New TATEMS Version 4.4.00 Preferences Video

We released a new version of TATEMS a couple of weeks ago and in this video I go over the new preferences options in this version update. Below this video you will also see a link to see a list of all 23 items in this update.

Here is the link to get the update:

http://tatems.com/updates

And to see the list of all 23 items included in this update click the link below:

tatems.com/updates/updatelist.cfm

I hope everything is going well for you and yours as we move into summer. I'm working hard on bring you more updates and also to get our TATEMS reminders software out of beta testing.

Thanks Again

How to get 25Gb of Cloud Storage for your TATEMS data and more… But there is a catch.

DropBox

I have been using a service called Dropbox a cool cloud storage service that I have installed on my desktop computer, my Android phone and my iPad.  It's a very cool and easy way to transfer things like photos from one device to the other.

For example, I can snap a picture on my phone and instantly upload it to DropBox and then later open it from my desktop computer or iPad.

I can also use it as an extra backup for data files or any document.

The only drawaback with Dropbox is that it only gives you 2 Gigabytes of space for free.  That may be enough for most people but if you need more starage there are some other options.

Google Drive

Google just came out with a similar new cloud storage service called Google Drive that gives you 5GB of storage for free. Google says that thier service will also be searchable using Google Search technology.  Google has apps for the Desktop and Android phones but not Apple devices yet.

Note: I just went to the Google Drive site and as of 2:30 PDT Arril 25, 2012 they are saying it's not ready. Although I was able to get it on my Android Phone. But after installing it on my Android Phone, I got the same message saying it's not ready but will notify me when it is

SkyDrive

That sounds good, but if you really want more free storage space Microsoft is offering 25GB of free storage with thier SkyDrive service.  But to get the free 25 GiGs you have to have to actuallt use the service before Monday April 30, 2012

You can use any of these services to save backup copies of your TATEMS data file or any other data for that matter off site.

To get the apps for these for your Mobile device just search for the service name or click the links above to get them on your desktop.

I just added some stuff to Microsoft Skydrive to make sure I get that free 25GB of storage and I reccomend you do too.

I don't see any reason not to use all three services for ultimate safety. 

Take care and have a great weekend.

3 New Spreadsheets (with video) to link to your TATEMS data

It's been a while since I last posted. I hope everything is going well for you and yours.

It's been interesting (foiled home invasion) around our house to say the least, more on that in a minute…

But first, some extras to help you get more out of TATEMS.

I just uploaded the the 3rd new spreadsheet since I last posted.

They are numbers 65, 66 and 67 on our spreadsheets page

TATEMS Maintenance Software Spreadsheets Page

Number 65 is called TATEMSReportDriverTotalMiles-KmTraveledPerEquipment and it will show you
How many miles or kilometers a driver has driven during his time assigned to that vehicle. It displays the following columns:

Serviced By
Equip #
Work Order ID
Date Requested
Short Descriptions
Detailed Description

Number 66 is called TATEMS-OpenWorkOrdersServicedByShortAndDetailedDescriptions and it will show you all the currently open work orders for all equipment along with the short description and detailed description for each open work order. It displays following columns:

Serviced By
Equip #
Work Order ID
Date Requested
Short Descriptions
Detailed Description

Number 67 is called TATEMS-WorkOrdersTotalsByMonthPerEquipment and it shows you all the costs for your work orders for each piece of equipment for each month. It will display the following columns:

Equip Num
Month
Year
Labor Totals
Parts Totals
Misc Totals
Discounts
Tax
Total Costs

Once you have your data linked from TATEMS to one of these Excel spreadsheets you can filter and sort it any way you wish.

I may create a video to show you these spreadsheets in action and how you can link them to your data. But in the meantime you can check out this previous video to help you get started.

So anyway, a couple days ago we had an attempted home invasion next store.

These people pull up in an old Chrysler Sebring and ring our doorbell first.

Of course our big dog Maya starts barking like crazy and my wife looks out and there is nobody there. So the dogs must have scared them off.

Then a few minutes later she looks out from upstairs and sees this big dude banging on the next door neighbors door. And he's jiggling the handle acting all agitated.

