1/10/2024 v2024.01

 

 

 

We are listening!  Items with this label are a result of your suggestions in uInnovate.  Please continue to share and support those ideas that help your business.

 

We recommend reading these and understanding the impact prior to updating.  These features may require adjustments to security or configuration and may have implications for your operations or current workflows. 

 

Upgrading to 2024: In keeping aligned with supported windows software, the update to v2024 requires that Windows .Net Core is version .8. This can be resolved by verifying the system is current on its Windows updates or by contacting your IT department.

 

Nethelp Messaging:  Messaging has been in place that has alerted users that uLearn will be the platform we will be maintaining for all knowledge and documentation.  Now that we are no longer updating Nethelp, we have updated our messaging to remind users of that when they click on the NetHelp option. "As of 9/18/23, Nethelp will no longer be updated. uLearn will replace NetHelp as the online help library on 9/24/2024. We encourage users to familiarize themselves with the uLearn portal."

 

This release also includes various defect fixes.

 

 

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Release Notes (informational only)

In the past, we have kept the Expert and the Elite release notes in separate camps to avoid confusion.  However, we think it’s time that the fence comes down between The Sandlot and The Beast.  After all, we’re all on the same baseball..er…software team. Because Elite is the next evolution of Expert, the latest and greatest technology moving toward the future, we thought it would be beneficial for our Expert customers to be in the know.  As Elite features release and mature you may find functionality that you just can’t live without.  While new features in Expert are limited due to its older technology, fear not, Expert will continue to be supported.  Below are the release notes that our Elite customers received for this release; there is also a link to the Elite Release notes on the home page of this site if you are interested in learning more about past Elite releases.

v2023.13

 

Dispatch Columns for Cubic Size and Dispatcher:  Two new columns have been added to the dispatch center routing screen.  ‘Cubic’ calculates the total size of the contract based on the corresponding field on the options tab of the items.  ‘Dispatcher’ displays who was responsible for creating the route so it is easy to know where to go to get any questions answered.

 

Information in Title Bar:  You may notice that we have added the information for machine, terminal and LAN IP to the title bar so that this information is more easily accessible for those needing to find this information.

 

New Smartequip Keys:  The behavior around creating header keys for new parts has changed slightly to accommodate the part numbers that exceed the database’s fleng constraints.  How the item lookup is set in the web config file will determine whether new part headers are created using the item number for the key or if the part number is used and truncated on the right-hand side of the part number to conform to fleng constraints.  Please refer to the Smartequip Installation document for more details and examples.

 

Update Email Password from Operator Information:  We originally created a stop that if a user had more than one email setup record, they did not have the option to update it from the left-hand menu under operator information.  However, this was causing the option to be unavailable for users who may have a Store-specific email record and a general Store email record that uses the same email address.  Now, the user can access the update password option if they have multiple email records with the same email address.  If they have multiple email records with different email addresses, they will not have the option from the left menu.

 

Cloud Server Update Messaging:  Update messaging has been updated for users on cloud servers.  The message at login notifying them of an available update has been removed as they are no longer responsible for those updates.  The prompt that there has been an update and there are new release notes to read remains.

 

Minimizing ID/Password Prompts:  We are continuing our work to minimize the number of times you have to enter your ID/password in nonshared user browser sessions.  How did you like the first round of our updates around this?

 

Browser Grid Exports:  In the past, exporting from a browser search grid would only export the first page of results.  For example: If the page showed 1-100 of 1000 results, the export would only export the first 100 results.  Now, exporting will export all 1000 results at once.

 

Memory Lane Monday: This is a fun corner where we republish release notes from previous sprints you may have forgotten about.

uItem Exchange History Report: We have added a report so that users can identify when and why exchanges are happening and address those areas to decrease the number of machines exchanged.

uCredits and Related Contracts: Credit contracts created from a specific contract will now be listed in the Related Contracts list available from the Reports menu option from within a contract.

uPurchase Orders and Related Contracts: Purchase Orders created from a specific contract will now be listed in the Related Contracts list available from the Reports menu option from within a contract.

