IMPORTANT: 

• Release 1.37 has been merged with release 1.38
• Release 1.38 contains important changes to the location of various configuration options for Administrators. Please consult the Administration section below for details.
• If no delivery workflow was setup on an account, the Signature step is no longer showing by default. If a signature step is required, make sure to 

Here's a preview video of what's new in this release:

New features included in this release

• Time zones that are different from the user's default time are now shown in wherever times are displayed, including Order History, Order List, the Dispatch Map and Dispatch Grid, the Driver app and the Customer Portal

• Creation and issuance of debit notes in Transactions is now fully functional

• It is now possible to display a written description of a workflow for the driver in the Driver app
• It is now possible to add exceptions on recurring orders at the entire recurrence level or for a single stop
• It is now possible to filter searches in the order list down to the minute.
• It is now possible to filter invalid orders in Order History according to error type
• There is a new column and filter in the Dispatch Grid that displays the date and time when an order was dispatched
• All major Administration configuration functions have been regrouped under a single menu in Settings
• Admins can now create and manage Tax zones and schedules
• Admins can now create and manage Document and Certification types for drivers
• New zone types, including overlapping zones, have been created to help better manage zone-based data according to different parameters. These zone types are available to use with scripts

Other New Features or Changes:

• When there was no delivery workflow item, a signature workflow was automatically added by default. This has been removed and now, no workflow item is added by default
• It is now possible to add a second signature to a pick-up or delivery workflow
• It is now possible to generate invoices in different formats than just PDF
  
• The option to edit an address in the Dispatch Map using the pencil icon has been removed. Users now click on the Edit Order icon to edit a pickup or delivery address
• We have added more direct links to templates and profiles from the Driver and Account setup menus
• Drivers receive a notification when an order is cancelled
• An offline alert is displayed in the chat interface for drivers that are offline

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/  

Back Office and Customer Portal

Time Zones

Dispatch Science introduced support for multiple time zones in release 1.36: When the pick-up or delivery time zone differs from the user's own default time zone, a blue pill icon displaying the time zone associated with the date and time of the event is displayed and when the user hovers over the icon, the event time in the default time zone of the user is displayed.

When required, the blue Time zone pill will now display in the following section of the application:

• In order history:

• In the Order List wherever a time is displayed:

• On the Dispatch Map:

• On the Dispatch Grid:

• In recurring order templates:

• At order Import
• In the Driver App
• On the Customer Self Service Portal

Debit notes

Dispatch Science now supports the creation and issuance of Debit notes. 

How to:

1) Go to Accounts --> Transactions. Select the New Transaction dropdown menu and select Create a Debit Note:

2) Type in an Account name, select a Document Date using the calendar icon, and click on +Add Item:

3) Select an Item from the dropdown, add a Description, a Tax region, an Amount, and optionally, a Memo (Check Automatically send debit note if you want the debit not to be sent automatically), and finally Save.  

NOTE: To create a new Debit note Item type, go to Settings --> Configurations --> Accounting. Select Accounting Items, New, complete the form, select Debit Note as TYPE and click Save:

Workflow Driver Instructions

It is now possible to write driver instructions for workflows that will be displayed in the Driver App. Adding these instructions will facilitate driver training and compliance with mandatory or optional pick-up or delivery instructions. Each step in a workflow will have its own instructions, and when multiple workflow steps are required, they will be displayed sequentially.

How to add Driver instructions to an existing workflow:

1) Go to Accounts --> Profiles, and select an existing profile (or create a new one):

2) Click on a workflow that contains steps:

3) Click on one the listed tasks (or add a new one):

4) Type in detailed instructions for the driver in the DRIVER INSTRUCTIONS (EN) box, and click Save:

These instructions will now appear in the Driver's app when the driver taps on the order in the app.

Recurring Orders

You may indicate days of the week or specific dates that should be skipped for individual orders within a recurrence or skip the entire recurrence for specific days.

How to add specific dates that should be skipped on a recurrence (a group of recurring orders):

1) Go to Orders --> Recurring Orders, and click on Exceptions:

2) Click on the calendar icon, select a date, and click Add:

3) The selected date will appear in the All dates section of the popup. Click Add to add another date, or click the trash icon to delete the date, or the calendar icon to add another date, then click save:

4) Here is a list with three exceptions added:

5) After you click Save, you will be returned to the Recurrence and a warning icon will appear next to Exceptions. Click on the warning icon to get a preview of the next exceptions:

Note: Recurences with an exception for today will not be manually triggered. Make sure to remove the date in the Exceptions before manually triggering the recurrence.

How to add exceptions to a single stop of a recurrence:

1) Go to Orders --> Recurring Orders, scroll down to your list of order templates, and click on any of the Exceptions buttons:

2) Follow the same steps as above to apply exceptions to individual stops on a recurrence list. Unlike the entire route, you may specify one or several days of the week for which the selected stop should be skipped. 

