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Welcome to the August edition of the Jonas Insider!
Our Featured Article this month is about our upcoming User Group Conferences in Toronto and Las Vegas. These are an excellent opportunity to meet your fellow Jonas users and to get the inside track on upcoming features and developments.
This month Jonas eRouting is showcased as our Featured Product. Find out how eRouting can help you drive your business in the right direction - Free demonstrations are being offered now, sign up below.
Will Jonas be coming to your city? Find out where we will be in the News and Events section for information on the various tradeshows we will be attending in Seattle, San Francisco, and New Orleans.
Become a Jonas expert! Take part in our Upcoming Training Webinars on Service Billing or Job Cost to increase your Jonas knowledge and expertise.
Do you want to know who you’re talking to? Meet the face behind the voice, Ioana Cumpanas – Customer Support Representative, featured in this month's Know Your Support Rep section.
The Jonas Support Team shares some of their tips and tricks under FAQ’s and Helpful Hints. This month’s FAQs and hints include information on report generator design and safe exits.
Remember to keep your Jonas release up-to-date with the latest enhancements. Go to Product Updates to guide you through this process.
We want to hear from you! If you have ideas or suggestions for improving the Jonas Insider, please forward these to us via e-mail.
The highly anticipated 2009 Jonas User Group Conference is
just around the corner. This year we are offering a two-day event
with courses specific to what you do in Jonas. With three concurrent
sessions, you can choose to attend all presentations related to accounting,
project management or service management. This is an opportunity for
you to network with other Jonas users, share best practices, provide
input on product development plans, and learn more about the Jonas solution
and how to improve your operations. As always, there will be a
mix of training on existing modules, tips and hints, new features in
version 11.9 and what you can expect to see in version 12.0. There
will also be presentations on current industry-related topics.
Why
Should You Attend?
- Get
the most value out of your software – this is a chance for you
to see the new software enhancements and get training on how to
implement them. Training sessions are presented by our software
and industry experts.
- Meet other
Jonas customers – discuss best practices and share the current
issues you are facing with customers in similar industries across
North America.
- Have input
into future development of the software – meet members of our
development team and let them know what is important to you for
future versions of Jonas.
Location
One:
Venue:
Accor Novotel Toronto Centre
45 The Esplanade, Toronto ON
Accommodations:
Group rate of $174 CDN per night
has been arranged. Please call (416)367-8900 for reservations.
Cost:
$500 before August 21st, $600 after
Date and Time:
Thursday September 24, 2009: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Friday September 25, 2009: 8:00 am to 4:00 pm
*Agenda to follow
Location
Two:
Venue:
Monte Carlo Resort and Casino
3770 Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV
89109
Accommodations:
Group rate of $59 has been arranged for Nov. 11 and 12. If you are staying for the weekend, the rate is $129 those nights. Please contact 1-800-311-8999 and choose option 2 for reservations and reference group code XJONAS when booking. To book online click here.
Cost:
$500 before September 30th, $600 after
Date and Time:
Thursday November 12, 2009: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Friday November 13, 2009: 8:00 am to 4:00 pm
*Agenda to follow
For more information on the User Groups contact Angela
Brutto.
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Jonas eRouting is an easy-to-use live mapping tool that lets service contractors track the location of their technicians , trucks and work orders in real time. eRouting uses the proven technology of Google Maps™ to display the location of your work orders . It can also be integrated with your GPS tracking system to display the location of your vehicles.
With eRouting you can select the closest qualified technician to the job simply by plotting positions on a
map. With the map in view, you can click on a work order to see its location. You can also click on a
truck to find its location, and view what work is being performed at that site.
Sign up today for a FREE 30-minute online demonstration.
National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA)
Visit us at Booth # 947
September 13-15, 2009
Jonas Software is proud to announce its attendance at 2009 National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) Convention. This year's show will take place September 13 - 15th at the Seattle Washington State Convention and Trade Center.
Show Hours:
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Sunday |
Sep 13 |
11:30am–5pm |
Monday |
Sep 14 |
11:30am–4pm |
Tuesday |
Sep 15 |
10:30am–2:30pm |
Click here for more information on the show.