POR One: These are updates for Elite users utilizing the POR One app.

Show Stock Quantity on Inventory Items - The current stock quantity is now shown on each Stock item on the Item Detail screen. The value shown is for what the quantity is at that moment in the Elite database. 

Checklist enhancement for Serialized Items - When completing a Check Out or Delivery task, when a header item is part of the list, the serialized item must be selected before the rest of the checklist can be completed. 

Disabled Users - Now, when a user is disabled in Elite, it will remove all permissions that the user had for POR One. The number of available licenses will increase by 1 for each user that is disabled that had the permission and it can then be applied to another active user. 

AU/UK Date Format - The dates shown throughout the app will now be displayed in DD/MM/YYYY when selecting “English (UK)” language on the settings page. The default for “English (US)” will display the date as MM/DD/YYYY.

v2023.14

 

Minimizing ID/Password Prompts:  We are continuing our work to minimize the number of times you have to enter your ID/password in nonshared user browser sessions.  

 

Account Payments Pay Box Alignment:  For an undisclosed period of time, the payment box would lose alignment after making a large number of payments on a certain account. The correct contract would still get the payment, but visually, it was a challenge.  So we cleared one lucky developer’s busy schedule and put them on the case.  This will no longer plague your accounting departments.

 

Suspense Days Grid:  It was discovered that this grid only displayed 18 contracts and if a customer had more than that, there was no way to see them.  This has been corrected.

 

Accounts Receivable Dashboard Filter:  In this dashboard, filters were being lost after an AR Note was added to a customer.  How annoying.  Never fear; from now on, your painstakingly applied filters will persist.

 

Purchase Order Suspense and Non-Rental Assets:  The purchase order suspense accounts/reports will now include entries for non-rental assets received but not posted on purchase orders. 

 

POR Global Payment App:  Point of Rental now offers its own global payment integration.  The integration accommodates a variety of processors (CAYAN, Stripe, Peach Payments, etc.), giving our users greater flexibility on a global scale.  Along with the standard credit card features you’ve come to expect in Point of Rental, the integration will also accommodate both independent and dependent credit card refunds (based on which processor is being used).  

 

Opt Out CC Fee:  Users that have our acquiring feature credit card processing now have the ability to opt out of charging a credit card fee.  This is accomplished by unchecking a box on the payment screen.  A security option ‘Credit Card Fee Exempt’ has been added under the Transactions area in security to control who can do this.

 

CC Alias:  Users that have our acquiring feature credit card processing now have the ability to assign an alias to a credit card.  This is done by navigating to the customer file, going to the history drop-down, and opening payment history.  Right-click on the credit card entry to reveal the option to add/clear the alias.  This column option can also be added to the payment history container in the browser view, although it can only be assigned through the core customer record.  Once assigned, that alias will be visible on the credit card interface when retrieving a credit card to pay a transaction.

 

Level 2/Level 3 Processing:  Users that have our acquiring feature credit card processing now have the ability to send additional information on credit card transactions that qualify them for a lower processing fee.

 

Browser Quick Buttons:  To make accessing them more convenient, Quick Buttons have been moved into the left menu browser UI under Transactions.  The setup/functionality has not changed.  They are still store-specific.  The shortcut keys have slightly changed to be Shift+F5, rather than CNTRL. 

 

Who Is In:  This feature has been moved from the counter system and into the right menu of the browser.  The person icon at the bottom of that menu will now open a panel that lists the operator and their contact information.  Green indicates someone is currently clocked in, red means they are clocked out, and purple indicates they are off for the day.

 

Community Time Clock:  There is a new time clock option under user tools.  The security option titled ‘Community Time Clock’ must be enabled for it to be visible.  When opened, the time clock opens with a user ID box.  Entering your user ID opens the time clock and allows you to clock in.  Then, the ID screen appears again, allowing someone else to clock in.  This is useful for terminals that are used mostly for clock in/out.

