New features included in this release

Accounting profiles now support the posting of Automated Clearing House (ACH) electronic payments

Transaction processing is now easier to manage

It is now possible to add attachments to email notifications

The Driver table on the Dispatch Grid has a new column that identifies the vehicle type of each driver and the sort/filtering settings are now preserved when the user leaves the board and returns to it later

Private or personal order data may now be anonymized for compliance with customer requirements

Chat feature between Dispatcher and Driver

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/

Back Office

1. Accounts

Transactions

A new payment method has been added to Account Transactions. Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments are now accepted by the system

1.1 In Accounts > Transactions, Click New Transaction and select Receive Payment:

1.2 Start typing the target account name or number. Auto-complete will find the account:

1.3 Click on the Payment Method dropdown box and select ACH:

1.4 Continue managing your payment receipt process in the same way you normally do with other payment methods.

Accounts

Transactions

It is now easier to apply payments or portions of payments to specific items on outstanding transactions.

After following steps 1), 2) and 3) above:

1.4 Click on Clear to quickly remove any amount that is in the list of Outstanding transactions or click on Auto-Apply to apply the amount to a single item. The system will look for an amount that is identical to the one you input and will automatically apply it only to that outstanding item.

2. Accounts

Transactions

It is now easier to sent an invoice by email.

2.1 In Accounts > Transactions, click on the downward facing triangle next to Receive Payment, then click on Send Email:

A popup will appear inviting you to confirm:

2.2 Click Send to send or Cancel to cancel the email.

3. Accounts

Notifications

It is now possible to add email attachments to notifications.

3.1 In Accounts > Notifications, select either an existing notification template or click on New Template:

This will launch the Notifications template creation/edition dialog (in this case, a new template is being created):

3.2 Check By Email and click on the Attachment dropdown menu to select the attachment:

3.3 Select the file format by clicking on the Format dropdown menu:

4) Repeat for all other events where you want to have an attachment added with the email notification.

Note: Please contact Dispatch Science to add a new type of document or report to attach with the email notification.

4. Orders

Edit Order

Notes associated with a pick-up or delivery address are preserved even after the user changes de address.

4.1 Select an order containing a note:

4.2) Change the pick-up or delivery address. When you return to address details, you will see that the note is still present:

5. Drivers

Chat Feature in Profile

A new Chat feature between Drivers and Dispatcher is now available. This feature can be turned on by contacting [email protected]. 

Driver Profile

5.1 In Driver Profile, a new option is now available:

5.2 Check the box and save to enable the chat tab on the Driver App version 1.25.687. 

Note: See Dispatch Board section for more information on how the Dispatcher can use the Chat feature and Driver App version 1.25.687 release notes on how the driver can use the Chat feature.

6. Transfer Order Feature in Profile

A new Transfer Order feature between Drivers is now available. This feature can be turned on in the Driver Profile.

Driver Profile

6.1 In Driver Profile, a new option is now available to allow drivers to transfer his orders to another driver:

6.2 Check the Can transfer orders to enable the feature on the Driver App for all drivers associated to the profile to have the feature enabled.

6.3 Select in the drop-down if the driver can see all drivers (on or off duty) or only drivers at proximity (on duty and in a radius of 1640 feet/500 m).

6.4 Save the Profile. 

Note: Driver will need to go on Home tab in the Driver App and refresh if they want to get access to the new feature if they were already signed on 

7. NEW MENU ITEM: Data Anonymization

A new Data menu item has been added in Settings. It allows administrators to anonymize (or obfuscate/redact) all pick-up and delivery information for orders older than a specified age. Such a feature may be required by privacy protection legislation for certain type of deliveries.

7.1 In Settings > Data, start typing an account name in the FOR ACCOUNT input box:

7.2) Type the number of days before which you want orders to be anonymized under FOR ORDER'S CREATED AT LEAST:
7.3 Click the Anonymize box. A warning message will popup to alert the user that data will be lost. 

7.4 Follow the instructions displayed on screen and click OK:

The table will display the date at which anonymization started, the account name, the number of days after which orders will be anonymized, the current status, the name of the administrator who triggered the feature, and the number of orders that were anonymized:

The Pickup and Delivery address information will no longer appear in the order list:

And all pick-up and delivery information will be removed from the order itself:

Note that anonymization is not an automated process. An administrator must periodically manually update the table.

8. Auto-Dispatch

Optimizer

In order better track progress of the Auto-Dispatch process and troubleshoot potential errors, new columns have been added to the Optimizer: # of Orders, DispatchedOrdersCount, and ErrorMessage:

9. Dispatch Board

Dispatch Grid

Driver Pane

A new Vehicle Type column has been added to the Driver pane of the  Dispatch Grid. Follow these steps to add it:

9.1 Click theicon on the Driver pane of the Dispatch Grid, then check the Vehicle Type, and click Apply:

9.2 The Vehicle Type column is now displayed on the Driver Pane:

10. Dispatch Grid

Order and Driver Panes

Any customization made on the Order or Drive Panes either by reordering columns or by using theicon will be preserved after logout and login to the system. Click the to reset the panel.

11. Dispatch Board Map View

Chat Feature

The Chat feature is available with Driver App version 1.25.687. Before turning this feature, please ensure your drivers have upgraded to this version.

Contact [email protected] to get this feature turned on.

11.1 Dispatcher can click on the new Chat icon on the Dispatch Board Mat:

11.2 A new tab will open and show the Chats

Note: This window will show with no chats when the Chat has not been used. Only drivers that 

11.3 Click on New Message, search for driver by typing the driver first and/or last name or their driver number

The list will display the drivers that match the search criteria. Any driver showing disabled (see CC2 - Northway, Mary) has the Chat feature disabled in his profile:

11.4 Click on a driver who is enabled and online then type your chat in the Type a message ... box then click on Send

Driver will receive the chat in his Driver App. 

When driver responds, a red dot will show on the Chat icon:

12. Administration

Reports

Report Output

Administrators can now request that reports be output directly in Microsoft Excel format. This feature is useful for reports containing large sets of data since the computation occurs on a separate server and does not impact performance of the main application.