Q. Does PDS Connects work on a Macintosh? A. Your members and leaders can use PDS Connects from a Mac. Since some of the administrative features will not work on a Mac, the PDS Connects administrator should use a PC.
Q. Does PDS Connects work with Web browsers on handheld devices like a PDA or SmartPhone? A. Yes, it will work with a wireless handheld device for those users who have permission to search for records.
Getting Started
Q. How do I sign up for PDS Connects? A.Call 800.892.5202 or contact your area Sales Consultant.
Q. How long does it take to do an upload to PDS Connects? How often should I do it? Can I do it over a modem line? A. We have improved the upload process so that it generally only takes minutes. On a typical DSL line, it will take 3-4 minutes to upload 1,000 records with all the data in the records. We recommend that you upload at least once per day if you are making changes in your PDS database at the church office. A modem line will work but will be slower and is not recommended for large churches.
Q. I have thousands of church members. Do I have to set up each user myself? A. No, you can place a link on your Web site that will allow your members sign themselves up. The system is set up so that any member signing up will automatically be given a Member Login.
Q. How do I put a link on my church Web site to get members to go to PDS Connects? A. When you sign up for the Member Login feature inside PDS Connects , the system will generate a link for your screen. You simply copy that link and put it on your Web site.
Managing Records
Q. If I upload records to the PDS Connects server and then change my mind, can I remove the records? A. Yes, you simply do a search in PDS to get the records you wish to upload and upload again using the search results. All records are removed and replaced by the new upload.
Q. Can I only upload select records from PDS or do I have to upload all of them? A. You can choose the records you wish to upload by using an additional selection in PDS.
Q. If I know another member's name and email address, can I sign in as that member and see their record? A. No, when you first sign up, you will enter the name and email address. However, the email with the password will be sent to the email address of the member you typed in. So, even if you enter another member's name and address, that other member will receive the email with their password. See our PDS security document for more security information.
Online Giving
Q. Does my church have to have PDS Connects to use Online Giving? A. Yes, you must have PDS Connects for Online Giving, but the ability to accept money transactions of any form will cost an additional fee.
Q. How do I sign up for Online Giving if I already have PDS Connects? A. Log into your PDS Connects Admin section and click on the link called Add New Features to sign up for this functionality. You will be walked through the process.
Q. If my church already has a merchant account, can we use them? A. Yes, but only if your current merchant account is compatible with either Authorize.net, PlugNPay, or Vital.net. You can contact your merchant account and ask them if they are compatible with one of these gateways. Also, be aware that if you are not using Axia as your merchant account, you will be able to accept payments with credit cards but not electronic checks (ACH). We can only accept ACH payments through Axia at this time.
Q. If we do not already have a merchant account, is there a certain one we should use? How do we sign up with them? A. Yes, if you do not have one already or if you want to accept ACH-electronic checks online, you should sign up to use Axia as your merchant account. To sign up,
1.Point to Admin, then click Merchant Account Profile.
2.Select I do not have an authorized merchant account.
3.To download the merchant account application form, click the here link.
4.Follow the instructions on the form.
Once you get your merchant account set up with Axia, you can then log into PDS Connects and enter your merchant account information so we can process your payments.
Q. Is Canadian currency compatible with PDS Connects? A. IATS is the only merchant provider that deals with Canadian currency and is compatible with PDS Connects. You have to specifically request with IATS about Canadian currency. Their website is http://www.iats.ticketmaster.com/english/index.html.
Q. Can we accept payments from people using electronic checks (ACH) and not credit cards? Our church does not want to accept credit card payments because of the costs associated with it. A. Yes, if you use Axia as your merchant account, you can choose to only allow payments that are electronic checks.
Q. What are the fees associated with Online Giving and how do we pay them? A. If you sign up for Online Giving, we will bill you a one-time setup fee of $125 and a monthly fee of $30 that will be added to your monthly invoice. The monthly fees do not start until you have entered your merchant account information and we have validated it. This is because you cannot actually do any online payment processing until you have a good merchant account in our systems. There is also a transaction fee of $0.20 per transaction, which is also included in your monthly invoice. If you are using Online Giving, you will pay the transaction fee. If you do not want to accept online payments, the transaction fee does not apply. Please note that you will also have fees that you pay your merchant account. These fees were not discussed here. Our fees cover the processing of the payments through the gateways, but your merchant account fees will be taken out of the monies that are accepted and deposited into your merchant account.
Rights and Permissions
Q. I don't want any changes made to my PDS data without my approval! How does PDS Connects give me total control? A. When you upload your data to the PDS Connects server, you are essentially copying your data to another database. That is the database your members and leaders will work with, not your PDS database. Then, when you are ready to approve the changes and data that your members and leaders have made, you simply click a button to accept those changes into your PDS database.
Q. What if I have one leader whom I want to give more permissions than the others. Can I do this? A. Yes, you can create as many user profiles as you need, and you can also customize a user profile for one person.
Q. Do you have to be a PDS Church Office administrator to be a PDS Connects administrator? A. No, you can assign administrators in PDS Connects separately from the PDS Church Office administrator.
