simPRO Update: The future of simPRO’s menu navigation has arrived

An exciting change is upon us! As part of our staggered approach in creating a new look for simPRO, the next phase will be rolling out from Sunday the 22nd of March.

Thanks to our users sharing idea’s on our Ideas Portal, we are also now giving you more visibility around the scheduled time of a job versus the actual time it took to complete.

Navigating through the future of simPRO’s interface

At simPRO we want to ensure our product is empowering you to get the most out of the functionality. The updates to our interface have been designed to give you more room on screen to view what's important, make navigation feel more natural and give simPRO a cleaner and more modern look.

What’s changing?

The most noticeable change that you will see is a shift of where our menu now sits. Previously located at the top of the screen in a horizontal line it has now been moved to sit vertically on the left-hand side. This provides a cleaner look and more room for your data to display on screen. Another added bonus is the increased visibility of your dashboard, job cards, schedules and anything else you view within simPRO.

Icons that speak for themselves

As an efficient space saver, our new menu can now be viewed as icons. But don't worry, if you love to see labels, just click the two arrows down the bottom of the menu bar and they will reappear!

A fresh way to access Alerts

Don’t worry, not everything has changed. The top menu bar (where you usually access Alerts, Help, VoIP, and your Account) is still in the same place but it has had a facelift with updated icons.

Toggle the new look on and off

New things can take time to get used to. With this in mind, we have installed a toggle that allows you to switch between both interface options. This gives you the chance to get familiar with our menu updates at a time that suits you and your busy schedule.

It is important to note that this toggle won’t be available forever, so jump in and ensure you become comfortable with the enhancements when you can.

All of the features you’re used to are still there

Your workflows will still function in exactly the same way as before.The key change is that now you will need to click in a different spot to access them.

We are here to help

Just like all other updates to simPRO we have learning resources which will be available from Saturday the 21st of March AEST to get you and your team members up to speed with what’s new.

• Visit the release notes on the Help Guide
• Check out the release material on the Learning | Toolbox
• Contact Support

Dive deeper into simPRO’s interface changes

For a more detailed summary of what has changed in our user interface, including all menu navigation updates, check out the Unveiling the new-look simPRO navigation blog.

Scheduled time vs actual time: how long did the job take?

What you plan isn't always what happens in reality. In the trade industry it doesn't take a lot for a job to become delayed. We expect the unexpected every day, but changes in the weather, a faulty tool, or another unanticipated situation can push out the amount of time required to finish the task at hand. Sometimes a job might even be much easier to complete than anticipated and ends up being wrapped up faster.

A more accurate understanding of this information can help you improve the quality of estimates, increase billable hours or keep your customers better informed. So when this occurs, it's handy to compare the time that was originally allocated against the actual time it took for the job to be completed. This is now possible in simPRO, and allows users to account for unexpected new factors when scheduling a similar job in future, providing a more accurate record of the entire workflow.

Easily record original scheduled and actual time on your job card

In the Schedule tab on your Job Card you will now see the Scheduled Time as well as Actual Time button. This can be viewed on the Job Card within simPRO as well as the PDF of the schedule.

A new report to compare

Along with this new recording functionality, you can also easily compare what was originally scheduled to field staff against their actual results, track time spent on the job and determine how accurate original scheduled times were.

What else is new in simPRO?

With every release, there are slight improvements in addition to the main features we’ve included above. You can read the outline of all the enhancements made in the dedicated release notes for 20.1.6 in our Help Guide.

As stated above this will be available on Saturday, March 21st AEST.

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