Documentation

This documentation is seriously outdated (retired, obsolete, invalid), please see Documentation2.

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Introduction

Thank you for choosing Radio Traffic to be your traffic scheduling system!

Radio Traffic has been designed by radio programmers with decades of experience to help make your traffic system smoothly integrate with your automation systems along with being easy to use for sales staff and traffic managers. We believe that once you discover all the features of Radio Traffic you will be amazed by the amount of time you save from your old traffic system.

This documentation will give you the detailed instructions to get your programs working properly and to allow you to detail the settings for each user or station. You will be shown how to set up your sales team to place their orders electronically and keep tabs on their clients’ accounts and outstanding accounts receivable. Your sales manager will be able to approve new orders with a single click of the mouse. Best of all your sales team does not even have to be in the building to get the order placed because all you need is a computer with internet access to place an order!

Your traffic department will be able to quickly access all the orders for a client within the same screen without having to search through huge lists of orders. They will be able to drag and drop spots into a log without having to remember the order numbers or spot codes for each commercial. They will also be able to have spot copy sent electronically to your production team eliminating the potential for lost scripts.

Your production team will be able to access every spot and every piece of commercial copy. No more waiting for a sales staff member to get back and dig through their filing cabinets for copy! Now your turnaround for clients can be even faster than before including the ability to write a script at a client’s store and have it produced and on the air within minutes!

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Installation

Using the Internet Explorer or FireFox web browser, follow the installation instructions to prepare your computer to run the RadioTraffic software.

This must be repeated for any computer from which you need to access RadioTraffic.

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Automatic Updates

When you start a RadioTraffic program a pop up box might appear telling you that a new version of the program is available ALWAYS click the “YES” button. This option only appears once each time the program is updated and each update always contains fixes to the program that are of a critical nature. Cosmetic changes only are not done in separate updates. It is vital that you make sure your RadioTraffic programs are always kept updated to most current software version.

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RadioTraffic Control

Many of the RadioTraffic programs are started from the RadioTraffic Control program.

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Each of these programs cannot be started outside of this main control program so it’s important to keep this window open while working with RadioTraffic.

To do this, do not close the RadioTraffic Control Panel by clicking the X button in the top right corner of the window. Instead, click the underscore (red arrow) to reduce the Control Panel to the taskbar.

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If you close the window using the X you will shut down RadioTraffic and any open program window.

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General RadioTraffic Settings

General RadioTraffic settings are performed within the ADMINISTRATION program. This is where you will set information concerning the spot placement priority, station names on billing, days for front loading of spots, contract numbers and other options affecting logs and billing.

Double click the ADMINISTRATION program (red box.) You will be prompted for your username and password for the system. If you are setting up RadioTraffic for the first time, you should have received an administrator account and password from Radio Traffic technical support. If you do not have this, call us at 1-888-SCOTT-TRAFFIC.

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Station Name, Front Loading & Contract Number

Once you have loaded the ADMINISTRATION program, you will see the opening screen where you set the overall preferences for the station and billing. In the NAME/CALL LETTERS/URL section (red box) you will set the name of the station you want to appear on the billing. So if your station has a slogan like “Today’s Best Country” or “Magic 102” you would place that in the NAME section.

In the call letters section, we recommend using AM or FM with your call letters but it is not required unless you have an AM & FM with the same call letters.

The FRONT LOAD section (green box) is where you decide which days of the week you will front load with spots. If you use the front load option when placing an order RadioTraffic will put the majority of the spots for that order on the days chosen as front load days. These can be any day of the week including weekends.

The STARTING CONTRACT NUMBER (blue box) defaults to 1 with RadioTraffic installation but can be changed to anything. We do not recommend that you change this number once you begin using RadioTraffic because every time that number is changed it will alter the number system for contracts and could result in two contracts using the same number.

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Log Creation Options

If you choose the SCHEDULING tab, you will have the option to set the different criteria used by RadioTraffic to schedule the daily program logs. In the LEVELS section (red box) you will tell RadioTraffic which parts of the sales orders to examine first when scheduling commercials.

You can move any of the seven options up or down. By default, the order of levels is:


The other options you can set for log creation (blue box) include:


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Adding New Users

To add a new user to RadioTraffic, double click the ADMINISTRATION program from the RadioTraffic control panel.

As administrator, you will already be in the system with a username and password. You should have full access to all of RadioTraffic’s systems and settings. If you do not have access to everything, call your RadioTraffic technical support representative to help you gain that access.

Every user that you put into the system can have as much or as little access as you wish to grant. For example, a member of the sales team might have access to their customer’s accounts and outstanding invoices while not having access to the actual day’s traffic log. The production manager could have access to the spot copy but not the section of the program to input new commercial orders. We recommend making a list of usernames, passwords and permissions for each account before starting the program to make data entry as smooth as possible.

After you click on ADMINISTRATOR you will see the window in the photo to the right. In the station tree (red arrow), click on the station for whom you want to enter a new user. (You will be able to enter multiple stations for each user but you must click on one of the stations for which they’ll be authorized to start the process.)

