Development Update - July
You may have seen from social media that UtilityClick has been growing significantly. Here on the dev team, we're happy to say that this expansion has also bled over into our department, as this month we welcomed two new senior .Net developers.
It's been an enjoyable few weeks getting them up to speed and they'll soon be ready to be let loose on the big projects.
Whilst they get up to speed with the system, we've been working hard on a particularly meaty assignment - upgrading our dashboards and reporting. It's really exciting to see it develop but it's not quite ready to be pushed for release just yet. There's been plenty of development on other fronts though; read on to see what we've released in July...
Meter Lookup With MPAN
We've added the ability to search for a site or meter location by MPAN. The whole process has been completely streamlined allowing you to now use either a postcode or meter. Once located, you can add the site directly from the search results. Watch a quick video on it here.
Built for: PRO CRM (UK Only)
Authenticate With Microsoft
We've added an optional extra so that teams can now authenticate to the majority of our services via an existing Microsoft login and password. Authentication changes to your account will require setup time so please speak to your account manager and we'll schedule a future date & time.
Create Commission Overviews
Previously when adding a new supplier you would need to add your own Commission Overviews for each addition (the commission overview section is where our customers upload commission information). Now, if you visit Analytics > Commissions > and click the "New Entry" button, there's a new option labelled "Create Missing Commission Overviews".
Built for: PRO CRM
Other bits and bobs...
We've also added the following other bits and bobs...
Improved History Logging For Contract Live Dates
Within your CRM PRO there's a history log of what's been changed by your team. We've expanded the logging within the contract details view, so amendments to live dates (via the termination and registration tab) are now recorded.
Built for: PRO CRM
Hide Annual Cost/Diff in PDF Quotes
An optional feature has been added to allow "Total Cost" and "Annual Diff" columns to be hidden when generating a PDF from an Instant Quote. This option can be turned on so that admin users are able to control its visibility within their account (under Admin>Settings).
Add New Capacity Charge Type (£/kva/day)
Some suppliers (e.g. Npower) include a capacity charge in units of £ kVa/d. We've now included this value so it's visible and exportable in our quoting tool.
Built for: PRO CRM (UK Only)
That’s it for this month.
Our software evolves at such an exciting rate so please feel free to get in touch to discuss any of the functionality we’ve added since you last saw it. We’ll be more than happy to arrange a demo to show you around!
Development Update - June
This month:
June has most definitely been a 'SPEED' month here on the dev team.
We love these tasks - they're not necessarily about adding a new feature but finding creative ways to make a process quicker.
When looking to subscribe to a new software package, primarily you're looking to see if it does A, B or C. However the often-forgotten element is: How quickly can it do A, B or C? If your software is slow, it not only adds time to a task, but breaks your rhythm too.
Read on to learn how we've engaged the afterburners for our users by adding bulk management tools and adapted the way our system exports data.
Speedier Data Exports
If you have a lot of data loaded then system exports can take a long time to be ready. We've rewritten each module using pure SQL code, which means requested exports will now complete much faster.
Built for: UKUSA
Bulk Reassigning Customers
We realise the unnecessary admin required if you need to make wholesale changes to a customer. We've now made it super easy for you to bulk reassign customers based on changes to your team.
Built for: UKUSA
Other bits and bobs...
We've also added the following other bits and bobs...
"Business Type" added to Data Export
A new column has been added to Sales Export to help differentiate between Custom/Bespoke and Matrix opportunities.
Built for: UKUSA
New "Lost" Status
When managing your Pipeline and selecting a deal status of "Lost Contract" - a new "Duplicate" option can now be selected for "Reason for Loss".
Built for: UKUSA
Scottish Power Pricing Zones Updated
We fixed an issue with Scottish Power pricing where gas quotes needed amending depending on Zone Type.
Built for: UK
Verbal Script Commission Warning
We've added an optional feature when generating a verbal script. You can now prefix a script with an additional disclaimer, explaining the process of adding a commission rate to any deal.
Built for: UKUSA
"Referral Partner" field added to Customer template
When bulk uploading customers you can now include a "Referral Partner" that will subsequently be shown within the system. Download the latest customer template from your Admin area to use.
Built for: UKUSA
MAKE SITES / METERS INACTIVE WHEN CUSTOMER IS MADE INACTIVE
Currently, making a customer inactive does not automatically make associated meters inactive. This optional feature will ensure that any sites and meters associated with an inactive customer are also set to inactive.
Built for: UKUSA
Non-UC Admins Can Delete Failed Imports
User levels below Admin are now able to remove any failed data imports.
Built for: UKUSA
Improved Referral Partner Export
We've sped up your workflow by allowing the month and year fields to be left blank when running a "Referral Commissions" export. If left blank all available data will be exported.
Built for: UKUSA
That’s it for this month.
Our software evolves at such an exciting rate so please feel free to get in touch to discuss any of the functionality we’ve added since you last saw it. We’ll be more than happy to arrange a demo to show you around!
Development Update - May
This month:
The month of May has been a bitty one in the dev team.
New feature ideas come from all sources. As you might imagine, most are spawned from our customers but many are generated by staff and some are simply dictated by industry change.
The priority of each feature idea can vary for numerous reasons but two common traits considered are "How long will it take to develop?" vs. "How many customers will it help?".
As mentioned, for one reason or another, this month it's the 'bitty' features that have taken our priority. They're relatively quick to develop compared to the showstoppers but when combined, you have a set of new features that will hopefully help the many.
Read on to find out more about each of these features.
