Windows 8 and ZonePro

Just got a new Windows 8 laptop in the office and loaded the ZonePro SLQ demo to the desktop and it runs fine. Windows 8 is a big adjustment to use in general though. Bear in mind I've only been on it a few hours but it quite different from Windows 7. I don't know how popular it will be in the work environment. To me it seems more geared toward the home consumer. Also keep in mind that right now there are two different versions of Windows 8. I tested the version for PCs and laptops. There is also a version called Windows 8 RT for tablets that I believe only supports apps and would not therefor support the Windows version of ZonePro. You could still access it via your web interface though just like with an Android or Apple tablet.

Building Inspection Solo Print Option

I recently had a customer ask me if there was a way to print the notes from just one Building Inspection Detail instead of always printing them all. The scenario he painted was wanting to hand a contractor the notes from the final inspection without having to include the pages of notes that belonged to the inspections that had come prior. The existing Print button could not handle this request so I added a second Print button on the Notes tab that only prints the currently selected Inspection Detail. The download is available now. I also posted a short Training Video on the topic.

Use Group Reporting Video

The State of Ohio requires building departments to supply subtotals by Use Group of all the building permits they issue. You can easily obtain this information from ZonePro by following a few simple steps to add the "Use Group" field to a report and also add a "Use Group" sorting option to your report screen. A new Training Video shows you how!

Report & Document Backup Option

Your data is stored on the cloud in ZonePro SQL but your documents and reports are stored locally. This means that they are vulnerable to loss if something should happen to your local system. But, since every ZP SQL customer already has an internet account, there is no reason why we can't backup a copy of the \REPORTS folder and store it in the cloud too. This new feature is now available off of the Installed Modules Screen in Maintenance. To avoid clutter I created a new screen that houses several extra installation functions including two new ones. One lets you zip up your \REPORTS folder and upload it to your internet account as backup. The second lets you retrieve the stored REPORTS.ZIP file and unzip on your local machine. These two functions are useful for keeping your files protected and also for pushing changes to the files to users outside the office. You can download the update now and also watch a Training Video on the topic on our web site.

Contact Merging Training Videos

I have recently posted new Training Videos that cover the Contact File merging options discussed in the previous two posts. Check them out.

Auto Merge Option for Contacts

When we install a customer's ZonePro SQL data we separate out all the owner names from the property data and then run a routine to automatically seek out duplicate names and consolidate those Contact File records. Because this process happens without any user intervention we use a very conservative matching method, only merging Contact records that have the same First Name, Last Name, Street Number, and Street Name fields. Now this same function is available within ZonePro itself. From the Contact File Upkeep section in Maintenance you can click on an "Auto Merge" button to get to a new screen that shows you how many records match the strict duplication standard and allows you to merge all of those records with a single click. This is not an option you will run very often but it makes very short work of the process. It is useful to check it anytime you have added a lot of new names to the Contact database, such as after using the Compare Module.

Better Contact Merging

In the Contact File Upkeep option in Maintenance, ZonePro now does a smarter job of merging duplicate Contact names. It now checks all of the fields to see if the record-to-be-deleted has any information that is missing from the record-to-keep and copies those fields over as part of the merge process. It also appends any Notes information from the record-to-be-deleted to the record-to-keep. A new "Browse" button makes it easier to see all of the information available in the duplicate records so that you can make better decisions about which record should be the record-to-keep. The old, simpler, method of merging duplicate records that does not retain any extra information from the records-to-be-deleted is still available by right-clicking on the "Merge Names" button.