That neighbor does not live there full time and we know he's not home because we haven't seen him for a couple of weeks.

So my wife goes outside and says “What are you doing?” He says “The guy owes me money and I know he's in there” My wife says “I think you have the wrong house”.

He has a female accomplice with him and she looks like she comes from the other side of our neighbors house.

My wife goes back in the house and then she watches out the window and they take off in their car with no license plates on it.

So she goes back outside and notices that our neighbors door had a huge uneven hole about 2 feet in diameter up next to the lock.

Now she's worried that they saw her and she tells me our neighbors not going to be very happy.

So anyway we call the cops out and they talk to us but there isn't much they can do because the neighbor is not there to actually file a report.

They do enter his house and do a little CSI work. They also tried to jery rig the door so that you don't see the big gaping hole from the street.

So we'll see what becomes of it and thank God we have a big dog as a deterrent, although I'm seriously considering adding some other forms of home protection now.

Have a great week and feel free to Like, Tweet or comment below!

Marc

TATEMS Reminders Add-on Program Video Demo and a new spreadsheet Video too!

I hope you had a nice Christmas and New Year!

This first video is a demo of a new spreadsheet requested

It is called

TATEMSEquipPartsAndLaborTotalsWithCustomerAreaDeptLocationMakeModelYearAndCurrentODO

Another nice short (but descriptive) name, I know…

It was created because the client wanted to be able to see Parts and Labor Totals for Model and or Year of Equipment and other fields like Equipment Location.

It is spreadsheet number 64 at:

http://tatems.com/spreadsheets

I forgot to show you how to filter it by the columns at the top but you can see how on one of the other videos I made here:

http://blog.tatems.com/new-equipment-list-with-out-of-service-column-plus-video

at about the 40 second mark.

And this second video gives you about a 4 minute demo of the new TATEMS Reminders program that we are working on.

I did not use Zoom on the TATEMS Reminders video so you may want to click the Full Screen button on the lower right side of the player.

Let me know if you would like to see a custom spreadsheet created that we can share with our users too!

Make sure you click the Facebook like button and leave a comment if you would like to try the beta version of this new add-on.

Thanks Again And Have a Great Week!

Truck Driving Dog…Music Video of the Year?

Someone sent me this video and I thought it might be something you all would like too.

Enjoy!

We are almost done with our free add-on for current TATEMS owners or trial users
called TATEMS reminders.

It's a program that will run in the windows system tray without TATEMS having to be open.

It will display your reminders quicker than the reminders popup inside TATEMS and it will email any segment to any number of recipients you want on a daily, weekly or monthly schedule.

You'll also be able to email selected reminders lists to anyone on demand.

I'll post a demo video here next week, and maybe a download link if it's ready.

Thanks Again,

and Have a Merry Christmas!

New Equipment List with Out Of Service Column plus Video

It's been a while since I posted. I hope everything is going well for you and yours.

In this post a new spreadsheet and a Kiba update…

Cristy, one of our California clients asked for an equipment list that shows
whether each piece of equipment is out of service or not.

So the Excel spreadsheet I created will link to and display your TATEMS data just like the other ones posted at:

http://tatems.com/spreadsheets

This is number 63 on the list an is called oddly enough:

TATEMS-Equipment-List-With-Out-Of-Service-Column

I know, pretty original right?

The columns included in the spreadsheet/report are:

Equip#
Our of Service?
Desc
Make
Model
Year
VIN/Serial#
License
Sort Order#

Once you refresh your data you can sort and filter any way you want to.

This video shows you the columns and how to link your data if your data is on a network or on a 64 bit version of windows:

Now for a little Kiba (our puppy, now 8 months old) news.

A few weeks ago we had a scare…

He got a hold of my pack of trident gum on my nightstand. The Gum has “Xylitol” in it which is poison to dogs.

We took him to the vet and they forced him to regurgitate and took his glucose readings…

He came through it with flying colors and is fine and hyper crazy as ever…

A few days ago we got some snow in the hills near our house here in Las Vegas. So we took him and Maya(Golden Lab) up to his first snow (about a 15 minute drive) and he had fun biting it and romping around a bit. We couldn't get very far off the highway so we had to keep them on leash.

