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February 22, 2001
New OpenAir services and features launched today:
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Suite-wide features: multilevel customizable approval process,
guest/client access, custom fields.
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Microsoft® Project
import: Import files from Microsoft®
Project into the
OpenAir Projects module.
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Projects: email alerts for task assignment, Resources
integration.
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Resources: company-wide and individual employee work, vacation,
etc. calendars.
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Expenses: additional expense report layout, new overdue
approval and other notifications.
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Timesheets: task dropdown on the time entry grid, new reports.
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Invoices: additions to Invoice layout, report showing exported
records, new Net 20 payment terms.
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Would you like to see previous OpenAir product updates?
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Suggestions, problems or questions?
1. Suite-wide features: multilevel customizable approval process,
guest/client access, custom fields.
Administrators can now customize Timesheets, Expenses, and Proposals approval
processes to accommodate multiple levels of approval, sequential approvals, group
approvals, and automatic approvals based on number of hours on a timesheet or dollar
limits on an expense report. Complete history and status logs record all transactions
and provide insight into approval bottlenecks. To create a customized approval process,
Administrators navigate to the Account tab in any module, click on the Approval
processes link, select Approval process from the New entries: Create dropdown, name the
approval process, configure the sequence of approvers and auto-approve rules, and save
the approval process. The Administrator can then assign any OpenAir user to the approval
process by navigating to the Account>User>[select appropriate user]>[scroll down
to approval process dropdowns].
Administrators can now permit a client, partner, or other guest to view specified
project plans, Gantt charts, and invoices. Guests use your company's ID but are given a
unique user ID and password so that all of your company's account data remains secure
and protected. The guest can only view data specified by you and cannot alter data in
any way. To set up a guest role, navigate to the Account tab in any module, select Role
in the New entries: Create dropdown, select Guest from the User/Guest drop down on the
form, name the role, and select any or all project plan, Gantt chart, and invoice
viewing rights. Then, navigate to Account>select User in the New entries: Create
dropdown>select guest user role in the Role drop down>assign the guest user to a
client>fill out the form for the guest who will access the system and assign the user
the guest role just created>click save>select the user just created in the user
list>select access control>choose the specific projects to which the guest has
access.
Administrators can now create customized fields in the following screens in a variety
of OpenAir modules from Opportunities to Expenses: Users, Client, Timebill, Receipt,
Project, Prospect, Deal, To do, Event, and Contact. Plus, many list views, such as lists
of to dos, can be customized to display and sort on data in custom fields.
Three additional suite-wide features include (1) ability to limit user data views by
project and by service, (2) customized report names now appear at the top of the report
when viewed, and (3) date format preferences can now be set on a user by user basis.
2. Microsoft® Project
import: Import files from Microsoft®
Project into the
OpenAir Projects module.
Project managers can now import Microsoft® Project files directly into the
OpenAir Projects module. Use the import the OpenAir Projects Connector to
import phases, tasks, start dates, task and phase durations, and
dependencies into your OpenAir account. Click here click here
to access the OpenAir Projects Connector and download it to a personal computer. The
connector is Microsoft
Windows compatible, and works with Win95/98, Windows NT/2000/Me operating system.
3. Projects: email alerts for task assignment, Resources
integration.
Project team members can now receive email notification when a project manager
assigns them a task. Project managers choose on a project-by-project basis to enable
this feature. Navigate to Projects>Tracked projects>[select appropriate
project]>Edit project>[scroll down to "Send a notification" check box].
Projects now also integrates more tightly with the Resources module. Employees can
now only be assigned a task on a project in the Projects module if they have been booked
to that project in the Resources module.
Three other new features include (1) ability to assign an owner to a project, (2)
ability to remove all sub-tasks/phases when deleting a task/phase, (3) ability to move a
phase or task into another project.
4. Resources: company-wide and individual-employee work and vacation
calendars.
OpenAir now better accommodates customized work calendars and vacation times for all
company employees and for individual employees. Executives who decide which days of the
week and how many hours per day all employees are expected to work - a default work
calendar such as Monday through Friday for eight hours per day - can now program in
these parameters into the OpenAir solution in the My Account>Company>Schedule
screen. Managers who know about employee-specific exceptions to days and hours worked
can note them by navigating to My Account>User>[select the appropriate
user]>Schedule screen. The user calendar settings override the company-wide settings.
The company-wide and individual employee calendars are used to calculate the availability
of an employee to be booked to a project in the Resources module and to drive phase and
task duration in the Projects module.
5. Expenses: additional expense report layout, new overdue approval
and other notifications.
Employees and managers can now use a new expense report layout to display their
expense information. The new layout provides additional date and expense type detail by
day. Navigate to Expenses>Layout screen. Users can also see more information on their
non-reimbursable expenses in the Expense>Reports tab.
Three new alert mechanisms include (1) email reminders for managers who have not
approved certain expense reports, (2) bolding of the names of expense reports awaiting
approval in managers' Submitted tab, (3) placing rejected expense reports in a new
Rejected tab.
6. Timesheets: task dropdown on the time entry grid, new view and
reports.
Administrators can now customize your company's Timesheets time entry grid so that
users are prompted to enter a task from a dropdown menu. Plus, Administrators can alter
the placement of the "Save" button on the Timesheet grid to make saving Timesheets more
convenient for users.
Several new detail reports displaying Timesheets data are available to users in the
Timesheets>Reports screen. Plus, the names of Timesheets awaiting a manager's
approval are bolded in that managers Timesheets view as a reminder.
7. Invoices: additions to Invoice layout, report showing exported
records, new Net 20 payment terms.
To further allow customization of Invoice layout, we have added a feature to allow
task and task notes to be displayed on an invoice. Navigate to
Invoices>Layout>[scroll to show columns on the invoice section]. Plus, managers
can add both a service and an expense detail on the Invoices on the same screen.
Continuing to add functionality to enable easy data export, we have added a report
that shows which Timebills in the Invoices module have been exported to an accounting or
financial package at your company. Navigate to Invoices>Reports.
Two additional Invoices features are (1) the ability to display "Net 20" payment
terms on your company's invoices (navigate to My
Account>Account>Clients>[select appropriate client]>[scroll down to "Payment
terms" dropdown]), and (2) additional audit trail information for EZ Invoices so that
users who send EZ Invoices can see the time of day he/she requested an EZ Invoice be
sent.
8. Would you like to see previous OpenAir product updates?
Click here to browse previous product updates including
all new features, modules and functionality.
9. Suggestions, problems or questions?
Call us and ask for support at 888.367.1288 from within the US or Canada, or
617.351.0226 from other locations. Or email us directly at support@openair.com.
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