Allocations

The Job Allocation Screen allows operators to dispatch jobs quickly, easily and--with mobile terminals--directly to drivers. Jobs can be:

• Allocated within one of the channel screens that the operator can switch between.
• Split between drivers.
• De-allocated and reallocated.
• Listed for each driver to show current driver work loads.

The new allocation system can handle multiple allocation screens with multiple channels on each. Allocators can put all of the channels on one screen on a quiet day, or split them up when allocation queues are longer.

Allocating jobs is now as easy as dragging cells around in a spreadsheet: just select one or more jobs, and drag them in to the driver or sub-contractor. Jobs can be dragged between drivers to reallocate, without first needing to be deallocated, or dragged back in to the jobs list to leave them deallocated.

Rates and Rules

Avance includes a powerful rate system to determine job charges and driver payments, and a rules system to:

• Determine which services are appropriate for a job.
• Determine the availability of job insurance.
• Specify which fields are mandatory for a particular service.
• Direct jobs to a particular allocation area or allocator.
• Determine the pick up and delivery time windows that are appropriate for the given service.

Basic rates can be tweaked by conditional rules that can apply for all customers, a particular customer or service, and even a particular customer and service. Conditions can include checks on:

• Distance,
• Pick up and delivery zone or suburb,
• Number and weight of items,
• Volume and dimension of items,
• Pick up date and time,
• Customer account age,
• Service class,
• Customer tags,
• Insurance status,
• Hazardous goods status,
• and many other variables.

Once a condition rule is matched (either while the booking is being taken or when the job charges are being finalised) the basic rates, futile charges, fuel levy rate and many other charging factors can be increased, decresed or completely overridden.

Zones and Zone Painting

Avance includes zone definitions for use in rates, rules, reporting and allocation screen filtering. Rather than managing lists of suburbs, an easy to use zone painter allows zones to be sketched out over a state or country wide suburb map. Suburb boundaries and names are included so that the suburbs included in a zone can be precisely controlled.

Comprehensive Reporting

Avance includes a comprehensive reporting system covering all aspects of operations and accounting. The reporting system is built with a flexible reporting engine; reports can be modified to suit specific company requirements or to fit a corporate style.

Every report can be exported to PDF, HTML, Excel, CSV, RTF or E-Mail. Some of the reports available are:

Wireless Connectivity

Talcasoft is always striving to reduce your technology costs while at the same time empowering you to provide better services to your customers. To harness the economies of scale that are constantly driving Android Smartphone prices down, we’ve developed a version of Gofer for off-the-shelf Android Smartphones.

• Gofer was developed at Talcasoft and is designed from the ground up to work with Avance.
• Gofer automatically maintains a connection to Avance, and is ready at all times to accept new jobs.

Gofer is available on a number of devices from the Intermec, Symbol, and other devices from Windows Mobile equipment manufacturers.

On models of mobile computers with bar-code scanners, the bar-code scanner can be used to quickly open consignments, scan consignment note barcodes, and even scan and track individual items.

Instant Job Information

When the day gets busy, errors and omissions in job requests are the last thing you need. Using mobile computers and the Gofer application, job information can be exchanged quickly and precisely--leading to improvements in operator and driver performance.

A mobile computer solution from Talcasoft and Gofer provides:

• Instant job transmission, with no chance for human error. The job details included on the mobile computer screen are an exact copy of the details available to the operator. Special instructions and communications between driver and operator are logged for future reference.
• The Driver is not distracted by new jobs, and does not need to stop to copy down information on jobs.
• The Blue Data network can dispatch jobs to anywhere in Australia where GPRS coverage is available.

Proof of Delivery

With Gofer, proof of delivery and proof of pickup information is propagated within seconds to customer service operators, and to customers. Each completed job includes an accurate pickup time, delivery time, and the name and signature of the person that released the consignment for pick up, and the person that accepted the delivery. Instant proof of delivery notifications and daily reports--with signatures--can be sent to customers via e-mail, downloaded from a website, faxed, or printed for posting.

