Visual RAMS-Pro and Visual ON-Route are two powerful software solutions that perform tens of thousands of processes during a single day of use. In addition, the optimal use of these solutions is intricately connected to the operating system, the local infrastructure and the internet capabilities of the site. If that is not enough, Alpine’s solutions are flexible enough to support multiple users in the office and multiple truck tablets in the field. To enable you to successfully manage your customers and fulfill your commitment to deliver the service they deserve, all these components must be aligned and coordinated like a symphony. What could possibly go wrong, right?
While every software company has its share of “bugs” that present themselves, Alpine has found that over 85% of the issue tickets it receives on a monthly basis are caused by user error. Over 10% of tickets are requests for additional services like reports, added routes, resequencing, etc… Only 5% of tickets fall into the category of a software “bug”. However, in most cases, even these issues can not be reproduced and remain unaddressed.
This blog series addresses the top user errors and how to avoid them. We figure if we spend some time addressing 85% of the issues, that will allow you to operate without interuption and free us up to continue developing powerful, usable software for your operation.
Tip#1-Log Off EVERY night
On the list of the main reasons why Visual RAMS-Pro may not be functioning correctly, this one would be #1. In every computing system, whether you are using a local sofware solution or web-based, rebooting is viewed as best-practice and necessary to the health of any system. Generally speaking, here are a few reasons why:
- Rebooting (or restarting) helps your system run more smoothly.
- Rebooting helps resolve peripheral or hardware issues
- A consistent reboot schedule keeps your machine more secure
- A reboot can fix most urgent issues with background updates, patches, etc…
- A reboot will refresh network settings and improve internet connectivity
- A reboot will save the work you have been doing
For those who consistently use VRP and have not logged out on a given evening, you may have experienced one (or all) of the following issues:
- A locked batch
- A process that would not run (like the End of Period process)
- An audit issue that you got when you ran the Audit Data Integrity process
- VRP froze up and you had to log out/log in to continue
- You could not archive user audit data for compliance and accountability. This process can only be run if everyone is logged out.
User errors happen, we undertand that. It is our goal to make sure that you and your team are trained well and made aware of how to avoid making errors that slow down your work.
One simple thing you can do each night to avoid issues is save any work you have done in VRP and logoff, then log out of AlpineLive using the red button on your desktop.
Stay tuned for more Tech Tips from Nick monthly. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call Steve at (888) 852-7267, ext 110.