Definition

The article refers to different sections of the application:

Back Office: Where Customer Service Representatives (CSR) create and edit orders, create accounts, review drivers, etc.

Dispatch Board: Where Dispatchers assign orders to drivers, get notifications for invalid orders, etc.

Auto-Dispatch: This section refers to the automated order assignment setup and its process.

Administration: This section is in the Back Office but refers to sections only an administrator will use like Settings and Pricing.

Customer Portal: Where account users log in to create orders, view their order history, enter a credit card, etc.

Tracking site: Where customers enter a tracking number like the order ID or a reference number to view the status of their order.

Account API: API provided to your accounts to create, update and get orders. For documentation, please follow this link:https://api.dispatchscience.com/
Tenant API: API provided to you to create orders for your accounts, retrieve invoices and change invoice status. For documentation, please follow this link: https://api.dispatchscience.com

The order screen is compatible with the following browsers:

PC: Chrome from Google, Microsoft Edge, Firefox from Mozilla

MAC: Chrome from Google, Apple Safari, Firefox from Mozilla

Please note the last 2 versions of these browsers are supported.

**The Order Screen is not compatible with Internet Explorer therefore, you cannot create, view or edit an order when using Internet Explorer.

Back Office

New Order Screen

The new order screen has been reorganized to show each section in a simplified overview, as shown below, increasing productivity by facilitating the data entry received by the caller.

The sections have been reconfigured for easy data entry using either the mouse or tab key. 

Not only is the order overview a crisp, clean and simple version, contacts are easily accessible by inputting specific or generalized characters that have been allocated to the customer's account. This is one of the many improved changes that were made to the order process to facilitate data entry. 

Create a New Order

1) New orders can be created from the Create Order menu , from the Orders list New Order button:

2) New order page opens with cursor in the Search account bar. To search for a user/caller, you can enter the account name, the account number, the caller/user name or the caller/user telephone number. 

3) The list will open with the filter applied. The name of the company short name associated to the account is showing to the left of the account name. 

Click on the name of the caller (if searching by account) or if searching by caller/user name/phone, use the keyboard arrow up/down to navigate to the caller name then press Enter.

4) Once the caller has been selected, the Customer and caller information will be displayed as well as the default pickup if one is assigned to the caller or if none are assigned to the caller, the default contact on the Account if one is available.

An order number will be assigned automatically.
If a default pickup was assigned, the cursor will be in the Delivery Address section, contact name field.
If a default pickup is not available, the cursor will be in the Pickup section, contact name field.

Smallest ranked parcel type will be added automatically, smallest ranked service level and default vehicle are automatically selected.

Ready At defaults to Now. Pickup From is calculated from the Ready At and the Service Level Hours of operation and cut off time. Delivery window is calculate from the Pickup From, the service level hours of operations, cut off time and delivery time.

5) Caller note can be edited.
Click on Edit button in Customer Info section or Shift+Tab until you get to Notes.

The previous section automatically opens if you Shift+Tab from the first field in the current section or if you click on Edit.

The next section automatically opens if you Tab from the last field in the current section of if you click on Edit.

Modify the caller note and press tab to move to pickup section or click on Edit.

This will modify the caller note on the current order.

6) Enter/modify Pickup or Delivery information:

In Contact name, type the name of the contact or from Address Line 1, enter the address. 

As you type the contact name, the list of contacts will be filtered. Select a contact to fill in the section fields.

If the contact does not exist, a Add contact info to account contacts checkbox will be displayed. If this is checked, the contact will be added to the account contacts. When order is created, the new contact will be added using the contact name, email, phone, address line 1 and 2 as well as the note.

As you type the address, the stored contact addresses matching your criteria will be displayed as well as geocoded addresses matching the entry. Select an address to fill in the section fields.

Note: If an address is not selected from the drop-down, the typed in address will be erased.

If the address cannot be geocoded, you can enter an address from the Zip/Postal code by clicking on the Enter address from Zip/Postal Code. Enter a valid Zip/Postal code (this will be used for geocoding to the center of the Zip/Postal code area) then enter the remainder of the information and click Save.

Note: If a postal code is not selected from the drop-down, you will not be able to save the custom address.

