Eaglesoft IT Support · Buffalo & Rochester
Eaglesoft IT support for dental practices in Buffalo and Rochester. We look after your Eaglesoft database server, workstations, Messenger, imaging, and backups, and we work alongside Patterson support, who remain your contact for the Eaglesoft software itself.
What We Look After
We handle the server, workstations, network, and backups behind Eaglesoft, so your team opens the schedule every morning without surprises.
Services, disk space, and connectivity watched, not left to chance.
Every operatory finds the server, every morning.
Backup first, then the server, then each workstation.
Database and images, onsite and encrypted offsite.
Common Calls
Most Eaglesoft support calls fall into a handful of patterns. Knowing them is half the fix.
Usual cause
The database service on the server stopped, the server restarted for updates, or something on the network is blocking the connection.
Usual cause
The Messenger service isn't running, or a firewall or the wrong server name is stopping the workstation from reaching it.
Usual cause
Permissions, a file in use, or Eaglesoft left open on another workstation.
Usual cause
A path, permission, or scanner driver problem in the patient's document area.
Usual cause
Nearly always that machine or its network connection, not Eaglesoft itself.
What we find
A success message doesn't prove a backup works. We find these more often than we'd like.
For anything that touches the database or the services on the server, call us or Patterson first. A wrong step there can turn a short outage into a long one.
Who Does What
Patterson Dental supports the Eaglesoft software: program errors, licensing, data questions, and training. Everything Eaglesoft sits on is usually the practice's job to sort out, and that's where we come in.
When the front desk says "Eaglesoft is down"…
The cause is often outside Eaglesoft: the server rebooted overnight and a service didn't start, a workstation dropped off the network, a firewall rule changed, or the server's disk filled up. We fix those directly. When the problem really is in the software, we call Patterson with the error details, screenshots, and version numbers ready, and stay on the case until it's resolved.
Buffalo IT Services
Server and workstation hardware, Windows, network, firewall, printers, imaging drivers, backups, and security.
Both sides
Major updates, server replacements, and anything that needs both of us.
Patterson Dental
Eaglesoft software errors, licensing, data corrections, and training.
Eaglesoft is one part of our wider dental IT support. We also support offices on Dentrix and Open Dental.
Database Server
Eaglesoft keeps its data in a database that runs as a service on your server, and every workstation connects to that service over the network.
If the service stops, or a workstation can't reach the server, staff see errors like "database server not found" and nobody can open a patient record. We build and maintain the server so that happens as rarely as possible.
Server near the end of its life? Our dental server migration process moves Eaglesoft to new hardware after hours, with a rollback plan if anything doesn't check out.
For your version of Eaglesoft, checked each time rather than assumed.
With room for the database, images, and documents to grow.
We know when the database service or Messenger stops, ideally before the morning schedule starts.
Workstations always find the server after a reboot or a router change.
Security software never blocks or slows the database connection.
Workstations & Messenger
Eaglesoft Messenger passes messages and notifications between workstations through the server.
When a workstation shows "could not find the Eaglesoft Messenger server," the cause is usually a service that didn't start, a firewall blocking the connection, or a workstation pointing at the wrong server name.
Every workstation, set up for Eaglesoft
Solid-state drives and enough memory, so charting and imaging don't lag.
Wired connections in operatories wherever possible, with Wi-Fi kept for tablets and laptops.
Windows updates scheduled outside clinical hours and checked afterward.
Antivirus exclusions set the way the vendor recommends.
Printers, signature pads, and card scanners installed with the right drivers on the machines that use them.
How we troubleshoot
We test that machine and its cable before touching the server.
We start at the server and the network switch.
Updates & Imaging
Eaglesoft updates change the database, so the server and every workstation need to end up on the same version. Update errors are often caused by permissions, a file in use, or a workstation left open overnight. Here's how we run them.
Step 01
Check the release notes and system requirements for the new version.
Step 02
Take a backup of the database and confirm it completed.
Step 03
Close Eaglesoft on every workstation and update the server after hours.
Step 04
Update each workstation, then check the schedule, charting, Messenger, and imaging on each one.
Imaging after every update
Imaging devices depend on drivers and on the link between Eaglesoft and the imaging software. After an update, we test capture on every operatory, not just that Eaglesoft opens.
Backups
A backup has to produce a consistent copy of the database and include the images and documents stored with it. Patterson documents the supported options, and we set your backups up to match.
Copying the Eaglesoft data folder while the database is running.
A supported method that captures a consistent database copy, plus images and documents.
From there, the same rules apply as with our healthcare data backups.
The backup routine
For fast restores when something goes wrong.
In case the office is lost or hit by ransomware.
Not to a mailbox nobody reads.
So we know the database opens and the images are there.
Common Questions
Quick answers to what Eaglesoft offices ask us most about servers, errors, and backups.
Eaglesoft down right now?
Call before restarting anything on the server. A wrong step can turn a short outage into a long one.
(716) 463-5111No. Patterson remains your support for the Eaglesoft software. We look after the server, workstations, network, imaging hardware, and backups, and we work with Patterson when a problem needs both of us.
The workstation can't reach the Eaglesoft database on your server. Common causes are a stopped database service, a server that's off or rebooting, a network problem, or a firewall blocking the connection. Call us before restarting services on the server.
Usually the Messenger service on the server isn't running, or a firewall or wrong server name is stopping the workstation from reaching it. We check the service and the connection from the affected workstation.
At least daily, with an onsite and an encrypted offsite copy, and with test restores on a schedule. A backup you've never restored shouldn't be trusted.
Yes. We plan the move with Patterson, build the new server ahead of time, migrate the data after hours, test every workstation, and keep the old server available as a rollback until everything checks out.
Schedule a free remote or on-site IT consult. Tell us about your business and the services you need – response times are typically under three hours.
