This example uses Search & Replace to change route days from A, B, C to 1, 2, 3.

Changing route days with Search & Replace

Usage

1. All the deliveries on Route A will be moved to Route 1
2. Enable editing by right-clicking on the grid and select Edit
3. Right-click on the grid and select Replace
4. Change the search and replace criteria and click Replace All
5. Headlight updates all 17 deliveries on Route A

1. Use Parallels Desktop ($79.99) or VMware Fusion ($79.99)

Both of these applications let you install and run Windows applications right on your Mac. The best part is you don’t have to reboot (which Boot Camp requires) to switch between PC and Mac applications. Just double-click and the Windows application opens in a new window right on the Mac Desktop. You can even access the Mac hard drive and copy/paste between Windows and Mac applications. I use Parallels all the time for running Quickbooks, Internet Explorer and Outlook.

After Parallels or VMware is installed, just use Internet Explorer or Firefox to login.

2. Install the 2X Client for Mac OS X

The second approach takes a bit more effort, but doesn’t require spending any money. After installing the 2X client for Mac OS X, contact support for your “hidden” Headlight account information. You’ll use this to configure the 2X client as show below.

a) Download and install the 2X Client for OS X (click here for instructions)
b) Start the 2X Client and choose “Add New 2X Connection” from the File menu
c) Complete the dialog like in the example screenshot
d) Enter your “hidden” Headlight account information
e) Click “OK”

If everything is setup properly, you’ll be connected to the Headlight server. The 2X client will display a list of available applications including Fleet Manager and Customer Service. Just double-click to start the application.

These 25 orders were routed in less than thirty seconds!!!

The driving mileage also dropped by 85 miles and saved 2 1/2 hours of route time. Just click on any ETA link in the left sidebar to show orders for a single route day. Use the Quick Route dialog to optimize and get driving directions in seconds. When everything’s ready, just print from your browser and hand it to the driver.

Using Quick Route

Click here to create a new Headlight account

NEW FEATURE: Import Data Wizard

Easily the biggest feature in this release. It’s been completely overhauled to make importing files quick and easy. After you select a file, Headlight automatically matches fields and flags records that can’t be imported. Smaller jobs are geocoded in real-time, so map symbols appear instantly.

NEW FEATURE: Reorganized Setup Menu

My Info and Setup have been merged into a single item called “Setup”. All account information is quickly accessible from the four main tabs: My Info, Settings, Import/Export and Billing. It’s much easier to navigate.

NEW FEATURE: Unpinned Customer Filter

Quickly identify contacts that aren’t pinned to the map and correct them.

NEW FEATURE: Google Maps Geocoding

Getting an address mapped properly is called geocoding. Headlight now uses Google Maps for geocoding manual imports. It’s now fast enough that smaller files are geocoded in real-time.

A CSV file is a specially formatted plain text file which stores spreadsheet or basic database-style information in a very simple format, with one record on each line, and each field within that record separated by a comma. It’s important that the individual “records” within a CSV file NOT contain commas, as this may break the simple formatting when using the file in another application.

CSV files are often used as a simple way to transfer a large volume of spreadsheet or database information between programs, without worring about special file types. For example, transferring a home-made address book from Excel into a database program such as Filemaker Pro could be done by exporting the file as a CSV from Excel, then importing that CSV into Filemaker.

Creating a CSV file from spreadsheet data is very simple to do using Microsoft Excel.

Usage

1. Open your spreadsheet document and go to the File pull-down menu (or the Windows/Office round button menu in Office 2007) and choose Save As…
2. Change the “Save as type” or “Format” field to read: “CSV (Comma delimited)”.
3. Enter a name for the document and click Save.
4. To check the validity of your CSV file, open the new file from a plain-text reading program such as Notepad or TextEdit. Check to make sure there are no extra commas, other than between fields. Depending on what program you’re going to use the CSV file with, you may need to also remove any extra quotation marks or other formatting which Excel may have inserted.
5. Headlight will automatically match standard field names.

• adds new contacts to Headlight
• removes lost contacts from Headlight
• updates product prices, product quantities and delivery history
• sends completion email to the Headlight administrator

Instead of simply overwriting the data – which wouldn’t be smart – it adds new contacts, removes lost contacts and intelligently updates existing contacts. This ensures delivery information always matches the billing system, but without the hassle of manually importing files.

Resources & Downloads

Data Bridge Specifications (PDF file)
Sample Customer File (.csv format)
Sample Delivery File (Type A) (.csv format)
Sample Delivery File (Type B) (.csv format)
Sample Product File (.csv format)

Usage

1. Select unpinned from the display drop-down.
2. The total unpinned contacts are shown in parenthesis.
3. Use Edit to correct the address or Move to manually pin the contact on the map.