 

Item Options:  To enable easier option assignment, selecting the header will now select all of its serialized items at the same time. Deselecting the header will also deselect all of the serialized.

 

Memory Lane Monday: This is a fun corner where we republish release notes from previous sprints you may have forgotten about.

 

Territory enhancements: Have you started making Territories yet? We have made a couple of tweaks to make the feature a bit more secure and user-friendly. First, we have made it a requirement to add a Sales Rep and at least one zip code to save a Territory. This change also makes it a requirement to have 'Update Territory' security to make changes to Sales Reps or zip codes. We also added a feature that allows you to remove a zip code from a Territory. Do you have ideas for how you can leverage the Territory feature to your benefit? HMU at uInnovate with your ideas!

 

Credit Security: Hey you. Yeah, you. Remember that super secret way during implementation we showed you through the modify screen you could create a credit? Yeah well, some of you are terrible at keeping secrets. So we’ve added a security option in Counter System (JET) and Transactions (SQL) in the security table called ‘Modify Credit’ so you can control who can do this. Loose lips sink ships.

 

POR One: These are updates for Elite users utilizing the POR One app.

 

Image resize options When uploading images, you can now choose what file size to upload from the original image size. This will drastically reduce the amount of data needed to upload an image. 

Zero Quantity Item Filter - On Inventory searches, you can now hide items with zero quantity. People like yard or warehouse personnel, when searching for items, can choose to see only items with on-hand quantity greater than zero. This search can be saved by users if it’s best for them to see items with a stock quantity only. 

Header Record Details = When working with Contracts on POR One that have not been serialized a user can now view the details about the header by tapping on the Line Item. They’ll be navigated to a details page for the header items and can view things like other related Contracts of the Serialized items.

v2023.15

 

Project Dates:  Project dates give users the ability to set a third set of dates on a contract that affects the availability of the items on the contract.  These dates must be set outside of the delivery/pickup date window, or contract begin/end dates if there is no delivery/pickup (Eg, availability begin must be set before the delivery date, availability end must be set after the pickup date).  When set, these dictate when the items will show as reserved for that contract.  A security option called ‘Set Availability Dates’ under the Transaction area of the security section must be enabled to view and use these fields.  Without this turned on, the system will function as before.

 

Who Is In:  In the new Who Is In panel, clicking on the listed email address will generate the email form and allow you to send it right from there.

 

Nethelp Messaging:  Messaging has been in place that has alerted users that uLearn will be the platform we will be maintaining for all knowledge and documentation.  Now that we are no longer updating Nethelp, we have updated our messaging to remind users of that when they click on the NetHelp option. "As of 9/18/23, Nethelp will no longer be updated. uLearn will replace NetHelp as the online help library on 9/24/2024. We encourage users to familiarize themselves with the uLearn portal."

 

Attachments Limit:  We have extended the limit on attachments so that now you can attach an infinite number of things.  Use this power wisely.

 

Remote Help:  We have upgraded our version of Teamviewer and remote help is now launching with that new executable. 

 

Elite API/SQS Warning:  If SQS is down and the Elite API cannot communicate with it, users will see a red banner at the top right of their Elite Browser.  For example, this being down would affect the communication between the Elite browser and POR One.  This may be a temporary interruption that resolves itself, or it may require a call to support to help troubleshoot and resolve.

 

Characters Allowed for Email Field:  This field has always had a character count of 50.  However, we have had some users lately who require additional space and this field in the database can now accommodate 254 characters. 

 

Hold Pricing on Open Contracts:  Our rental rate adjustment tool has always had the option to hold pricing on reservations.  We have now extended it to hold pricing on open contracts.  Checking this box will set a special rate on all existing open contract line items for the item records being adjusted.

 

Selecting Contracts in Customer Dashboard:  In the past, users had to filter the contracts they wanted to print/email en masse to a customer.  This process could be cumbersome.  Now, we’ve added a checkbox to the customer dashboard.  Instead of filtering all users have to do is check the box next to the contracts they want before going to print/email.

