New Features for Release 1.31

Modified on Wed, 20 Jan, 2021 at 4:52 PM

New features included in this release

It is now possible to create Order Templates that can also be used to accelerate manual Order entry
Three new optional fields (columns) have been added to the standard Order Import CSV file template
User Interface enhancements have been applied to the Pricing and Driver Profile section. It is also now possible to assign a color to a Driver in the Driver creation/editing screen. On pricing, the option to enable symmetrical pricing is easier to find.
Two new notification triggers are now available as well as 5 additional properties in the Notifications Content Template editor
Account Profiles can now be duplicated and deleted
Group Chat is now available
It is now possible to review individual driver stops and orders without having to change to the driver view
More data fields have been added in Odata

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.

OData: Data fields and variables saved in OData

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

Features from this release that affect the Driver App require the latest version of the Driver App. Ensure app users are configured for automatic updates from the App Store or Play Store. Please see Release Notes for Driver App.

Back Office

Create Orders

Order Entry has been significantly enhanced with the expanded availability and capabilities of Order Templates.

Order Templates allow users to save the delivery information from each recurring or manual order as a named template. These templates can then be re-used to instantly complete a new order, and only fields that are different, such as a reference number or specific note must must be updated. This way, manual data entry is dramatically reduced along with the time create a single or recurring order.

ORDER TEMPLATES FOR RECURRING ORDERS

Order Templates are already available for Recurring Orders. However, with release 1.31, we are adding the ability to save an order template for use in two additional situations:

2. For Customer Portal orders

3. For CSR orders

Previous Interface:

New Interface:

Notice the addition of 3 new columns to describe each order template: For Recurring Order, For Customer Portal Order and For CSR Order, each with Yes/No toggles displayed.

How it works:

1) In Orders > Recurring Orders > Manage Order Templates, either click on New Template, or click on an existing template. In this case we will click on New Template. Type the name of the account for which you want to create an order template and let auto-complete help you select the correct account:

2) A new section has been added called Template Options. Use this to select where to make the new template available, first by giving the template a name, then by checking one, two or all of the three available options; Recurring Order, For CSR Order or For Customer Portal Order, and finally by clicking CONTINUE:

3) Finish completing the Order Template information in the same way you would complete any single order, and click on CREATE TEMPLATE to save your Order Template. The new order template will be displayed on your Order Template list and the availability status for the template will be shown:

The process is similar for editing an existing template, the only difference being that you will be sent directly to the order template you want to edit.

NOTE: It is now possible to assign a Notification Template when creating a new Order Template:

IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT ALL ORDER TEMPLATES ARE SAVED IN THE RECURRING ORDERS SECTION.

THIS MEANS THAT NOT JUST RECURRING ORDER TEMPLATES ARE SAVED AND CAN BE EDITED HERE, BUT CSR AND CUSTOMER PORTAL ORDER TEMPLATES TOO, AS SHOWN BELOW.

ORDER TEMPLATES FOR CSR ORDERS

It is now possible to create and use Order Templates in Dispatch Science Order Entry.

How it works:

1) Create an order in Orders > New Order. When the order is ready, and just before clicking on the green CREATE ORDER button, click on the down arrow:

Select either Create Order and Template or Only Create Template

2) A popup will appear inviting you to name your new order template. Give it a name and check For Customer Portal Order if you want the template to also be available on the selected customer's web portal, then click on Create or Cancel:

If you selected Only Create Template on the dropdown in step 1, you will be returned to your order screen and a message will appear confirming the creation of your template:

If you selected Create Order and Template on the dropdown in step 1, you will be returned to your order screen and a message will appear confirming the creation of your order and your template:

3) Another method to create a new template for Order Entry is to select any existing order to edit it, click the down arrow and select Create Template:

The same popup as in step 2 will appear, inviting you to name the template and check the For Customer Portal Order checkbox.

4) Now that you have created a template for order entry, you may use it when creating new orders. Go to Create Order, type in the account name, but instead of selecting a user name or phone #, click on Or enter the name of a template dialog box on the right:

Select any template from the dropdown:

...and you will be brought to the pre-filled order entry screen containing the information from the template. Edit any information that is unique to the specific order you are completing, then Create Order.

ORDER TEMPLATES FOR CUSTOMER PORTAL ORDERS

It is now possible for your clients to use Order Templates in the Dispatch Science client portal to accelerate Order Entry.

How it works:

1) Click on Create Order, then click on the down arrow next to New Order. A dropdown of recently used and Other templates will appear:

2) Select a template from the dropdown. If there are too many templates to display on the screen and the desired template is not displayed, select New from Other Templates. A search box will popup inviting you to start typing a template name. Type the name of the template from which you want to create an order and let auto-complete help you select the correct template:

Once your template has been selected, you will be asked to confirm your choice. Select Cancel or Confirm:

3) After confirming, a warning popup will appear indicating that the order you have started creating will not be saved. Click on RESTART if you want to use the template you selected or CANCEL if you want to return to your original order entry screen:

After clicking RESTART, the template will automatically fill all the corresponding order entry information and you will only need to edit the fields specific to this order to successfully complete it.

