The march of time for our industry knows no limit. And as such, we are quickly entering the annual Holiday season again, where many of us will have limited availability due to some well-deserved time off from the daily grind of business. Nevertheless, the demand from our clientele does not relent with the arrival of said season.
With this in mind, we'd like to highlight key features of the SI platform that can help you maintain productivity during this time. We're committed to ensuring you have the resources and support needed to address common year-end challenges.
For those of you who are ready to “get with the program” and upgrade your prior version of SI, please reach out to our Customer Success team. Moreover, for those of you who are still considering the acquisition of D-Tools SI software, please reach out to our Account Management team.
In today’s day and age, is there anything more relevant or important than your team’s data? In SI, this data not only provides our users with critical information but also contributes to the collective presentation of various milestones and convergence points in the software.
In terms of speed of access, here we’ll focus on some methods and techniques to get some quick answers for those most urgent times of need.
Perhaps you need some aspect of client information for an emergency purpose - then look no further than the SI Client Explorer.
Client Explorer displays all contact information for your clients in one centralized view. While this comprehensive data is valuable, it can sometimes feel overwhelming.
To streamline your view, use these built-in tools:
These tools help you focus on what matters most for each situation, giving you faster access to the information you need.
You can also use Custom Fields to add data that isn't native to SI. For example, create fields to track:
Custom Fields support multiple data types including text, dates, yes/no checkboxes, list entries, and hyperlinks. This flexibility allows you to capture exactly the information your business needs for each client.
Client Custom Field Types
SI has 24 custom fields for clients.
If you’re curious about how a client’s service record is going with your team. Well here’s where SI’s Service Order Explorer can assist.
There are key details and data points that can make an initial review somewhat challenging, but as previously mentioned, using tools such as the search option, filtering, and layouts will greatly assist SI users in extracting the desired information quickly.
Considering the use of custom layouts again, one can use this data structure to quickly glean the desired information accordingly:
So if you need to know the Status of your client’s Service Order, users can filter to that client’s record and review the designation accordingly:
If numerous Service Orders are returned in the records, you can use this nice little trick in Layout to better organize your view. Simply left-click and hold on the column header of Status and lift it up one row. This will yield a new view where your SOs are organized by Status.
Custom Layouts work here too—including Custom Fields you've created—so you can display exactly the service order information you need.
Speaking of gleaning data quickly, nothing delivers this in SI like the Workflow Rule notifications do.
These in-app presentations offer a lot of information at a quick glance, but the email version is where even better details can potentially be found.
Per the Insert Field function within the structure of these Workflow Rules, this is where your team can craft the inclusion of key details about the event for those being notified.
Workflow Rule notifications are available for Projects, Purchase Orders, Tasks, Service Orders, and Service Plans.
Each with its own criteria and data sets respective to its application within SI. We strongly recommend you indulge yourself in the use of this mechanism so that SI can deliver essential data at critical junctures of your team’s efforts.
Well, in terms of data presentations, perhaps nothing has quite revolutionized SI like our Business Analytics has.
Business Analytics provides fast access to critical data across all SI modules: leads, projects, POs, tasks, and service orders.
View this information through dashboard widgets on your home page or dive deeper with dedicated reports in the Business Analytics module.
For example, sales teams can use Business Analytics to track leads and bids throughout the entire sales cycle, identifying opportunities and bottlenecks at a glance.
To get started, open the Business Analytics module in SI and explore the pre-built reports for your area of focus.
From there, identify the source of the analytic you wish to create:
After selecting your filters, you'll see real-time data for the leads and prospects you and your team are actively working on.
Once your bid is an active Project in SI, you can then use the Projects section to review related data there:
A finely crafted analytic can yield such data accordingly in a column, bar, pie, or table display:
The great thing about any of this data that is displayed is that it can very easily be exported to Excel for further computation. This can be extremely helpful when reviewing values such as potential sales totals and/or profits:
Cloning in SI lets you create new records based on existing ones—saving you from re-entering repetitive information. You can clone clients, catalog items, POs, tasks, service orders, and even entire projects.
And this can apply when it matters most, as in the case of a Service Order. For example, your team needs to run yet another service call for one of your top clients. Well, your team can easily and quickly right-click on any prior Service Order in SI in order to create the new one.
When engaged, this process can access prior data such as the client, any linked SI Project, the SO name, the SO description, SO items, resources, and even your team’s SO checklist. All data will pre-load into the new SO.
As a result, your team may only need to update the description and date fields to immediately dispatch the ticket to your field techs. If needed, any of these fields in the newly “cloned” Service Order can be modified accordingly.