External Transport Order Updates:  For users of external transport orders, we made several updates to the transport order screen.  A delivery/pickup contact and contact phone number can be entered next to the address, the contract’s store address is available in the combo box as a selection, and any notes from the transport order get copied to the transport purchase order.  As the cherry on top….*drumroll please*....you can now put multiple items on one transport order. *Applause*

v2023.16

 

Availability Library in Item Availability Calendar:  This sprint we began work to consume the revamped availability library in the core item availability calendar.  This project will unify the availability between the browser and core and set us up for future features centered around availability.

 

v2 Authentication for Vertex: Besides our Vertex integration, we now offer the ability to integrate with their v2 integration.  This allows connections to Vertex products beyond their cloud solution.  Current users will have to change nothing about their configuration.

 

L2/L3 for Retrievals:  Passing additional information in the credit card transaction can result in lower fees from your credit card company.  This has been an option for our acquiring users to turn on for initial transactions.  It has now been enhanced to pass that additional information on follow-on transactions as well.

 

Event Reservations in POR One:  Recently, it was discovered that tiny, wee gremlins were preventing event reservations from appearing in the contract list for items in POR One.  Consider those gremlins evicted. 

 

Parts Filter in Day At A Glance: A parts filter has been added to a Day At Glance.  If a transaction is assigned the type of ‘Parts Order’, checking this box will filter to just those transactions.  If not transaction type of ‘Parts Order’ does not exist, this box will not be visible. 

 

Status Labels:  Status displays have undergone an overhaul.  The logic driving the labels has been updated and is based on a hierarchy to dictate which main status is displayed.  Columns were added to the browser search grids to display the status.  In these screens and in the inventory selection screen will also now contain an asterisk after the status if the item is on more than one type of contract.  Click on the label, and another screen will populate, displaying the contracts contributing to this status.

 

Multi-currency and Purchase Orders:  There have been two new updates to using multi-currency in purchase orders.  For those of you using Intacct, we are now passing both the base currency and the exchanged currency to allow you to pay the bill in Intacct with the currency of your choice.  Second, if you write a PO with an exchanged currency, you will now see the exchanged values in the invoice verification screen rather than the base currency values

 

Updating Operator Printers:  When operators update their printers, they will no longer get the option to update the default printer profile.  Do you really want Steve from accounting resetting the default for the whole company?  I don’t think so.  (No offense, Steve)

 

Updating Tax Jurisdictions When Deliveries Become Will Calls:  Some of you have mapped your zip codes to your tax jurisdictions.  This is very handy when you schedule a delivery because the correct tax jurisdiction gets assigned to the contract.  But what about if that delivery becomes a will call again?  Well, now,  we switch it back to the store jurisdiction for you.

 

Memory Lane Monday: This is a fun corner where we republish release notes from previous sprints you may have forgotten about.

 

Dispatch Center: You are setting your routes in Dispatch Center and you see a contract that should not be marked as Pickup. Previously, you were sent to Counter System to make those changes to the contract. Now you can toggle delivery/pickup on or off directly from within the Dispatch Center grid instead of requiring the contract be opened in the Counter System.

 

Account Payments: Accountants work hard to have settings not to allow counter personnel to take money from customers (explicitly Account Customers); however, some counter guys are bound and determined to get money from the customers. The clever counter guys have found that if they change the payment method of an account contract on open to Cash or Card they can accept the money. So, to keep these trouble-making counter guys from taking any money, the ability to change the payment method will be tied to the “not allow Account payments on the counter” parameter. With this set to No, they cannot change the payment method to Cash or Card.

 

POR One: These are updates for Elite users utilizing the POR One app.

Image Upload Enhancements - We have made several changes to how images are uploaded for a faster and more successful attempt each time when the device has low network connectivity. 

Offline Image Icon - When a user is offline, there is now a watermark over the thumbnail so that it is clear to see that the image has not yet uploaded; When you see this “cloud” icon over the thumbnail it will be an indicator that a more stable internet connection is needed.

