Mercury Mobile Engineer App Changes

I have updated Mercury Mobile Engineer (MME) App to allow entry of a customer’s printed name alongside the customer’s signature.  In addition ,the green ‘Complete Job’ button has been renamed ‘Action Job’, and this now leads to a sub-menu of options.  The ‘Complete Job’ button still exists, however now you can also ‘Action’ a job so that it is marked as done within your engineer’s device, but this will not change the status of the job on the server.  The diary now contains an ‘Act?’ (Actioned) column in addition to the ‘Com?’ (Completed) column.  There are also new fields to record the arrival and departure times for each job.

Consequently, Mercury Systems and Mercury Background Tasks has been updated – Mercury Systems version 249 is now available.  Some customers have already been updated so if any workstations are still in Mercury Systems please close and re-open the software.  If your main server/pc is still using an earlier version, please update as soon as possible.

Any other issues or feedback please let me know.

Mercury Mobile Engineer App

It was recently brought to my attention that photos are being cropped within the Mercury Mobile Engineer app.

Over the last few days I have been working on the problem and I am now pleased to report that the issue is resolved:  photos are no longer being cropped within the App – what you see within the camera viewfinder should be what is displayed within the thumbnail images, and this in turn should be received in full onto your main server system.

Any other issues or feedback please let me know

Microsoft Windows 10…

In June I emailed you to say don’t update your pc’s to Microsoft’s new Windows 10 operating system just yet until I had tested Mercury Systems and its sub-components to ensure the programs still work correctly after the update.

I am happy to report that two machines now are running Mercury Systems over Windows 10 without a problem.

• Machine #1 is a laptop of mine, originally running Windows 7 with Mercury Systems already installed
• Machine #2 is a customer’s brand new pc running Windows 10 pre-installed by the manufacturer, with Mercury Systems installed afresh.

In both cases Mercury Systems installed and ran without issue, including vital sub-components such as Crystal reports.  Whilst you could argue that only two machines running Windows 10 isn’t considered comprehensive testing, it’s looking good so far.

As far as Mercury Systems is concerned, I have no problem with you upgrading your pc’s to Windows 10, should you choose to do so.  Windows 10 would be a good option if you are currently using Windows 8 or 8.1, as I think Windows 10 is much better.  For additional peace of mind, for 30 days after upgrading, Microsoft will allow you to roll back the installation to the earlier operating system if you need to.

It may still be best to wait for another month or two before upgrading, as any major issues immediately after release will be found and fixed by Microsoft during that time.  So far, Microsoft is releasing the update free-of-charge to Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 customers, and I don’t know how long this offer will be available for.

A new feature to help with selecting existing clients…

As you know, when creating a new client record you are supposed to first open ‘List Clients’ and check whether the client is already contained within the database (to avoid duplicating the client).  This can take some time.

I have now added a new feature that will allow you to open the ‘New Client’ screen first, type in the client’s surname as usual, and then press return (enter).  This will open a ‘Quick-Find’ screen and automatically shortlist the matching client records.  If the client is found, simply double-click the record to load that client into the Client Details form.  If the client is not found, press escape to close the Quick-Find screen.

Hopefully this will shave a few seconds off creating a new service job or sales invoice.

This new feature will be included in the next update, which will be released towards the end of July.

Up-coming changes to Client Interactive History, Job History, Job Private History and Send Email Log screens

Some important changes are being made to the above-mentioned screens.  Effectively, these separate screens will disappear and be replaced by one ‘super’ screen that will centralise all history, communications records and activity for a selected client and/or job.  The new screen will more clearly show history entries made at client level, job level, and messages sent to the customer via SMS or Email, giving you a more concise view of client / job interaction.

These changes will be included in the next update, which will be released towards the end of July.

Microsoft Windows 10…

Many of you will have noticed a new icon in the system tray (bottom right corner) from Microsoft offering to upgrade your existing Windows 7 or Windows 8 operating systems to the up-coming Windows 10 operating system, free-of-charge when it is released in late July.

Whilst it is certainly tempting to do this, please bear in mind that we don’t yet know whether any compatibility issues will occur with your existing software programs (I am referring specifically of course to Mercury Systems, but this also applies to other software you use on a daily basis).

I have instructed one of my test machines to obtain the upgrade when it is released, and I will know very quickly following the upgrade whether any problems exist with Mercury Systems itself, Crystal Reports, or other 3^rd party components used within Mercury Systems.

So, my suggestion is to NOT hit the button to obtain a free upgrade for the time being (ensure your staff are also aware) – I will keep you all advised of the results of the upgrade on my test machine…

1. Upcoming Vacation

This is a reminder that I am away on vacation at the end of Thursday 7^th May and back at my desk on Monday 25^th May.  I will have email and some Skype capability, however this is only for emergencies so please don’t make any major changes to your computers or network until I return.

2. Support Hours

Standard support hours (when I am not on vacation…) are from 1:30pm to 6:30pm Monday to Friday.  I may be available after 6:30pm by appointment only.  Since most customer businesses close around 6pm or earlier, I am sure you will appreciate it is not a good use of time for me to wait for an occasional phone call outside of these hours, unless it is by prior appointment.

3. Mercury Systems - Annual Software Maintenance, And What It Covers...

Occasionally I get requests for new work that customers mistakenly believe should be covered by their annual software maintenance premium.

• So just to clarify, the annual software maintenance premium covers the following:-
• Software updates relating to bug fixes
• Software updates relating to new features and additions
• Technical support (by remote connection, email and telephone) during standard support hours
• Training / “How do I do…” questions during standard support hours

…essentially anything that relates to an issue with Mercury Systems (that is caused by Mercury Systems, and not due to other external factors), is covered by the maintenance premium.

I am also happy to assist, for an additional fee, if you have other issues with your network or computers such as:-

• Development of new programs, utilities and data-import routines to suit your specific requirements
• Removal of virus infections
• Printer and printing issues
• Router and firewall issues
• VPN (e.g. Hamachi) / remote connection
• Email / Internet
• Consultancy and general advice
• Additional custom reports

Please note that if you buy a new pc or server to replace an old machine running Mercury Systems, or if an existing pc or server operating system is damaged and everything needs re-installing, I can of course re-install Mercury Systems but be aware this is not covered by the annual software maintenance premium.  It is classed as ‘new work’ and is chargeable in most instances since it is the computer that has failed and not Mercury Systems (although you won’t need to purchase the software user license again).

If you have any queries re the above, please give me a call.