Posts Tagged: support

Our MIDAS room and resource scheduling software is available in two editions, a “cloud-hosted” edition and a “self-hosted” edition.

These days, around two thirds of our customers opt for our cloud-hosted edition. Despite this, we’re still very much committed though to offering and supporting a self-hosted edition too.

Now, one of the challenges in developing a web-based application like MIDAS is that it relies on 3rd party components.

For example, to run a web based application, you first need a web server that supports the coding language the web application is written in. You also need a database server to store data for the application.

Countless combinations

Web servers first and foremost need an operating system (like Windows or Linux). They also require underlaying web server software – such as Apache or IIS – to name just two. There are of course numerous operating systems and server software, with different variations and configurations of each.

MIDAS is written in Perl. There are a number of different “flavors” of Perl for different operating systems. For example, on Windows servers both ActivePerl and Strawberry Perl are available.

Finally database servers; MIDAS currently supports MySQL and MariaDB databases, and different versions of each of these.

Here at MIDAS HQ, we have test MIDAS systems running on a range of common setups. However, it would be virtually impossible for us to test our software on every conceivable combination of Operating System, Web Server, Perl, and Database versions.

Although rare, if a self-hosted customer encounters an issue with our software on their particular setup, we’re usually able to replicate it in our labs and provide a solution.

Very occasionally though a self-hosted customer encounters an issue which we’re not able to readily identify and reproduce.

As we (rightly) don’t have access to self-hosted customer’s own servers, this can make troubleshooting challenging.

It can be even more challenging if the self-hosted customer (or their IT provider) is not especially server-savvy. For instance, we may occasionally request files from a customer to aid in our troubleshooting…

A real-world example

In a recent support request, a self-hosted customer encountered an issue after updating their MIDAS system. We weren’t able to immediately replicate this in our testing, and so we requested additional information from the customer. The customer had to contact their IT supplier for assistance in retrieving these files from their MIDAS. Their IT supplier was slow in providing the requested information, which we didn’t receive for a couple of weeks.

Once in receipt of the additional information, however, we were able to identify and resolve the issue within a couple of hours. The customer though was understandably frustrated that it had taken two weeks to resolve (due to the delay with their IT supplier).

As a result of this, we decided to take steps to make it easier for us to support self-hosted customers in the future.

Helping us to help you!

So starting with MIDAS v4.33, there’s now an option for a self-hosted customer to send us diagnostic information directly from within their MIDAS system. This bypasses situations where a customer may have to contact or raise a ticket with their external IT support/provider in order for us to assist them.

If you run into an issue with your self-hosted MIDAS system, our support team may provide you with a “Support Code”. Simply login to your MIDAS system and go to MIDAS Admin Options → Manage MIDAS → Database → Database Tools, and select “Send Support Bundle”.

Easily send diagnostic data to the MIDAS support team
Easily send diagnostic data to the MIDAS support team

You’ll be prompted to enter your Support Code before clicking the “Send Support Bundle to MIDAS” button. Your MIDAS system will then self-generate diagnostic information. This information is then securely sent to our support team for further analysis.

The following data is included within the support bundle that’s securely transmitted to MIDAS HQ:

  • A copy of the program files which make up your MIDAS system
  • A copy of the settings file for your MIDAS system
  • A copy of your MIDAS database
  • A copy of any MIDAS debug logs
  • Information on your server setup

This diagnostic data can really aid our support team speed up the diagnosis of the potential issue you’re having with your self-hosted MIDAS system.


Happy Christmas from MIDAS HQ

Happy Christmas from MIDAS HQ

We’d like to wish all our customers a very Happy Christmas from MIDAS HQ here in the UK!

2020 is a year that most will be glad to see the back of, and we know that many of our customer’s businesses have been significantly impacted by COVID-19 this year.

Since March, here at MIDAS HQ we’ve been working hard to support our customers affected by the pandemic. We put in place support for those venues which had to temporarily close, and provided guidance for those who’ve had to adjust their way of operating.

Sadly though we know that some of our customers this year have had to permanently shut their doors, and our hearts especially go out to them at this time of year.

Here at MIDAS HQ in the UK it’s been a challenging year too. We’ve been through two national lockdowns, and been in a perpetual local lockdown for coming up to 5 months now.

As a small and agile business though, we’ve been able to adapt and continue with business as usual.

Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve released 3 significant updates to MIDAS (v4.24, v4.25, and v4.26), packed with new and exciting features!

We’ve also maintained the high level of support that we know our customers value! During the pandemic, our median response time to Priority Support requests has been just 10 minutes! What’s more, EVERY Priority Support request we’ve received during the pandemic has had a dedicated human response within 6 hours of receipt!

Priority Support over Christmas:

As we’ve done in every year previous, Priority Support will be available to all customers with an active support subscription should they need it right across the festive season – even on Christmas Day itself!

This year, however, we would ask customers with non-urgent support queries over Christmas to consider waiting until the new year to contact our support team if at all possible.

The UK government are allowing a very small window over the festive season for people to travel and see family. Most of our staff have been in perpetual lockdown and haven’t seen close family members since before March, and so we’d like them to have the opportunity to be able to travel and do that this Christmas.

This may mean slightly slower responses times to support queries than usual, and is why we’re encouraging non-urgent queries to be delayed until the new year, where possible.