To the right of the station tree, click the MEMBERS tab (yellow arrow) to open the membership list. You will see a list of users already within the system for that station. (First and last name, username and their activity status are shown.) At the bottom of the window is the NEW button (blue arrow.) Click this button to open the new user entry window (or CREATE window) shown below.

The CREATE window is where you input all information about the users. The GENERAL tab is where you place username, password and personal information. It’s important to choose a username and password combination that is easy for your new user to remember but not easy for anyone else to guess. We suggest you use first and last name combined as username (such as joesmith or johndoe) and then ask the user for a password rather than assigning something at random so it is easier for the user to remember. (If you have members of your staff with administrative access to our system that does not have access to financial information, we suggest not including the social security number of your staff members in this window for extra security.)

You can also input ADDRESS, EMAIL and PHONE information for each new user. In these windows you will have multiple options so that you could have a home, business and cell phone all listed under this one user instead of just being able to list only one phone number.

First, to make the user active in the system, left click on the ACTIVE box (red arrow.) Otherwise the system will think this staff member is no longer eligible to access the system.

In the PERMISSIONS tab you will set the areas of Radio Traffic that each user can access (red box.)

On the next page, we have a complete list of the options you can set for each user. We recommend you print multiple copies of the page and keep it available when you set up new users. For example, you can set a master sheet for sales staff for items to activate for them when creating their accounts. This will help you from accidentally leaving off a permission that is needed for that user.

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Permissions

Several of the permissions are to allow the user to access the programs within RadioTraffic. You will have the ability to completely block a user from being able to look at information or alter any data within any of RadioTraffic’s programs.

In the permissions list, if you see a reference to Billing, Conflicts Customers Agencies, Copy Commander, Order Entry or any permission that ends with report are settings within the RadioTraffic modules other than LogWindow. For example, if you want to allow your production director to access commercial copy only then you would give them permissions that reference Copy Commander only.

If someone is going to be a user of everything within the system you can check the box for global administrator (red arrow) and then you do not have to individually check items in the permissions window. They will be able to access every part of the RadioTraffic system including to having the ability to alter user accounts and passwords. It is highly recommended that you do not use this option for anyone except for the administrators of the system.

You can set up all user permissions for all stations within the same setup window although you will have to check each station’s permission list separately. (The exception would be for someone who is a global administrator. In that case, you would just have to check the box next to the station name for that user.)

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Commission Tab

The COMMISSION tab is where you set the commission rates for each of your sales team. If you do not set a commission rate for a user then they will NOT appear on any lists within RadioTraffic as a sales team member.

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Adding and Editing Advertising Clients

Adding advertising clients, advertising agencies and client conflicts are handled within the RadioTraffic control panel. While the three programs are separate it’s important to completely enter the information these programs need before going further within the RadioTraffic system.

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Entering New Customers

To enter new customers, double click the CUSTOMERS program in the RadioTraffic control panel (red box). If you use a secondary program to work with RadioTraffic (like In A Box) then you need to talk to that program’s vendor about entering information and how that information is imported into the RadioTraffic system.

To enter a new customer, click the NEW button (red arrow.)

In the top portion of the main tab in the customers window (red box) you enter the basic demographic data for a client. You will need to provide information including:


You have the option of making the main address the same as the billing address to speed up data entry.

The bottom half of the main customers window (blue box) is where you set the defaults for all the billing and orders that fit this specific client. This is where you set conflict codes, separation and items related to client billing.

Order Default

PRIMARY and SECONDARY CONFLICT is where you set the conflict codes for the client. This is necessary to make sure that two clients in the same business field run back to back in a break. RadioTraffic will allow you to create your own conflict codes in the next section of this manual but it also comes with some conflicts already installed:

Auto Collision & Repair Automotive (new) Automotive (used) Beverages (alcoholic) Beverages (non-alcoholic) Computers Department Stores Dry Cleaning & Laundry Electronic Stores (Computers) Employment Services Entertainment Financial Institutions (Banks) Flowers Food Products Food Service Furniture Stores Golf Course Grocery Stores Hair & Beauty (Nails) Hair Salon Health & Fitness Health Club Hotel Insurance Manufactured Housing Movies None NonProfit Organization Office Supplies Recreation (Golfing) Rent To Own Restaurant (Fast Food) Restaurant (Fine Dining) Retail Discount Stores Retail Specialty Tourism

We HIGHLY recommend that you avoid using the “None” conflict code because that will allow the spot to schedule next to any other client regardless of the type of business. If the client you are putting into your system does not exactly fit one of the installed categories then enter a new conflict code (see next section) or select an installed option close to the business in question.

For example, you might have a car lot that rents vehicles rather than sells them. Since that business would conflict most with businesses that sell new and used cars then you would be best putting Automotive (used) as the primary conflict and Automotive (new) as the secondary conflict.

CUSTOMER SEPARATION can be set to either “by break” or “by minute.” The SEPARATION VALUE is then set based on your choice of break or minute in customer separation. If you are a talk format where your various programming does not take the same number of breaks each hour it is recommended that you use the by minute option versus the by break option. (Keep in mind that RadioTraffic would count newsbreaks as spot breaks even if a commercial is not in that time slot. If you had a by break separation of three and there were two news or traffic breaks between commercial sets it’s possible the same spot could air in consecutive spot breaks.)

