Multi-select Data Fields & More

Among the many updates and features released in TrakIT over the last month, a few useful ones are described below.

Multi-select Data Fields

As you're aware the Data field for a workflow could hold a list of items from which one could be selected. With the latest update, you can allow the Data field to hold multiple items.

When defining a list, just specify the Multi-Select field with the maximum number of items that can be selected or select 'Unlimited' for no limit.

Once this is done, you will be able to select multiple items for the Data field. Each item selected is displayed on a separate line. The selection of items is high-lighted on the drop-down list and clicking on the item in the list toggles the selection of the item.

Shown below is an example where a user has selected 4 out of the many documents available on the list.

Please note that manual entry is not possible in a multi-select list. If manual entry is required, set it as a single item list and select the option "Non-list Items Allowed" when defining the Data field in the workflow.

Floating Save Button

With the number Events and Data fields growing, it became cumbersome to keep scrolling up to save changes made to events or data fields. This is now solved by a floating 'Save' button that pops up when the original Save button scrolls out of view.

The floating Save button is only visible when on then Events or Data tab.

Commodity Auto-complete

The commodity field is a free-text field present in work orders. When making the same entries again is different work orders, it is easy to make spelling mistakes or write the commodity is a different way. With the new auto-complete feature, you can pick from the previously entered commodities to save time and maintain consistency in data.

If a new commodity needs to be entered, simple ignore the list and enter the commodity as usual.

RegEx Validation

Data fields can now be validated using Regular Expressions. A Regular Expression is a sequence of characters that defines a pattern against which the user input can be validated against.

Regular Expressions can help validate user input against a variety of cases such as phone numbers, email addresses, special numbers, codes, numeric expressions, and many other cases. 

This can get a bit technical so TrakIT Support will assist you in setting up any validation expressions your require. A full explanation of Regular Expressions is beyond the scope of this blog. For guidance on what RegEx is, see Regular Expressions.There are hundreds of tutorials on the subject.

Close or Cancel Work Orders 

Event / Data actions can now close or cancel work orders based on conditions and schedules. For more details on setting up Actions for Events and Data fields, see Automation With Event/Data Actions. In addition to sending, emails or messages, you can now choose the action to close or cancel the work order.

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There are many other changes, features, fixes that we keep developing and releasing. If you have a cool feature that you'd like TrakIT to have, please don't hesitate to contact us and we'll do our best to implement it.

And as always, please contact TrakIT Support for any assistance required.

Customized Columns

With the latest update of TrakIT, it is possible to now customize columns based on header fields, events and data fields. This is applicable on the main operations, finance and invoice pages.

This customization can be done by the TrakIT support and can include custom fields as well as computed fields on the headers.

An example header is shown below:

Specific fields can also be chosen to be sort keys if applicable.

Customization can also be done for individual users as per their preferences.

For customizing the columns in your installation of TrakIT, please contact TrakIT Support.

Automation with Event / Data Actions

With the latest update of TrakIT, workflow automation has taken a new dimension!

For every event or data field in a workflow, you can now define one or more actions that take place immediately, conditionally or at a scheduled time. These action can send out emails, chat messages or SMS messages for a variety of content types to customisable recipients.

Lets take a look at defining an action:

Creating an Action for an Event or Data Field

Go the Admin > Workflow and select a workflow. Click on the Detail icon for the Event or Data field you want to define the action for. You will see a new tab: Actions.

Click on 'Add Action'. You will be required to define the details of the action. You may define any number of actions for each event or data field. The details for each field is give below:

The Action Trigger

This defines how the action is triggered. There are three options available:

On Change - The action is triggered whenever the Event or Data field changes. It is triggered on any change, even NA or TBA or blank values being entered.

On Condition - The action is triggered whenever the value of the Event or Data field changes and a pre-defined condition is met. You will need to specify the condition. 'Value' must be used to test the condition. For example, you can specify the condition as: VALUE='Truck' or VALUE='Train' . In this case, the action will be triggered only if the Value of the field matches Truck or Train. Conditions can be complex as well. Please contact TrakIT Support if you have queries on this.

On Date/Time - The action is triggered a pre-set number of hours before or after the time specified in the Event of Data field (For Data fields, this is applicable only for Date fields). You can specify the number of hours before or after the event, the action must take place. For example, you can trigger the action 24 hours before the ETA of a vessel or truck, or 48 hours after Delivery of Goods.

Action To Take

This defines what action is to be taken. There are three self-explanatory options available. More options will be added in the future. For sending SMS messages, your TrakIT installation must be configured to send messages through your SMS gateway. You may need to define one or more SMS templates in Admin > Master Tables > Message Templates. Please contact TrakIT Support if you need to configure this.

