Tool Tracking Newsletter, June 2016

June 2016 Newsletter – Android Release!

ShareMyToolbox for Android is here!

ShareMyToolbox for Android was released at the end of April as promised and is
available for download on Google Play. Now you can encourage those non-iPhone friends, family and co-workers to set up a tool catalog and connect!

Both our iPhone and Android apps were developed with native code, so there are a few minor differences. Please review our Android tutorials here which mainly concern workflow. On the iPhone you swipe left on the tool view to see action items, but on Android you long press.

We have about a dozen user interface items that will be released over the next month, so be patient with us. We want the app as clean as possible!

Download on Google Play.


Enhancements this month

Lots of cool things are under development and will be released this month before the CFMA conference. (I encourage all contractors to join this worthwhile organization).

We are overhauling the mobile dashbord to make it friendlier to Enterprise employees. The buttons have been shifted to add emphasis to connections and the terminology has been changed slightly.

Another minor change, but fairly significant is how notifications work. Many of you log into multiple devices, such as your iPhone and iPad. When you receive notifications they appear on both devices, however, only the first response is recorded. So there’s no worry about answering incorrectly on the second devive, but it is annoying. With the planned enhancement, we will be syncing notifications back to the server so if one message is answered no response is needed on other devices to clear the message.

As part of this update, we will now be sending notifications to admins on behalf of the tool owner. Note this is for Enterprise users only.

Probably our most significat enhancement to date (again for Enterprise only) is the ability to create virtual users though the web interface. Since ShareMyToolbox was designed on a peer-to-peer sharing technology, we required a connection to receive tools with an acceptance as part of the workflow. Based on your feedback, we recognized there were scenarios where this was not practical, such as:

  • An employee that does not have a smart phone or refuses to use the app, but still has tools assigned
  • A job trailer full of tools where multiple responsible parties could take stuff
  • A job where there was no responsible party for the tools stored there
  • A phased implementation where 5 employees would use the app today and 15 more in the future, but you still need to assign tools to everyone

Virtual users solve this problem by allowing Enterprise users to create connections without an email address and tools will automaticaly be accepted when assigned. Now when an admin or tool owner loans a tool, the connection list will show employees as well locations, jobs, trailers, trucks, etc. to receive the assignment. This will also apply to tool transfers in the field. The screen below shows the design for adding a connection when it’s released. Note that you will also be able to restrict which connections can assign a tool to a virtual user and you can designate connections that do not require acceptances. This will cut down on the quantity of notifications received.

Tutorials

 Are you using our tutorials? If not, I encourage you to click here and check them out!

On a final note, GO WARRIORS! #dubnation

Steph Curry and I share the same alma mater, so I wish them well in game 1 of the NBA finals. I apologize to my business partner, Chris Wirtz, from Cleveland!

As always, feel free to give us a call at (866) 768-TOOL if you need anything.