Once you have entered a pickup and a delivery address, the distance between the 2 points will be indicated in the Summary section along with the price for the selected service level and car and any vehicle surcharge. There is also an indication of the minimum charge for the selected vehicle type if available in the price list.

If the pricing is by zone, you will see the zone in the pickup and delivery address section (under the note or address if no notes are available for the contacts).

Clicking on the i beside any field in the pricing section will give additional information on how the price is calculated and/or give you its description.

7) To enter item information, tab from the delivery note or click Edit in Items section. The parcel type with the lowest rank is selected with its default dimension and weigth.

You can change the parcel type by selecting a different parcel type from the drop-down field. This will update the dimension and the weight. 

If the parcel type is customizable, you will be able to click on the rule to edit the item's dimension:

Enter the dimension and click Save.

Enter the weight. If the weight entered is less than the minimum weight, a warning will be displayed. The weight extra fee will be calculated with the minimum weight. 

Enter an optional Description.

If you need to add another item, click on the  to add another row.

To copy the parcel type, click on

Enter the number of rows to add to the exiting one and click on Add. 

The rows will be added. Make the needed adjustments.

Click on Continue to move to the Summary and pricing sections.

If an extra fee has been setup for Number of Pieces and/or Total Weight, those will appear in the Pricing Items sections

8) If the order cannot be delivered the same day as the Ready at, a warning will be dispayed beside the Service Level. Click on the warning icon to see its content:

The same warning is displayed below the Delivery window.

By changing the service level/vehicle type, the delivery price will automatically be adjusted along with the Pickup from and Delivery window. If a price is unavailable for the combination of addresses, service level and vehicle type, a Price unavailable will be displayed. 

If the price is unavailable, it will need to be entered on the Dispatch Board once the order is created.

9) If the delivery charge is calculated, it will be displayed in the Pricing Items along with the default extra fees associated to the number of items and weight as well as fuel surcharge if this is setup for the account:

The delivery price can be manually updated if needed. If this is done, it will be indicated during order creation.

9) Extra fees are added in the Pricing Items section.
The system defined and required extra fees will be automatically added in the section.

Optional extra fees, can be added by clicking . Check the extra fees to add to the order and click Save.

Enter the quantity for the extra fee, the total will recalculate.

Modify the unit price of an extra fee, the total will recalculate, a Default has been modified message will be displayed below the extra fee with a Reset link. Click on the Reset to revert to the pre-defined unit price.

You can also modify the total if needed. 

10) Enter the Notes. They will be visible to the customer on the Customer self-serve page, the Dispatch Board for the dispatcher, the Driver App for the driver.

11) The Ready at defaults to Now. This can be changed if needed. When the Ready at is changed, the Pickup From and Delivery window are calculated from the Ready at and the selected service level.

You can type in the date and time in the following format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM AM  or PM  

You can click on the date to select a different date

You can click on the time to select a different time

12) Enter a Pickup From if needed. This will recalculate the Ready at and the Delivery window.

13) Enter a delivery window if needed. 

Entering a delivery or delivery to will recalculate the ready at and the pickup from.

14) Depending of the selection of the reference number or the ID verification or the COD in the Account Profile, you may or not see the Additional tab. 

If available, click or tab to the Additional Info to enter the data in reference fields, ID required and/or COD values.
Note: a * will be visible beside Additional Info is a required field should be entered before an order can be created.

14) Click or tab to Attributes tab. You can type the attribute name or its description to filter the list then select the attribute-s for the order.

15) Click or tab to Notifications. The number showing beside the Notifications tab indicate the number of notifications selected

The notifications are automatically setup from the template associated to the account. These notifications can be changed on the order.

By clicking on the , you will be able to see at a glance, which notifications were checked:

To add or remove notifications, click on the  for each section and check/uncheck notifications by email or SMS for each of the different order status modification.

To add one or more recipient (other than the ones who are selected from the order contacts), click on and this will open a section to enter a name, email and phone number, choose the language to be used in the notification and the list of events to trigger an email or sms notification then click on Apply.

16) When all information is entered, click on  located at the bottom right of the create order window to create the order.

On creation, the window will refresh to start a new order. The order number just created will be displayed in the top left of the create window screen and this order number link can be used to open the order to view or to edit it.

