New features included in this release

New payment management options have been added in Accounts >Transactions 

Custom addresses are now saved in a Global Address list and can easily be retrieved

New filters have been created to make it easier to manage Routes

Reports are now available at the Route level

The Driver-to-Dispatch chat capability has been released for all sites and is now available

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 login 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 version

To function correctly, some new features require that drivers update their Driver App to the most recent release (v. 1.2x.xxx)

Back Office

Accounts

Transactions

More flexibility has been added to Customer Payment processing. Three (3) payment processing options can now be enabled or disabled:

Option 1. The ability to allow a user to Unapply payments, and the ability to Cancel payments as long as they were not entered as part of a Payment Batch. This is the default option. 

Option 2. The ability to allow a user to Cancel and Unapply complete or partial payments, whether applied individually or in batches

Option 3. No ability to modify (unapply) or cancel payments after they have been applied. 

You must contact Dispatch Science if you wish to enable option 2 or 3.

To make changes to a payment (in options 1 or 2):

In Accounts > Transactions, navigate to the right side of the table where you see the Actions column. If you cannot see it on-screen, click on any line and use the right navigation arrow of your keyboard (>) to scroll towards the right:

For options 1 and 2, you will see an Unapply or Cancel payments option on the Actions column next to the Unapplied Status of individual items or of a batch payment as well as a downward facing chevron. 

Note: If using option 1, the Cancel chevronwill not be visible on payments created within a Payment Batch

1A) Click on Unapply to Unapply a Closed or Partially closed transaction. A confirmation dialog box will appear:If you click Confirm, the status of transaction will change to Unapplied.

If you click Cancel, it's status will remain as Closed.

1B) Click on the Chevron to Cancel the transaction

Click Cancel to cancel the transaction. A confirmation dialog box will appear:

If you click Confirm, the status of transaction will appear as Cancelled:

If you click Cancel, it's status will remain as Closed.

Orders

Create Orders

A new Global Address List has been created and is used in the background when entering or editing orders. This means that any custom delivery address that has been created in the past will automatically be found when using the address auto-complete function during Order-entry.

HOW IT WORKS

1) Create a new custom address by clicking on + Enter address from Postal/Zip Code when entering a new pickup or delivery address:

2) The Custom address dialog box will appear. Input the closest Zip/Postal Code to the location you are looking for, then drag the map using the mouse until the marker is placed directly over the target location. Precise Latitude and Longitude data will be displayed:

3) Enter a custom name for the address:

4) Click Save to save the custom address

5) Once this custom address has been saved, anytime a user starts typing the same custom address (in this case US map-shaped lake SW of Norfolk), it will immediately appear in the auto-complete dropdown list. Future users will not have to re-create this address in the system.

Additional Info in Create Orders

A new auto-complete search dialog box has been added for any Additional Info item that contains a dropdown list of acceptable terms:

It is particularly useful for dropdowns that contain a large number of acceptable terms such as a complex list of acceptable client accounting codes.

Notifications

It is now possible to add PDF, CSV and Excel attachments to notifications sent by email.

Option 1:

In Accounts > Notification, select either New Template or an existing template to open the Notification creation/edition dialog:

Check By Email at the desired event, then select the attachment from the dropdown list and the desired format:

Click Save to save your template.

Oder that use the saved template will have attachments to the notifications as per instructed.

Option 2:

In Create Order, click on Notifications, then select theicon corresponding to the event for which you wish to add an email attachment:

A Notification Attachment popup will appear:

Select the desired Attachment and Format you wish to apply to the file in the two dropdowns and click Save. The icon will change according to the selected file format:

The email notification will be delivered with the selected attachment in the selected format.

Drivers

Documents and Certifications

It is now possible to describe, apply issuance and expiry dates, and upload copies for a wide variety of Driver Documents and Certifications. As a result, it is now possible to automate the capability to allow, alert, or disallow dispatch to drivers according to the status (Valid or Expired) of their Documents and Certifications.

To manage Documents and Certifications, 

1) Go to Drivers, then select a driver:

2)Scroll down until you find the Documents and Certifications sections:

In each section, you will see the list of currently supported Document and Certification types.

3) Click on Edit to edit a Document or Certification. This will launch a table that displays current information about each Document or Certification:

4) Click on any Document or Certification that contains no information to create a new one, or click on one that already contains information to update it:

Input the necessary information regarding the document or certification

5) Check the type of action you want the system to take when validation fails because it is expired. If you check None, no action will be taken by the system. If you check Warning, the dispatcher will receive an alert whenever he attempts to dispatch the driver. If you check No Dispatching, the dispatcher will not be able to dispatch order to the Driver.

