Some people in our office tend to forget to assign alarms when creating calendar records in PracticeMaster. Is there a way to set a default alarm to certain types of calendar records?
Calendar codes let you specify multiple default values for calendar records, including a default alarm time. For example, you could have a calendar code for meetings with prospective clients that will display an alarm 30 minutes before the meeting. If you already use calendar codes, you can add an alarm time to any existing calendar codes that require alarms. You can also create new calendar codes for these calendar records.
To assign an alarm time to an existing calendar code
- In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Calendar Code File.”
- From the list of calendar codes, double-click the code you want to edit.
- In the Alarm Time field, specify the default alarm time.
- Press Ctrl+S to save the calendar code.
- Click the List tab and repeat steps 2-4 for each calendar code you want to edit.
To create a new calendar code
- In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Calendar Code File.”
- Press Ctrl+N to start a new record, specify the new calendar code in the New Key field, and click OK.
- Fill in the fields as needed. (Tip: Press F1 to view the help topic for the Calendar Code window.)
- Press Ctrl+S to save the calendar code.
- Click the List tab and repeat steps 2-4 for each calendar code you want to add.
Is there any way to create an alarm without having to create a calendar record?
Quick Alarms can be created without adding a calendar record. Simply enter an Alarm Time and Description, and save. Quick Alarms can only be created for the current day and the user creating it. Additionally, if PracticeMaster is closed on the workstation where the quick alarm was created, the Quick Alarm will be deleted.
To create a Quick Alarm
- In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Active Alarms.”
- Press Ctrl+N.
- Enter an Alarm Time.
- Enter a Description.
- Click OK.
Although you are more than likely using alarms on your calendar records, you may not be aware of the 
scope of how alarms can be set and snoozed.
When creating a calendar entry, you can select a preset value for an alarm, enter the desired alarm value, or use natural language, such as “tomorrow 3pm,” “next week,” “next month,” or “Monday.” Optionally select None if you do not want an alarm to be displayed.
Once an alarm becomes due, the PracticeMaster Alarm Notification window is displayed. From this window, you can mark tasks as completed, clear alarms, and snooze alarms. All alarms are displayed in this window, eliminating multiple alarm windows upon opening PracticeMaster. You can elect to snooze one of the alarms, some of the alarms, or all of the alarms at one time.
When snoozing, the PracticeMaster Alarm Notification window includes the same preset intervals as the Calendar record, but also includes “15 Minutes Before,” “10 Minutes Before,” “5 Minutes Before,” “2 Minutes Before,” and “1 Minute Before,” provided the interval does not exceed the amount of time until the record’s Start Time. Snoozed alarms are remembered – this means that once an alarm is snoozed, the alarm will not be displayed again until the snooze time indicated, including when you close and reopen PracticeMaster.
Make sure you don’t miss out on something important by taking advantage of PracticeMaster alarms.
I want to have an alarm displayed the day before a trial to remind me to dress appropriately, and then a second alarm an hour before I need to be in trial to remind me to leave. However, I don’t want to create a second calendar record to accomplish this. Is there any way to set up two alarms for each calendar record that has a Calendar Code of Trial?
A WorkFlow can be set up for a particular Calendar Code so that whenever the alarm is cleared, PracticeMaster sets the alarm to a new value for you and updates the description to the next action item. For example, when a “1 day” alarm is cleared, PracticeMaster can set the alarm for “1 hour.” This can be desirable if you like the alarms but don’t want to create separate calendar entries for each action item of a task or event.
To create a WorkFlow that sets a new alarm when an alarm is cleared
- From the Maintenance menu, select WorkFlows.
- Select the Calendar file, and then click the New button.
- Enter a Name for the WorkFlow (e.g., “Multiple Alarms”).
- In the Source section:
- Select the Filtered Records option and click the Filter button.
- Select a Field Name of Calendar Code.
- Select a Test Condition of equal to.
- In the Test Value field, select a Calendar Code of Trial.
- Click the Save button.
- In the Event section:
- Select a Type of Record Changed.
- In the Fields section, select Specific Field, and then select the AlarmExpr field.
- Select the Value Before check box, and then select the desired value (e.g., 1 Day).
- Select the Value After check box, and then select None.
- In the Actions section, click the New button.
- Select Change Record and click Next.
- Select Source Record and click Define Template.
- Click the set button next to the Alarm field.
- In the Template Expression Editor window, click the Value button.
- Select the desired value (e.g., 1 Hour) and click OK on the Value window.
- Click OK on the Template Expression Editor window.
- Click the set button next to the Description field.
- In the Template Expression Editor window, click the Value button and enter the desired text [e.g., “Leave for court – ” (including the dash and spaces)].
- Click OK on the Value window.
- Click the Operator button, select Addition, and click Insert.
- Click the Field button and, in the Available Records field, select Source Record (Before the Save).
- Select the Description field and click Insert.
- Click OK on the Template Expression Editor window.
- Press Ctrl+S.
- Click the set button next to the Alarm field.
- Click Finish.
- Click Save.
You now have a WorkFlow set up so that when you clear the one day alarm on a record with a Calendar Code of “Trial,” it will reset the alarm to be displayed one hour before the trial time to remind you to leave.
For more information on WorkFlows, refer to our new PracticeMaster WorkFlows Guide at Tabs3.com/support/docs.html or Knowledge Base Article R11307, “All About WorkFlows.”
