What Equipment Should Users Have?

Consultants can do the following in advance of the implementation to prepare for ECMS:

• Provide Internet and email
  access to employees who work on PennDOT projects
  
• Equip employees with the
  appropriate workstations
  
• Train staff on how to use the workstations, access the
  Internet and send email
  
• Consider who will become your firm's ECMS administrator who will assign and
  maintain ECMS User ID's 
  
• Consider ways to improve
  internal processes to take
  advantage of ECMS
  

There are minimal requirements for equipment, but clearly the more powerful the computer and the faster your Internet access, the better ECMS will perform.  The following are the mandatory requirements for using ECMS:

• Internet access via dial-up connection to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or high-speed access via your firm's network or a leased line from a telecommunications provider
  
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or above or Netscape Communicator 4.7 or above for access to public ECMS sites
  
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 for access to non-public ECMS sites
  
• Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0
  

There are no specific hardware requirements for using ECMS, but the PennDOT hardware specifications provide guidance for the type of equipment required for best performance.  PennDOT users are equipped with the following:

Minimum Hardware Configuration: Pentium 100 MHz processor, 32 MB RAM, 2GB Hard Drive
Typical Hardware Configuration: Pentium 450 MHz processor, 256 MB RAM, 6GB Hard Drive
Typical Software:
Microsoft Office 2000, Internet Explorer 5.0, Microsoft Outlook 2000, Windows NT 4.0 Workstation