These are the requirements your system should meet before using OnDemand. Your performance will also vary based on hardware configurations, network traffic, and local workstation settings.

Useful Information The OnDemand for iPad app is available for free in the App Store on your iPad, and the OnDemand for Android devices app is available from the Google Play Store. However, ACS, PDS, and HeadMaster do not support printing from the iPad or from Android devices within OnDemand.

Internet Connection Details

The OnDemand service is not a bandwidth intensive application. There are mouse clicks and keystrokes going from your local computer to our OnDemand servers, then updated screens going from the servers back to your local workstation. There is also some additional bandwidth used to maintain the connection. For best results, we recommend a broadband connection to the Internet. The OnDemand system requires a response within 300ms, which is approximately 1/3 of a second. If the Internet lag time exceeds this limit, the connection can be lost, and the session will be disconnected. As you may know, countless factors can affect and degrade the performance of your connection. We therefore cannot promise or guarantee that any particular DSL or cable connection to the Internet will perform satisfactorily.

As a rule-of-thumb, the bandwidth available to you for uploading and downloading must not be less than 30kbps per OnDemand user. Your ISP's advertised connection speed should actually be significantly greater than this in order to keep the minimum net end-user speed from dropping during peak Internet usage. Again, this is the minimum speed recommended. Ideally, you should exceed this bandwidth. Also, note that upload speed is just as important as download speed when using OnDemand.

Here are the number of users who can be supported by various AT&T broadband offerings when only OnDemand is running.

Package 1:
1.5 Mbps download = 50 Users
256Kbps upload = 8.5 Users
Package 2:
3.0Mbps download = 100 Users
384Kbps upload = 12.8 Users
Package 3:
6.0Mbps download = 200 Users
512Kbps upload = 17 Users

We do not recommend using wireless connections for OnDemand. Signal strength and signal quality can vary widely. Many factors can adversely influence the quality of a wireless connection including the use of wireless telephones, microwaves, televisions, radios, air conditioning compressors, etc. Also, the OnDemand service does not tolerate dropped or unreliable network connections which can occur with wireless signals.

We do not support OnDemand using a satellite broadband service. We have found that the latency (the amount of time it takes data to travel to its destination) in this service does not create a good experience.

Router Details

We recommend using a router that has the capability of handling a sufficient number of IP threads for the traffic generated by the maximum number of concurrent users. Obviously, having 50 to 100 network users connected to the Internet using a residential quality router can be a major bottleneck. When calculating total Internet traffic, take into account e-mail, Web browsing, uploading and downloading files, OnDemand, any video or audio streaming, and all other network use. A residential quality Linksys(R) router handles 10-12 concurrent IP threads. On the other hand, a Netgear(R)FVX538 handles 200 concurrent IP threads. A good commercial grade router can be a great benefit.

We have found it to be very beneficial to use a router that has a QOS (Quality of Service) feature. This allows you to specify the priority of certain traffic to the Internet. For instance, all OnDemand traffic to the Internet for ACS or HeadMaster uses port 491. Clients who have set priority for the required port for OnDemand traffic have found dramatic improvement in performance and reliability.

Scanners

• We recommend using only scanners purchased from ACS Technologies.
• The MICR Image Reader works only with the desktop version of ACS, and the Windows 8® drivers for this check scanner are not yet available.

Microsoft End-of-Life

ACS Technologies adheres to Microsoft's life-cycle policy for operating systems. As a system approaches its end-of-life date, ACS Technologies recommends upgrading your operating system. Once an operating system is no longer supported by Microsoft, we can no longer support that system. This does not mean that products will not work on a retired operating system, but it does mean that, should a problem occur that would require an update for a retired operating system, we cannot provide support assistance for clients using those operating systems.