Stratocore PPMS – Quick Start Guide
Link to Stratocore PPMS: https://booking.vbc.ac.at
Booking rules
Sign-Up is on a first come, first serve basis!
If a user does not show up within 30 minutes after the start of the booking-time, the whole reservation is considered cancelled and the equipment can be used by anyone. The person who originally booked the equipment loses their claim on the booking after 30 min.
To allow everyone to properly plan their experiments, we strongly encourage you to plan your experiments thoroughly, only book the time you actually need, and cancel or shorten your bookings as soon as your plans change!
In PPMS you can only book systems you received training for. If you cannot see the systems you have been trained on, Please contact microscopy@imp.ac.at or facs@imp.ac.at for help.
Staff operated sorting is still requested via the Jira Ticketing system https://jira.vbc.ac.at/servicedesk/customer/portal/7
All available systems in the facility can be viewed on the page “Schedules“ in PPMS. You can also refer to our homepage https://cores.imp.ac.at/biooptics/equipment/ for a list and description of all systems. This link can also be found on the top of „home“ in PPMS.
Booking in PPMS
You can access the calendar for the desired system either via “Home“ or via the booking page “Book“.
To book an instrument, select the desired time on the respective instrument and click “Book the selected session”.
Assistance
If you need assistance by facility staff:
Check “Request Assistance” followed by “Book the selected session”. Facility staff will be informed of your request and will accept or deny it, according to their availability. As long as your request has not been confirmed, the color will be different.
NOTE: If you only need help shortly at the beginning of a session, e.g. for the set-up of parameters, please make two bookings: one assisted followed by an un-assisted.
All booked sessions are listed on “Home” – you can view the calendar directly or download an ics file to integrate into your calendar.
You can also integrate a calendar of all of your sessions booked in PPMS or on specific systems using iCal Remote Calendars.
Log In – Information
The colour of the booking is changing with the log in-Status. The darker shade (left side) means someone was logged in, turquoise (middle) shows that someone is logged in right now. The blue (on the right) means no one is logged in (either already done or not logged in at all).
Booking cancellation note
You can sign up to receive a notification if someone cancels a booking on certain instruments at the bottom of each instrument’s calendar.
Recently cancelled sessions can also be viewed on “Home”. The notification set-up page can also be accessed from there.
Booking of Staff-Operated Sorters
Staff operated sorting is still requested via the Jira Ticketing system https://jira.vbc.ac.at/servicedesk/customer/portal/7 and the booking is done by operators only.
The availability of sorters can be viewed on “Schedules”, it is advisable to filter for tag 1_Flow Cytometry to best access the scrolling bar at the bottom.
The weekly view of all instruments can be accessed via the icon in the top right.
Training Requests
Experiments involving equipment in the BioOptics Facility should be planned and discussed ahead of time with the BioOptics Facility staff. Training is compulsory prior to the usage of any machine in the BioOptics Facility, this is also applicable for additional parts of a system e.g. plate loader.
Users do not train other users!
If you cannot remember how to operate a system you were already introduced to, please do not hesitate to ask the BioOptics team for advice.
Trainings can be requested either via “Home” – request a training or via “Request”.
Report malfunctioning equipment
If you experience problems when working on any equipment related to hard- or software issues, please report this directly using PPMS.
Problems are called “incidents” in PPMS usually followed by “interventions” to solve them.
Either use the link on “Home” – Report an incident or on the bottom of the booking page of the system
Please give a detailed description of the problem and include supporting files, e.g. screenshots of an error message or similar.
Please also report issues that you were able to solve (e.g. by a restart) so we can detect recurrent problems.
Obviously, you are still welcome to come to our office and seek immediate help! Facility staff also reports issues using the incidents notification system.
Current incidents and interventions can be viewed via “Home” as well as on the booking site of an individual system.
On the booking page, medium (partly dysfunctional) incidents are labeled yellow, high (system down) are labeled red, and pink marks interventions (sometimes ending the incident). During low or medium incidents, booking is still possible, however booking is prevented during high incidents.
Details can be viewed at the bottom of the page.
