I was curious to see if any one out there would be willing to share their own approach to customer training on remote systems. I do quite a few Pronto systems and alot of Marantz 9200's and am having trouble thinking of the best solution for after the fact customer training. I have little experience in this subject(cheat sheets) and am looking for a good place to start. Do you use flowcharts? What kind of programs are helpful? What are your experiences?
Any info would be helpful.

Typically with a Pronto, I just hand them the remote. I tell them when they want to change a source, go to the home icon and go from there. They grab on within minutes....

I guess it all depends on how easy your ccf is.

Same here Jose.

Most of our clients, who are technologically challeged, become remote wizards in a short time.

Like Jose said, it really depends on how easy the CCF is to navigate. We typically don't put any un-necessary functions on the remote, that the client won't use on a day-to-day basis. It only confuses them.

Hope that helps,

JJP

Any pronto device has the ability to become its own instruction manual. Every job has some sort of device bid in for that very reason. Also helps eliminate service calls for the person who always has to push all the buttons on the standard eq remote.

Mine are usually as easy as pushing the source they want to use, the remote does the rest. no matter the state of the gear. It works perfectly.

I think what he meant is for the times that they want do do slightly more involved things or multiple thinngs at the same time... i.e. record from the CamCorder to VHS, or rewind an audio tape without interupting the movie.

I added an entire Help section to the Pronto. Each page has a description for what the buttons do, and the home page help screen describes the basics of the remote and has a section on recording. check it out!

P.S. Yes it was way more work than it was worth, But it was for a friend of mine, so I incorporate it into the rest of my systems with some minor tweaking.

I can understand what Brent is saying. I have had a few where the customer has had problems recording or they want extra functions. As long as the remote works (without any glitches), I tell the customer to bring the remote to me, and I can add the changes.
With recording, I usually have a page that walks them through it..."When do you want to record (NOW) or (LATER)...Now sends the record function, later goes to a page that walks them though the VCR menu and a frame at the bottom of the page gives them directions....

All in all, the remote is as dumb as the programmer makes it...heh, I have a customer with a pronto for his TV, vcr, and dvd. THAT's IT!!! No receiver, no surround...He can't live without it.

I appreciate everyones input and think that all of your points are valid. However I have not yet been able to design a CCF that is totally Idiot Proof. There always seems to be a situation that a client might become confused by and cannot get themselves out of. I don't care how easy the CCF is we are still dealing with a system that is not rock solid. Things like companies that decide to beta test remotes on poor saps like us and finding workarounds for less than desirable remote functions on equipment that performs flawlessly in all other catagories to name a few of the problems I personally have encountered. I guess that in a way it makes me happy that they decide to release product that after being purchased must be immediatly upgraded with new firmware in order to work as advertised. Keeps me working......
I don't know about the rest of you but eveything that I know (or do not know)about Pronto and the like I have learned in the field or on the forums located on this wonderfull site....which to my knowledge does not get any help from the manufacture(s) that so desperately need this site in order for their products to be of any value to anyone. Big thanks to Daniel on that one.
Sorry about all the complaining and Thankyou all!

Let me weigh in with a hearty YES to everyone who builds a ccf so the customer needs to know two things:
1)touch the screen to turn it on and
2)when you are confused, GO HOME
Cheat sheets are usually too confusing. They are like written instructions, but a bit easier -- they take a long time to do properly, and they have no use once the customer learns the system.
As for the last response from Richard, that is not complaining. It is just insane that the manufacturers are so hard to contact to get good remote info from, and just unbelieveable that there are still so many toggle power and input commands, which keep us from making bulletproof ccfs.
I love the idea of instructions for special things; I have a couple of clients who are NOT gearheads and who often are away for weeks at a time, so explanatory panels, though a pain to make, save the day and can be easily used.
One thing I have just started paying attention to is to bend the customer's component choice to items with commands that lend themselves to being controlled by Pronto macros. For isntance, commands such as FUNCTION turning on power [Denon, Marantz], or PLAY turning on power [most DVDs, many VCRs] make ON macros possible and save the product from the power toggle problem. Another is lower price Yamahas responding to higher price Yamaha Tuner direct preset access, even though the lower price remote does not have the buttons.

I have to agree with Ernie. Sometimes I get in a bind and I either look for a similar answer here (Pronto postings)or post the question "Does anyone have an answer for this...". An example is within Ernies post....I didn't know the uper end Yamaha remote worked the low end tuners. No, I don't sell Yamaha, but there might be that instance in time in which that information might be relevant. I guess if you have problems "Lay it on US". Maybe someone has a fix that you are not aware of.

My approach to Prontos is simple. Home screen gives the choices:Watch or Listen. Then Watch screen, for example, says: TV, VCR, DSS, DVD. By the time the client has chosen a source, everything is on, and the disc/tape has been started playing. Unless requested, I usually don't include multiple pages of control for each device; just the basics. They always have their original remotes for setup, programming, etc...

Richard, I've seen quite a few cheat sheets and the best give the fundamentals only. Any attempt to explain hobbyist features ends in being either unmanageable by the customer or incomplete. As you say, our stuff is just too complicated, that's why we have jobs.

If you are going to leave a cheat sheet behind, I suggest that it have instructions on getting Home, using macros (i.e. hold it steady and where to point it) and a basic activity oriented description of each macro. For Example:

To Watch Satellite

1. Point the remote at the red button above the TV
2. Tap the House icon to see the Home panel.
3. Tap the satellite button on the Home panel.
4. Hold the remote steady while it issues many commands to the system. When it is finished, the screen will change to a Satellite control panel.
5. Use the Satellite control panel to select channels.

If you want to check the program guide:
1) Tap the scroll arrow to go to the second satellite panel.
2) Use the Guide button and the up, down, left, right and enter keys to select from the program guide.

I agree that the ccf itself should be limited to one or two screens per device with limited opportunity to get lost and/or confused. The new Marantz RC5200/9200 with its integrated thumbpad for menu navigation makes it easy to create one panel devices.

If you call me or email me I can send you some more samples of cheatsheets.

Eric 800-247-7001

It's unfortunate that the user wants us to make them smarter. Usually though, you have to tell them to learn the way the machine works. You will never be able to program a remote for every single function and make it 'easy' to use.

Recording for most homeowners is a hard thing to do, if they can't do it with the original remotes, then it will be tough to get it working with a pronto at all.

IMHO

I've done a bunch of cheat sheets, mostly for systems with cheaper or manufacturer smart remotes. They are not usually intuitive enough so a cheat sheet is needed. For pronto or chad systems, I haven't had to make a cheat sheet yet.
The nice thing about them is also the nice thing about ccfs. Once you have a handful stored away, they just need a little tweaking - no reinvention necessary.
By the way, I bring my laptop with me, so if a cheat sheet is needed, it is typed on the premises while I am "on the clock".
=Tom