This is an abbreviated Safelog pre-Sales, general orientation FAQ.
If you haven't tried a free demo of Safelog yet, we warmly invite you to do so. Sign-up is pretty much instantanous and you can access almost all of the system's feature in demo mode, albeit with a limited number of flights. Checking out the system in trial mode is a great way to undertand Safelog and to directly answer questions you may have.
Safelog is a powerful and flexible electronic pilot logbook system. It's used daily by thousands of pilots in nearly 100 countries worldwide. Some pilots use it as their only pilot logbook while others use it in conjunction with a traditional paper logbook. It is highly customizable and compatible with all major regulatory environments including FAA (USA), EASA (Europe, etc), CASA (Australia), Transport Canada, and many more.
Unlike other eLogbook products, which are unalterably tied to one or two electronic platforms, Safelog is an open, flexible, extensible system that works on many systems. For example, we have Safelog clients for:
SafelogWeb (this website) is a web-based pilot logbook system which is accessed through www.SafelogWeb.com. By 'web based,' we mean that you access SafelogWeb through the web browser on your desktop computer, laptop, or portable device.
Since it is a web-based service, there is no client or app software for you to install. Rather, you just log into the website and your data is there. Of course, you can install our Mac, PC, iOS, or Android client apps/software on your program if you'd like, but if you're in a place like a hotel where this is impractical or if you just don't want to deal with installing softawre, SafelogWeb works great too. Some people use the Safelog system for years without ever logging in to SafelogWeb.com. Some use only SafelogWeb.com. It's really totally and completely up to you.
As a practical matter, SafelogWeb (or rather, our back-end server farms that are the engines behind the whole Safelog sytem) also serves as the "synchronization hub" for your logbook data. So, for example, let's say you have Safelog on an iPad and on your PC. When you log a flight on your iPad and then click 'synch', this will cause the new flight to be sent to our SafelogWeb servers. Then, when you start Safelog on your PC and click synch there, it will recognize that the new flight has appeared and will grab it down and add it to your PC logbook.
As a day-to-day, thing, no, you do not need to be connected to the Internet to use Safelog. For example, you can go on a 2 week trip to a place where there is no Internet access and use the Safelog PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and/or Android apps to log flights and do common logbook tasks just fine. One of the great things about our apps is that they are quite fully featured complete logbook environments in their own rights. That said, once you get back from your trip and back to a place where you have Internet, you'll probably want to 'sync' your logbook as this will help ensure the security, reliability, and security of your data and also allow any new flights and changes that you have made to your logbook to make their way to any other Safelog devices and portals that you may use.
That said, there are some features of Safelog that do occasionally require Internet access. These are generally more 'rare' features that are not required for daily logbook use. Additionally, use of our SafelogWeb.com browser-based portal of course requires you to be online. Please note that synchronizing between Safelog devices occurs via the Internet. For example, if you have Safelog on your PC and your Phone, data synchronization between the two will occur via the Internet, not via a direct cable. This has been the world standard for most 'networked' apps for a long time now as ths allows you much more flexibility (such as, you don't have to have a cable or have your PC and phone, or two PCs, or two PCs a Mac and an android device, etc) all in the same place to synchronize them.
It is in general possible to synchronize your Safelog logbook from most Internet connections. In a small number of cases, we have found that as Safelog uses certain encryption techniques to safeguard your data, the Internet censoring systems of a select few countries (Middle-East, etc) may at times not allow Safelog (or other secure system) synchronization to happen. While this is doubtlessly an inconvenience (as are the rare times when our server farms are temporarily unavailable due to technical or network reasons), with Safelog you're actually in better shape than you would have been had you been using one of our competitors with their far less capable "thin client" apps because with Safelog even offline you will still be able to use most logbook features offline until perhaps you next visit a palce with more permissive Internet policies. While the number of users so affected by such issues are few (we have for example worked with the government in UAE to try to make sure that Safelog services work normally there), we note this just as a testament to Safelog's power and robustness given all sorts of situations.
