WHAT’S NEW IN ACOWIN 4.9?
GPS Integration: Team Management Systems now offers the option of integrating your Acowin software with GPS devices from Discrete Wireless.
Assemblies: An Assembly is a list of materials prepared in advance. You can load the entire list into a Purchase Order, Quick Quote, Job Costing project, or Call Slip by simply selecting the assembly. Assemblies are created in Setup / Subsystems / Assemblies, as seen in the screen shot below:
You’ll find a new button for selecting an Assembly in the following locations:
- Purchase Orders
- Quick Quotes
- Job Costing, Breakdown screen, Phase Detail window
- Call Slips, Materials screen
When you select an Assembly, all of its component items are pulled onto the screen. You can specify a Quantity for the assembly – for example, requesting a quantity of 2 would double the quantity of each item. Call Sips, Quick Quotes, and Job Costing also allow you to specify an inventory Location to supply items pulled from stock. In the example below, the HUMIDKIT Assembly has been loaded onto the Materials screen of a Call Slip:
Automatic Creation of Call Slip Equipment: When you sell Serialized Inventory items on a Call Slip, you now have the option to automatically create Site Equipment File entries. This is done with the Create Equipment button, found on the Materials screen of the Call Slip. Clicking this button produces a list of all Serial Numbers sold through the Call Slip. Select the desired units and click Create to produce Equipment File entries.
Required Materials for Inspections: The Equipment File now includes a table where you can specify the materials needed to perform each Contract Inspection visit. Each item is linked to an Inspection Instruction code. For example, if a filter is linked to the instruction code for a filter change, every Inspection which includes the filter change code will automatically draw a filter from Inventory. A new Required Materials Report has been created to read these material lists, so you can discover the total materials that will be needed to perform Inspections in coming months, and order these items in advance.
Creating Single Inspection Call Slips: A Create Inspections button has been added to the Inspections screen of the Contract File. This button can be used to produce a single Inspection Call Slip for the selected Contract.
Inactive Customers and Sites: A check box has been added to both sides of the Customer/Site File, enabling you to declare a Customer or Site to be Inactive. Inactive Customers and Sites cannot be chosen on new Call Slips, Quick Quotes, Contracts, or Job Costing projects. Their information is printed in red on Search windows, helping you easily spot the Inactive entries.
Inactive Equipment: You can also designate individual units of Site Equipment as Inactive. Inactive Equipment cannot be selected on Contracts or Call Slips.
Other Inactive Records: You can designate Warehouses, Trucks, Resolution Codes, Problem Codes, and Rate Types as Inactive. This prevents their selection in other parts of the system, completely removing them from the lists of available locations or codes.
Revised Purchase Order Screen: The layout of the Purchase Order screen has been revised to make it easier to use. Also, a new Notes button has been added. You can use this feature to add shipping and handling instructions, or other miscellaneous notes, to your Purchase Orders. These notes can optionally be included on a printed or e-mailed Purchase Order. As mentioned above, Purchase Orders also benefit from the new Assemblies feature.
Revised Dispatch Detail Screen: The Dispatch Detail screen, accessed by right-clicking a Call Slip on the Dispatch Board, has been redesigned to improve its clarity.
New Call Slip Invoice Text Options: The list of options that appears when you click the Text button on the Call Slip Invoice screen has been streamlined, and new options for Flat Rate sale prices, equipment checklists, and problem text have been added. These new options have also been made available in AcoTruck.
Printing the Ready to Invoice List: The Ready to Invoice List, accessed from the Dispatch Board or the Work Order Utilities menu, now includes a Print button. It produces a Call Slip Summary Report which includes every Call Slip appearing on the Ready to Invoice List.
Technician Late Indicators: The Dispatch Board will alert you when technicians are in danger of being late to a scheduled call. If the tech has not been dispatched to a Call Slip within 15 minutes of its scheduled time, a yellow light will appear at the top of the technician’s column. If the scheduled time passes without the technician being dispatched, this light will turn red.
If any of the techs are within 15 minutes or late for a call, a red triangle icon will pulse in the date area of the Dispatch Board. This helps alert you to late technicians you can’t see with your current view of the Dispatch Board.
Diary Update Indicator: The Diary window will now scan for new activity every few minutes. If it detects changes to any of the Diaries throughout the system, an animated symbol will appear, alerting you to the presence of new entries. Clicking on this symbol refreshes the Diary window to display the new entries.
Default Problem Codes for Contract Types: You may now select a default Problem Code for each Contract Type, in Setup / Subsystems / Contract Types. This makes it unnecessary to select a Problem Code manually for each new Contract.
Inspection Instructions as Problem Text: When you create Inspection Call Slips, using Step #4 of the Inspection Steps menu, or the new Create Inspections button in the Contract File, you’ll see an option to include Inspection Instructions. This option is checked by default. If you leave it checked, the Inspection Instructions become part of the problem description text on the first screen of the Inspection Call Slips. This makes it possible to send the Inspection Instructions to technicians electronically, by emailing the Call Slip or sending it to an AcoTruck tablet.
Miscellaneous Code Usage Report: This new Call Slip report tracks every occurrence of selected Miscellaneous Charge codes, for any range of dates, and calculates the total dollar value of each charge.
Required Materials Report: This is a new Contract report that reads the list of required materials for Inspections, which can now be specified in the Equipment File.
AcoTruck Technician Permissions: On the AcoTruck screen of the Employee File, you can now restrict the technicians’ ability to change dispatch times they have already entered, or modify labor billing through the Advanced Labor screen on their tablet. If you remove the check mark from “Allow to change times,” the technician will be unable to revise the Dispatched, Arrived, or Departed time on his Call Slips, after he enters them initially.
Automatic Licensing and De-Registration: The Acowin Registration program, found on the Acowin Quick Launch menu, now includes buttons to Get and Return Licenses. This allows you to license your system over the Internet, without the assistance of TMS Support. The Return Licenses button will strip the license codes from your current server, making it possible to move your data to a new Acowin server, and simply click the Get Licenses button to register the new server. The Return Licenses button will even print a complete set of instructions for moving your Acowin server, including your CD Code and the current location of your Acowin data!