INVOICE TYPE is currently defaulted to detail. Other options will be added in future RadioTraffic software upgrades.

AR ACCOUNT gives you two options: A/R Cash, A/R Trade.

REVENUE ACCOUNT options include:

Local Sales – Direct Local Sales – Agency Trade Sales Less Agency Commission Finance Charges Bad Debt Income Previous Balance Income

BILLING CYCLE options include:

Calendar Broadcast Weekly End of Schedule Broadcast or EOS Calendar or EOS Previous Balance

DEFAULT STATION REP is where you select the account representative from a drop-down menu of all users.

You also have checkboxes to if the client uses coop, needs their invoice notarized or if you need to print invoices or statements.

Once you have made all your entries, click the SECONDARY tab.

The STATEMENT TYPE gives you two options: Open Item or Balance Forward.

STATEMENT CYCLE gives you three options: End of Month, End of Schedule or Manual.

You can also put in the customer’s TAX ID NUMBER, SALES TAX RATE, TAX TYPE, FINANCE CHARGE percentage and START DATE.

CREDIT POLICY options for this customer includes:

COD Net 10 Net 15 Net 30 $5,000 $10,000

Once you have entered all information, click SAVE.

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Editing Existing Customers

To edit an existing customer, click on the client’s name in the master list of clients (red box.) You have multiple options to search for customers. Click on the top client and then type the first few letters of the client’s name and you will jump to their name in the client list.

You may also click on the first letter of the client’s name in the alphabet to the left of the master customer list window (blue box.) This will jump down in the master client list to the first client with that letter. You can scroll down to your desired client.

When you have finished making changes, click the SAVE button in the lower right corner before moving to another client.

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Adding and Editing Advertising Agencies

To enter new advertising agencies, double click the AGENCIES program in the RadioTraffic control panel (red box). If you use a secondary program to work with RadioTraffic (like In A Box) then you need to talk to that program’s vendor about entering information and how that information is imported into the RadioTraffic system.

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Entering New Agencies

To add a new advertising agency, click the NEW button (red arrow.) This will activate the window to allow you to enter information.

You will need to enter the following information:


You can save time when entering agencies if the mailing address and main address are the same by checking the SAME AS MAIN box. When you have all information entered for a new agency, click SAVE (blue arrow.)

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Editing Existing Agencies

To edit an existing advertising agency, click on the agency’s name in the master list of agencies. Click on the top agency and then type the first few letters of the agency’s name and you will jump to their name in the agency list.

When you have finished making changes, click the SAVE button in the lower right corner before moving to another client.

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Conflict Codes

Conflict codes are how you eliminate two customers in the same business field from running in the same spot break or consecutive spot breaks. At least one code must be assigned to every client even if they are the only client assigned to that category.

RadioTraffic comes with some conflict codes already created:

Auto Collision & Repair Automotive (new) Automotive (used) Beverages (alcoholic) Beverages (non-alcoholic) Computers Department Stores Dry Cleaning & Laundry Electronic Stores (Computers) Employment Services Entertainment Financial Institutions (Banks) Flowers Food Products Food Service Furniture Stores Golf Course Grocery Stores Hair & Beauty (Nails) Hair Salon Health & Fitness Health Club Hotel Insurance Manufactured Housing Movies None Non-Profit Organization Office Supplies Recreation (Golfing) Rent To Own Restaurant (Fast Food) Restaurant (Fine Dining) Retail Discount Stores Retail Specialty Tourism

While these codes will cover a majority of your customers, you may have to create new codes to keep your customers sufficiently separated.

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Entering New Conflict Codes

Click the NEW button (red arrow) to activate the CONFLICTS tab. After entering the name of the new conflict code (red box), choose the SEPARATION METHOD of By Break or By Minute (blue box) that will be the default for this conflict code. Then choose the SEPARATION AMOUNT (either number of breaks or number of minutes.)

This new conflict code will appear in the list of all currently entered conflict codes (the list on the left half of the window.)

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Editing or Deleting Conflict Codes

You can make changes to previously entered conflict codes by clicking on the code you wish to edit. The code will appear in the editing area (red box). Make any necessary changes and click SAVE to have the changes appear in the main conflict code list. However, if you want to delete a conflict code, click the DELETE button (blue arrow.)

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Adding A New Order

If you wish to add or change an order in RadioTraffic, you need to use the OrderEntry program. From the Windows start menu, select the RadioTraffic.com menu item and open the OrderEntry program. Enter your username and password to enter the system.

The program will open to a screen with all the clients within your system listed on the left side of the screen. If you want to edit a previously entered order for a client, you would click on their name and then the specific order. We’ll discuss that in the next section of the manual.

If you want to add any new order, click the NEW button in the New Order window (red box.) After you click the NEW button it will activate all the buttons in the window.

In the drop down menu for CUSTOMER, choose the customer for the new order. When you select the client name, RadioTraffic will fill in other boxes using the order defaults you set for this client in the Conflicts Customers Agencies program. Any of these settings can be changed using drop down menus. Once you make sure all the information is correct for this order click SAVE. You cannot add more to this order until you save this basic information.

You will have a pop up window appear with an order number. In the next section, we’ll talk about editing your order to add details. To input the order information for your new order, you will use the same process as editing a previous order.

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Adding or Editing Order Lines

If you wish to edit a previous order or to enter information into a newly created order, you will need to find the order number in the list of clients and orders in the left window. You can either scroll through the entire master list of clients or choose one of many different search options to find the order you need to expand or edit.

(If you have placed a new order as shown in the previous manual section that line will automatically have been chosen for you. Skip the next section on searching for an order.)

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Searching for an Order

When you open the OrderEntry program, you will automatically see a list of all clients within the system in the left window. If you are running only one station through RadioTraffic.com or only have a small client list then you likely will not have to use the search function of OrderEntry (red box.)

If you have multiple stations or many clients then you would want to search for specific clients or stations to decrease the size of the client list and make finding a particular order easier.

The SEARCH window opens with the CHECK ALL box chosen and this has to be unchecked before you further refine your customers search. When this box is unchecked, you will see check marks appear next to STATION, CUSTOMER, STATION REP and AGENCY.

To search by any of these options, uncheck the box next to your search choice to activate the drop down menu. Once you are able to access the menu then chose your specific search item. (We recommend that if you know the station rep for the client whose order you need to place that you search using this option because it will likely return the fewest results.)

Once you have found the client for which you need to enter an order, click the plus sign next to the client’s name to open the list of all orders entered for this client. Each of these orders may have a plus sign indicating that order has multiple lines entered into it for different parts of the same order. We recommend you click the plus sign to expand the directory for any order in which you are editing or adding new lines.

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Adding Lines

The heart of the order is the lines you add within it. These lines tell RadioTraffic.com when the commercials run both in time of day and dates. Click the DETAILS tab to open the Line Item Details screen (red box.)

To activate this screen, click the NEW LINE button at the bottom left of the window. The window will activate with some default settings for date, spot length, priority, start and end times, rate and spot type. These can all be changed using drop down menus or calendar functions.

The calendar function for start date and end date can be chosen by clicking the V in the box next to the date (red arrow.) This will pop up a little calendar where you can move through to find start and end dates for this segment of the spot order. Left click on the date in the calendar that you want RadioTraffic.com to use for the start or end date.

Priority is where you tell RadioTraffic.com the importance of the spot when it comes to the actual scheduling of the log. If you choose to not assign a priority to your commercials you can leave them all at the default setting of 5 and RadioTraffic.com will look at all commercials equally when generating commercial logs. (We do not recommend that you use this option because a paying customer could be bumped in favor of a promo or other item that does not generate station revenue.)

Spot Placement

RadioTraffic.com gives you multiple options to schedule the amount of spots in an order. You can manually enter spots per day or set up a schedule to evenly spread the spots across a specific number of days.

In the SPW place the number of spots for the week. (If you have an order that has different amounts of spots per week, you will need to enter different lines for those weeks.) If you want to have the spots distribute evenly over a set of days then place an x in the days you want even distribution (red box.) If you wish to have a specific amount of spots on one day, place that number in the box for that day (blue box.) You can mix and match specific spot counts with even placement over the rest of the week.

If you click the FRONT LOAD box (gold box) then the majority of the spots for the week will be scheduled during the days you have designated as front load days in the system setup screen within LogWindow. You will also see more of this client’s spots appear in the bump list for those particular days if you choose the FRONT LOAD option.

Front load can be used with specific spot counts for other days. For example, you could front load but also put in that you want a certain number of spots for the weekend. Radio Traffic would then subtract the number of spots for the weekend from the overall total and then front load with the remaining number of spots.

If you use a tap plan then check the USE TAP PLAN box and then select the plan from the drop down menu. If you are not using specific TAP plans for clients then do not check this box as it will disrupt regular spot placements for this client’s order.

LINE COMMENT allows you to place information that will appear in the program log next to the commercial. This could help air talent know the content of a promo announcement or special sale information for a client.

The INCOME ACCT. should be automatically set from within your customer preferences but can be changed from the drop down menu.

When you are finished making changes to the order, left click the SAVE LINE button to save the spot order.

You can also save time by copying lines for multiple stations instead of having to manually input each one. Just input the line for one station and copy it for as many stations as needed.

When you SAVE each line, you will see a line being added under the client’s name in the listing of clients (red arrow.) You will have one line for each spot flight scheduled within that one traffic order. These lines could be multiple flights for one station or many stations. If you need to make changes to your orders, you would need to click on the lines in your directory of clients & orders and then make the changes in the main window as needed.

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Adding Non-Spot Lines

If you need to add a non-spot item like a remote or web site based purchase, click the NON-SPOT tab. You will be able to enter the billing information for the items and if it should be billed daily, weekly or monthly. In addition, there is a LINE COMMENT where you can enter information about the non-spot items to help identify it on invoices and affidavits (red box.)