Names, signatures, and parcel information can also be collected for multiple drops and permanent runs; even if a customer is paying an hourly rate under a single job number.

Unified Interface

Avance is designed to bring the normally disparate modules of a transport management system into one single unified system. Rather than using separate applications for each job role; accounts, bookings, or allocation for example, Avance brings these functions together.

Avance organises multiple forms using the Workspaces bar. Workspaces are areas that hold links to frequently used forms, open forms, and recently saved or changed forms.

The workspaces bar shows options that are applicable to the user that has signed in. For example, a user marked as a bookings only person will see only links relating to booking: leaving more space to display recently taken bookings and other bookings related information.

Flexible Models

Avance is designed to handle new and complex transport processes without sacrificing ease of use for common operations. A rules-based rate system, plug-ins system and completely redesigned job model are hidden behind clearer, simpler data entry forms.

Jobs are treated as a container for any number of consignments, and consignments can involve any number of legs and transfers. Service packages allow services to be determined automatically or with assistance from the operator for complex multi-leg jobs. Third-party legs can be allocated once they become ready to allocate and are tracked like any other leg.

Easy Setup and Administration

Administrators can setup and modify drivers, customers, rates, operator logins, operator access levels and other security settings from within the Avance user interface.

Online Booking

Move common customer queries from your call centre to the web, with Avance online booking. Every customer can be provided with a username and password, allowing them to log on to your Avance website to:

• Create new bookings.
• Upload jobs via CSV
• Delete Internet bookings before they have been dispatched.
• Check the details of existing and historical bookings.
• Track jobs with the current status, pickup and delivery times, and proof of pickup and delivery names and signatures.
• View the site on mobile devices such as mobile phones and tablets.

Driver Login

Drivers can also access Avance via the web where they are able to update their personal details saving you time and money in the administration department.

Business to Business Integration

Integration with customer information systems and sub-contractors is supported out of the box. Live information can be transmitted back to customers via the internet or the Talcasoft Gateway. Jobs can be dispatched to sub-contractors as if they were drivers; all of the details from the booking are made available to the sub-contractor; error-free and instantaneously.

We have various EDI solutions available as add-ons to Avance. Various services such as job importing through web services, Mass job creation through XML or CSV, CSV invoicing suitable to be imported into customer computer systems and Auto Allocation.

Meridian

Talcasoft Meridian integrates with Avance to provide accurate, real-time location tracking of vehicles and other assets. Each vehicle is fitted with a compact vehicle tracking module, which communicates with the Talcasoft Gateway using the GPRS network. Vehicle position updates can be recorded as often as 10 seconds, providing turn-by-turn and street-bystreet detail of vehicle activities.

Vehicle tracking information can be displayed either on detailed state-wide or national maps, or printed in summary reports for quick analysis or record-keeping.

Link Plus

Link plus is the communications hub for Talcasoft products. It links Avance and Meridian servers to the Talcasoft Gateway to collect information from mobile computers and vehicle tracking devices--and can also provide business to business communications.

Comprehensive Invoicing and Accounting

Avance includes an extremely flexible invoicing model that allows for:

• Invoicing periods selectable per business unit or even per customer.
• Invoicing schedule end dates per business unit or customer.
• Previewing individual pending invoices without doing an invoice run.
• Issuing an individual invoice at any time without requiring an invoice run.
• Creating any number of invoice runs for arbitrary periods, and controlling which business units, customers or even which individual invoices are included or excluded from the run.
• Limiting access so that a user can build an invoice run but requires an administrator to do the final approval of the run before issuing it.
• Keeping multiple concurrent invoice runs in the system during their processing and approval process.

The invoice system dispatches issued invoices in to a correspondence system that automatically e-mails or queues for printing the invoices.

Even as soon as the first job in an invoice period is closed, a pending invoice can be displayed for the customer. Pending invoices can also be issued outside of an invoice run, which is perfect for cash jobs or closing customer accounts.