Archive for the ‘Tips and Tricks’ Category

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Back to basics (B2B) – Ordering Materials

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

In this issue of Back to Basics we are going to look at the material ordering processes.

Why do we need a procedure for ordering?

The basic process for ordering materials and services is to raise an order, select the goods you wish to be supplied or enter the service to be performed and then give the order to the supplier. In doing this the supplier has a clear understanding on what they are to supply to you and also you have a clear indication on what you have asked for and expecting. The order is also optionally raised against a job to help ensure parts are not missed/forgotten or simply not costed against anything and lost! Items bought for stock also helps ensure accurate stock control. Information about stock control can be found in one of my previous articles titled “Stock Control for Year End”.

How do I order materials?

Though there are many ways an order can be created and different types of orders that can be made, I am going to stick with three situations as examples. (more…)

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The Importance of Backups

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

Do you know what the status of your current backup systems are?

What does an hour of downtime cost your business?

A reliable backup system can literally save your company thousands of dollars in lost productivity when your IT systems fail. Business continuity is essential to your business and a reliable backup routine is an insurance you cannot operate without. (more…)

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Tips and Tricks – June/July

Monday, July 5th, 2010

With the constant development of the simPRO software to improve functionality for our users we have decided to share tips & tricks with you regularly so that you can get more out of simPRO. This month we are going to have a look at a couple of smaller tips to get you using your system more effectively.

Client Custom Fields

Ever had some information that you want to store about a customer but there just has never been quite the right spot to do it. Hmm, I could put it in the notes, or perhaps I could use this field over here because I don’t seem to use it for anything else….

Hang on a tic, what if we could have a field set aside that specifically stores this information for me, wouldn’t that be easier than the guessing game? (more…)

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SSL Certificates Explained

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates are certificates provided by your server to your web browser that encrypt your data transfer. This is particularly important when accessing your confidential information (such as simPRO or Internet Banking) from public locations such as wifi hotspots. SSL certificates must be created against a domain name (eg. simpro.com.au). There are two types of certificates: (more…)

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Tips & Tricks – April 2010

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

This month in Tips and Tricks we take a look at:

  1. i. How to use Kits to make reusable `Take off Lists’
  2. ii. How to hand over a project to the maintenance department using asset tracking
  3. iii. 3 Clicks to find out what jobs haven’t been invoiced for the month.

Predefined Take off Lists

Ok, so you have to produce estimates fairly regularly for similar jobs.  Perhaps your business does house bashing (are we allowed to say that?) or you do light manufacturing jobs that always use the same components, or office fit outs etc…  Basically the work is fairly predictable and you are always putting the same items onto quote.

Wouldn’t it be easier if I could just setup a series of template take off sheet and just keep using those?

Not trying to be funny but simPRO can do it already for you!  It’s one way to think of simPRO kits. (more…)

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Back to Basics (B2B) – March 2010

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Job Dispatch

Following last week’s article, B2B – The 4 W’s of Job Creation, I wanted to explore the different ways to dispatch or ‘hand over’ the job to the technician to perform the work. Within simPRO there are many different options for dispatching jobs out to the technicians using mobile devices or Navman Wireless but first I want to take a look at the basic method of using simple printed job cards.

There are a couple ways to print job cards and which way you go about it depends on what suits you and how you relate the job information to your technician

1) Printing from the day view schedule.


(more…)

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Tips & Tricks – March 2010

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

This month in Tips & Tricks we show you how to:

  1. Invoice multiple jobs at once,
  2. Set up your client side simPRO login, and
  3. Decide on who gets a Christmas Hamper this year.

Invoice multiple jobs at once

Do you do heaps of smaller jobs that could be invoiced without manual intervention or checking every single one?  What about using recurring jobs or jobs from the maintenance planner that you know are already at the correct rate?  You ask “Why oh why do I need to go into each one to send the invoice?”

Answer, you don’t. (more…)

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How to use an integrated web strategy to grow business

Monday, March 8th, 2010

In most business environments there is a high level of competition for your buyer’s attention. And it’s the same on the Internet, too. Most people venturing into their first website have a somewhat misguided version of how the Internet will help their business.

There seems to be a belief that the oft-quoted line from Kevin Costner’s Field of Dreams movie, “If you build it, they will come” applies to websites.

It’s as if you build a website and suddenly hundreds of new customers will appear. That just because you’ve built a website the search engines will suddenly give you a page 1 ranking.

The reality is that if you consider how many websites there are competing for the search engine’s attention, and then consider that the search engines rank pages, not sites, you get some idea of the degree of difficulty.

(more…)

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Mapping of Jobs and Vehicles

Monday, February 8th, 2010

As you may have noticed in one of the latest simPRO updates, it is now possible to map your jobs geographically.  Mapping of jobs has been in high demand from many simPRO clients and has proven to have many benefits.  The most beneficial impact of job mapping is controlling costs; as it enables you to see the location of each job on the map within the scheduling screen, enabling you minimise travel time and maximise billable time on site, creating the most economical way to do these jobs, and lets face it –petrol is not going down in price! (more…)

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Tips and Tricks – February 2010

Friday, February 5th, 2010

With the constant development of the simPRO software to improve functionality for our users we have decided to share tips & tricks with you regularly so that you can get more out of simPRO.  This month we are going to have a look at a couple of smaller tips to get you using your system more effectively.

February’s Tips and Tricks include – Employee activity, Un-invoiced jobs, Online Resource, Convert tasks to jobs/invoices

Employee activity

Ever wanted to know about what was happening in your simPRO system by whom?  Traditionally you could always look at the log of a job or quote to find out what has happened, though what about an entire activity report so you can ensure that you’re getting the productivity you require or retrace your own steps to find that missing link of some changes you have made. (more…)

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