These items will appear in the order list column as (non-spot) items.

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Approving Spots For Airing

Once you have placed the orders and saved them into the system, they will appear in the LINE SUMMARY tab. The orders will be initially highlighted in red meaning the sales manager or station manager has not yet approved the order. Once the order has been approved it will appear in this window highlighted in green.

If you are authorized to approve sales orders for airing then you will have the APPROVE button active (red arrow.) To authorize a line in an order left click to highlight the line and then click the APPROVE button.

If any changes are made to a line that has been approved within the system it will revert to an unapproved status. This is a safety measure to make sure someone doesn’t add more spots to a line after it has been approved by management. If a last minute change needs made to an order or a currently airing order needs changed make sure to alert whoever on your staff approves orders of the change immediately after saving the changes.

If an order line is not approved the spots in that order WILL NOT BE PLACED. Make sure you have someone on the staff designated to check orders every day before the program log is locked for airing.

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Adding Commercials To Spot Orders

Now you are ready to add commercials into your system. From your Windows start menu, select the RadioTraffic.com menu and open “CopyCommanderTab.” You will be prompted for your username and password for the system. Enter your username and password when prompted.

When the screen opens, select what you are seeking to edit in the SEARCH window (red box.) You can choose to have all clients and orders displayed or you can sort by customer or station rep. Once you make your choices and click the SEARCH button you will see the clients that meet the search criteria appear in the left window.

You may also search for missing copy and spot extras by date (blue arrow.)

Select the client whose order to which you want to attach a spot. Expand the customer’s order history by clicking the + sign next to their name (red box) and click the order (or line item within the order for multiple spots in the same flight) and the information for that order will appear in the main window.

To attach a new spot to this order, click the SPOTS tab then click the NEW SPOT button. All the options in the window will activate. Enter all the necessary information such as client, spot name and flight dates.

If you want to use an older spot in this new order, all the spots entered in the system for this client will appear in a list at the bottom of the screen. The list will provide information such as length and run dates for use if you need to fill in an expired spot on short notice. (It’s suggested you have a spot labeled “Generic” for just this purpose that can be used at any time.)

In this window you have the option to SHOW DELETED SPOTS, ATTACH TO ORDER or INCLUDE IN SPOT EXTRA LIST (red box.) If you do not attach the spot to an order then it just waits in the spot cue for usage. If you check the Include in spot extra list, the spot will be available to be dragged and dropped into a log on any days you check in the list. These spots will not show up on an invoice or order.

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Creating Rules For Spots

After saving all your new spots, you can set up specific times for spots to air for that flight using the CREATE/EDIT RULES tab. The tabs to create the new rules, save them, etc. is at the bottom of the screen (red box) instead of on the side as in other screens in the CopyCommanderTab.

After you have activated the window by clicking NEW, you can change the settings for the spots during the flight. You can also arrange for a spot rotation during the flight by adding spots to the play window (blue box.)

At this point, the only editing that can be done after you save the rule is the end date for the rule. Make sure you have all the information for your rule correct before you click SAVE.

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Spot Rotation Options

When you are putting in a rule, the first thing you need to do is set the run dates, times and days for the spot. Run dates and times work the same as in OrderEntry with the exception that you can schedule specific days of the week for copy to run.

You can choose ALL days, Monday through Friday, SATurday & SUNday or SPECIFIC days. (If you choose the specific option, the list of days will become active for you to choose the days the spot is eligible to run.)

(If you want this spot to be eligible to be run as an extra spot outside of these rules, check the SPOT EXTRAS box (red arrow).)

If you have one spot, then just click to highlight the spot in the main spot list (green box) and click the ADD button (red arrow.) After the spot is shown in the spot rotation box (blue box) click SAVE (red box.)

This is all you have to do if only one commercial is going to be running with a particular order line.

However, if you have two or more spots (for example, with an agency buy) then you have multiple options on how to place them in a spot rule. These are AS ENTERED, PERCENTAGE RULE and NUMBER OF TIMES.

If you choose AS ENTERED, the spots will rotate evenly based on the order you place the spots in the spot rotation window.

If you choose PERCENTAGE RULE, then you need to put in the “# or %” window the percentages for each one of the spots. (In the photo above, two spots are rotating on a 60-40% rotation.) You can rotate the spots in any percentage as long as the entire column adds to 100%.

If you choose NUMBER OF TIMES, then you need to put in the “# or %” window the number of times each spot is to run before the next spot airs. For example, if you place a “4” in the “# or %” window it will run four times before the next spot in the schedule will be placed on the log.

Once you have placed the spots and their rotation methods in the box, click SAVE to save your rule. Refresh your screen and click the SHOW RULES tab to see your recently installed rule.

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Creating Log Templates

All RadioTraffic logs are built from a format based on templates. You design the templates within the FORMATS program and then save them into formats. Double click the FORMATS program and you will be asked which station’s templates and formats you wish to edit. Chose the station and click OK to continue.