Bug Fix - Fixed an issue with Labor Tacking where the users were unable to select a Labor Type. This was resolved on the “back-end” and has been released with no update required.

v2023.17
 

International Addresses:  For our users that conduct business across the globe, country code fields have been added to customer address, customer billing address, venue/job site address, and delivery/pickup addresses.  To see these fields, enable the International Addresses checkbox in System Configurations of Browser Configurations.  To see/modify the configuration, the security for this must be enabled.  It is located in the ‘Configuration’ section of the security.  

 

Header Option for 1x8 Logo:  A new header option has been added to laser contract formats.  A 1x8 logo can be printed at the top of a contract.  The logo set in parameters must be in that format. 

 

Voiding Quotes: Voiding a quote will now write a transaction edit for the action.  These will be reportable through the transaction edit report. 

 

Asset Sale Quote:  Users can now quote an asset sale for a serialized item located at another store without transferring the item into your location.  There is still this restriction against bulk rental items.

 

Missed Rentals:  The option to add a missed rental untethered to a specific item has been added to the browser Left Menu under Tools.

 

Email Letters Special Fields:  The special fields in the email letters have been updated to say ‘SalesRep’ rather than ‘Salesman’.

 

Memory Lane Monday: This is a fun corner where we republish release notes from previous sprints you may have forgotten about.

uDamage Waiver percent by Line Item: Damage waiver percentage can be set/overridden by line item.

uDamage Waiver by Customer: The Damage waiver percentage can be set by the customer.

POR One: These are updates for Elite users utilizing the POR One app.

Performance Optimization:  Our engineers worked hard this sprint to update the efficiency of the interior code of POR One.  Think of it like a good spring cleaning. 

Simultaneous Uploads - Drivers are on the move and go in and out of areas with network connectivity. Uploads from POR One, like images, can now happen at the same time to ensure they are completed while the user has an internet connection and reduce pending uploads. 

Fix - Sending an eSign via SMS now properly displays the Customer Name in the body of the message.

v2024.01

 

Upgrading to 2024: In keeping aligned with supported Windows software, the update to v2024 requires that Windows .Net Core is version .8. This can be resolved by verifying the system is current on its Windows updates or by contacting your IT department.

 

Service Scheduled Report:  Due to a recent command change, the Service Scheduled Report was throwing an error. This has now been updated.

 

Tags in Notifications and Mass Fax/Email Template:  The special fields have been updated to say ‘Salesrep’ instead of ‘Salesman’.

 

Availability Library in Category/Group/Kit Availability:  This work continues the consumption of the availability library in core screens to improve performance and alignment with browser. 

 

Print/Fax/Email Invoices:  When the invoice program is run, it will save a copy of all generated invoices to the ContractsTemp folder located within the POR root folder.  If sequential invoicing is turned on, the filename will save the invoice number generated rather than the original contract number.  This is useful for further verification or if using a third-party invoicing program. 

 

Pay All Credit Cards (Acquiring):  A new feature for acquiring credit card users is available.  When the feature license is enabled, and the security (under the accounting security section) is turned on, there will be an option to ‘Pay All Contracts via CC’ in the options tab of Day At A Glance.  The program will then cycle through the contracts filtered into the day at a glance view.  If an associated credit card token is associated, the card will attempt to be processed for that contract.  If not, it will be skipped.  A transaction edit will also be written to record who ran the process.

 

Consumer Portal Formats:   As a user of the new consumer portal, you will want to be able to control the format of the contract that appears there for your customers.  There are two new format options on the contracts tab of parameters, one for contracts and one for customer work orders that display in the portal.  When the formats are defined, the latest contract modification will appear in the portal in that format.  It will use the defined saved PDF format already in place if no formats are defined.

 

Maintenance Dashboard Filtering:  In the past, the action of clearing maintenance would also reset the dashboard filters and leave the user to start from scratch.  Now the filters will persist.

Persisting Search Entities:  Browser users will now find that if they leave certain entity searches open in the browser, they will still be open when they log out and log back in.  This will occur for configurations, security, and other searches (Like item).  It will not save specific items or search results, just the search window itself.