How To Install ESC for the First Time

Welcome to your first installation of Electronic Service Control!

This guide is designed to walk you through the entire installation process from start-to-finish and includes all downloads necessary to get you up and running in the shortest amount of time possible.  

Before beginning, please visit our System Requirements page to make sure your server computer meets the minimum software requirements.

If you already have the ESC demo installed on your server computer, then ESC and Microsoft SQL Server are already configured on this machine.  You may proceed to creating your database. 

STEP 1: Install Microsoft SQL Server

Before you can install SQL Server you will need to know if you are running a 32 or 64 bit version of Windows. 

1. Right-click on the Windows Start button at the bottom of your screen.
2. Select System.
3. Look for System Type in the System section of the screen.  It will show 32-bit or 64-bit.
   
   
   
   
4. Click the button below to download the installation package that corresponds with your System Type. This procedure will install Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Express. It installs a named instance of SQL, called ESC, so it should not affect any other programs you have.
   
   

   SQL 32-Bit	SQL 64-Bit

5. When the download is complete, start the installation by double clicking the downloaded file.
6. Accept all the defaults as you go through the upgrade wizard. You do not need to do anything during the course of the wizard other than click the Next button until the end of the wizard.

STEP 2: Install ESC

You will now install ESC Version 15 on your server so that you can create and setup the database. You'll want to do this even if you don't intend to have anyone work on the server computer.

1. Exit all programs on the computer.
2. Click the button below to download the installation package - ESC Client Only Setup 15.exe. 
   
   
   
   
3. When the download is complete, start the installation by double-clicking the downloaded file.
4. Accept all the defaults as you go through the wizard. You do not need to do anything during the course of the wizard other than click the Next button and accept the license agreement.
5. Click the Finish button at the end of the wizard to launch ESC.

STEP 3: Create Database

You will now need to create a database for your company in ESC.

1. Open ESC and select New Company from the File pull-down menu.
2. Click Next to begin the new company setup wizard.
3. You may select a name for your database file in the Database Name field. You can replace this with your company name if you would prefer, but if you do this make sure it doesn't start with a number and doesn't contain spaces or punctuation. Leave the other fields alone and click Next.
4. Complete all the steps in the new company setup wizard. If you don't know the answers to some of the questions just accept the defaults and click Next. All of this information can be changed later on after the database has been created.  You can also check out our New Company guide.
5. After the wizard is finished a screen will appear letting you know you are running a trial version of ESC. Click the Enter License Code button and enter the code we emailed you. If you don't have it convenient, don't worry about it, just click Try ESC Now. This will let you use the full features of the software, but you will continue see this screen each time you login until you enter the code or your trial expires.

STEP 4: Install the Connections Server

The next step is to install the ESC Connections Server on your server. This program helps ESC do many things including sending dispatch status updates to your customers, integrating with SageQuest/Reveal+, controlling mobile devices, and much more. 

1. Close any open programs.
2. Click the button below to download the installation package - ESC Connections Server Setup 15.exe.
   
   
   
   
3. When the download is complete, start the installation by double-clicking the downloaded file.
4. Accept all the defaults as you go through the wizard. You do not need to do anything during the course of the wizard other than click the Next button.
5. Head to the Windows Start screen/menu and search for "ESC Connections Server Administrator".  Click on the icon that appears.  This will cause a little blue ESC icon to appear in your System Tray (next to the Windows clock). 
6. Right-click the ESC icon in the System Tray and select Setup.
7. Expand the Settings section and use the Database Name field drop-down list to select the database you just created. Leave the other fields on this screen alone and click Apply. It will take it just a minute or two to update.
8. After the settings have been applied, click Close.

STEP 5: Install the Accounting Server

If you are integrating with QuickBooks or Sage 50, you will need to install the ESC Accounting Server. The computer you select for this must be able to open and run the accounting software. It is not necessary to place this on the server, although that is usually the best option.

1. Close any open programs, including ESC.
2. Click the button below to download the installation package - ESC Accounting Server Install.exe. 
   
   
   
   
3. When the download is complete, start the installation by double-clicking the downloaded file.
4. Accept all the defaults as you go through the wizard. You do not need to do anything during the course of the wizard other than click the Next button.
5. Run the ESC Accounting Server by going to the Windows Start screen/menu and search for "ESC Accounting Server".
6. Open QuickBooks or Sage 50 and login to your database using the Administrator account.
7. Switch back to the ESC Accounting Server and set the Accounting Package to the accounting program you are using, then click Retrieve.
8. Click the round button to Connect the Accounting Server to your accounting software.

Congratulations!

You have successfully completed the initial installation of Electronic Service Control on your server computer.  This is now the computer that houses your database and connects the information to your workstations.  This computer should remain on at all times to ensure that workstations and mobiles devices have access to the database.

What's Next?

There's just a few more things you may wish to do before you are fully up and running.

• Configure the Windows Firewall
• Install ESC on your workstations
• Setup Automatic Backups using Windows Task Scheduler
• Setup Automatic Backups using SQL Backup Master
• Integrate with QuickBooks
• Integrate with Sage 50
• Setup ESC Mobile for Android or iOS
• Setup ESC Mobile for Windows Laptop