Frequently Asked Questions

Revision as of 00:42, 6 July 2005

Listed below are a series of frequently asked questions (FAQ) and answers related to EService in general. If there is insufficient information provided, or you wish to learn more about the suggested answers, please contact your local sales representative for more information.

When a SOAP connection is dropped (due to loss of connectivity for example), how does the customer's SOAP interface get status updated for jobs that have been updated by the PDA's during the outage?

There are several ways of doing this. The first is to wait until connectivity is re-established. Then, query the EService server for the details of all jobs that are in an open state in the client database. The job details returned will include all state updates from the PDA from the moment it was created, to the moment requested, with time stamps for every job event. Simply load the data into the client database.

Secondly, you can request the job details of all jobs created or updated between 2 time periods, use the last known good transmission time as the start time, and "now" as the end time, and you will get the job details of all jobs that were updated in that time period.

Thirdly, there is a system for marking jobs as synchronized on EService. If the client SOAP interface is using this system to mark jobs as they receive updates, after the outage, the client interface can simply request all unsynchronized jobs to receive the details of all jobs that have been updated during the connection downtime.

How do I get real time monitoring of jobs and their current state ?

EService / Service+ can be configured to send real time updates of jobs and their states to an external Web Service on a customers' internet server, providing it implements the EService CallBack Interface. A WSDL descriptor file of the interface is available on request.

Can multiple field devices / workers be assigned to the same job ?

There is a one-to-one relationship between an EService / Service+ job, and the field worker to which it is assigned. However, with appropriate setting changes, it is possible to ensure that each job created for the field workers on the same client job, are created with the same external reference for the job. It is then the task of the external application to coordinate the the status and progression of the job as a whole, as the field workers progress their individual tasks.

Can EService / Service+ provide inter organisation Job dispatch ?

This is not a standard feature of the generic version of EService / Service+.

However, limited inter company / Organisation job dispatch functionality can be achieved in the short term if the Organisation is using the SOAP API. Job data can easily be transferred from organisation to organisation, and the resulting status updates can be transferred back to the originating organisation.

A custom application would need to be developed to meet these requirements.

Is there a way of marking certain jobs as invoiced on my system, or marking customer records as exported ?

Each customer, resource, and job record on EService / Service+ server can be marked with any custom data you wish, along with a flag indicating whether your data is synchronized with the server record or not. This is a standard feature of the SOAP API, and further info on the methods involved can be found on the SOAP 3 Documentation page.

Can EService / Service+ have a parent job that child relationships can be created and added to ?

i.e. A main job is created then sub jobs involving additional trades / resources are created under this job. The main job would not be closed until all the sub jobs have completed.

See the answer under #Can multiple field devices / workers be assigned to the same job ?

Further features are under development.

Job History Access

Is there any way for a field technician to access a history of work done to an existing customer from their PDA?

They can only view what history they create against each job on the PDA up until the PDA deletes the Job. Once the job is deleted from the PDA there is no further access to history.

Two ways this may be dealt with:

   When the Dispatcher sends out the job, previous history is cut and pasted into the notes 
   field with the job.

   A web interface could be created by the customer that is separate to Service+ that
   hosts the job history and the mobile technician uses the Harrier browser to look up the
   relevant history when required.

Time Sheet Tracking Clock in / Cock Out)

Is there anyway for EService to accommodate a time sheeting function (clock in / clock out each day)?

Not in the current EService SuperWaba (v3.15) client release, but this has been included in the upcoming J2ME client (which is not a great help to you right now.) The dispatcher can look at the device page at any given time and see who is logged in and who is not and copy this info into XL. This is only useful if monitoring start and end of day times. Otherwise the technicians productivity can be reported on using reports.

Currently Time Sheet Tracking of Clock in / Cock Out functionality is only fully provided for with the timecard application.

Printing on site from PDA

Can mobile staff print invoices/job summaries on site (direct from PDA) with signature?

Yes this feature is in version 3.15

Is there a demo program or example file to learn how to use the SOAP API ?

Yes. More specifically, there is a CD sent out to developers who wish to create a program that connects to EService directly. The SOAP API allows a customer to bypass the Web Page interface, and directly connect their existing software (Job Management Application, sales program, accounting software, etc) to our EService Wireless Dispatch system. Jobs can be created, dispatched, completed, and reported on via the SOAP API, as well as reading, writing, and updating customer, resource, and user data.

How does a customer get to use this API ?

The customer purchases the right to use the SOAP API. The CD is then sent out to the developer for the customer, which if the company is large enough, will likely be the IT department head, or for smaller companies, a third party developer company they choose, or we suggest to them. The CD contains a working Test Client application capable of connecting to any of the EService servers, and to the organisation they specify, allowing them to exercise the API to retrieve and view details of their organisation on the server. It also contains the source code to the Test Client, plus full documentation, and links to the full API specification website. Finally, they are also given contact to me, to help support them with their development.

Is export via some sort of a file(s) possible ?

Directly from the Website, data can be exported as HTML files, and as CSV (Comma Separated Value) files, which can be read by most programs. Finally, a special program could be developed to read data from the SOAP interface, and write that data out into absolutely any format imaginable, at the cost of some development time, and purchasing rights to use the API.

Does the econz dispatch app have the ability to import dispatch data from an existing dispatch system ?

The SOAP API was originally designed and built for exactly this pupose. The API has been developed as a SOAP XML Web Service, which means it is based on a widely supported standard, and is supported by many languages and operating systems. Most developer environments, such as Microsofts' Visual Studio, and IBM's Eclipse-based Developer Environments, directly support Web Service integration. Depending on the sophistication of the dispatch system, a module can be written and added to it to allow it to directly comunicate with EService, or a stand-alone application can act as a go-between, transferring data between EService and the dispatch system.