New features included in this release

Modification to the Orders

Auto-dispatch uses the attributes and vehicles and ends the route at the driver's address

Sliding Extra Fees

Cancel an invoice

Send an invoice by email

Set order to Verify before invoicing

Set order to Ready to invoice

Set drivers off duty

Additional Information on Drivers

Modification to Tenant API and Integration API

Definition

The release notes refer 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/  

Driver App

Driver App Version

Version 1.11.534 contains the new features for this release. Please see 

Driver App Upload Attachments

There are now 2 files created when a picture is taken by the driver: a high-res picture (<=500KB) and a low-res picture (20-50KB). 

The low-res picture will automatically be uploaded using data when it is taken by the driver and will show on the order details in the attachment tab.

The high-res picture can be setup to upload through WIFI if driver connects to a WIFI network before x hours after the picture is taken otherwise it will be uploaded through data.

Set to upload high-res picture through Wifi

1) Open Drivers then click on Profiles and click on a profile to open it

2) Scroll down to Attachment Upload Options:

3) Check the Upload on WiFi then enter the maximum number of hours to wait until pictures will be uploaded through the driver's data if driver has not connected to a WIFI network.

4) Click on Save.

Note: On Android, driver must be logged in but driver app can be closed to upload pictures when driver phone is connected to WIFI.

On iPhone, driver must be logged in and driver app open (can be in the background) to upload pictures when driver phone is connected to WIFI.

Require Order Validation on Exta Fee Update

If a driver is able to add and edit extra fees to orders from the Driver app, you can set that these orders will automatically be set to Validate before Invoicing.

1) Open Drivers then click on Profiles and click on a profile to open it

 2) In General Options, check the Require Order Validation on Extra Updated.

When driver either modifies a quantity of an existing extra fee or adds a new extra fee, the order will automatically be set to Validate before Invoicing.

3) Click on Save.

Enable Away and Off Duty Statuses

Two new settings were added to the Driver profile to enable/disable a driver from setting himself as Away or Off Duty. 

By default, these 2 flags will be enabled.

If the flags are disabled, the driver will no longer have access to the menu Away and Off Duty. they will simply be able to set themselves On duty.

1) Open Drivers then click on Profiles and click on a profile to open it

2) In General Options, scroll down to Enable Away Status and check to enable or uncheck to disable the driver to set himself as Away.

4) Check Enable Off Duty Status and check to enable or uncheck to disable the driver to set himself as Off Duty.

5) Click on Save.

Note: If you uncheck the Enable Off Duty Status, the Planned Work Hours will also be disabled. The dispatcher will have to set the driver Off Duty from the Dispatch Board.

Back Office

Order Details Modifications

Some modifications were done on the Order Screen and on the Dispatch Board when updating orders.

For more information on how to use the order details to create or edit orders, please review the following articles:

Order entry by CSRs

Order entry by Account admins/users

Here are the changes on the Create and Edit order:

1) When entering a pickup or delivery address, the section will not close until tabbed over or save is clicked thus allowing you to enter address line 2 and notes.

2) Addition of Parcel Type in Items section

3) Delivery charge is showing in the Pricing Items

4) A flag is displayed beside the service level when an order cannot be delivered the same day as the Ready At. Clicking on the flag, gives more information to the user.

5) A Pickup From field has been added to the Time section.

6) If a price is invalid, the price can be modified from the Dispatch Board.

7) A new flag can be setup on the order to prevent invoicing until it is reviewed. See more information below in Invoices section.

8) Two icons were added to the order details: Validate before invoicing and Order locked because invoiced

To unlock an order once it has been invoiced, cancel the invoice. For more information, see below in Invoices section.

9) Fuel surcharge shows below the list of extra fees and is locked.

10) Calculation for pricing now uses shortest instead of fastest route.

Note: The Verify before invoicing can be setup for all orders created in the system. To set this flag on by default for all orders, please contact Dispatch Science Support at [email protected]. This can be setup for you by our team.

Changes on the Order List:

1) A new column has been added on the order list to see which orders are set to verify before invoicing:

You can use the column filter to search for all orders that should be verified.

Accounts Invoices

You can now send an invoice by email and cancel an invoice. Cancelling an invoice will allow you unlock the orders that were on the invoice.