5) If desired, attach a copy of the document by clicking on . A system window will appear. Select the Document or Certification you want to upload and it will be saved in the system. Later, you can download file or delete it by clicking on one of the 2 associated icons:

The difference between Documents and Certifications is that Certifications contain an additional RESULTS validation checkmark:

If you check Fail, the actions described in 5 will apply for results as well. If you check Pass, the system will only use the Certificate expiry date to trigger validation.

Customer Portal

Create Orders

The feature that allows for adding an attachment to an emailed notification (see above) is also available on the customer self-serve platform when creating . Follow the same instructions as above to apply the feature.

Dispatch Board

Routes 

Filters

A new set of filters has been added to the Routes section of the Dispatch Board:

Click on the VIEW BY dropdown menu in the top left section of the Routes Board:

Click on the check marks to filter routes by type:

PLANNING: Routes that have not yet started and are still ahead of cutoff time

WAITING FOR DISPATCH: Routes that are past cutoff time, but have not yet been dispatched

DISPATCHED: Routes that have been dispatched but for which the driver has not yet started his work

DISPATCHED: Routes that have been dispatched but are still ahead of cutoff time

IN PROGRESS: Routes that are in the process of being completed

CLOSED: Routes for which all deliveries have been made

The date filter has also been enhanced. The new date selection options are:

-This week

-Next week

-Latest (replaces "All opened")

Actions on Routes

Dispatchers can now apply certain actions on Dispatched and In-Progress routes.

It is now possible to apply the following modifications to a route, even if it has been dispatched:

-Convert all orders to on-demand

-Move all orders to next route

In addition to the above, it is also possible to apply the following modification to a route even if it is still in progress:

-Assign the route to another driver

1) In the Routes Dispatch Map, select a DISPATCHED route and click on the icon:

Click on CHANGE DRIVER, CONVERT ALL ORDERS TO ON-DEMAND, MOVE ALL ORDERS TO NEXT ROUTE, or CHANGE ROUTE COLOR to apply the self-described changes. 

Note that the instruction to MOVE ALL ORDERS TO NEXT ROUTE means that the orders remain on the same route plan, but will be executed on its next iteration (usually next day, or next occurence).

2) In the Routes Dispatch Map, select an IN-PROGRESS route and click on the icon:

Click on CONVERT ALL ORDERS TO ON-DEMAND, MOVE ALL ORDERS TO NEXT ROUTE or CHANGE ROUTE COLOR to apply the self-described changes. 

In-App Chat

The Dispatch-to-Driver in-app chat function is now available for all sites. 

NOTE: This function requires that drivers update their Driver App to its most recent version in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. 

SETUP:

To enable in-app Chat, it is first necessary to update the Driver Profiles for which you wish to enable Chat. This will allow you to create profiles that either allow or disallow Chat for specific groups of drivers. For instance, you may wish to allow Chat for car drivers, but not for truck drivers.

1) In Drivers > Profiles, click either New Profile or an existing profile to launch the Profile dialog box:

2) Scroll down to the bottom of the list of General Options and check Enable Chat on Driver App:

3) Continue scrolling down to the bottom of the dialog box and click Save.

Once Chat has been enabled for drivers in Driver Profiles, go to the Dispatch map and click on theat the top right of the map:

This launches a separate tab in your browser where you can start chatting with enabled drivers:

Once you are in the chat, you can either click on the name of a driver already listed on the left side of the screen or click New Message to start a new Chat with a driver not yet listed. 

A) If you click on New Message, a dialog box will appear where you can input the name or number of the driver you wish to chat with:

The driver name auto-completes as you type:

Select your driver, then start typing your Chat message in Type a message... at the bottom of the chat screen

Type your message and click Send.

Your message will appear in the chat window and an alert will be sent to the Driver's phone prompting him to open his Driver App and respond. 

B) If you click on a driver who is already on the list, his Chat history will appear on the Chat screen and you will be able to continue chatting with the driver by following the same steps as above.

The Driver App Chat function is described in the Driver App version 1.2x release update (link).

Reports

A New Report for Routes is now available.  It can be launched by clicking on theicon at the bottom-right of the Dispatch Map Routes window: