One of the staple tasks of any dental office is backing up the practice management system at the end of every day, right before the staff leaves the office. However, just because this process is being done each day doesn’t mean it is being done correctly, particularly if your practice uses Eaglesoft. With this version of practice management software there are some specific steps you will want to make sure are done before you begin the backup process.
- Make sure all workstations in the office are logged out of Eaglesoft
- Then you will want to stop the SQL server program on the computer which is being used as the office server. The server does not need to be shut down, the program just needs to be stopped.
- Then the backup of Eaglesoft can be done.
Failure to back up the system this manner can create a backup file which is corrupted and basically unusable. Per Patterson Dental, this process needs to be followed regardless of the version of Eaglesoft your office is currently using.
Patterson Dental also offers a service called “Pattlock” which will automatically back up the Eaglesoft system each day without the need to have someone in the office do it. There is a monthly fee attached to this service which varies depending on the amount of data you need to backup, although it could be well worth it if you have doubts that the backup process laid out above can be done regularly and correctly.
Below are some links to the Pattlock website as well as the Eaglesoft support page. If you have any concerns about your system being backed up each night, please contact either your I.T. provider or Eaglesoft support. This is definitely one area where it is better to be safe than sorry.
http://www.pattersondental.com/AppStore/Details/PattLock
http://patterson.eaglesoft.net/TrainingAndSupport/SupportContacts