Here's an example of a recurrence template that will not trigger on Tuesdays, and on August 28, 2021. Click the warning icon to see it:

Note: Manually triggering a recurrence will not create orders for  order templates associated to an exception for today (as a date or a day). The exception must be removed before manually triggering the r

Order List (1)

We have added a time icon whenever a date range is available in the order list filters. Just click on the filter for a column that includes dates, then in addition to clicking on the calendar icon, you can now also fine-tune your filter by selecting a time by clicking on the clock symbol:

Order List (2)

We have added a new Invalid Data column in the order list that allows users to filter invalid orders by type:

Dispatch Board

Dispatch Grid (1)

A new column has been added that gives the date and time an order was dispatched:

Administration

ALL CONFIGURATION FUNCTIONS HAVE BEEN REGROUPED UNDER A SINGLE ADMINISTRATION MENU CALLED CONFIGURATIONS


System administrators can now perform all their configuration tasks from a single menu found here: Settings --> Configurations

At this location, admins can perform all their configuration tasks for Orders, Drivers, Accounts, Accounting and for the System itself:


BREAKDOWN OF CHANGES:

ORDER HOLD REASONS
Previous Releases:
Orders --> Options
Current Release:
Settings --> Configurations --> Order --> Hold Reasons

PARCEL TYPES
Previous Releases:
Orders --> Parcel Types
Current Release:
Settings --> Configurations --> Order --> Parcel Types

PARCEL TYPE SCHEDULES
Previous Releases:
Orders --> Parcel Types --> New Schedule
Current Release:
Settings --> Configurations --> Order --> Parcel Type Schedules

DRIVER DOCUMENTS (NEW CAPABILITY!)
Previous Releases:
Creation of a new document type by an admin was not possible
Current Release:
Settings --> Configurations --> Order --> Documents
Either Edit an existing document or create a new standard document for drivers

DRIVER CERTIFICATIONS (NEW CAPABILITY!)
Previous Releases:
Creation of a new type of certification by an admin was not possible
Current Release:
Settings --> Configurations --> Order --> Certifications
Either Edit an existing Certification or create a new standard type of certification for drivers

DRIVER DEDUCTIONS/ADDITIONS
Previous Releases:
Drivers --> Deductions/Additions
Current Release:
Settings --> Configurations --> Driver --> Deductions/Additions

DRIVER SETTLEMENT CYCLES (NEW CAPABILITY!)
Previous Releases:
Admins could not edit existing settlement cycles or create new ones
Current Release:
Settings --> Configurations --> Driver --> Settlement Cycle

DRIVER FIELDS
Previous Releases:
Settings --> System --> Driver Fields
Current Release:
Settings --> Configurations --> Driver --> Driver Fields

ACCOUNT BILLING CYCLES 
Previous Releases:
Accounts --> Accounts --> Select a company --> Edit Billing Options
Current Release:
Settings --> Configurations --> Account --> Billing Cycle

ACCOUNT TAX SCHEDULES (NEW CAPABILITY!) 
Previous Releases:
This capability was not available for admins in previous releases
Current Release:
Settings --> Configurations --> Account --> Tax Schedules

ACCOUNT FIELDS 
Previous Releases:
Settings --> System --> Account Fields
Current Release:
Settings --> Configurations --> Account --> Fields

ACCOUNTING PROFILES
Previous Releases:
Settings --> Companies --> Accounting Profiles
Current Release:
Settings --> Configurations --> Accounting --> Accounting profiles

ACCOUNTING ITEMS
Previous Releases:
Settings --> System --> Accounting items
Current Release:
Settings --> Configurations --> Accounting --> Accounting items

ATTRIBUTES
Previous Releases:
Settings --> Attributes
Current Release:
Settings --> Configurations --> System--> Attributes

HOLIDAYS
Previous Releases:
Settings --> Holidays
Current Release:
Settings --> Configurations --> System--> Holidays

ROLES (NEW CAPABILITY!)
Previous Releases:
Settings --> System --> Users --> In users, Select a ROLE from a dropdown in Edit User
Admins were not able to create custom roles on the basis of a permissions checklisk
Current Release:
Settings --> Configurations --> System--> Roles

Tax Zones

It is now possible for Administrators to create and manage Tax Zones and schedules.

How to:

1) Go to Settings --> Configurations --> Account --> Tax Schedules and either click on New Tax Schedule or select an existing tax schedule:

2) Assuming you clicked on New Tax Schedule, a new tax schedule window will appear. Complete all required information and click Save

NOTE: If you check the No Overrides checkmark, it will not be possible for users to change the tax rate for that schedule on any financial document.

Document types and Certification types

It is now possible for an administrator to create new custom types of documents and certifications and edit existing ones. These can then be used in creating and editing driver profiles

How to:

1) Go to Settings --> Configurations --> Order and select either Documents or Certifications:

2) Assuming a new Document type is being created and the administrator has clicked on Documents, and selected Add Document, a new window will appear. Give the document an ID and a NAME (EN), then click Save:

That new type of document will now appear on the list of available documents to upload in the Driver details pages.

