Configuring the Queue Station

Setting Up Queue Stations

It is possible to set up the Queue Station to reconnect to the web server when the machine is rebooted. This means that if a network problem occurs, any user or administrator can force an attempt to reconnect to the Queue Station page simply by rebooting the machine. This also means that the Queue Station can run as a display kiosk without a keyboard or mouse, making it more secure from user interference.

The process of securing a Queue Station machine and setting it up as a standalone kiosk differs slightly depending on the platform the Queue Station is installed on.

If the configuration of the SignUp system is changed, the Queue Station may need to be updated. For example, if the name of the Computer Group that the Queue Station displays is changed, the Queue Station URL will also need to be changed. Installing a remote display system like VNC on the Queue Station machine means that it can be reconfigured without having to undo the steps below.

Configure the web browser

Designate a network user to be the Queue Station user.
Log on as this user and open your web browser.
EITHER open the Nerve Center and click the Display the Patron Queue Station button on the Queue tab ( ).
OR enter the URL:
http://server/signup/QueueStation.asp?branch=My+Branch&ComputerGroup=My+Group, where:

server is the name of your web server
My Branch is the name of the Branch this Queue Station will serve
My Group is the name of the Computer Group that this Queue Station will serve

Any spaces in the names of the Branch or Computer Group must be replaced with "+" (as above).

Make the Queue Station page your home page:

Internet Explorer: Go to Tools menu > Internet Options > General tab, and click Use Current.
• Google Chrome: Go to Google Chrome menu > Settings. Under Appearance, click Show Home button.

Close the browser.

Add the web browser to the Startup group and set it to open in kiosk mode

Internet Explorer

Click Start, and then locate Internet Explorer menu.
Right click and drag the Internet Explorer menu to your desktop and select Create shortcuts here.
Right-click on the new shortcut and select Properties.
Select the Shortcut tab.
In the Target field, add " -k" to the end of the browser's path, e.g.

"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" -k

This will make the browser open in "kiosk" or "full screen" mode.

Click OK.
Log off and then log back on as the Queue Station user. Check that the browser automatically starts up and displays the Queue Station page.

The -k flag is supported by Internet Explorer 10.0 and later. An effect similar to kiosk mode can be achieved by maximizing the browser window and turning off all toolbars from the View menu. To close a browser in kiosk mode, press ALT+F4.

Google Chrome

Click Start, and then locate Google Chrome on the Start menu.
Right-click on the Google Chrome icon, and then select Send to > Desktop (create shortcut).
Right click on the new shortcut and select Properties.
Select the Shortcut tab.
In the Target field, change the target to the following. Take note to add the URL of your SignUp page.
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --start-fullscreen --app= [Enter your SignUp URL here]
e.g. "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --start-fullscreen --app= http://pv-2k8r2x64/SignUp/Logon.asp

This will make the browser open in "kiosk" or "full screen" mode.

Click OK.

Log off and then log back on as the Queue Station user. Check that the browser automatically starts up and displays the Queue Station page.

The browser wrapper utility, available on the Pharos disk image in the tools\utils\browserwrapper directory, offers another way of opening the Queue Station in full screen mode on Internet Explorer 10 or later. The browser wrapper also allows a timeout value to be set, so that the Queue Station will recover automatically in case of an error.

Set the Queue Station machine to auto-logon

Log on to the Queue Station machine as a user with administrative rights.
Open the registry editor (regedit) and create or update the following values under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon:

Name	Type	Value
AutoAdminLogon	REG_SZ	1
DefaultDomainName	REG_SZ	The name of the domain that the machine is on
DefaultUserName	REG_SZ	The username of the Queue Station user
DefaultPassword	REG_SZ	The password of the Queue Station user
DontDisplayLastUserName	REG_SZ	0

Close the registry editor and restart the machine.

To bypass the auto-logon process and log on as a different user, hold down the SHIFT key after you log off or after Windows restarts. For further information, view the Microsoft Knowledge Base articles on auto-logon:

Q324737 for Windows 2003
Q310584 for Windows 2000
Q315231 for Windows XP

The username and password used will be visible as text strings in the registry. For security reasons, the Queue Station user should be a user with low permissions.

Changing the Queue Station Display

Certain Queue Station properties can be altered by editing the Queue Station URL.

Setting when Scheduled Reservations appear on the user Queue Station

Scheduled Reservations appear on the user Queue Station display. By default they appear in the queue 30 minutes before they are due to start. This time can be changed by adding a ScheduleCutoffTime parameter to the URL:

In the example above, &ScheduleCutoffTime=60 has been added to the Queue Station URL, meaning that Scheduled Reservations will appear in the queue 60 minutes before they are due to start.

Setting whether to show users' Logon IDs or Aliases on the User Queue Station

Users are listed on the user Queue Station display by their Alias. This can be changed so that users are listed by their Logon ID, by adding a ShowLogonId parameter to the URL:

In the example above, &ShowLogonId has been added to the Queue Station URL, meaning that users will be listed by Logon ID. If this parameter is not present, users are listed by Alias.