Web Application FAQ
Overview
This article contains answers to frequently asked questions about the Invenias Web Application.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I access the Essentials application?
yourcompany.invenias.com
This is the same web address you are prompted to enter when you log into any of our applications. So the good news is, you’ve probably already used it. Our parsing process takes you into the web application, it’s where you handle User Administration (User setup, licensing etc) and it’s where you download the Desktop Installer. When you enter this address into your browser it will take you to the web application.
When can I start using Essentials?
The key thing to understand is that Essentials is not an alternative to the Professional Desktop Application. The functionality that we have already made available as a web application has now been packaged as a separate, but complementary, product in the suite called “ Essentials” made available to all customers as part of your existing Subscriptions. Essentials will enable users to perform the most important actions in a search process without the need to crack open a laptop and start up Outlook. These actions will be accessible via the browser on your tablet on a couch at home or on via your laptop in the back of a taxi on the way back from a meeting.
How can I stay engaged with developments in the Essentials Application?
The Release Notes for each release can be found in Help. You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter here to keep informed on upcoming releases, events and other information about . Every couple of months we run a webinar to coincide with those releases. In those webinars, we will be providing a full recap of everything that’s been added to the web application since the last webinar, as well as some key upcoming milestones from the Product roadmap. All of these channels will help keep you informed of which features have been released to GA or just to customers on the Beta Feedback Programme.
If you have questions about the release dates for specific features in the web application, your account manager will be able to give you more information. However, please be aware that beyond the next two releases our roadmap remains flexible.
Will everyone in my business be able to use Essentials for everything they do?
Essentials is designed for use by all users, with a focus on functionality that allows Partner or Consultant level users to stay on top of their searches from any device with a browser. Research teams and heavy users of will likely continue to leverage the power of the existing desktop application - but as is cloud-based, all data is live and all users can switch between the Desktop, Mobile and Essentials Web applications as they wish.
Essentials will provide an important bridge between mobile and desktop, rounding out the way users interact with . While our long-term goal is to have all customers using Web, to achieve this, the Web version of would need to replicate nearly all Desktop functionality. Rather than wait for this outcome, and in order to get some Users adopting elements of the web application when it’s convenient for them to do so, we’ve decided to alter our strategy.
What is on the roadmap?
We’re taking this opportunity to re-focus our efforts on the functionality that is used by the majority of Users in order to complement our best-in-class offering for the Executive Search market. We will continue to add new features over time, with our prioritisation being driven by a series of tests that determine whether features are utilised by Partners and Senior Consultants, how heavily features are used, how complex is our current implementation in the Professional Desktop App and is there something that would bring value to the masses.
The team focuses on leveraging Microsoft’s Cloud platform (Azure) to better understand current levels of feature adoption to guide our roadmap. With sophisticated dashboards and tighter collaboration between support, product, and engineering teams, we’ll have the opportunity to address sore points with customers. As customers adopt Essentials, we’ll use Azure’s dashboarding technology to keep us apprised of what’s being used, and, over time, we’ll prioritize more features into Essentials alongside performance updates and some new feature deployment to the Desktop.
Does my email service provider have to be Microsoft?
At the moment, to get the full benefit from using the Essentials web application, you will need to be an Office 365 Exchange Service customer. The tight integration with your email and calendar (via Outlook) is a core component of the platform. This integration can only be achieved at present in the Essentials web application via an Office 365 add-in and integration, so you need to be using the email & calendaring service provided in an Office 365 plan. This integration may evolve and be extended with time to other email services.
I want to continue using the Windows Desktop version of Outlook. Will this be possible or do I have to move all the applications I am using to the web/browser?
The Office 365 add-in will work with all versions of Microsoft Outlook including the Windows desktop version, although the experience will be slightly different to the existing desktop Outlook add-in. The add-in for the desktop version of Outlook will take you into the Web Application in your browser.
Can some of my users use the desktop from their Windows device as others use the web application from their Mac?
The web application is tested in browsers on a number of different devices, so the web application will work on a Mac. The Office 365 add-in - once enabled - works with all versions of Outlook including Windows PC, Web, iOS, Android and Mac OS. However, Essentials is currently intended as a complementary solution to the Desktop. Our current assessment is that Mac users could cover much of their use with Essentials; however, for certain functions, Desktop is still required. So our recommendation continues to be that Parallels or a Windows-based PC is required.
Does Essentials work on my mobile?
The Essentials web application is not mobile responsive, so for the best mobile experience, we have developed the mobile app for iOS or Android phones, available from the App Store or Play Store. The web application is optimised to work in the browser on some tablets, but not on a mobile phone, so remember to use the mobile app instead.
Can individual users switch back and forth between the web app and the desktop?
Yes, your Subscription gives all users a full Professional user license, meaning those users can log in to your database through any of our applications (desktop, web, and mobile).
Can I stop users from using the desktop app if we want to go web-only?
Not at the moment. As we’ve outlined above, Essentials complements rather than replaces the Desktop. All users can leverage any of our applications (Essentials, Desktop and Mobile) to access the database. Essentials may meet all the needs of some lightweight users, but Power Users will continue to leverage the full power of the Desktop most of the time. As a System Administrator, you can see in the User Administration area what “Devices” a user is using to connect to the database.
What training will be made available for the web application?
Every effort is being made to make the experience between the web and desktop applications as consistent as possible. This should mean that transitioning between the two applications will feel very familiar. We are looking to develop new Getting Started training content, focusing on the web-only experience, and will build content and webinars to support the transition of users as they decide to make the switch.