First to mention, Auto Shutdown Manager operates even if no users are logged on to the system in a so called full background - or service mode. All operations are supported in this mode including power up, power down, restart, standby, updates & patches, deployment and receiving of new settings, Time Rules, remote shutdown, wakeup, reboot etc.

Flexible Operation Modes

The operation modes provided by Auto Shutdown Manager are very flexible.
Depending on the required policies - it can be configured in a "Can", "Should" or "Must"
shutdown Mode.

Example:

All Systems can be grouped by required policies.

"CAN" - allow shutdown, but respect users

One group of PCs could be configured to be allowed to go into a defined sleep mode
during the lunch hours. This means if no activities are detected during a defined
period of time, the systems would be allowed to go into a defined sleep mode such
as Standby.
So the logical rule for lunch time could be:
Keep permanent running between 7:30am until 11:45am (core business time)
Check for user or system activities between 11:45am to 1:15pm - if there are no
activities for at least 10 minutes - go into Standby…
Wake-Up at 1:15pm (if wanted at all)
Keep permanent running between 1:15am until 5:00 pm (core business time)
Check for user or system activities after 5pm - if there are no activities for at least 10
minutes - go into Hibernation…

"SHOULD" - with a warning message and user decision

Another group of PCs could be setup to go into a sleep mode during lunch hours, say
at 12:15 pm regardless other options. In this case the users would see a warning
window notifying them about the planed sleep mode. If the users want to continue
their work, they just can disagree to the sleep mode and continue their work.

“MUST”- without a warning message and no user interaction

Another group of PCs could be used to display - say - stock prices. But this makes only
sense until the market closes + some extra time for aftermarket deals. So these PCs
could be definitely switched off say at 6pm every day. In this case, the warning would
be disabled and so wouldn’t show up - so no one could prevent them from shutting
down.

Auto Shutdown Manager supports the client/server model.

In Enterprise environments - but also more and more in networked homes - it is core for the
systems to run reliable and also to be available during core business hours or whenever
needed. Furthermore, systems might depend on each other. For example client computers
can’t be operated properly if their servers aren’t available.

To map these requirements, Auto Shutdown Manager was build with a networking aware
logic. This means that on one hand client computers can wake their server on demand and
keep them running as long as required - and on the other hand the servers know about their
clients and if they are connected - and so they don’t go into a power save mode until the
last client disconnects.