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OnTime Team

  • Use Terms that Fit Your Organization

    Version 2 of the OnTime System introduces a concept of rebranding the system to better fit the expectations of your business. Customization is an important thing when it comes to encouraging your users to be comfortable with the system. In OnTime version 2, nearly everything is customizable including the terminology. What is the common term in your company for customers? Some use the term shippers, some clients, while others simply use customers. But using the right term for your business makes the system comfortable for your users and OnTime makes this possible. Simply follow these steps:

    1. Open OnTime Management Suite.
    2. Go to the Tools menu and choose General Options.
    3. Select the Terminology tab.
    4. While we offer some common terms in this area, you are free to change these to whatever best fits your business.
    5. After clicking the OK button to save the changes and then performing a Synchronization, everyone in your organization will start seeing your new terms appear throughout the OnTime applications.
  • Advanced Technologies in OnTime

    Technology has dramatically altered the expectations of your customers; they have become accustomed to having real-time information at their fingertips. Technology is also enabling carriers to manage their resources more efficiently than ever. If your company is not taking advantage of the technology available today, you are losing significant business opportunities, and profits.  But which technology is right for your business?

    The Internet is the backbone of any connected system. This communication channel enables real-time information about your entire operation to flow between  management, drivers, dispatchers and customers. Having this information means you can provide unparalleled service and benefits to your customers; benefits that will guarantee your customers loyalty and your company’s continued growth.

    To this end many have promoted the so called “web application.” A web application is just a fancy web page, and while it does have a great many advantages over a traditional server based system, it also has many inherent problems and limitations. The OnTime System uses a superior technology than either the traditional server based system, or a web application, we call them Smart Clients.

    Smart Client Technology combines the productivity and performance of desktop applications with the real time connectivity of the Internet.  The OnTime Dispatch and Management tools are not just web pages, but are “real” applications that run on your local computer and thus provide a rich and responsive user experience. At the same time they automatically exchange real-time data over the Internet to other users, partners and customers. What makes the OnTime Smart Client technology even better is they offer reliability impossible with any other system. If you temporarily lose your connection to the Internet, they will gracefully fall back to offline mode, and while you may lose real-time updates for a short time, you can continue to perform critical business functions.

    We designed the OnTime System as a suite of applications, each perfectly suited, and designed with the best technology for that specific function. Utilizing the capabilities of the Internet to its fullest, the Smart Client technology of the OnTime System is quickly becoming the method of choice; enabling you to offer unparalleled service to your customers.

    You can’t afford to do nothing; and the OnTime System is the smartest way to give your company the technology tools for virtually unlimited growth and put your company  ahead of the pack.

  • Two approaches to mobile computing with OnTime

    The vital link with your people in the field is accomplished through OnTime Mobile and currently there are two different ways that driver data can be accessed in the field: The Pocket PC platform and WAP enabled devices.

    Pocket PC
    The preferred method of access is with a Pocket PC enabled phone. You have access to a wide range of the data that may be needed in the field, such as customer and address lookup. Since the screens on these devices are larger, we can fit a lot more information on them at one time without having to scroll around. The largest advantage of the Pocket PC phones is that OnTime can run an offline database which allows the driver to fade in and out of cell service without ever missing a beat. Other features, such as the ability to capture digital signatures, are only available on the Pocket PC because of it's touch screen nature. Smart synchronization efficiently moves data back and forth in a way that conserves data bandwidth, a plus for those with data plans that are metered.

    A nice list of the current Pocket PC phones available from the major cellular carriers is available here.

    WAP Enabled Devices
    Many other cell phones support wireless application protocol (WAP) to display web content. Even many "free" phones support this technology, so it is not difficult to make this available to your drivers. OnTime Mobile supports 10 different flavors of WAP, which means that it will work and look its best on every device on the market today. You will get most of the same information as you see in the Pocket PC version, but there are some limitations. For instance, you will not have the ability to capture digital signatures since there will generally be no touch screen available. Another drawback is the need to be online all the time. Since WAP requires a constant internet connection, you will need at anytime you want to refresh data. So while the experience is not as comprehensive, it is an affordable, and in many cases, sufficient alternative to more expensive PDA phones.

    For more information on the mobile platform, email us at development@vesigo.com.

  • Instant Notification Support

    OnTime Mobile now supports instant notifications to update changes in order assignment and status. This eliminates the need to perform constant synchronizations in order to get the latest changes available in the system. In order to use this new feature, you must be using a device with the Windows Mobile 5 operating system. If you are using a device with the Windows Mobile 2003 or 2003 SE operating system, notifications will appear but not integrate into OnTime. To make use of this new feature, you should use the latest versions of OnTime Management Suite and OnTime Mobile.

    You can set up and activate this feature on a user by user basis. This makes it possible to activate the feature only for users that have appropriate devices. Simply go into the users section of OnTime Management Suite and check the option to enable SMS text messaging notifications for the user. The SMS address for the user should be entered as well. Every carrier has a different setup for the SMS addresses, so if you don’t know the SMS email address, contact your cell carrier for the details. Usually the address will be in a form like this: 6781239876@messaging.sprintpcs.com.

    Note that since this method uses text messaging, any fees for text messages on your cell plan will apply. It is common for one or two text messages send per order, so when planning text message volume make sure you won’t be hit with overage charges.

    If you have specific questions on text messages and OnTime Mobile, you can contact me at jeremy@vesigo.com.
  • Introducing the OnTime System

    Couriers, freight companies, and companies sending service men in into the field all require effective logistic techniques in order to remain competitive in their field. Fleet management has consistently been a problem for business owners desiring to streamline their operations. Until now, there was no automation software that confidently solved these problems unless spending tens of thousands of dollars.

    The OnTime System handles all of this through an easy to use suite of software. Using a standard internet connection, OnTime establishes seamless communication between customer, dispatcher, manager, and driver. More information will soon be available.

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