application which originally created the document to handle it. This requires that each computer which will need to view and/or process the document have the original application installed. For assistance in setting up emPower to use the originating program, contact the RADS team.

To access data stored on emPower, you must contact both the owner of the data and a member of the RADS team. Before we can give a person access to data in emPower, we need the permission of the owner of the data.

The emPower User manual is available within the emPower system itself. From Net emPower or from fully installed emPower, select the Library Search Class "VIEW_FYI_USER_DOCS" to access a full edition of the User Manual. The user manual is only available for Windows currently.

emPower Passwords

You cannot change your emPower password on PASSweb.  You will need to contact someone in the RADS team. Passwords on emPower are not case sensitive.

emPower Support - RADS Team

Troubleshooting

If you receive a message in emPower that you are attempting to download a file of unknown type, this means your browser does not know what application you want to use to view the document you are trying to see.  Most of the documents currently on the emPower system are scanned as "tagged image file format“ files (.tif or .tiff). This message usually gives you the option of picking an application with which to open the file. Most graphic programs are capable of displaying .tif files.  In Windows you can choose Microsoft’s image program (Wangimg.exe) or a free viewer usually bundled with Windows from Kodak (Kodakimg.exe) or Photoshop (Photoshop.exe) if available. If you do not have access to any of those, you could use a locally written program called Uaviewer.exe. Contact the RADS team with questions concerning Uaviewer.

More emPower Information

emPower encompasses the following:

• Workflow for production and ad hoc process automation 
• Document Management with multi-level versioning for all file types 
• Imaging support for both high speed and desktop capture methods 
• Data mining for simultaneous searching on both document content and database information 
• emPower Forms - electronic forms product with database connectivity 
• Automated document report capture and distribution 
• Built-in records management life cycle and disposition tracking 
• emPower Visual - a patented graphical analysis technology 
• Automatic web publishing of all documents and workflow-related tasks 
• Complete 24 x 7 fail-safe redundancy, including real time data and object replication with automatic cutover on failure 
• Rapid Application Development (RAD) tools

Data security for the emPower system begins with an ID and password. Beyond that, each user’s access to data is controlled by workgroup/search classes/access level assignments. emPower security allows for access to be controlled to the individual document.

The main emPower Database resides on a Windows NT-Server PC and is protected from data loss in two ways. First, the Server PC itself is equipped with a "RAID" hard drive system (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks). Instead of a single hard drive, the Server PC uses an array of multiple hard drives and distributes the data across these drives in such a way that the data can be regenerated easily should one drive fail. Second, there is a regular schedule of data backups designed so there is some backup activity every day.

The Object Server, an independent NT-Server PC where the documents and images themselves are stored, is also equipped with a "RAID" hard drive system, as described above. Further, it has its own scheduled set of backups. In addition to "RAID" and backups, the Object Server does NOT depend primarily on magnetic disks for document and image storage. Once a document or image is imported into emPower and stored on the Object Server, it is written to an array of optical platters, which we call the 'Jukebox', due to its resemblance to an actual record-playing jukebox. If a different platter is needed to retrieve an older image or document, the Jukebox automatically swaps the platters to access the requested object. The optical platters themselves are extremely durable, claiming lifespans of well over fifty years.