1. How do I integrate my software to use Software Monitor?

Getting started is very easy, and there are several different methods of integration, depending on your preference. We will provide some detailed code samples and integration advice once the service has been properly launched.

For optimum use, a small line of code needs to be inserted into the functions whose usage you wish to track, as well as into your global and module/method exception handlers.

• Web Services: .NET 2.0 to 3.5 Applications can connect directly to our web services server and query it like a local object. This is the easiest and most reliable option, if your application supports .NET.

• Via a HTTP POST: We support HTTP POST requests to our Web Services URLs.

• Via calling our command line executable: We will provide a Windows 32 bit executable which you can call through the command line. If there's sufficient demand for it, we will provide an ActiveX component or DLL too.

2. What about privacy?

All the data stored in our database is encrypted at column level using a 128-bit algorithm and strong password hashes which are unique to each project that you set up with us. We support data transfer over SSL using our Comodoissued 1024 bit encryption certificate.

The data that we allow you to collect from your desktop application is from a tightly limited set which is restricted to reporting "hits" on feature use as well as error logs. We do not endorse any form of spyware and our service is not suited for those looking to log data online for nefarious purposes.

3. How does software-monitor handle firewalls?

Very well, thank you :)

We already use this technology in all our software products, which are running on thousands of user desktops happily reporting error reports and other data for our "Customer Experience Improvement" programme. We also use our existing technology for licensing and subscription management. We have found a very small minority (less than 1%) of our users have a firewall policy that blocks all traffic by default. In these circumstances no internet traffic from those desktop applications will be recorded online. On our own subscription-based software (which enforces serial key checks online) we have made it a mandatory requirement that firewall access is allowed to software-monitor.com / 66.46.225.126. You may choose to either hard fail (tell the user the server cannot be reached) or by default simply ignore the firewall blocking traffic and continue.

Traffic to and from the desktop and server is via HTTP.

The .exe component is compatible with Microsoft ISA firewalls and HTTP proxy servers. Sample code and a sample solution will be provided for .NET developers who wish to use Web Services.