Mechanical Contractors Association of Canada (MCA) Annual National Conference
Visit our tabletop display
September 26-29, 2009
Jonas Software is proud to announce its attendance and Silver Level Sponsorship at the 2009 Mechanical Contractors Association of Canada (MCA) Annual National Conference. This year's show will take place September 26-29th at the San Francisco Marriott in San Francisco, CA.
Click
here for more information on the show.
Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) Service Managers Forum
Visit our tabletop display
October 1-2, 2009
Jonas Software is proud to announce its attendance and sponsorship at the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) Service Managers Forum. This year's show will take place October 1-2, 2009 at the Hilton Riverside in New Orleans, LA.
Click
here for more information on the show.
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Service Billing & Dispatch Board– General Session
Date & Location: Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
Session Length: 3 hours
Session Time: 1:00pm - 4:00pm EST
Location: Webex
Fee: $200 per connection
Trainer: Nicole Galliott
Course Description: This exclusive training session will help guide your Service Managers and Dispatchers to manage and keep control of your ongoing Service work using the Dispatch Board. Best practices will be shared using proven organizational frameworks, planning strategies and control parameters. This valuable session will benefit those professionals that are new to service billing or those who wish to refresh their knowledge of service billing. These innovative solutions will enable you to establish clear objectives and realize successful outcomes – no matter how intricate or detailed your business may be. You’ll learn to multi-task priorities and competing activities seamlessly and successfully.
Service Billing Topics:
- Improving Your Service Management Skills: The Basics For Success
- Dispatch Board – Using it more efficiently
- Create, Design and Interpret Key Service related reports
- Best Practices for the Service Manager
- Process Management and more.....
Job Cost– General Session
Date & Location: Thursday, August 20th, 2009
Session Length: 3 hours
Session Time: 1:00pm - 4:00pm EST
Location: Webex
Fee: $200 per connection
Trainer: Nicole Galliott
Course Description: This training session will help guide your Project Managers and Controllers to manage jobs more profitably, more efficiently and more effectively. Through proven organizational frameworks, planning strategies and control parameters, we will establish best practices and innovative solutions to establish clear objectives. This valuable session will benefit those professionals that are new to job costing or who wish to refresh their knowledge of job costing best practices. These innovative solutions will enable you to establish clear objectives and realize successful outcomes – no matter how intricate or detailed your project may be. You’ll learn to multi-task priorities and complete activities seamlessly and successfully.
Job Cost Topics:
- Improving Your Job Costing Skills: The Basics For Success
- Project Management – Executive Dashboard for Project Managers
- Create, Design and Interpret Key Job Cost reports
- Understanding setup, key flags, options
- Forecasting
- GL integration
- Estimating Options
- Best Practices for Job Costing
- Process Management and more.....
Let us introduce you to ,
Customer Support Representative.
Ioana is a newcomer to the Jonas family as she joined us as a Frontline Customer Support Analyst in April 2009.
Ioana brings with her experience with multinational companies like Deloitte, General Tire and Procter and Gamble in Business Administration, Public Relations and Customer Support.
Born in Romania, Ioana came to Canada 4 years ago and is multi-lingual, speaking not only English but German, Romanian, Serbian, and French and is a qualified German translator.
Ioana is enjoying her role in Customer Support as it is the perfect
mix between research and
interaction with clients and she says “The Jonas family is one of the friendliest environments that I’ve worked in.”
In her free time, Ioana enjoys spending time outdoors - from swimming, biking and camping in the summer to skating in the winter and playing with her 3 year old daughter. She is also a science-fiction buff.
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Q. How can I obtain a hard copy of a Report Gen Design?
A. Go to the report design screen and hit F9. It will ask which report you want and you select it from the list.
It will then print the entire design including any conditions.
After hitting F9 this is what comes up:
Select the design and this is the output:
Q. What version of Jonas should I download from the Jonas website for a product update: pu119.exe or PU119DN.EXE?
A. Construction clients must download the PU119DN.EXE file as this will allow access to the Design Your Own Forms module.
