Summary: Now that Policy Assist has been released, why should you upgrade? Discover several new and improved features, as well as how to upgrade.
In June of 2016, we released the latest version of Intranet Connections, Policy Assist. This release includes a host of new features and updates designed to simplify the lives of intranet administrators, document managers, and users alike. Here’s a quick review of the features that make up Policy Assist:
1. Document Management
The release is in large part focused on document and policy management, and designed specifically to help policy owners track and manage internal policy documents (thus the name Policy Assist). For organizations that require employees to read and agree internal policies, Policy Assist provides tools to set specific read lists and due dates that a document needs to be read. In addition, we’ve included reminder settings that allow you to set up to 3 reminder dates (measured as days before the due date) that users on the read list will be notified if they have not yet marked the document as read.
Read and agree documents now have a dashboard that allows document owners to view the read and agree progress and user read list. An important improvement to this feature is the ability to maintain a versioned read history for documents. Therefore, a new independent read cycle is created when a policy is amended. Each version of the document can have its own read and confirm cycle.
A similar feature is also available for policy review dates where specific users can be set to receive reminders prior to the document review due date. Like the read and confirm dashboard, review date has a dashboard that policy owners can use to track documents due for review.
2. AD Sync 2.0
Active Directory Synchronization is a popular feature in the Intranet Connections product. Over the course of a few versions, it became apparent to us that the initial build of this feature had limitations that made configuration for many customers difficult. To rectify these shortcomings, we developed an entirely new version that features:
- Ability to configure multiple connections to different (or a single) Active Directory server
- Ability to define multiple targets per organizational unit (OU) with an optional group filter for each target
- Ability to preview the objects in a target OU
- A new employee field mapping preview
- Verbose logging of the synchronization process to assist with troubleshooting
3. New Widgets and Dashboard
In the Policy Assist release, we’ve also added several new widgets and dashboards:
Policy Reminder Widget
In conjunction with the improvements to document read and agree, we’ve added a special Policy Reminder Widget that can be added to the intranet home page to remind users that they have a document due to read.
Image Slider
Another added feature to Policy Assist is a rotating Image Slider that can be used to beautify the intranet home page, as well as direct users to other areas of your site.
Policy Manager Dashboard
The Employee Directory now includes a personalized dashboard (Policy Manager Dashboard) that rolls up their alerts, read & agree documents, and documents that need to be reviewed, all in a single, central location that makes keeping track of policies easier.
How can you access Policy Assist?
To support customers who wish to upgrade to Policy Assist, we produced an improved upgrader designed to automate the tasks required to install the software dependencies that Policy Assist relies on. The upgrader is written in Microsoft Powershell and requires only a couple of manual steps to create the configuration file it relies on to deploy the database updates and code to upgrade your previous version to 13.5.2 (the latest release for Policy Assist). The process takes approximately 15 minutes to complete.
With all the great new features and upgrade tool available, we’ve made it easier than ever to upgrade.
Thinking about upgrading? Our dedicated Support Team is happy to schedule a time to help you with the process, email them at support@icthrive.com. To see Policy Assist in action, request a one-on-one demo with one of our product specialists.