Orders can also be set to Verify before Invoicing. Orders that are set will not be added to an order until they are set to Ready to invoicing. 

Once an order is added to an invoice, it becomes locked.

Cancel an Invoice

When an invoice is cancelled, all its orders will become invoiceable again. Once an invoice is cancelled, its status will change to Cancelled (Draft) and you will then cancel it in your accounting system. Once the invoice is cancelled in the accounting system, its status can be changed to cancelled.  

Orders can then be modified and a new invoice generated.

1) Open Accounts and select Invoices. In the Change Status menu on the invoice line, select Cancel Invoice

2) Confirm the cancellation by clicking Confirm

Note: Once an invoice is cancelled, it cannot be uncancelled.

3) A confirmation wil be displayed that the invoice is being cancelled:

4) Wait a few minutes then refesh the screen to see the invoice status set to Cancelled (Draft). Invoice can be cancelled in the accounting system. All orders that were on the invoice will become editable again and can be modified.

5) Once invoice is cancelled in the accounting system, it can be set to cancelled by selecting the Mark as Cancelled in the Change Status drop-down on the invoice row. 

Set Order to Verify Before Invoicing

Orders can be set to Verify Before Invoicing or Ready to Invoiced by default. By default, the flag is set to Ready to Invoice upon deployment. To have this changed, please contact Dispatch Science. 

Set an order to Verify before Invoicing

1) Open an order in the Back Office from the Order List.

2) On the order menu, select Verify before invoicing. 

3) The Verify before Invoicing icon will be displayed to the left of the Order Number and Yes will show in the Order List To Verify column.

4) When generating invoices, the number of orders that were delivered but still in Verify before Invoicing will be indicated in the To Verify column:

5) Filter the list of orders by To Verify = Yes by opening the filter, selecting Yes and clicking on Filter.

You will then be able to open each order, verify and set the flag to Ready to Invoice.

Set Order to Ready to Invoice

Only an administrator can set an order Ready to Invoice.

1) Open an order from Order Details.

2) From the order menu, select Ready for invoicing

Email an Invoice

Invoices can be emailed from the Invoice list.

1) Before sending an invoice by email, verify that the Account contact is valid. Open Accounts, open the account. The email that the invoice will be sent to is the email on the account:

If the email is incorrect, click on Edit on the Account, modify the email and click on Save.

2) Click on Invoices to open the list of invoices.

3) Click on Send Email on the row of the invoice to email

Additional Information on Drivers

On Driver Details, you can now enter additional information for drivers.

1) Open Drivers menu then click on a driver to open its detail information

2) A new section called Information Details has been added and more details is avaialble on the Driver itself.

3) Click on Edit on the Driver

4) In the section, you can now enter a driver other name (nickname for instance or middle name), add a mobile number, the preferred mode of communication as well as driver internal notes which are only visible to admins and dispatchers. The dispatch notes are the notes that display on the Dispatch Board in the Driver details and those can be updated either here or on the Dispatch Board.

5) Click on save to save the changes.

6) Click on Edit in the Information Details

Enter additional information on the driver here. Click on Save when completed.

7) On vehicle information, you can also enter a description.

Click Edit on the Vehicle section, enter a description and click on Save.

Dispatch Board

Order Details

Changes were done on the Order Pricing to match the changes on the Back Office Order Details.

1) Invalid Pricing can be fixed on orders on the Dispatch Board only by opening an order, clicking on the pencil beside the Princing Information and selecting Edit Pricing.

2) Fuel surcharge shows below the list of extra fees and is locked.

3) Setting Reference number will open the Order on the Back Office in the Additional Info tab.

4) Changing the number of pieces and weight will open on the Back Office in the Order details. The parcel type can be updated and this will update the Nb. of Pieces and weight extra fees.

Set Driver to Off Duty

Dispatcher can set a driver off duty.

1) Open Drivers and click on a driver to open the driver information

2) On the Driver Details, you see the status of the driver and, if setup on the driver profile, when they plan to go off duty. Click on the Set to Off Duty to set a driver off duty.

Administration

Extra Fees

A new type of extra fee, sliding extra fee, is now available to be setup in the Extra Fee Schedule. 

The sliding extra fee allows you to setup 1 or 2 dimensional rates for your fee. The rate can be done by qty and distance.

