SmarTrans Frequently Asked Questions (revised on 5/12/10) Using the Software How do we link our Web site to SmarTrans? It is not necessary to link your Web site to SmarTrans. SmarTrans is a web-based application for officers to create dues payment and event registration forms, located on the Alumni Association s Web site. The user group only needs to put the links of event registrations or dues payment forms on their Web site. The URL for the dues form is located in the middle of the Dues Management page and the URL for a specific event is located below the bolded name for that event on the Events Management page in SmarTrans. Do I have to download anything to use SmarTrans? SmarTrans is a web-based application, as long as you can access the Alumni Association s Web site, you can use the application. To open your group s SmarTrans administrative home page, click on https://alum.mit.edu/smartrans/user/home.dyn Where can I find the URL of SmarTrans? SmarTrans can be accessed directly at https://alum.mit.edu/smartrans/user/home.dyn You can also access SmarTrans TM from My Volunteer Tools page. The link of My Volunteer Tools page can be found in the left upper corner after you have logged into the Alumni Association s Infinite Connection at https://alum.mit.edu/. Alumnus/Member Validation Does SmarTrans allow a non-member to buy tickets at the member price? SmarTrans validates a member s status when he/she logs in to purchase a ticket to an event if the member authentication ticket type is used on the registration form. Non-members will not be able to see the member ticket if the member authentication ticket type has been activated. If a regular member ticket type is used on the registration form, SmarTrans won t validate a member s status and everyone (members and non-members) can see it and register for it. Does SmarTrans check a member s status when he attempts to pay dues? It will check to see if the alumnus has paid dues within the fiscal year and will not allow him/her to pay the same dues type a second time. Officer Permissions How do alumni access SmarTrans? Alumni volunteer officers will be issued the access to SmarTrans after they have taken a training. Any officer having the access can log into SmarTrans by clicking on https://alum.mit.edu/smartrans/user/home.dyn
I tried to log into SmarTrans and got an error message. One of the following things could be occurring: 1) Your group has not yet been activated in SmarTrans. 2) You don t have the access. 3) The Alumni Association does not have accurate records about your status as a group officer. 4) You do not have an Infinite Connection account. Contact smartranshelp@mit.edu to trouble-shoot any of these issues. Can I limit the access of some of my officers to SmarTrans? Currently SmarTrans is set up with only one level of permission. All the trained officers in a particular group will get the same level of access. Events Management Can we just use SmarTrans for a survey? The Alumni Association is planning to build a separate application for groups to use to survey their members. Because the SmarTrans data goes directly into the database of record, we strongly discourage groups from using SmarTrans for this purpose as it causes extra work in cleaning up the database. What is the URL to register for an event in SmarTrans? An event-specific URL is generated for each new event created in SmarTrans. It is found in SmarTrans on the Events Management page below the bolded name of the event. The URL can be used as a link on a web page or emailed to the potential participants. Please note that the URL is not valid until the publish start date. Can you use SmarTrans to create an event, but not collect registrations? The primary purpose of SmarTrans is to collect online registrations, whether the event is free or bears a cost. SmarTrans was not intended to be used to create listings or web page announcements. How can I process a refund for someone who registered for an event but cannot come? The group sponsoring the event must manually cut a check if the group allows refunds. The end user is warned on each of the Event Registration and Pay Dues pages that SmarTrans does not process refunds. The officer or event planner setting up the event should indicate a clear cancellation and refund policy for the group in the Cancellation Policy field on the registration form. How can I create badges by using SmarTrans? Download the Badge Name Report for your event by clicking on the report name under your event and then clicking the Download button. Right click on the data file link and use Save Target As to save the file onto your desk top, then merge the data into the label template in Microsoft Word. Can event information be transferred automatically to online group calendar? Events created in SmarTrans will automatically be posted in the Alumni Association s event calendar at https://alum.mit.edu/calendar/viewcalendar.dyn. The Alumni Association has online tools available for group webmasters that include information about group calendar. More information for webmasters can be found at http://alumweb.mit.edu/reference/
Will SmarTrans send an email reminder to my registrants a few days before the event? Yes, if the event planner set this feature when the event was created. At the bottom of the Create an Event form in the Miscellaneous Options section, the event planner must check the box next to Email Reminder and type a message in the space provided. The email reminder message will be sent to all primary registrants (not guests) 2 days before the event. However, if the event has been manually expired before it reaches the publish end date, the email reminder feature will become disabled. Can an officer input at-the-door registration information or registrations received by mail/fax? Yes. An officer can add registrations received via any method by using the Register Attendees function while the event is published (live) or the Post-Event Registration function if the event has expired. With either option, the office will either process an actual credit card