When the main FORMAT screen opens you will be automatically opened to a new template window. This is where you are going to build the templates that create the 24 hour format clocks.

(All RadioTraffic 24 hour formats are based on a series of templates. RadioTraffic only recommends building your templates in that manner.)

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Log Elements

If you have not had your log elements set during install by your RadioTraffic.com tech support representative, you will need to set these elements before you can build templates or formats.

The first element to set up is your breaks. The breaks will be used when building templates to define every time commercial inventory is to be scheduled.

To create new break categories, right click on BREAKS (red arrow) and then left click NEW. This will open the window to create and edit new breaks. To create a new break category, click the ADD button in the lower right part of the window.

We suggest that you name the breaks something that is easy to remember when you are editing and creating your log templates. For example, if it is just a regular commercial break then add a break category titled “Commercial.” If it is a commercial attached to a weather sponsorship, title the break “Weather Sponsor.” When you’re creating the templates the easier it is to remember the names for each break the faster you can create and edit them.

You do not input the number of spots or length of break at this time. Break lengths and total spots is input when you create the actual templates.

AUTOMATION COMMANDS should only be used if you are going to control all your on-air automation using the RadioTraffic logs. In many cases, the automation systems will have their own internal code system and it will not be necessary to put these codes into your RadioTraffic log.

It is important to remember that if you want to use the Automation Commands that they are correctly put into RadioTraffic.com. Even having one comma or slash out of place would render that command invalid every time it appears in every log.

If you do not know the specific command strings for your automation system, get these from your chief engineer or program director prior to creating any logs that contain automation commands.

To create a new automation command, click the ADD button in the bottom right corner of the window.

If you do not have these commands we recommend you do not use automation commands in your logs.

LOG NOTES are useful tools to leave notes in your daily logs and also to help organize your log templates. For example, create a Legal ID log note to place at the top of every template so you have a convenient way to see the top of each hour in a 24 hour format clock. These log notes have no effect on the actual operation of the logs in RadioTraffic.

When you enter any new log element, it will appear in the left side menu of the main screen under the header for that category and is ready to be inserted into templates or formats.

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Developing Templates

After creating all log elements you can begin to build the templates that form a 24 hour format clock. Each of these templates should be built to handle one hour of your programming day. Even if the template covers identical hours in a row during your programming day we highly recommend that you only build your templates in our hour increments. When you are building the 24 hour templates, you will tell RadioTraffic which hour to run the template so that you fill in every hour of every day.

To build a template, first make sure the template building window is empty (red box.) If there is anything in that window (a previous template, some test log elements, etc.) then click the NEW button (the photo of a blank page above the log elements window) to clear the template building window. This makes sure you do not accidentally have extra elements within a newly created template.

When you want to place something within the template, click and drag that element from the list of log elements in the left side window. Different placement windows will appear depending on which log element is being placed.

Adding a LOG NOTE looks like this when you click and drag it into the template builder window.

All you will need to input is the time within the template for the log note. While you can use a specific hour for this log note remember that you will be able to use this time at any point on the log. So even if you put in “05:00:00” for 5:00 am in this template, when you place it in the 24 hour format clock it could be run at 7:00 am. We recommend that you just use “00” for the hour in the event you decide to build more than one hour within a template. (For example, a syndicated program whose clocks each week do not change. In that case, build the template with 00 for the first hour, 01 for the second hour, etc. When you insert them in the 24 hour template and you designate the hour the program begins, RadioTraffic will insert the second hour immediately afterward based on the progression within the template.)

If you are adding an AUTOMATION COMMAND to your template the window will appear the same as a log note.

Adding a break to a template requires a little more information than log notes or automation commands. In addition to the time within the log you must set the length of the break and the number of units within the break.

In our example, this break will fall at twenty minutes after the hour, be three minutes in length and not allow for more than eight commercials to run within that break. You can set these to whatever lengths or spot amounts are necessary however you will not be able to exceed these amounts in your daily logs. RadioTraffic will also not exceed these lengths and unit amounts when automatically scheduling the logs.

After you placed log notes, breaks and other log elements in the template, it will look like this:

If everything is correct, click the save icon (red arrow). You’ll have a window pop up for you to name the template.

We recommend you name the template something that is easy to remember when creating a 24 hour format clock such as “Morning Drive Clock” or “12am-5am Clock” or “Baseball Game Template.”

However, if you realize after creating the template that you need to place something else in the template you do not have to erase anything to add a new element even if it falls between two elements already in the log.

Just click and drag whatever log element you need to add into the template and enter the necessary information. In our example, you’ll see we added another break between the :34 and :49 breaks.

You can edit templates at any time should you need to change break times or add & delete elements in the template. (To delete a log element, left click on the line to highlight it and then click delete.)

All changes are not permanent until you click SAVE so if you accidentally delete something you can restore at any time if you do not click SAVE or answer YES when RadioTraffic asks if you want to save changes.

Once you have saved your template, it will appear in the left side window under TEMPLATES.

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Bulding Formats

Once you have finished your templates, you’re ready to build your 24 hour format clocks and your format overrides (special formats for sporting events, live broadcasts or other programming events that are not permanently scheduled events.)