This is useful if your extra fee changes in a non-linear way as the quantity increases and if the price is different by distance.

1) Open Pricing menu then click on Extra Fees menu and open an extra fee schedule 

2) On the list of extra fee, click on the to set the extra fee as a sliding fee. This will automatically gray out the rate

3) Click on the ... to open the sliding fee setup

4) Click on Download Template to download a template for the sliding fee (this is an Excel file)

5) Open the Excel file. This will give you an example on how to set the sliding fee:

Cells B1, C1, D1, E1, F1 show the distance. If you are not using distance in your sliding fee, remove columns C-F. Enter a large number in column B.

If you are using distance as one of the sliding condition, enter the distance in the columns. You are not limited to columns B-F and you do not have to set the sliding distance by 10 miles. These numbers will represent your sliding distance increments.

Cells A2...A60000 will be used to enter the sliding quantity.

The intersection of column A and row 1 distance will represent the price PER which is setup in the extra fee schedule. 

Please note that quantity should be greater than 1 since the Per is always greater than 1.

Fill in the spreadsheet and save it.

6) Click on Choose File, select the extra fee you just saved and click on Upload File.

You will be returned to the extra fee schedule.

7) Enter the Per, Max($), Included, Commissionalble (%) and Visibility for CSR Order Creation, Visiblity for Self-Serve Order Creation, Driver Visibility if fee is not a system defined fee.

8) Make sure the extra fee is checked as available.

9) Click on Save.

Calculation

The sliding extra fee is calculated as follow:

(Qty - Included) is used to find the row in the sliding fee spreadsheet.

Distance is used to find the column in the sliding fee spreadsheet.

The intersection of the row and the column will give you the rate that will be used. Once the rate is found, the calculation will be the same as an extra fee calculation:

(Qty - Included) / Per will give you the number of unit that the rate will be multiplied by to arrive at the total price for this extra fee.

As an example, using the above spreadsheet and a Per of 10, Included of 5. 

Distance is is less than 10 miles, quantity entered is 19.

The unit price will be found using (quantity 19 - Included 5 ) = 14 = $27

Using (quantity 19 - Included 5) / 10 = 1.4  rounded to the next integer = 2 

The price will then be $54.

Service Level Option for Accounts

An option to allow the account admins/users to setup the delivery window as they create the orders is available in the service level of the service level schedule.

1) Open Pricing then click on Service Levels and click on a service level schedule to edit it.

2) In the schedule, click on a service level to edit it.

3) Check the Allow Self-Serve user to Modify Delivery Window and click on Save

4) The checkbox will now be checked in the list of service level on the schedule:

The account users and admins will be able to set their own delivery window when creating an order.
Note: there is no validation that the delivery window is within the hours of service or the delivery time.

Link to Download Blank Pricing Template on Price by Zone

A new link has been added to the Pricing by zone to allow downloading the Price by Zone template when service levels and/or zones have been modified.

A warning is also displayed as a reminder to use the template if changes are made.

This allows user to download both the old price list and the new updated blank pricing template. Information can then be copied from one spreadsheet to the next and final price list uploaded again.

Auto-Dispatch and Optimizer

Using Attributes on Orders and Drivers and Vehicles

New rules were added to the auto-dispatch to use the attributes of type order+driver set to prevent dispatching and allow with warning as well as the vehicle.

Note: If you are using auto-dispatch, please make sure to select vehicles for your drivers otherwise the orders will not be dispatched to the drivers with no assoicated vehicles.

Driver will end route closer to home for on demand orders

At beginning of shift, ignore driver address but as it gets later, try to bring driver closer to home. The home address of the driver is used. If no address is entered, this is ignored.

Modification to API

Tenant API

In the Invoicing API, a status has been added to get invoices by status including cancelled invoices. 

The invoice status can also be changed from Cancelled draft to Cancelled.

When creating orders through the API, the lowest ranked parcel type on the Parcel type schedule associated to the account will be used by default for each item in the quantity.

Additional fields are available when creating drivers and getting drivers.

Integration API

Once an order is invoiced, it can no longer be modified through the API. 

When creating orders through the API, the lowest ranked parcel type on the Parcel type schedule associated to the account will be used by default for each item in the quantity.

The parcel types can be added, modified or deleted through the API.