Until next time…

By the way if you have a request for a custom spreadsheet I can create and share let me know.

New Inspections/Permits spreadsheet and video

I'm going to change things up a little and put the tip at the top…

Now on to today's Tip:

Last week one of our clients asked if we could create a spreadsheet that would display all the items on the Inspections/Permits tab in TATEMS for all equipment.

This new spreadsheet links to your live TATEMS data and will display the following fields which you can now filter and sort any way you want to in Excel.

Equip #
Desc
Last DOT Insp
Next DOT
Last 90 Permit
Next 90 Day
Last Annual State Insp
Next State Insp
Last Over OverAxTollerance Permit
NextOverAxle Permit
Last Motor Carrier Certificate Reg
Next Motor Carrier
Last Smoke Insp
Next Smoke Insp

The spreadsheet is called:

TATEMS-InspectionsAndPermitsLastAndNext.xls

It is spreadsheet number 62 on our Spreadsheets page:

http://tatems.com/FleetMaintenanceSoftware/spreadsheets.cfm

If you have Excel 2007 or 2010 and you are running a 32 bit version of Windows and your TATEMS data is NOT on a server or other computer then you should be able to simply open and run this spreadsheet.

In the video below I show you how to use it on either a 64 bit version Of Windows or if your data is housed on a server. I also show you how to Filter and sort the data in this spreadsheet.

Other random stuff…..

As I write this on Saturday afternoon, it's suppose get up to 94° F today and we've had a few thunderstorms here in Las Vegas. The Gas prices at our local Sam’s club is at $3.55 per gallon… It’s going up.

Our Sprolie puppy Kiba finished his recovery from neutering and is as feisty as ever.

Thanks for visiting and remember to share TATEMS with a friend or colleague.

All The Best!

Marc

New version 4.3.03 available with videos of the improvements

It's hot here today supposed to get up to 112° F here in Las Vegas and Gas at the local
Costco was down to $3.32 per gallon yesterday.

We just released a new version of TATEMS and it includes the following changes and improvements.

• Added New checkbox to preferences to Always Display the Parts Notes field on a Work Order/Invoice printout. If unchecked the Parts Notes field will not display even if there is notes added to a part
• Changed the way the “Parts Notes” field in a Work Order/Invoice printout is displayed. If there are no “Parts Notes” then that row will no longer display the the word “notes”  and it also shrinks the empty row to save space and paper.

This video shows you the 2 updates listed above:

 

• Updated All Equipment Due Next 30 Days report to include the new Work Order short description field

This video shows you update listed above:

• Updated Lube Service Types- Now when a Lube Service Type is inactive you won't see it in the dropdown list even if used previously for that equipment, It still remains in Lube/Service History
• Changed Accomplished by field in Lube Service tab so that it does not ask you if you want to add to list, Instead you can double click to bring up personnel windows
• Updated Equipment Summary Screen to display the Miles/Km to go – Hours to go and Days to go in the Lube/Service list
• Resized Lube Service Display on Equipment summary screen to fit extra fields and resized windows on sub tabs to utilize extra space

This video shows you the 4 updates listed above

• Updated Work Order printout to display Invoice # instead of WO Num when it is printed as an invoice.
• Updated Work Order Printout to display Make, Model, Year, Lic Plate, Serial/Vin and Moved Warranty and Recall to Footer by Cost Totals
• Updated Work Order Screen to prevent inadvertent data entry into the Labor and Parts Cost totals fields
• Updated Work Order screen to display Make, Model, Year, Lic Plate, Serial/Vin and Moved Warranty
• Added Status bar and tool tips to Cost Totals fields and un-editable fields in the Work Order Screen

This video shows you the 4 updates listed above:

 

• Added usability feature to simply double click to enter the current date into all date fields except date ranges on reports. Will also ask before changing if a date is already entered into the field
• Updated Equipment Summary screen to display Vin number as Serial/Vin Number
• Updated Current Life Remaining Until Replacement on Financials Popup window to not display error when Life Expectancy Years at purchase is not filled in.