Jonas is a pretty smart piece of software – even if an error does occur, it is still really smart!
Jonas knows when to offer a safe exit and when not to.
Here is what an error with a Safe Exit looks like.
A Safe Exit is only offered when it can be taken “Safely” – when it is not going to disrupt a major update and won’t cause partial postings of audit trails.
An example of an error with a Safe Exit would be when running a report and an error 11 or 47 occurs.
Another example would be in an inquiry. Neither of these examples are writing information back to files – they are just reading information that has already been posted by another process.
A Safe Exit would NOT be offered in an update program – e.g. the end of payroll update, posting of cheques, a/p invoices, job invoices, etc. – Note: not in the printing process but in the posting process the Safe Exit would NOT be offered.
Taking the Safe Exit aborts the report ( or whatever program was running ) as it is a non-critical error. However, if there is a data integrity issue, rerunning the program will likely result in the same error recurring which should be reported to Jonas for correction.
All errors which do not offer a Safe Exit should be reported to Jonas for technical assistance. Rebooting the workstation or using Control/Alt/Delete is NOT recommended as it can cause data corruption issues on top of the original problem and can cause out of balance issues.
Note: If you experience an error without a Safe Exit, you can open another Jonas session and continue to do OTHER work while waiting for support staff to contact you.
It is important for Jonas users to perform Product Updates on a regular basis to ensure that you keep your Jonas Software current and problem-free. Check the website weekly as a new download is available every Tuesday. It is advisable to install it immediately.
The current version for Jonas Software is 11.9.
There are two procedures to choose from to obtain the latest Release.
- Downloading from the Website.
- Installing the Product Update from a CD.
Before You Begin:
Determine the version of Jonas that you are currently running. If you are unsure, open Jonas and check the version number located in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. Ex. Version 11.6.034 (the release .034 indicates the release level).
Downloading the Product Update from the Website
- Click on the Product Update that matches the version of Jonas software you are currently running. (Ex. 11.8 or 11.9) You cannot change versions via the website, only by loading a CD. Note that you might have to be above a specific Release level to be able to run a Product Update from the website. Notes at the side of the Product Update will tell you this.
- Choose the Save option. You will be presented with the SAVE AS screen display below. Save the Product Update in the X:\GJCWIN\CUSTOM directory (where the X: is the logical drive letter that contains the Jonas programs - usually J:). Note: This is just a suggested directory, but not a mandatory location to save the Product Update. Then you can open and run it. After successful installation, log off Jonas and log back in order for the changes to take place.
Installing the Product Update from a CD
Advanced Release versions do require all users to be out of Jonas for the introduction of new data structures. Loading an update from a CD sent by Jonas will always require all users to be out of the system regardless of the version.
- Jonas recommends that if you are installing on a network that the Product Update be installed from a workstation. However, if installing the Jonas Product Update via Citrix or Terminal Server, it must be installed at the server console.
Note: Some operating systems, for example Windows 2000, may require you to log onto the server with full administrator / supervisor privileges.
- Locate the Product Update using any technique (e.g. Windows Explorer or via the Run command on the Start button). Double click on the saved PUxxx.exe file.
- Wait 5 – 20 seconds and a window will appear. Step your way through the Welcome screens by clicking on Next.
- Choose the Destination Directory. If the drive is not correct, please select browse and indicate the correct location. When the correct path is shown, click on Next.
- The Installation Complete screen will appear upon completion of the installation.
- Click on the Jonas for Windows icon. The program will automatically start rebuilding the screens and data files.
We will be releasing CD's to our clients for Version 11.9 in the next few months. This general release will help you grow and benefit from greater functionality with your Jonas Software by providing a seamless migration path. We anticipate a dispatch of 11.9 to all clients by the end of May 2009.
Your Jonas Software system update may include modifications, new or revised settings, key features and other items which will change your current system. We encourage you to check the release and enhancement notes from time to time for software updates and to always maintain your system to use the latest release of the software. (Administration>Release Enhancements)
Please visit the “Product Updates” section in the Jonas Insider for detailed instructions on installing a CD. If you experience any difficulties, please contact customer support immediately.
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