payment or record a check or cash payment. Does each event has a unique URL? Yes. The URL differs only in the event number for a specific group that appears in the URL. Each event in SmarTrans has a unique event number. Can an officer change the capacity or ticket limit on an event once it has been published? The event capacity or ticket limit may be modified after the event has been published but the capacity has to be equal to or greater than the total number of registrations received + 1. Dues Management What if an alumnus doesn t have an Infinite Connection (IC) account to pay dues online? If an alumnus with no Infinite Connection account or a non-alumnus (parent, widow, faculty, other friend of the club) wishes to join the group, he/she can click the Infinite Connection Registration button on the login page to get an account first and then pay the dues, or use the "Send an Email link under Request to Pay Dues on dues login screen. He/she will complete a form that creates an email to the group's membership officer. The officer can either accept a check from the new member or record credit card information. The Alumni Association can process these transactions on the group's behalf or record the check payment in the database. To process or record dues payments that have not occurred within SmarTrans, send all pertinent information to Marilyn Finlay in the Association s office at mfinlay@mit.edu. What is the procedure to process membership dues paid by check? Send all pertinent data to Marilyn Finlay in the Association s office at mfinlay@mit.edu. Payment other than credit card should be retained by the group. What should I do when I receive a Membership Dues Payment Request? This email is being sent by the system to the group membership officer to make the group aware that an alumnus without an Infinite Connection account or a non-alumnus wishes to join the group. After receiving the email request, the membership officer should contact the person about membership payment information. Depending on the group's policies, either the individual can mail in a check or the officer can take the credit card information and forward it to Marilyn Finlay in the Association s office at mfinlay@mit.edu for processing.
Reports Is there a report that shows all the activity a specific member had for the year? For example, I want to know how active certain members are and what they are interested in. This report is called the Attendee History Report and it can be accessed by using the Event Reports link in the right toolbar under Events Management. It includes the attendee name, event name, and event date. The Attendee History Report is downloadable. Is there a report that shows all the events hosted by a group for a specific period of time? Yes. This report is called Events History Report and it can be accessed by using the Event Reports link in the right toolbar under Events Management. It includes the event name, event date, capacity, and total attendees. This report is downloadable. In which report can I view responses to Survey Questions, Event Options and Meal Options? The responses to all questions and options (ticket options, event options, and meal options) can be found in the RSVP downloaded Report for a particular event. Is there a report where I can view the offline registrations in which the registrant paid by check? This information is included in the Revenue Report. In which report can I view the Dues survey questions? The downloadable version of Dues Payment History Report contains data including the email address, comments, and answers to survey questions. Dues Payment History Report can be accessed by using Dues Reports link in the right toolbar under Dues Management. In which report can I view the total amount of transactions for events and/or dues for a specific period of time? It s the Revenue Report. The Revenue Report link can be found in the right toolbar. Transactions and Fees, Checks, Wire Transfers, Reimbursements and Refund Policy How much does it cost to use SmarTrans? There is no fee for groups to use SmarTrans. However, we do pass along the credit card processing fee of 2.8% per transaction to the group. This amount will be deducted from each bi-monthly check or wire transfer and is shown for every transaction in the Revenue Report. There is no fee charged for the officers to enter the payment type by cash or check. When does my group get reimbursed for transactions completed in SmarTrans? On the 15 th and 30 th of each month, the finance department of the Alumni Association will process reimbursement checks or wire transfers for groups with activity in a prior 15 day period. For checks or wire transfers processed on the 15 th, activity will be from the 16 th to 31 st of the prior month. For checks or wire transfers processed on the 30 th, activity will be from the 1 st to 15 th of the current month. The check mailed to your group or the wire transfer to your bank account will be less the credit card processing fees. For the exact amounts charged per transaction, please see your group s Revenue Report in SmarTrans. Can our group get our money via bank transfers? Wire transfer service is available for all domestic groups that have a bank account. If your group is interested, please contact smartranshelp@mit.edu to get the sign-up information.
Can SmarTrans handle refunds? SmarTrans does not process refunds. The officer or event planner setting up the event should indicate a clear cancellation and refund policy for the group in the Cancellation Policy field. Funds for SmarTrans transactions will be sent to the group on schedule and it is up to the group to handle any refund requests. General Questions Is this database being backed up? SmarTrans is backed up nightly. Does SmarTrans have a privacy statement? It is provided in a link at the bottom of every screen in SmarTrans. Where can I find the SmarTrans Leader Guide? SmarTrans Leader Guide is in PDF format listed as a link in the right tool bar of each administrative page in SmarTrans at https://alum.mit.edu/smartrans/user/home.dyn