Zone Types

New zone types, including overlapping zones, have been created to help better manage zone-based data according to different parameters. Thus, it will for instance be possible to import different KML files to establish Tax Zones, for Auto-Dispatch, for assigning a zone to a driver position, for filtering, for various scripts or for other reasons.

How to:

To go Settings --> Zones. Import the various KML map zones for each type of data:

Note: When using with scripts, simply change in the script the Zone Type when using the Data.GetZones to the desired zone type:

Autodispatch, Script, Address, Filtering, Taxes, Other

OData

OData Table Addition

The following tables were added as part of OData:

1) OrderTemplates

2) OrderTemplateCharges

3) OrderSegmentTemplates

4) OrderTemplateItems

5) OrderTemplateUserFields

6) OrderTemplateHubs

7) RecurringOrders

8) RecurringOrderTemplates

9) RecurringOrderSegmentTemplates

API

Tenant API

OrderTemplates

Now supports using Master Account shared users when creating order templates.

Accounts

Now supports setting up notification templates by service level:

 "notificationTemplatePerServiceLevel": [

    {

      "item1": NOTIFICATIONTEMPLATEID,

      "item2": "SERVICELEVELID"

    },

    {

      "item1": NOTIFICATIONTEMPLATEID,

      "item2": "SERVICELEVELID"

    }

  ]

Orders

When using the ReadyAt, PickupWindow, DeliveryWindow, the time offsets specified in the sections are not converted to the Tenant time offset. They are stored as they are received. 

When getting an order, the time offsets for the pickup and delivery windows are returned in the offset they were created unless they were entered as +00:00, in this case, it will return the windows in the Tenant time offset.

The order creatow supports timezones of pickup and delivery locations when creating orders

To use the pickup location timezone on the Ready At of the order, replace the following:

"ReadyAt": "YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss+00:00"

for:

"PickupLocalReadyAt": "YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss"

To use the pickup location timezone on the Pickup window of the order, replace the following:
"PickupWindow": {
"start": "YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss+00:00",
"end": "2YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss+00:00"
 }

for

To use the delivery location timezone on the Delivery window of the order, replace the following:
"DeliveryWindow": {
"start": "YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss+00:00",
"end": "2YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss+00:00"
 }

for

Getting orders will also return information about the pickup and the delivery timezones
Note: Offset is displayed in minutes.

  "pickupTimeZone": {

    "systemTimeZoneId": "Atlantic Standard Time",

    "ianaTimeZoneId": "America/Halifax",

    "longDisplayName": "Atlantic Daylight Time",

    "shortDisplayName": "ADT",

    "isDaylightSavingTime": true,

    "offset": -180

  }

  "dropoffTimeZone": {

    "systemTimeZoneId": "Eastern Standard Time",

    "ianaTimeZoneId": "America/New_York",

    "longDisplayName": "Eastern Daylight Time",

    "shortDisplayName": "EDT",

    "isDaylightSavingTime": true,

    "offset": -240

  }

Integration API

Orders

When using the ReadyAt, PickupWindow, DropoffWindow, the time offsets specified in the sections are not converted to the Tenant time offset. They are stored as they are received. 

When getting an order, the time offsets for the pickup and delivery windows are returned in the offset they were created unless they were entered as +00:00, in this case, it will return the windows in the Tenant time offset.

The order creation now supports timezones of pickup and delivery locations when creating orders

To use the pickup location timezone on the Ready At of the order, replace the following:

"ReadyAt": "YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss+00:00"

for:

"PickupLocalReadyAt": "YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss"

To use the pickup location timezone on the Pickup window of the order, replace the following:
"PickupWindow": {
"start": "YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss+00:00",
"end": "2YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss+00:00"
 }

for

To use the delivery location timezone on the Delivery window of the order, replace the following:
"DropoffWindow": {
"start": "YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss+00:00",
"end": "2YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss+00:00"
 }

for

Getting orders will also return information about the pickup and the delivery timezones
Note: Offset is displayed in minutes.

  "pickupTimeZone": {

    "systemTimeZoneId": "Atlantic Standard Time",

    "ianaTimeZoneId": "America/Halifax",

    "longDisplayName": "Atlantic Daylight Time",

    "shortDisplayName": "ADT",

    "isDaylightSavingTime": true,

    "offset": -180

  }

  "dropoffTimeZone": {

    "systemTimeZoneId": "Eastern Standard Time",

    "ianaTimeZoneId": "America/New_York",

    "longDisplayName": "Eastern Daylight Time",

    "shortDisplayName": "EDT",

    "isDaylightSavingTime": true,

    "offset": -240

  }