This video shows you the 3 updates listed above:

 

• Added dropdown to Inspectors Name to select from Personnel file, you can also just enter inspectors name

This video shows you the update listed above:

 

• Updated Repairs Completed Reports under Reports->More Reports to also sort by completed date (For people who still use the repairs completed tab instead of using Work Orders)

This video shows you the update listed above:

 

You can get the latest update on our updates page

We have many more updates scheduled in the pipeline.

And I’ll have a beta for you to test the TATEMS Reminders program that will automatically email reminders to anyone you choose.

Please comment below

Thanks Again

Marc Ready
PCHelp, LTD

New Equipment Filters Spreadsheet with More Info and Video Tutorials

I hope you're doing well so far this week

Our puppy Kiba is not doing so well, He got clipped (neutered) yesterday.

The Vet says he has to stay confined for 10 days and he's already getting antsy.

Gas prices are down to $3.35 per gallon at the Sam's club nearest to us here in Las Vegas.

It's supposed to get up to 102 ° F today. It's cooling down…

Now on to today's Tip:

I had a request from a client yesterday for a filters report that could be broken down by customer or a list of equipment.

So I created a spreadsheet that will link to your TATEMS data And display the following columns in Excel:

Equip Num
Customer
Location
Dept Or Area
Lube Primary
Lube Secondary
Air Filter
Air Inner
Fuel Primary
Fuel Secondary
Hydraulic
Trans Filter
Water Filter
Other Filters

Once you open it up in Excel you can sort it and filter it anyway you want.

I show you how in this video:

You will need to have Microsoft Excel to use this spreadsheet and have it link to your TATEMS data.

This spreadsheet will link to your TATEMS data if it’s in the default installation location on 32 bit Windows.

C:Program FilesTATEMS 2005tatems2005be.mdb

The video in a previous post below shows you how to change the data path in the spreadsheet if you have Excel 2007 or Excel 2010. Click here to see the previous post.

And the video below shows you what you will probably need to do in order to make it work on your computer if you are not running Excel 2007 or 2010

You can get this newest spreadsheet at our website and it’s called:

TATEMS-EquipmentFilters-WithCustomer-Location-DeptOrArea-Fields

It’s completed for you online and ready to download at the link above or here:

http://tatems.com/spreadsheets

This spreadsheet is number 61 in the list on that spreadsheet page.

I hope this tip has been helpful for you.

Please leave any questions, comments or requests for special Excel Spreadsheets below. If your spreadsheet requests are feasible I’ll get them created and posted in a future TATEMS Tip.

Thanks Again,

Marc Ready
PCHelp, LTD

P.S. We plan to have a updated version of TATEMS in a a day or two.

P.P.S. We are also about ready to release a beta version of our new TATEMS Reminders program. This program runs in the windows notification tray down by the clock separately from TATEMS. It will automatically send out different reminder types via email to as many people as you need to send them to. Let me know if you would like to try out the beta version.

TATEMS on Terminal Services Server As RemoteApp Video Part 2

In yesterday' video I showed you how to install and setup TATEMS on a Terminal Services Server and how to setup the icons for each user when they will be using Remote Desktop Connection.

That's where the user will log in to the server and see an entire remote desktop with a TATEMS icon on it.

In this video I show you how to setup TATEMS in Terminal Services Server as a RemoteApp.

This is where the user clicks an icon on their own desktop and TATEMS opens. It looks like TATEMS is running on their own computer but it is in fact running on the server.

It's also a great way to restrict users from having access to an entire desktop on your server.

Either way you setup TATEMS on a Terminal Services Server you will find performance improvement and better stability, especially if you want to use TATEMS on a wireless network or over the internet or via a VPN.

Usually you will have an IT person handle this for you and if you do you can point them to these videos.

If you need help with this or anything else please let us know.

Also please make sure you stay current on your Support and Version Upgrades extensions with us.

Thanks Again and Take Care,

Marc