To build a format, clear the template building window by clicking the NEW button, clicking CONTROL+N or selecting NEW from the template menu.

Build your 24 hour clock by dragging templates into the window as you had done with log elements to build templates. Unlike when you built the templates, the time you enter when you drag in the template is critical.

The time you enter as the start time is the time the template will be placed in your 24 hour format. If you input two templates with the same start time they will lay in the format on top of each other and you could have multiple extra breaks in that hour. So it’s vital you make sure that you do not use the same start time for two templates in the same 24 hour format.

When you place your templates into the format you must use 24 hour time (as shown.)

When you have your 24 hour format finished, click the FORMAT option in the menu bar and then “SAVE AS…” You will get the window “SAVE FORMAT AS…” Pick the day of the week for your 24 hour format. In addition to the day you have to also pick what day the format will begin to be used by RadioTraffic. This allows you to change format clocks in advance of a format change instead of having to make the changes to your 24 hour formats on the exact day of a format change.

Once the 24 hour formats have been saved then you are ready to create logs within RadioTraffic.

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Format Overrides

If you run special programming events like sports or community interest programming that is not a regularly scheduled, year-round event then you will need to create OVERRIDE FORMATS. These formats are dropped into your regular 24 hour formats to allow special events without having to completely reschedule the format day.

The override format could be a complete 24 hour format (for holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas) or just for a specific period of time (like a sporting event.) You build these formats like your main 24 hour formats only you save them using the “SAVE AS OVERRIDE…” option under the FORMAT menu.

When you click this save option, you will see a different save window than for your main 24 hour formats. You will have two options…save over a previously created format override or save it as a new format override.

If you wish to overwrite a previously saved format override, click the radio button next to “AS EXISTING OVERRIDE” to activate the menu of saved format overrides.

Just left click to highlight the format override you wish to replace and then click the OK button to save.

To save as a new format override, click the radio button next to “AS NEW OVERRIDE.” That will activate the new override screen. When you save this override format, you will have to select the dates this format is eligible to be used along with the days of the week that it can be dropped into the program log (red box.)

These dates cannot be changed after you create the new format override so make sure you check all available dates for that format. If you need to put on an additional day and/or change the end date for an override, you will need to load the template and save it again as a new override template.

If you are creating a format which will be used for long periods of time (such as a live remote broadcast template) we suggest you use an end date decades into the future so it’s always eligible for use in LogWindow. In the event you change your formatics in the future you can save over the old format versus having to create an entirely new Format Override.

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Creating a Log

Once all your templates, formats and format overrides are created you are ready to create a program log. From the RadioTraffic control panel double click LOG EDITOR (red box.)

When the screen appears, select which station you wish to create and edit a daily log (red box.) After this is chosen, click the OPEN icon or choose OPEN from the File menu.

You will see that logs are scheduled as far in advance as you have allowed in your initial station setup. If you wish to have your logs schedule further in advance than they are currently see the “station setup” portion of this manual (page 6.)

Once you have selected the date for the log, click OK and the log screen will open. You will see a daily log that is built from the 24 hour format. Each of the breaks will be color coded based on your preferences. Spots will be automatically populate the logs.

To set your color preferences for the log editing screen, click the TOOLS menu and then choose OPTIONS… This will open up the options menu where you should select the COLORS tab. Your colors can be set to whatever you find most convenient.

In our example, we are setting empty breaks green, partially filled breaks yellow and filled breaks red. You can choose whatever would be easiest to remember as you are manually filling breaks and reviewing scheduled logs. You can also give color coding to individual conflict codes to make them easier to see in lists of bumped spots or spot extras. The color changes are not required but can make using RadioTraffic significantly easier.

In our example log, you can quickly see through color coding the empty, partially filled and full breaks.

The log displays two separate sets of columns to view the breaks in the log and the individual spots within the logs. The first set (red boxes) is for the breaks in the log. These columns show:


These columns can be placed in any order by clicking and dragging the boxes on the column header bar (red box.)

The second set of columns (blue box) is for the individual spots that have been placed within the breaks. These columns show:


Below the log window is the BUMPS spots list and SPOT EXTRAS list. The bumps list shows all spots that were contracted to be scheduled within the log but were not scheduled because of a rule or preference set in the log options. The spot extras are spots that you designated as eligible for extra placement when you entered that spot’s order into RadioTraffic.

By default, the bumped spots list shows when a log is loaded. To see the spot extras click the SPOT EXTRAS tab.

The bumps list spots or spot extras list spots can be manually placed into the log by clicking and dragging them into the main log window into breaks. However, if there are restrictions on the spot (like time restrictions) you will not be able to place them outside of those restrictions. The same information that you find in the main log window for spots is also included in the bumped spots window.

When these spots are placed they will be removed from the bumps or spot extras list.

To see all the breaks at once, choose EXPAND ALL from the

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Locking and Exporting Logs

When you have all the spots scheduled in place then you need to LOCK the log (red arrow) so it can be exported to your automation system.