Note: If you click on New Order while you are creating the order, you will receive a warning:

If you click on Restart, you will lose the order you have been working on, no information will be saved.

If you click on Cancel, you will return to the order and will be able to save it.

Create a New Caller for an Account from New Order

1) Once you typed the Account number, you will see a link to create a new caller: below the account name.

2) Enter the required name, optional email, optional phone number, optional note and click on Continue:

View an Order

1) Open the Orders left hand side menu then, in the order list, click on the order number link to open it:

2) You can navigate to the different tabs to see more information about this order:

In Additional Info, see the reference fields, ID and COD setup on the order:

In Attributes, see the attributes selected on the order:

In Notifications, see the list of notifications that will be sent:

In Order History, see the order audit trail:

In Driver Info, see information about the driver and the payout:

Note: Driver Info tab is only visible once a driver has been assigned to an order.

In Attachment, see the attachments or pictures added by the driver.

If an order is delivered, this will be reflected in the Delivery section:

Note: If you click on New Order, you will get a warning to remind you to save any unsaved information. If you have not clicked on Edit, simply click on Restart to start a new order.

Edit an Order

CSR can edit orders in Received, Dispatched, Assigned and Pickup status but not in Delivered and Cancelled status. 

Administrators and Dispatchers can edit an order in any status as long as the order is not invoiced.

1) Open the order (see above how to view an order).

2) Each section has its own Edit button. 

Editing the Pickup or the Delivery

Editing the Pickup or the Delivery address may have an impact on the price. You will be asked if the price should be updated.

Clicking update price will update the price to the new calculated price.

Clicking Keep Price will keep the old price but still change the pickup address. It will not change the zone if using Price by zone since the previous zones are the ones used to calculate the price.

Clicking on Cancel will return you to the address where you can either click Save or Cancel. If you click on Cancel, the address change will not be saved.

If an extra fee of type mileage was added to the Extra Fee Schedule for this customer, you will also be asked if the extra fee price should be updated:

Clicking on Yes will update the mileage for the extra fee and its price. Clicking on No will keep the old mileage and the price.

Editing the Items section

You can edit a parcel type, add parcel types, remove parcel types from the Items sections. If an extra fee of type Nb. of Pieces and/or weight is available for the customer, you will also be asked if the extra fees should be updated.

Clicking on Yes will update the extra fee qty and price. Clicking on No will keep the extra fee qty as it was and itprice.

All the other sections or tabs can also be edited.

If you click on New Order, you will get a warning to remind you to save any unsaved information. If you have saved everything, simply click on Restart to start a new order or click on Cancel to return to the order.

Copy an Order

An order can be copied from the Order list using the new menu:

An order can be copied from the Order details:

 is to create a continuation order. This option is available in the menu as well.

 is to create a return order. This option is available in the menu as well.

There are different types of copy available:

• Create an order with the same account
  Order will use the same account and caller. If a default pickup contact is assigned to the caller, it will be used otherwise the Pickup section will be blank.
  All other fields use the defaults of the account.
  
  
• Create a duplicate order
  This will create a copy of the original order including all sections of the orders including the ready at the delivery window if they are in the future. If the time is in the past, the Ready at will change as Now.
  
  
• Create a return order
  Order will use the same account and caller. The delivery will be used as the pickup and the pickup as the delivery.
  Summary section will be copied in the new order including the ready at the delivery window if they are in the future. If the time is in the past, the Ready at will change as Now.
  All 3 reference fields will be copied but the Required ID, Collect on Delivery and Partial COD will use the default from the Account.
  The attributes and notifications will be copied
  
  
• Create a continuation order
  Order will use the same account and caller. The delivery will be used as the pickup and the delivery will be blank.
  Summary section will be copied in the new order including the ready at the delivery window.
  All 3 reference fields will be copied but the Required ID, Collect on Delivery and Partial COD will use the default from the Account.
  The attributes and notifications will be copied
  
  
• Create an order with the same pickup
  Order will use the same account and caller. The pickup will be the same as the original order and delivery will be blank.
  All other fields will use the default from the account.
  
  
• Create an order with the same delivery
  Order will use the same account and caller. The pickup and delivery will be the same as the original order.
  All other fields will use the default from the account.