Content Type:

Once you've selected the action to take you can define what must be sent. Depending on the option selected for Action to Take, you will have a number of options available.

Simple Message - You will be able to specify a simple message to be sent. Some placeholders are available as shown.

Message Template - You will need to select a message template defined in Admin > Master Tables > Message Templates

Form PDF  - You will need to select a pre-defined form. The form will be automatically generated and attached to the email as a PDF.

Form Text, HTML - You will need to select a pre-defined form. The form will be automatically populated and inserted in to the email as plain text or as an HTML based email.

Recipients

Based on the Action, you be able to define multiple recipients or select one or more entities from the work order whose event/data field caused the action.

In case of SMS Messages, you can specify phone numbers directly as long as they are preceded with a plus symbol (+) and the country code. Example: +91-9876543210

TrakIT will extract the phone number or email from the selected Entity as needed.

How the Action Applies

When you create an Action - it will affect only those events or data fields that are saved after the action has been created. The action takes place based on the trigger defined.

You can see the details of individual actions under the Event or Data field details by clicking on the 'i' icon next to the event/data name in the work order.

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Actions are very powerful tools for automation. Please contact TrakIT Support for assistance. And as this is a new addition to TrakIT, please do let us know about any issues, bugs or unexpected behavior and we will resolve them asap!

Thank you for your support!

Asset Management in TrakIT

With the latest update of TrakIT, we have added a new Asset Management module to help you manage your assets used for work orders in a more systematic way.

The first step is to define the types of Assets for your organisation. Any number of Asset Types can be available. For e.g. Trucks, Trailers, Drivers, Products, GPS Units, Ships, Office Equipment, Forklifts and so on.

In the example below, we have 3 assets types defined. Please contact TrakIT Support with the list of Asset Types you would need in your TrakIT installation.

Each Asset Type can have Categories as well as Fields that are defined in Admin > Master Tables > Assets Master. Select an Asset Type and create the categories and data fields for the Asset Type. The Data fields for the asset are similar to the Data items created for a Work Order. There is no limit on the number of Data fields for an Asset Type.

Once you have created the categories and data fields for each Asset Type, you can open System > Asset Management to add assets.

All the assets will be listed as per the Asset Type selected. You can search for assets using the filters provided. 

To view the details of any Asset, click on any asset from the list. The Asset Detail page will open:

If you want to link this asset to any other asset, click on the plus icon and select the Asset Type and Asset Name where this asset needs to be linked. For example: a trailer and driver can be linked to a truck. All the linked assets will be listed under 'Linked Assets' tab.

All the Asset data will reflect under 'Asset Data' tab, more fields can be added here by adding them in in Assets Masters under Master tables.

Adding Assets to Work Orders

Assets can be linked to work orders in TrakIT. In order to achieve this, you must first enable Assets in the Workflow definition. Go to Admin > Workflow Definitions. Select a workflow, modify the header and enable Assets.

Once this is enabled, an 'Assets' section appears under the Header section on a work order. Click the icon to add a new asset. Select the Asset Type, Asset Owner and the Asset. The selected asset is displayed in the Asset section. Any number of assets can be added on the work order. When an asset is added to the work order, any other assets linked to the asset are also added at the same time.

Details and Fields of assets that have been linked to work orders can be exported in Advanced Reports and Forms.

Assets also support location updates via APIs. For more information on updating Asset Locations, please contact TrakIT Support.

We will be adding more features to Asset Management in the future. If you find any issues or have suggestions or feedback, please do let us know.

For any questions or concerns, please contact TrakIT Support.

Introducing TrakIT Chat!

With the latest update of TrakIT, we have added TrakIT Chat to ease information sharing and communication process between users.

You must have noticed a message indicator on the bottom left side of the main TrakIT window. When you receive a new message or messages, the indicator starts flashing with the number of messages received.

To open TrakIT Chat window, click on the message indicator. The below window opens:

All the internal users will be listed on the left side of the window. Count of users who are online on TrakIT Chat will be shown above the list of users. You can search of any TrakIT user with there first/last name as mentioned in the list. A green light () next to a user means that the user currently has the TrakIT Chat window open. A yellow light () indicates that the user has TrakIT open but the Chat Window is not open. The gray/off light () indicates that the user it not using TrakIT.

To start a chat or view messages from a user, just select the user to view the conversation with that user. Enter the message in the message box and you can start or continue your conversation.

If you want to link any work order, enter it's 11-digit container number or enter the work order number in the format WOxxxx (e.g. WO12345 or TMPU1234567). TrakIT will automatically recognize the container number or work order and add a reference link to the work order (as shown in above screenshot).

We will be adding more features to TrakIT Chat in the future (including receiving System Notifications and Alerts). If you find any issues or have suggestions, please do let us know.

For any questions or concerns, please contact TrakIT Support.