Coming Soon to a unit near you: MLS 3.1 Beta

Discussions around using and interfacing with the Church MLS program.
psnarula
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Coming Soon to a unit near you: MLS 3.1 Beta

#1

Post by psnarula »

I am aware of a unit (not in my stake) that received a message in MLS two weeks ago. The message indicated that this unit would soon be receiving a beta version of MLS 3.1. The message then listed some of the changes. The two I thought to be most noteworthy are:

1. Information about Young Single Adults will now be reported on the Quarterly Report (beginning with the 4th Quarter of 2009 for units selected to participate in the beta)

2. MLS 3.1 will support giving each member of a family (adults only?) their own email address.

Hurray.

3. Added support for Ukrainian.
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ajames
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#2

Post by ajames »

I'm not sure hurray is strong enough for how I feel about individuals being assigned their own e-mail addresses. Hopefully they tie in my the member's LDS Account.
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aebrown
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#3

Post by aebrown »

ajames wrote:I'm not sure hurray is strong enough for how I feel about individuals being assigned their own e-mail addresses. Hopefully they tie in my the member's LDS Account.
I'm not sure exactly what you are saying, but I think there's a bit of a misunderstanding. The way you mentioned LDS Account seems to imply that you think that:
  1. There will be new e-mail accounts assigned to members; or
  2. The e-mail address to be stored in MLS will be extracted from the e-mail address already connected to a member's LDS Account.
Neither of these is in the works. Rather, the plan is simply to allow MLS to record e-mail addresses (and phone numbers) on an individual basis, rather than just on a household basis as is currently the case.

Nonetheless, even that change will create much rejoicing among the clerks and leaders who have struggled to find a way to communicate with individuals in a household where (as is quite common) they have different cell phone number and e-mail addresses.
RossEvans
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#4

Post by RossEvans »

Alan_Brown wrote:Rather, the plan is simply to allow MLS to record e-mail addresses (and phone numbers) on an individual basis, rather than just on a household basis as is currently the case.


Nonetheless, even that change will create much rejoicing among the clerks and leaders who have struggled to find a way to communicate with individuals in a household where (as is quite common) they have different cell phone number and e-mail addresses.

Yes!

Is it confirmed that the MLS 3.1 beta also individualizes phone numbers? If so, will there be a primary and a secondary phone field for each member record?

Also, is there any word on what changes, if any, there will be in the MLS export file format?
rmaughan
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#5

Post by rmaughan »

Watch out -- I read a note this weekend saying that any phone numbers stored in the current "Secondary Phone Number" field will be lost when the upgrade to 3.1 happens. The note said to print out a copy of the information so that you don't lose it.

It will be interesting to see the implementation and which phone number(s) are listed on the abbreviated and phone directories from MLS.

Certainly seems they need to keep a household phone as well as have a phone field for each household member -- would be nice if there was the ability to designate which individual phone number should be used for the household. (i.e. we still have a land line at home and my wife and I also each have cell phones).
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aebrown
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#6

Post by aebrown »

robm wrote:It will be interesting to see the implementation and which phone number(s) are listed on the abbreviated and phone directories from MLS.

Certainly seems they need to keep a household phone as well as have a phone field for each household member -- would be nice if there was the ability to designate which individual phone number should be used for the household. (i.e. we still have a land line at home and my wife and I also each have cell phones).
There will still be a primary phone number on a household basis. I'm sure that's what will continue to be listed on abbreviated and phone directories.

In my opinion, the more interesting question is what will be displayed on lists of individuals (such as class lists, organization leadership lists, etc.). Will they now list the individual's phone number, rather than the household phone number? I would think so, but we'll soon find out what the actual answer is.
zaneclark
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#7

Post by zaneclark »

Any hint as to when this update will be available to the masses?
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aebrown
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#8

Post by aebrown »

zaneclark wrote:Any hint as to when this update will be available to the masses?
It depends on how the beta testing goes. It is generally 2-4 weeks, if I recall correctly. Some testing has already been done, but the more widespread beta starts this weekend for those units participating in the beta test.
birdld-p40
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#9

Post by birdld-p40 »

psnarula wrote:MLS 3.1 will support giving each member of a family (adults only?) their own email address.
Everyone will have individual numbers, including children. Parents must first give verbal permission for anyone 17 years and under to have a phone number or e-mail listed.
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mkmurray
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#10

Post by mkmurray »

birdld wrote:Parents must first give verbal permission for anyone 17 years and under to have a phone number or e-mail listed.

* emphasis added *
So there's the answer, both individual email addresses and phone numbers.
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