Supplier Pricing Participation
You can now mark whether a Supplier will be participating within a tender/custom pricing request. Suppliers can also update the flag within their portals. Ideal for keeping on top of who will be quoting on pricing day.
Built for: UKUSASupplierLinks
Parent/Child Pipeline UI
We've updated the system interface to make it much easier to review your Parent/Child portfolios. You can now use a collapsible grid to easily view all child contracts linked to a single parent contract.
Built for: UKUSASupplierLinks
Show rates in dollars rather than cents
We've listened based on your feedback and updated the system accordingly. Rates in the USA system can now be shown in dollars as well as cents.
Built for: USA
Other bits and bobs...
We've also added the following other bits and bobs...
System Export enhancements
Numerous columns have been added to data export across the entire system, providing a more detailed level of reporting.
Built for: UKUSA
History Logging - Leads and Contracts
History logging within Leads and Contracts have been improved to help you monitor even more changes with your data.
Built for: UKUSA
Business Type added to Contracts, Tenders & Sales Exports
Business Type has been added to Contracts, Tenders & Sales Export reports.
Built for: UKUSA
User Type access applied to Employee Payments section
Based on customer feedback, we have added User-Level access to the Employee Payment section of the system.
Built for: UKUSA
Option To Exclude Completed Activities from Activities Export
A tick box has been added to the Activities Export page to allow you to exclude completed activities from the report.
Built for: UKUSA
Suppliers with no relationships excluded from matrix pricing
We have amended the system to only show by default matrix pricing for suppliers that are marked as No Relationship within the supplier section.
Built for: UKUSA
Other field added to Supplier Contacts
A new field called Other has been added to Supplier Contacts so that you can also add contacts that don't fit into our pre-set categories.
Built for: UKUSA
Bug fix - changing meter/account usage
We have fixed a bug that was causing an error screen when changing usage figures within a tender/custom pricing request
Built for: UKUSA
That’s it for this month.
Our software evolves at such an exciting rate so please feel free to get in touch to discuss any of the functionality we’ve added since you last saw it. We’ll be more than happy to arrange a demo to show you around!
Development Update - April
This month:
It's been another busy month for the dev team. Although (in the UK at least), we've had a lot of national and school holidays (Easter), we've by no means slowed our usually high-paced release schedule.
The phrase "Time and tide wait for no man" comes to mind... but it should really be rewritten to "Time, new features and tide wait for no man".
Here are a few of the items that have taken the bulk of the team's time this month, together with a brief description:
Employee Payment Terms
We've added a brand new feature as an enhancement to our Commissions module. You can now create your employee payment profiles. The system will then report to you the monthly payments due to your internal agents!
Monthly Usage Tool
When switched on it will allow you to store monthly usage interval data you hold for the meter in question, feeding into your commissions. Simply locate the relevant file, upload and let the UtilityClick system do the rest.
We've completed the US phase of this feature. Next month we plan to begin the implementation process on the UK system.
Other bits and bobs...
It's never just about the big projects. We've also added the following other bits and bobs...
HH MATRIX LOOKUP ADJUSTMENTS
The system has been enhanced to return the appropriate Available Capacity rate based on kVA banding levels.
CLICK-TO-DIAL TOOLTIP UPDATE
The click-to-dial tooltip has been updated to show the phone number for the appropriate contact for those TPIs not using the dialler integrator software.
LEAD EXPORT OPTIMISATION
Exporting lead data from the system for our TPIs who have lots of leads was taking a while. We've optimised the export now to reduce waiting times for accessing the report.
NEW ACTIVITY TYPE
We've added "Tender Refresh" to our list of Tender Activity Types. Ideal when your customer doesn't sign down the first time around!
ACTIVITY EXPORT IMPROVEMENT
The time that an activity is created/due/completed has now been added to the activity export report.
CUSTOMER PORTAL UPDATE
The product name for quotes/contracts has been added to the customer portal to help your end-user customers on tender day.
"NO ACCESS" USERS
These are users who can be added for internal purposes but do not increase the cost of subscription.
SPEED INCREASE FOR TENDER CREATION
We've made speed improvements to the creation of major tenders - with bigger optimisations on the way soon!
That’s it for this month.
Our software evolves at such an exciting rate so please feel free to get in touch to discuss any of the functionality we’ve added since you last saw it. We’ll be more than happy to arrange a demo to show you around!
Meet Bill Val - Beep beep
At the end of last year, we announced that our new product, Bill Val, had entered a beta phase and was ready to demo. We were rather delighted with the clamour from customers to check it out.
After 2 months of gathering feedback and refining, we’re excited to declare it’s now officially ready and being used in earnest by our customers.
But what is it?
Studies suggest that
"...as many as 1 in 5 utility bills contain errors that could cause the recipient to overpay."
With our new Bill Val product, you can give your clients peace of mind that their bills are thoroughly checked prior to payment.
It’s a tool that allows you to upload bill data direct files from the supplier straight to our system. Once uploaded our system systematically examines each entry to ensure it’s correct.
* Source: www.energylivenews.com
How does it work?
Import your bill data file from the Supplier (.EDI, .CSV, .XLS, etc.).
Our system thoroughly performs all relevant checks.
Any errors are clearly marked ready to be actioned or reported on.
Wait, there's more!
We’re investing heavily in Bill Val, with our dev team currently busy working away on additional power management features. If you sign up for our current Bill Val product you’ll be able to shape the evolution of future improvements, plus early adopters will benefit from favourable subscription reductions on any prospective upgrades.