Thank you for your understanding and support!

However you’re spending this festive season, we’re sure it won’t feel like a “normal” Christmas. But we do wish you a happy and peaceful time, and we sincerely thank all our customers for their continued custom and support during 2020.

We’re already working on MIDAS v4.27, so stay tuned for more updates in 2021!

Have a safe and peaceful Christmas from all of us here at MIDAS HQ!


We constantly strive to provide unrivalled support to customers of our Web Based Room Booking & Resource Scheduling system and one of the things we’re most proud of is our professional, friendly, knowledgeable, and responsive customer support.

That’s why we regularly review how we’re performing on this front, and make our findings public, to ensure that our customers who’ve taken out an Annual Support Subscription with their purchase of our scheduling software, are getting an unmatched support service!

To ensure the continuation our very high standards of service, we analyze the wait times between when a priority support email is received by us, and when a subsequent response is sent – and these are responses by real people – not some machine or auto-responded, but a tailored response from a real person!

We’ve now analyzed our performance again – this time for the month of June 2014 and the responsiveness of our support just keeps on getting better! When we first started analyzing our support response times, back in September 2012, we measured support response times in hours. Last September 2013, we felt the need to improve our measurements down to minutes!

The table below shows the percentage of Priority Support emails and how quickly they were answered between September 2012 and June 2014.

 September 2012January 2013September 2013June 2014
Answered within 15 minutes58.97%71.43%
Answered within 30 minutes74.36%77.14%
Answered within 1 hour76.29%85.95%87.18%91.43%
Answered within 2 hours90.72%91.23%94.87%97.14%
Answered within 3 hours92.78%94.74%94.87%100%
Answered within 4 hours93.81%96.49%97.44%100%
Answered within 5 hours94.85%98.25%100%100%
Answered within 6 hours96.91%98.25%100%100%
Answered within 7 hours98.97%98.25%100%100%
Answered within 8 hours98.97%100%100%100%
Answered within 9 hours98.97%100%100%100%
Answered within 10 hours98.97%100%100%100%
Answered within 11 hours100%100%100%100%
Our speed of response to Priority Support Emails

As you can see, between September 2013 and June 2014 we’ve improved again!! During June, ALL Priority Support emails were responded to within 3 hours of receipt, regardless of the day of the week! – that’s not an average – that’s…

Every single Priority Support email received in June was given a real, individually tailored, human response within 3 hours (and over 90% of those within just 1 hour)!

Now, how many companies do you know where you can get a real human response to your email query that fast, any day of the week!!?

So if you’re considering MIDAS for your organization’s scheduling needs, but are perhaps worried about how good our support is or whether an Annual Support Subscription to MIDAS is worth having, well… the above figures speak for themselves!

…but if you’re still not convinced? Read some of our Customer Testimonials about our scheduling system and the outstanding level support we consistently provide!


We’re constantly striving to improve our web based room scheduling software and the service we provide to our customers, and one of the things we’re most proud of here at MIDAS, is our professional, knowledgeable, friendly, and responsive customer support.

That’s why we regularly review how we’re performing on this front, and make our findings public, to ensure that our customers who’ve taken out an Annual Support Subscription with their purchase of our scheduling software, are getting an unrivaled support service!

To ensure our very high standards of service, we analyze the wait time between when a priority support email is received by us, and when a subsequent response is given.

When we last analyzed our performance, back in February, we found that for the first month of 2013 over 90% of support request emails were answered within 2 hours of receipt, regardless of the day of the week!

We’ve now analyzed our performance again for the month of September 2013, and our support is now even more responsive than ever!

The table below shows the percentage of Priority Support emails and how quickly they were answered in September 2012, January 2013, and now in September 2013.

 September 2012January 2013September 2013
Answered within 1 hour76.29%85.95%87.18%
Answered within 2 hours90.72%91.23%94.87%
Answered within 3 hours92.78%94.74%94.87%
Answered within 4 hours93.81%96.49%97.44%
Answered within 5 hours94.85%98.25%100%
Answered within 6 hours96.91%98.25%100%
Answered within 7 hours98.97%98.25%100%
Answered within 8 hours98.97%100%100%
Answered within 9 hours98.97%100%100%
Answered within 10 hours98.97%100%100%
Answered within 11 hours100%100%100%
Our Speed of Response to Priority Support Emails:

As you can see, for the month of September 2013, all priority support emails received were answered within 5 hours without exception (in January, all priority support emails were answered within 8 hours without exception, and a year ago all priority support emails were answered within 11 hours without exception!)… and it’s worth mentioning that all priority support emails get a real, individually tailored, human response – not just a standard “automated” or “canned” reply that some companies use!

In addition to the figures in the table above, in September 2013, we broke this down further and found that over 74% of priority support emails were answered within just 30 minutes (up from just over 70% in January 2013), and that nearly 60% of priority support emails answered within just 15 minutes!

Now, how many companies do you know where you can get a real human response to your email query that fast, any day of the week!!?

So if you’re considering MIDAS for your organization’s scheduling needs, but are perhaps worried about support issues, or whether an Annual Support Subscription to MIDAS is worth having, the above figures really do speak for themselves!

Still not convinced? Read some of our Customer Reviews about our scheduling software and the outstanding support we provide!