Click on the sign-up link at upper right and follow the prompts. You are welcome to try it out, free. You can be logging in just minutes from now.
With very few exceptions, the demo version is exactly the full product, except that you are limited to 10 flights only.
By the way, if you are trying a demo account, you can even try it on multiple devices simultaneously to see how the synchronization works. For example, you can sign up for an account on SafelogWeb.com, log a flight here, and then download the Safelog iOS or Android app from the respective app store. In the app, enter the SAME username and password that you did in SafelogWeb for the demo and your data will synchronize nicely.
If you subscribe, the ten flight demo limit will be lifted from your logbook and you can continue using it from there. Your username (email address), password, and data will remain unchanged, thus allowing you to continue logging and flying without interruption.
Absolutely. There are multiple built-in FAA, EASA (JAA), and other currency alerts and reports and you can further create customized rules based on your needs.
Safelog costs less and does more than any competing logbook system. Safelog licenses are sold by the year; most pilots purchase multiple-year subscriptions as this gets them the best price. Compare our prices with those of any of our serious competitors and you'll find that our pricing is highly competitive. We can offer such great pricing as we have a large, loyal, and constantly growing user base. With your Safelog subscription, everything is included except for a few bespoke professional services*: unlike our competitors we do NOT charge for data synchronization, specialized database usage, updates and uprgrades, "platform fees", "cloud fees", or any of the other stuff our competitors nickel and dime their customers with. With Safelog, there are no hidden fees whatsoever and you get access to ALL of the Safelog platforms (web, PC, Mac, Android, iPhone/iPad, etc) with your subscription.
It's possible to buy a Safelog subscription via any of our apps or services - for example, you can buy a new subscription or extend your existing subscription from the official app stores / app markets within our mobile apps. No matter where you purchase your subscription, you'll be getting the same thing. That said, the price of a subscription varies a bit depending on where you buy it due to currency, tax, and app store pricing policy issues.
In general, however, pretty much all users will get the best price via our SafelogWeb.com Portal. That is, go to SafelogWeb.com, sign up for a free account (or sign in to your existing trial account), and then click on the 'My Account' screen to purchase a paid subscription.
Current pricing** for Safelog subscriptions via SafelogWeb.com is:
If you have any questions whatsoever about pricing or related issues, we're happy to help via our online helpdesk. Thank you again for your interest in Safelog and we hope to welcome you as a user soon!
* The vast majority of Safelog users happily use our system on a standard subscription and never need or want any additional bespoke / personalized services. A small number of our users and corporate clients request or require from us highly personal services for which we naturally are obliged to charge professional (typically hourly) rates. Such cases are rare and include (but are not limited to) things like customized logbook analysis, data entry services, and custom programming / technical services.
** Pricing subject to change without prior notice. Taxes/VAT and fees for certain payment types may be extra and are as determined by our merchant reseller partner Digital River / SWreg, an industry leading firm speacializing in ensuring that the transactions that go through them are secure and reliable.
A full range of flight experience and approach reports are available through SafelogWeb. This ensures that you can always get up-to-the minute reports wherever you are. This is particularly helpful, for example, if you're on the road and want to print out a copy that is current as of your latest flight of your recent flight experience. When trying a demo of SafelogWeb, be sure to check out the 'printing and reports' tab. There are many powerful, good looking reports and printouts there that you can access in numerous formats, including PDF, MS-Excel™, MS-Word™, and others.
Here's a sample of the printouts that we provide:
* Special conditions apply. In some cases a similar or equivalent report/printout exists in our system though the exact item might not be available. Find the report listing in SafelogWeb.com for specifics
This list is regularly being updated. Furthermore, if you're interested in a report that you don't see listed, please contact us and often we'll be happy to add it.
Further questions? Please visit our helpdesk www.dauntless-soft.com/helpdesk. We will be expanding this FAQ over time.