Once the log has been locked you will not be able to add or delete any spots from the log. (If you need to make a change after the log has been locked you can UNLOCK them to add or delete spots.)

When you lock the log, the window at the bottom of the log window screen containing bump spots and spot extras will disappear.

At this point, you can either UNLOCK the log (red arrow) or EXPORT the log to your automation system (blue arrow.) If you choose to export you will have a window appear that allows you to choose where you export the file. (If the date of the log has passed, you will not be able to unlock the log.)

RadioTraffic can export our files to a variety of different automation systems:

If you use an automation system that is not currently recognized by RadioTraffic, our programming team would be happy to contact your automation system provider to make RadioTraffic compatible with their system.

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Log Reconciliation

Before the spots can appear on invoices you need to reconcile the log. This is where you finalize the times scheduled spots aired or did not air. You will also have to do this before you can send out notarized statements from RadioTraffic.

To reconcile an aired log, choose BEGIN RECONCILIATION. You can choose to either reconcile with an aired log or you can manually enter the aired times for every commercial.

If you have a database set up to reconcile using aired logs a pop up window will appear asking if you want to reconcile using an aired log. If you choose yes, a window will pop up where you can tell RadioTraffic the location of the aired file.

(Currently, RadioTraffic is set to reconcile with SS32 air logs. If you need a different automation system, contact your RadioTraffic support representative.)

If you choose to manually reconcile the log, you will see the log change to the reconciliation window with the aired time listed as the same as the scheduled time. If you reconcile from an aired log the aired times will be listed.

To manually reconcile the log, take your aired log record and compare the times to the times listed in the manual reconcile screen. If you need to change the time of airing, left click in the Aired Time window and enter the correct spot time. After you change the time press enter to move to the next line in the reconciliation log. The window to change the time will automatically activate.

After you have finished entering all the aired log times, click FILE and then COMMIT RECONCILIATION. When you click this option, RadioTraffic will see all the spots reconciled as aired and update within the RadioTraffic system including spot orders, contracts and invoices. Until you finish reconciliation RadioTraffic will not count any spot In that log as aired.

When you choose to commit reconciliation and there are spots that were not placed on the log or a spot that you unchecked as not having aired it will appear in a pop-up box.

You will need to check off every spot in the window as having not been scheduled or aired inside the log. RadioTraffic will record that it did not run in all contracts and spot totals.

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Adding Copy To Spots

To add copy and production to your orders, you must use RadioTraffic’s “CopyCommander” program.

To view reports, select START > RADIOTRAFFIC.COM > COPYCOMMANDER and you will get a special login screen for the program. After logging into the system with your username and password, you will have a window appear where you can search for a particular order to which you need to attach copy.

In the SEARCH window (red box) you can choose to search all options, by customer or by station representative. The results of the search show up in the client list window on the left of the screen. You may also search for missing copy or spot extras by date (blue box.)

Select the client whose order to which you want to attach copy. Expand the customer’s order history by clicking the + sign next to their name (red box) and click the order (or line item within the order for multiple spots in the same flight) and the information for that order will appear in the main window.

To attach a spot to this order, click the SPOTS tab then click the NEW SPOT button. All the options in the window will activate.

In this window you will enter all information needed for the commercial including:


Also in this window you have the option to (red box):


These options can be set only one time per spot so make sure all information is correct before you SAVE SPOT.

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Creating and Editing Copy Rules

After saving all your new spots, you can set up specific times for spots to air for that flight using the CREATE/EDIT RULES tab. The tabs to create the new rules, save them, etc. is at the bottom of the screen (red box) instead of on the side as in other screens in the CopyCommander.

After you have activated the window by clicking NEW, you can change the settings for the spots during the flight.

You MUST put in settings for:


Without any of these, the copy will not attach correctly to the order and your spots will not air.

For the days of airing you can choose specific days of the week, all days, weekdays or weekends. Note: the spot rule you are putting in place will only run on the days put into this rule. It cannot be overridden in parts of the log where it is not scheduled to run.

Assignment Method is the manner in which spots placed into this copy rule will rotate. You have three options:


To add spots to the rotation window (blue box) left click a spot in the spot list window above the rotation window and then click the ADD button (red arrow.) You can also remove a spot from the rotation window by left clicking on that spot and clicking the REMOVE button (red arrow.)

At this point, the only editing that can be done after you save the rule is the end date for the rule. Make sure you have all the information for your rule correct before you click SAVE.

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Viewing All Rules For A Line Item

To see all the rules that apply to a line item in an order, click the SHOW RULES tab. You will see every rule that has been entered for this order listed by date from the most recent rule. The most recently entered rule will take priority over all other rules so if you need to make a change just add a new rule and it will immediately go into effect for this order.

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Viewing Reports

One of the top features of RadIoTraffic is the ease of creating reports. You will be able to create reports for every client, every sales team member or log.

To view reports, select START > RADIOTRAFFIC.COM > REPORTVIEWER and you will get a special login screen for the Report Viewer program. After logging into the system with your username and password, you will have a window appear with different report options:


You can open invoice reports in multiple options with multiple data results.


From here you can see any order placed by any client.