Third Light Newsletter - October 2011

Welcome to the October 2011 newsletter — our bi-monthly update on developments at Third Light, with news about changes and improvements made to our digital asset management software, Intelligent Media Server (IMS). The intended purpose of this newsletter is to keep existing and prospective Third Light clients informed about new features.

Intelligent Media Server v6.0 Upgrades

If you are currently using IMS v5.3, you are entitled to upgrade to IMS v6.0. As long as you have a current subscription, or a valid support and maintenance package, you will very soon see a new icon appear under the menus of your administrator console. This prompt starts an upgrade wizard for your site, which will help you migrate to IMS v6.0. On hosted subscription sites, the box looks like this:

If you are using an Appliance or Virtual Appliance, the normal upgrade box will be displayed. Once you see the upgrade prompt, you can elect to upgrade using a five-step process. Here is a summary of how the upgrade process works. Allow around 20 minutes for the upgrade wizard, during which time your IMS site will be unavailable.

Stage 1 - Introduction

On the first stage of the upgrade wizard, you will see a short explanation of the process. Make sure you are ready to upgrade, and that your users are ready for the upgrade. When you are ready, click 'Next'. Tip: You can test drive IMS v6.0 for 30-days by signing up for a trial version. It's free and you are welcome to try out the new software before you upgrade your existing site.

Stage 2 - Upgrade checklist

Stage 2 of the upgrade wizard is very important. You will need to review this page carefully. The upgrade wizard analyses your IMS v5.3 site, and looks for issues or incompatibilities which you should be aware of before commiting to the upgrade to IMS v6.0. For example, you will be notified if any of your existing themes are not compatible or if any settings will change that affect your users. Use the checkboxes on the left of each item to indicate your agreement to the proposed changes. If any of the changes are unclear, or you prefer not to upgrade, stop at this stage.

Stage 3 - Preparing to upgrade

Stage 3 begins the process of upgrading your site. The upgrade wizard closes your Third Light IMS site to prevent changes occuring, so at this stage your IMS v5.3 site becomes unavailable. After a short wait (depending on how many tasks your IMS v5.3 had in progress) the screen will automatically move to the next stage. If your site stays in stage 3 for a long time, your site may still be processing a queue of uploads or downloads. Please feel free to contact support@thirdlight.com for advice if you're not sure.

Stage 4 - Upgrading

Stage 4 of the upgrade wizard transforms your IMS v5.3 site into an IMS v6.0 site. This stage takes a few minutes to complete, or a little longer on very large IMS v5.3 sites. During this stage, your IMS site is being updated in many different ways, but all of your existing records, users, files and reports are retained. Your upgrade to IMS v6.0 is processed, and then the upgrade wizard finalises the changes to restore access to your IMS site.

Stage 5 - Upgrade complete

Once the upgrade is completed, you will reach stage 5. This is the last step of the upgrade wizard and indicates that your site has been upgraded. You can log back into your site and begin to explore the great new features and user interface in IMS v6.0! Don't forget, you can access the IMS v6.0 user guide or add telephone support (see below).

Tip: The upgrade process will vary depending on your site, so we recommend you take care at step 2 to go through the checklist in detail. We've produced a video to show you the upgrade process, and some larger screenshots in our online knowledge base. If you would like to access this content, please click below:

Watch a video walk-through of the IMS v6 upgrade

Documentation for the upgrade (larger screenshots)...

Don't forget, you can try the new version before you upgrade. To get a a hands-on demo site before you upgrade your live site, you can request a 30-day trial site on our web site.

IMS v6.0 Screenshots

Videos and walk-throughs

Read about IMS v6.0 features...

We hope you will be keen to upgrade and start using these new features, but you do not have to upgrade immediately. The old release, IMS v5 will be supported until 1 January 2013, after which date you'll need to upgrade to IMS v6. You can carry all of your settings over to the new release.

If you have any questions about the upgrade process or would like to ask anything about IMS v6, please drop us a note at support@thirdlight.com.

Telephone Support

We'd like to remind you that as soon as you are using IMS v6, you can also add telephone support to your maintenance package. Telephone support offers a faster way to receive assistance, and is specifically designed for our corporate clients. Here are some of the features of our new telephone support package:

• Call us for help and support using IMS v6.0 when you need
• You'll receive the personal help of a skilled and experienced technical support contact
• We'll help you establish a screen share session to work through your questions interactively
• We'll save you time by collecting configuration and diagnostic information directly with you
• ...All for a simple annual fee to support your nominated administrators.

If you would like to add telephone support to your account, please drop us a note at support@thirdlight.com. You can extend your existing support and maintenance package with the telephone support option at any time.

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Feedback and Referrals

We operate a referral scheme to reward any Third Light customer who directs a new client to us. If you know of a business that would benefit from using IMS, please make an introduction - we'll provide a period of free use on your account if they buy one of our products.

Every feature of IMS is based on your ideas and feedback. We keep a thorough record of all feedback and aim to implement the features that are most requested as part of our development plans. Simply email features@thirdlight.com to send us your comments. For support questions, please use the Help menu support tool, as this allows us to track your queries and answer questions more efficiently.

Thank you for your custom!

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Third Light Ltd - The Digital Asset Management Specialists

http://www.thirdlight.com/