4) Another way to start a new order using order templates in the Customer Portal is to click on My Orders, then click on the down arrow next to New Order and select New Order From Template:

This will take you to the same popup shown in step 2 where you can choose your order template.

Batch Order import

Three new optional fields (columns) have been added to the standard Order Import CSV file template. The new fields are:

Driver Number
Driver Pay
Order Price

DRIVER PROFILES

The Driver Profiles User Interface has been streamlined for better navigation and for greater consistency with other sections of Dispatch Science:

Previous User Interface:

New User Interface:

As well, Driver Information Profiles have been moved to a sub-menu of profiles:

DRIVERS

It is now possible to assign a color to a driver when adding a new driver or editing an existing one.

How it works:

1) in Drivers > Drivers, select an existing driver and click on the top right Edit button or select New Driver to create a new driver. You will see a COLOR section. Check either USE SYSTEM GENERATED COLOR or USE FIXED COLOR. If you check the first option, the system will automatically assign a color to the driver. If you check the second option, click on the dropdown to launch a simple color picking tool, choose the color you want and click Apply (or Cancel to cancel the operation):

This color will now be used everywhere the driver is shown on the various dispatch maps and grids.

NOTIFICATIONS

Two new notification triggers are now available. Notifications can now be sent when orders are dispatched to drivers and when they are assigned to drivers (accepted by drivers):

As well, is is now possible to enter the following additional properties in the Notifications content template editor:

Vehicle Type
Total volume
Total Weight
UserFields
Items

ACCOUNTS

Account Profiles

It is now possible to duplicate and delete account profiles. The option to duplicate an account profile will make it easier and faster to create new account profiles without manually recopying all the associated information.

How does it work:

1) Go to Accounts > Profiles. You will now see two new options at the right side of the screen; one to duplicate an account profile, one to delete it:

2) To delete an existing account profile, click on the Trash can icon.

The following dialog box will appear. Click Delete to confirm your choice or Back to cancel the operation:

Note: You cannot delete the Default profile.

3) To duplicate an existing profile, click on the duplicate icon .

The following dialog box will appear. Click Copy to create a copy of the profile or Back to cancel the operation:

A new profile will be listed that you can subsequently rename.

There is also a new option to override default driver options at the Account Profile level.

How it works:

1) Go to Account > Profiles and navigate to the bottom right of the screen. A new section has been added called Overridable Driver Options:

2) Click on Edit to allow allow drivers to override options that they normally could not. Check the options for which you want to allow overrides to apply, then click on Save to save your options:

Dispatch Board

Dispatch Map - Drivers

It is now possible to display a popup of a driver's order and stop list by simply clicking on the order count next to the driver:

Furthermore, it is possible to dispatch or re-dispatch an order from the driver's order list by clicking on the status icon at the far right.

Dispatch Map - Routed orders

It is now possible to drill down into grouped orders on a route. Click the downward facing chevron next to a grouped of orders to see order details:

You can also apply actions to individual orders in a group by clicking on the downward facing chevron next to an individual order. Options are: NAVIGATE TO ORDER DETAIL, CONVERT TO ON-DEMAND and MOVE TO NEXT ROUTE:

Chat

It is now possible to create chat groups, called Channels, in order to communicate between more than 2 people.

How it works:

1) To create a new channel, you first must go to a new menu called Channels in the Drivers section:

2) Click on New Channel to create a new chat channel. A popup will appear asking you to give a name to your new channel. Type a name and click Save or Cancel:

3) The channel creation screen will display. First, check the Users that will have access to the chat group. If there is a large number of users, type their name in the Search Users input box. Each user you check will automatically appear in the Selected Users list to the right.

4) Determine which users will have either ability to view the chat content or respond by checking the No or Yes check boxes next to their names. In the example below, drivers are not able to respond in the chat group, while dispatchers can. Such a channel could be useful to send all drivers an alert without allowing them to start discussing about it:

NOTE: You MUST ALWAYS include yourself or your category of employee (ex: All admin) in the list of selected users in order to be able to add the channel you are creating to your list of available channels.

5) Click the Save button in the Selected Users Dialog box. A confirmation note will appear.

6) Click the Edit Channel Save button to save the channel (or Delete to delete the channel). A confirmation note will appear:

7) Go to the Dispatch Map and click on the Chat Icon at the top right of the map:

8) You will be directed to A new Chat tab on your browser. Click on New Message:

9) A popup will invite you to type the name of a driver or of a channel:

10) Type the name of the channel you created. Click on the channel:

11) Your chat channel will open and you will be able to send your message by typing it in the input section and clicking Send:

12) Your message will be sent to everybody in the channel. Those who are allowed to respond will be able to participate in the chat. Those not allowed (in this case, Drivers), will see the chat in their driver app, but will not be allowed to respond.

Administration

Pricing

As shown below, the Pricing User Interface has been refreshed for easier navigation. As well, the option to use symmetrical pricing when zone pricing has been selected is now easier to find. To enable symmetrical pricing, check the box next to it:

OData

The following fields were added to these OData Tables:

Drivers:

-IsArchived

-CompanyIds