WHAT’S NEW IN ACOWIN 4.0?
NEW MAIN MENU: Version 4.0 introduces a completely redesigned Main Menu for the Acowin program. The new Main Menu resembles a flowchart, with arrows linking the menu buttons together, reflecting the way some parts of the Acowin system influence others. The special functions formerly contained on the Processes menu and Navigators have been consolidated into a Utilities icon located in each section of the Main Menu. For example, clicking the Utilities icon in the Inventory section of the menu will open a menu containing all the Inventory Utilities. The round Acowin “button” in the bottom right corner of the Main Menu will take you to the Support section of the Acowin web site, where you can submit a support request across the Internet. The File pull-down menu contains an option to Logout, which will allow you to change user names or companies without exiting completely from the program.
AUTO UPDATER: An automatic update system has been added to Acowin. The Auto Updater runs automatically on the Acowin server, every time the server computer is rebooted, and will begin running as soon as the Acowin 4.0 update is installed. The Auto Updater will check for updates every night, and if a new update is available, it will be automatically downloaded from the Team Management Systems master server overnight. When you log into Acowin the morning after an update is released, you’ll see a message informing you the update has been downloaded, and asking if you would like to install it. Updates will then flow automatically from the main Acowin server to the workstations. If the Auto Updater stops running for some reason, you can restart it by rebooting the Acowin server computer.
NEW LOGIN SCREEN: The Acowin login screen has been expanded to include a message area that will be automatically updated from the Team Management Systems master server, bringing announcements of new features, helpful hints, and other important news. If the Auto Updater has downloaded an update overnight, the login screen will ask if you want to install it.
NEW REPORT INTERFACE: The interface for all Acowin reports has been completely rebuilt. All reports now begin with a standard Sort option, which can be changed if the user desires, and Selection options now default to “all records” automatically. Selections can be made with a streamlined interface that tells the user what the results of the report will be, using a plain English summary. The latest version of the Crystal Reports Viewer has been incorporated into Acowin, providing a smoother report preview experience. The master Reports screen now includes a brief description of each report.
REVISED DISPATCH BOARD GRAPHICS: The overall appearance of the Dispatch Board has been improved, with new icon graphics and a pastel color scheme.
31-DAY SCHEDULE BOARD: A powerful new 31-Day Schedule Board has been added to the Call Slips and Dispatch Board, replacing the old Calendar icon. The 31-Day board is a large calendar display that resembles a desktop blotter. A summary of scheduled and unscheduled calls appears within each day. You can jump back to the Dispatch Board by clicking on a date. The right side of the 31-Day Schedule Board is a bar graph that shows which hours are available for each technician, and can be toggled to a list of calls scheduled for a selected date. You can use the 31-Day Schedule Board to quickly schedule a selected Call Slip, by clicking on the desired date, or even clicking in the bar graph area to choose a specific technician and time.
ENHANCED EMAILING OF PURCHASE ORDERS AND INVOICES: Acowin 4.0 makes it even easier to email your Purchase Orders to vendors, and your Call Slip invoices to customers. When you click the Print button on Purchase Orders and Call Slips, you’ll see a new Email icon on the Print Options menu. Clicking this icon will pull the default email address from the Vendor or Customer/Site File, and instantly produce an email message with the Purchase Order or Invoice attached, using the popular Adobe Acrobat PDF format. You’ll have an opportunity to override the default email address, adjust the Subject line, and add body text to the email, if desired.
Here is the Print Options menu for a Call Slip. The Email icon is the envelope plus green arrow that appears next to the Call Slip Invoice check box.
After you click the Email icon, you’ll see this window, which allows you to override the default Email Address for the vendor or customer, or make adjustments to the Subject line and Message text.
UPDATED HELP, DOCUMENTATION, AND TUTORIALS: The Acowin Help system has been fully updated to reflect the changes in Version 4.0. Help is now available from a pull-down menu at the top of the Acowin main screen. The Version 4.0 update, and all future Acowin updates, will automatically place shortcuts to the latest editions of the Acowin Documentation and multi-media Tutorials on your desktop.