2nd Quarter, 2013
FireVISION is a quarterly publication from FIREHOUSE Software^® with fire-industry news, software tips, and other helpful information. We hope you find this and future issues to be both informative and useful.

Previous newsletters are available in the Newsletters section of the FH^® web site. If you have any questions or concerns related to the newsletter distribution, please email: FHdocumentation@xerox.com. If you would like to be removed from our mailing list, see the instructions at the bottom of this email.

Time is running out to register!

The 2013 FIREHOUSE Software Education and Training Seminar registration is open now! The Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona will be our gracious host September 10th through September 13th as we begin our second decade of FHETS events.

This year, the seminar price remains at $845 for the conference, including: breakfast, lunch, and both receptions. Hotel accommodations are available for $105/night (plus taxes) if you book before August 27, 2013, This special rate will be available for accomodations to our attendees three days prior to and following the seminar, based on guestroom availability.

For travel planning, the tentative agenda and course listing have been set. We'll have the registration check-in, a FH user's group meeting, and an opening night reception to be held on the 10th, followed by three intensive days of classes and interaction with FH staff and clients. The detailed scheduling for classes is in progress. Look for more details at www.myfhevents.com.

This year's attendees that register for FHETS 2013 will be provided with an advanced copy of the the FHnet Installation and the Conversion Utility. This will provide FHETS 2013 attendees with the option to convert their FH 7 data for hands-on training at FHETS and will leave with the tools and know how to move to FHnet regardless of their original purchase date of software.

If you have any questions, please contact our training coordinator at fhets@xerox.com. Come be a part of our first visit to the Grand Canyon State. Join us in Phoenix!

Xerox Business Name Change

The legal business entity name for FIREHOUSE Software has changed. Two things happened to the entity Xerox Government Systems, LLC in 2013.

1. It had a name change to incorporate the Xerox name and drop the ACS designation.
2. This company converted from a C Corporation (will use Inc. or Corporation in their name) to LLC status (limited liability company). Their conversion did not result in any legal ownership change. It generally just changes federal and state income tax status.

Neither of these changes resulted in the entity losing its old Federal TIN. We will still use the old Federal TIN for payroll tax, sales and use tax, unemployment tax, information reporting, and for general identification purposes.

The changes above do not change the entity with which the client has contracted.

However the change that occurred in part 2 above, and the elections the company made, did change the way the IRS will want us to complete a Form W-9. This entity is now a Disregarded Entity for federal income tax purposes. The W-9 has Xerox Corporation on the first line, and Xerox Government Systems, LLC on the second line. It also uses the Xerox Corporation TIN number.

This change should be reflected with our updated IRS W-9 form you can download for your documentation purposes. Please make sure this change is provided to your department's treasurer or municipality's accounts payable team.

Teamwork Saves Time!

The best in online Fire & EMS training and the best in online Fire Records Management systems are working together to streamline and simplify your world.

It's been almost two years since Kaplan Fire & EMS Training and FIREHOUSE Software started to integrate their systems together. In that time, more than 2,200 firefighters have seen the benefits of an alliance built around making training and reporting a faster and more cost-efficient experience.

It's vital that fire departments stay at the top of their game, and that means making sure quality ongoing training is available on a schedule that works with the unpredictable world that you operate in. Managing those records manually can become time-consuming. That's where the alliance between Kaplan Fire & EMS Training and FIREHOUSE Software come in.

Kaplan Fire & EMS training provides emergency response personnel all the tools needed to keep licensing and credentials up to date and on track. Courses combine real case studies, high-energy videos, and interactive training with more than 175 courses available 24/7. The details of any training completed in the Kaplan Learning Management System can then be automatically transferred to our department's FIREHOUSE Software Training Module, doing away with the need for you to manually enter the details.

To learn more about how you can take advantage of the Kaplan Fire & EMS Training program and FIREHOUSE Software integration, visit www.KaplanSolutions.com or call 800-671-9411. You can also find out more on Facebook and follow on Twitter @KaplanEdu.

"Let's ask Support about it."

With the changes we have implemented over the past several months, we felt we should provide everyone a refresher about the best ways to pursue technical support for your FH products.

Phone Call Support: Available from 7am to 7pm CDT Monday through Friday and 8am to Noon Saturday by calling 800-921-5300 ext 2. From 7am to 5pm CDT during the week, we have live triage call-ins. A first tier support tech answers your call. From 5pm to 7pm CDT you are prompted to leave a message and receive a call back from the first available tech.

How does it work?

• The support team member will spend as much as 15 minutes (roughly) to work the issue. If the tech is unable to solve your issue within the time parameters given, your call will be placed in our 2nd tier support queue for a callback. If there are no other calls pending and your 1st tier tech is able to continue resolving your issue, they will stay on the phone and continue until it is resolved or there are other pending calls.
• If a tech team member is not immediately available there may be a wait, in which case you will have an option to continue holding OR push a button to leave a message. However, if you are down (can't use FH at all), inform us of your circumstance and your call will be given a Critical priority, meaning the next available tech will pull your call from the queue to call you.
• If you have a paid 3rd party consultant onsite and are not down, tell your live call-in tech as well. They automatically get an Urgent priority, which is just one rung down from a Critical call. This will ensure you get the fastest support possible when it matters most!
• If you ever want to schedule a call for a specific date/time, please call the support line, explain your issue to the tech and ask to schedule a return call for a specific time. They will then check our schedule to make sure we are not already booked at that given time. If we are, they will propose alternate times (or you can).

Live Chat Support: Live Chat is available from 8am to 6pm CDT. Accessed from virtually every page on http://www.firehousesoftware.com/. Under the Live Chat heading, click the link for Support Chat.

How does it work?

• Live Chat is generally intended for more basic questions since it can be hard to troubleshoot difficult issues through this tool.
• If a chat is too technical in nature or you get a tech that does not have subject matter expertise, the tech will create a ticket for a phone call.
• The same rules for Critical or Urgent priority apply. You can schedule a call from a live chat in the same manner you would over the phone, but a phone call is the quickest and easiest way to schedule your call.
• If for any reason your chat request times out at 12 minutes (meaning a tech has not begun your chat within 12 minutes) you will be given the option to leave a message. Whenever a message is left, management is sent an email with your message. At that point you will be answered directly OR have a ticket created to have someone call you back as soon as possible.
• If you try to use this service outside of the hours above, you will be given the option to leave a message. Managers will receive an email with any message that you submit and will treat it the same as a timed out chat.

Email Support: Go to http://www.firehousesoftware.com/contact-us/support.php to fill out a support request form or email us directly at support@firehousesoftware.com.

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  • We recommend using emails for questions that are not mission critical.
  • We don't recommend emailing us to try to ask for a call at a specific time. If we don't see the email until after the time you requested a call for, then it won't be met. We always recommend speaking to a tech or using the live chat to schedule a call.

Stop By and See Us

Look for us at these upcoming events in the coming months!

08/15/13 to 08/17/13: FRI 2013, Chicago, IL. Booth 4267
09/10/13 to 09/13/13: FHETS 2013, Phoenix, AZ.
10/22/13 to 10/23/13: 15th Annual TX Fire Marshals' Conference, Austin, TX.