Mike explained that
since all the ‘programming’ is done in ASP pages, the utilities can easily
be tailored to suit an individual user’s needs and do not need to be
installed, just copied to a folder linked to the user’s intranet web server.
As such these utilities are more of a service than a product.
Mike also pointed out
that because all data is retrieved using stored procedures, Dream’s security
levels can be taken into account or ignored by changing the stored
procedures, which is both fast and relatively simple. To change security
would not require a change to either the ‘program’ or the database.
Remote Data
Collection
Steve Eggington of
Trakware Solutions gave a presentation about ‘Data Exchange’, a system he
has designed which allows data to be remotely collected on a hand-held
device and stored temporarily in ‘data pockets’ on the internet before being
pulled down into the user’s back office system at a convenient time and in a
secure manner. The system also allows data to be pushed from the back office
to a data pocket to be collected by the hand-held device when it is next
online.
This system supports the
trend towards transfer of data by wireless technologies such as the 3G
network.
Trakware’s system has
the advantages that it is easy to use, can be bought and set up at low cost,
can be customised easily, is secure and has 24/7 availability.
Time Recording
Bruce Adams writes:
Phil Jones of Timewatch
presented a Scheduling, Time & Expense Recording, Reporting and Invoicing
system. He explained that it is not a project modelling system but a
resource scheduling tool so that once resources have been scheduled on
different projects jobs and tasks, timesheets may be completed to allow
report and invoicing.
The Timewatch scheduling
system called Whitespace allows you to view all resources and group them
according to things like location, skill set, department working patterns.
It is possible to colour code different booking types so you can quickly see
if staff are working on billable or non-billable time.
Many clients use the
system as a project management tool to enable them to view who is working on
what project and when. So scheduling allows you to resource more
effectively, accurately and efficiently. Using the Whitespace scheduling
tool as a manager it is possible to see what everybody should be doing. This
is then linked into a Time Recording system which is very simple to operate.
At a basic level it
shows what project / job people have been working on, what day and how many
hours. Stages and tasks can also be shown within a projects, plus
descriptive Activity field such as Travelling, Meeting and Report Writing.
Personal expenses that have been incurred can be entered. To make it as
simple as possible all time is entered here - holidays, doctors appointment
and the like.
Reporting is easy and
simple to use system. From simple standard drilldowns at a Job, Customer or
Employee level that can be sent to Excel to more sophisticated project
management, utilization reports. In fact as we are using Crystal Reports
from Business Objects as long as the data is there you are able to report on
it.
Document Scanning (1)
Natalie Sharp of Version
One gave a presentation about their system of scanning and storing
documents. The Version One system is aimed at companies with the necessary
volume of incoming purchase invoices.
The system offers the
user speed, efficiency, cost savings and improved access to documents. At
its core is a database system called DbArchive, where documents are stored
and indexed. Invoices are scanned and at the time of scanning the DbCapture
system collects data about the supplier, document number, etc and uses this
information to index the scanned image file. A typical scanner necessary for
this type of work would be a Kodak machine costing about £3000.
A very sophisticated
system collects data from scanned documents as they are scanned, and uses
supplier-specific templates to identify the documents and read the details
into DbArchive. There is a full monitoring system for what’s been scanned
and users can easily see where any uncertain data needs to be checked.
The system is capable of
more than scanning incoming documents, however. Outgoing documents such as
purchase orders can be captured from a print spool file and stored/ indexed
in the same way, reducing the need to keep file copies.
A company using this
system would benefit from reduced invoice approval times.
Document Scanning (2)
Mike Booty gave a
demonstration of an alternative approach to document scanning and storage,
appropriate to a user with a smaller number of documents to scan and store.
The Sorsis solution, a
windows forms (dot NET) solution, uses a scanner bought from PC World for
£70 and a smaller piece of software developed by them.
This system works rather
differently in that the document to be scanned is first posted to Dream, and
on posting a small label with a bar-code is generated using the intercompany
posting feature in Dream which produces a small XML file and then the ‘Post
& Print’ feature which prints the label using the XML file after posting.
The label is attached to
the document which is then scanned as part of a continuous batch of pages
fed through the scanner. The system detects the presence of the label and
knows a new document has been started. It reads the bar-code and so knows
the document number. The scanned images are held by the program and when the
user confirms the correct numbering and paging sequence, they are saved to
disc linked to the document number and the attachment is linked to the
document in Dream (Mike please forgive me if I’ve got this wrong – I’ll
correct it in the full web version of this report).
The Evening
The meeting decamped to
the Holiday Inn in Leamington Spa, where we enjoyed a relaxed dinner,
followed by a wine tasting evening hosted by Bob Price of the Birmingham
Wine School, at which a few myths and several certainties were blown
unceremoniously away!
DAY TWO