Cloning works the same way for Clients, POs, Tasks, and Catalog Items: right-click any existing record and select 'Clone' from the menu.
Once the item “cloning” is complete, one needs only update the model number and other details accordingly in order to have a newly created one based on the old.
This entry would not be complete without a quick note on the cloning of an SI Project. In perhaps the single greatest data transfer on our platform, the cloning of an SI Project can speed along the process of a new bid creation that can include client details, location and system designation assignments, taxes, scope of work documents, products and labor items with pricing, as well as a fully engineered Visio or Auto-CAD drawing.
For those not familiar with this process, it is identical to creating a new Project in SI, as the Project Wizard will appear to aid users:
From here, it is the exact same steps as the regular Project Wizard that can be updated incrementally or skipped entirely by clicking Save in the bottom right corner (which can speed up the process tremendously if the data is the same for the new Project).
Just be sure to include the appropriate document and design drawing files if need be:
Certainly a must for teams that are able to repeat prior project success within the bid scope in order to launch their new estimate opportunities.
Related to the use of Project data, reporting in SI is also something that teams can engage in with regular rapidity.
(2) icons are anchored to the Reports tab in your SI Project and SI Project Explorer:
By default they are labeled Project Summary and Quick Quote. The former is a management-level report not intended for client eyes, and the latter is a short but sweet document that pulls all of a Project’s values together in a succinct 2-3 page display. Of course, this length could vary based on the inclusion of your Project’s bill of materials.
These default reports work well for most teams, but you're not limited to them. SI lets you choose from additional report types in the Reports section. Alas, that is no problem as SI enables users to determine exactly what reports can be accessed here, along with the name of the icon that will show.
This feature can be found in SI’s Report Settings under the default reports section:
In the Reports section, you'll see options for all available reports—including the two defaults we just discussed, plus any custom reports or report groups your team has created.
Click on the report you want to generate. A dropdown menu appears with placement options, letting you add custom text or notes to specific sections of the report. Choose where you want your text to appear, add your content, and you're done.
This flexibility means you can personalize reports for specific clients or situations without creating entirely new report templates.
Another area of reporting that is relatively quick is SI’s Job Costs reports. Still relatively new to SI, the Job Cost report gives our users quick access to unprecedented data related to a Project’s estimated and actual costs.
Unlike other areas of SI’s reporting, this mechanism is on the Project Explorer ribbon (just be sure to select the “Home” tab):
Recommended to be run by Labor Type, these Job Cost reports display your project values with cost, price, and variance columns related to products, labor, and labor hours.
This mechanism can be used for a single Project or multiple Projects filtered to a specific data point (i.e. sales estimator, client, date, status, etc.).
And like all report data in SI, these presentations can be exported to Excel further analysis there.
Well there it is! A look into a few aspects of d-Tools SI v23 that can help our users gain quick access, insights, and data related to various situations in SI.
Nevertheless, as always, there is much more than just these features to keep in mind for your team’s usage, so please reach out to our account team for more information on all of the above and more!
Looking Ahead: SI V23 and beyond
The last few years have seen tremendous updates and enhancements to the System Integrator platform. With each successive development and addition, D-Tools has shown itself to be fully engaged in bringing to market one of the most effective software platforms available.
Further, the updates in v23 (and prior recent releases) reflect our commitment to addressing the real-world challenges faced by system integrators. In addition, what’s to come will not disappoint.
With that in mind, D-Tools System Integrator v23 is more than just a software update—it’s a strategic partner for AV integrators navigating a complex and hectic industry landscape. By combining robust multi-office settings with seamless data synchronization, v23, not only empowers businesses to operate with unprecedented efficiency, but also offers the flexibility most teams need to craft a custom software environment to suit their needs.
Are you ready to experience SI v23? Then visit the D-Tools’ website to request a demonstration of these features or explore the full range of utilization with our PSG training and implementation team. With V23, as your ally, your business will be poised for a brighter and more profitable future.
Be sure to tune back in here for future installments on SI’s v23 and beyond.
Our team is continually evaluating ways to improve and enhance your team’s usage of and experience with our SI platform. Therefore, it behooves you and your team to explore these (and other features) as well by securing time with our Professional Services Group of SI and integration industry veterans in order to maximize your team’s ability to succeed with the software.
In closing…
For more information on these and other features of SI, please see this link: D-Tools v23. You can also review our other videos and our usual support documentation.
You can also get more detailed information about v23 via our upcoming webinars and by enrolling in SI training with our PSG team.
And don’t forget, that’s why we are here…to ensure your success with our product! Be sure to check back here next time for more on v23!!!