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

New features included in this release

• We are enhancing address book management capabilities
• Recurring orders can be created using only exception dates
• Recurrences can now be set to run on holidays  
• A user on the customer portal can now be required to specify a parcel type
• Checkpoint barcode validations can now be forced to follow specific barcode formats (Regex) in order to be accepted

Other new features

• It is now possible to support overage via an integration. Contact your implementation specialist for details

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

Address Book Management

We continue to enhance address book managment capabilities in release 1.44. To review new capabilities, go to 

Settings -> System -> Addresses.

New capabilities:

1. It is now possible to add many more columns to the address table:

2. In addition to being able to search contacts by Address and Position, it is now also possible to search by Contact :

3. It is now easy to find duplicate addresses. 

How to:

3.1 Click on Find Duplicate: and check the field(s) for which you are searching for duplicates, then click OK:

3.2 All addresses that contain duplicates in the selected field(s) will be shown:

3.3 Delete the duplicate addresses you want to remove from the global address list either by selecting them and clicking on Delete or by clicking on the trashcan symbol.

Recurrences

We have created a new recurrence called Never. If selected, only inclusions that are part of the list of Exceptions will generate a recurring set of orders.

How to:

1) Go to Orders -> Recurring Orders and find a recurrence that contains some Inclusions (inclusions are recurrences that are to occur on specific dates that are different from those that are scheduled):

2) Select Never from the Recurrence dropdown:

Only the inclusions specified in the exceptions will run.

A related new feature is the capability to allow recurrences on holidays. From the same location, simply check Allow Order Creation on Holidays to enable the feature:

Order Entry

It is now possible to configure the Self-Serve portal in such a way that no default parcel type is visible at order-entry. Instead, users must select a Parcel type from the Parcel type dropdown.

How to:

1) Go to Accounts -> Profiles, select the profile you want to edit, then click on Edit next to Self-Serve Options:

2) Check EMPTY PARCEL TYPE BY DEFAULT, then click Save:

3.1) When a user from an account using a profile with EMPTY PARCEL TYPE BY DEFAULT enabled, the Parcel type dropdown will be blank and the user must select a specific parcel type from the dropdown to CONTINUE:

3.2 ) If the user attempts to create an order without selecting a Parcel type, a error warning will display and the order will not be created:

Checkpoints

It is now possible to constrain checkpoint barcode validations to only accept specific barcode formats. This helps eliminate barcode scanning errors on items that contain more than one barode label on the box.

How to:

1) Go to Settings -> Checkpoints, select an existing checkpoint or edit an existing one, then go to ALLOWED BARCODE FORMAT (REGEX) and input the barcode format you want the system to accept (and consequently reject any other scanned format), then click Save:

Now, an error message will appear in the Driver app when the operator or driver at the specified checkpoint attempts to scan a barcode that does not comply with the defined format.

Another new capability related to Checkpoints is the ability to support Overate via integration. Please contact your Dispatch Science implementation specialist for more information about this feature: