DataLink is a Windows Desktop program that is written and maintained by the Back Office. Its purpose is to collect specific data from locally hosted Shop Management Systems and post the data it collects to our API. This data is then used by the Back Office and our partners to provide the customer requested products and services DataLink is being installed for.

The following are the possible products and services that the customer might request that would require DataLink to be installed:

• Accounting Link by the Back Office – An accounting integration solution that integrates shop management systems with Accounting Systems like Sage and QuickBooks.
• LPM (Labor Profit Management) by Asset Management Technologies - The Labor Profit Management System “LPM” is a state of the art, web-based application that allows business owners to measure and manage productivity, efficiency, and effective labor rates.
• Royalty Rewards Marketing by Royalty Rewards - North America’s most comprehensive and professionally delivered marketing program that automatically delivers a flood of customers to your door every day.

✔ Program Requirements

Requirements needed for DataLink to run

• Windows PC

• Reliable Internet Connection
  • It is preferred to have the computer connected to the internet via ethernet. Wifi will work, but it will slow down the speed at which DataLink can send information and is know to cause reliability issues.
• Hard Disk Space
  • It is preferred to have at least 1 GB of storage space free. This space is used as a local cache for processing. Most customers will not need this full amount, it is dependent on the volume of data in the locally hosted Shop Management System.
• Memory
  • It is preferred to have it least 1 GB of free memory. This is used during processing. Most users will not need this full amount, it is dependent on the volume of data in the locally hosted Shop Management System.
• File System
  • DataLink must have full read and write permission to the following folder “c:\programdata\tboffice\” and all its subfolders. This is where its settings and local cache is located. This location cannot be changed.

✔ Install Requirements

Requirements for Installation

• Must be installed on the server PC of the shop management system.

  • The server PC is the PC that hosts the data that DataLink will be accessing.
• Must be logged in as the administrator.
• Internet Access to the PC
  • Back Office support staff will remotely connect to the PC to install and configure DataLink. Additionally, our team will assist with any technical issues that may prevent DataLink from running. We connect to the PC via GoToAssist and require that the customer be on the phone when we do so.

✔ Antivirus Concerns

Common issues with Antivirus

• Antivirus will sometimes set the following services to type 'Manual'. DataLink will not work if the Antivirus makes that change.

  • TBO DataLink Guardian Service
  • TBO DataLink Service
• Antivirus will need to set the following to be whitelisted to allow the following compenents to run:
  • DataLink.UI
  • DataLink.WindowsGuardianService
  • DataLink.WindowsService
• Antivirus will need to allow read/write access to the following folders and sub directories:
  • C:\ProgramData\TBOffice\
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\TBOffice\
• Antivirus will need to allow DataLink and it's services to connect to the internet.