[UPDATE] Suggest Routes

Comments Off on [UPDATE] Suggest Routes by on September 17, 2015

We’ve just released a new and improved version of Suggest Routes. The recommendations are better and it’s much easier to visualize suggestions on the map. If you’re already familiar with this feature, there are two major changes to know about: 1. Better Suggestions Suggestions are made by considering nearby route day groups to find the […]

Welcome to Headlight Quick Start

Comments Off on Welcome to Headlight Quick Start by on January 1, 2015

Quick Start lets you learn Headlight in an organized manner. Each lesson consists of a brief explanation, short video tutorial (typically 2 to 4 minutes) and a spot for questions and comments. These build progressively, but feel free to dive in anywhere or skip ones that aren’t needed immediately. You can always come back any time for a refresher course.

Quick Start #1: Using the Headlight Dashboard

Comments Off on Quick Start #1: Using the Headlight Dashboard by on January 1, 2015

This lesson covers the basics of using Headlight. It includes searching for orders, Info Balloons, finding addresses and places, screen layout, map display options and some “hidden” map features. Since most Headlight features rely on the Dashboard, it’s highly recommended for new users.

Quick Start #2: Getting orders on the map

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Learn to add individual orders, deliveries and service calls and place them accurately on the map. Although most will match properly (a process called “geocoding” or “pinning”), there’s usually a few mistakes along the way. Learn how to quickly identify and correct missing, incomplete or invalid delivery addresses.

Quick Start #3: Changing the start location for routes

Comments Off on Quick Start #3: Changing the start location for routes by on January 1, 2015

A depot is any place where the routes start and finish. It could be an office location, warehouse, processing plant or service center. You’ll learn how to change the default location, add new ones and pick different symbols for displaying depots and routes. If the depots aren’t pinned accurately, the route mileage won’t be accurate. This lesson also covers customizing the Map Markers used for displaying orders on the map.

Quick Start #4: Importing orders, deliveries and service calls

Comments Off on Quick Start #4: Importing orders, deliveries and service calls by on January 1, 2015

You’ll probably be pulling data from another system into Headlight. That could include CSV files, Excel spreadsheets or a standalone billing, order entry or CRM system. This is a short and invaluable lesson.

Quick Start #5: Using the Fleet Manager

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Fleet Manager is used for planning daily routes, reviewing existing routes and creating route scenarios. Topics include changing display options, renaming product categories, customizing Route Statistics and filtering routes. Knowing your way around will save considerable time when planning routes.

Quick Start #6: Planning daily routes

Comments Off on Quick Start #6: Planning daily routes by on January 1, 2015

Alrighty – it’s routing time! This lesson starts by importing a file with new orders and finishes with a street-ready route scenario. For companies with multiple vehicles and depots, we recommend watching this lesson before moving onto Multiple Vehicle Routing.

Quick Start #7: Routing multiple vehicles

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This lesson explains how to route multiple vehicles out of multiple depots. It includes assigning drivers to specific areas, balancing routes by different criteria (stops, hours, revenue) and useful tips for getting the job done quickly. The three examples can easily be adapted to handle almost any routing situation. For anyone spending hours each day on route planning, this is the must-watch lesson.

Quick Start #8: Driving directions and route books

Comments Off on Quick Start #8: Driving directions and route books by on January 1, 2015

Most companies expect drivers to sequence each day’s order and add special deliveries manually. That takes at least 30-45 minutes each day. Instead, try handing out daily route books with maps and driving directions. You’ll make everyone’s workday shorter, drop the fleet mileage by 20-40% and make things easy for relief drivers (like the office manager!).

Quick Start #9: Inviting additional users

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This lesson explains how to add (and remove) additional users. It’s particularly useful across different departments and office locations. Learn how sales and service can take advantage of different Headlight features to make their jobs easier.

Quick Start #10: Answer common service questions

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Use Headlight to quickly answer common service questions. Customer service reps can instantly find a driver assignment, ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival), locate nearby drivers for same-day orders, email a delivery schedule and even print directions for an emergency delivery from the office.

Quick Start #11: Using Suggest Routes

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Do your customer ever call and ask: “I need something right away. When can you be out here?” This lesson explains how to efficiently route last minute deliveries. Different industries have different terms (e.g. will call, ASAP, special, emergency, on demand), but it all means the same thing. Here’s how to look like you’re going out of the way without actually going out of the way.

Setup Delivery Calendar

Comments Off on Setup Delivery Calendar by on January 1, 2015

This tutorial explains the process for configuring the Headlight delivery calendar. Bottled water and coffee service companies can also add holidays for the upcoming year to make sure the delivery schedule matches the billing system.

Updating Product Categories

Comments Off on Updating Product Categories by on January 1, 2015

Instead of using multiple SKUs, Headlight allows you to group similar product together. For purposes of route planning, it doesn’t matter what kind of 5 gallon bottles are being delivered. The product file needs to be customized to (a) reflect your preferred product groupings and (b) normalized volume.

Updating Service Times

Comments Off on Updating Service Times by on January 1, 2015

Every delivery or service call takes some amount of time to complete. In Headlight, that’s known as the service time (or premise time). It’s the number of minutes required to complete the delivery or service call. Service times are important for determining the arrival time (ETA) for each delivery during the day and estimating how long the route will take to complete.

Updating Business Hours & Closed Times

Comments Off on Updating Business Hours & Closed Times by on January 1, 2015

Many businesses have restrictions when deliveries can be made either because the business isn’t open or won’t allow vendors onsite during certain times. These restrictions are often collected manually using different formats (e.g. military time, am/pm, English phrases, etc). They must be standardized to allow importing into Headlight Route Planner from a spreadsheet or CSV […]

Setup Fleet Manager for Windows

Comments Off on Setup Fleet Manager for Windows by on January 1, 2015

Headlight can run from any standard browser like Firefox, Safari, Chrome and Internet Explorer, but using the Fleet Manager application takes an extra couple of steps. You’ll need to configure a Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) to run Fleet Manager. This utility come with all versions of Windows and the setup instructions are similar. Click here […]

Setup Fleet Manager for OSX

Comments Off on Setup Fleet Manager for OSX by on January 1, 2015

Headlight can run from any standard browser like Firefox, Safari, Chrome and Internet Explorer, but using the Fleet Manager application takes an extra couple of steps. You’ll need to configure a Remote Desktop Client (RDC) to run Fleet Manager. This free component can be downloaded from Microsoft and the setup instructions are the same for […]

Smart Sync Developer Instructions

Comments Off on Smart Sync Developer Instructions by on July 1, 2012

Every HeadlightTM account includes a secure FTP dropbox for receiving customer, delivery and product information. The Headlight Data BridgeTM checks your dropbox every night and performs a “smart synchronization”.

NEW FEATURE: Interactive Reporting

Comments Off on NEW FEATURE: Interactive Reporting by on June 23, 2012

Check out Headlight’s brand new Reports Tab. In addition to displaying lists of customers that meet different criteria, these reports are also interactive. Show the map location by clicking the account ID or use the Edit link to update the account information. You’ll also find examples of custom reports and MobileIQ’s route balancing project forms.

NEW FEATURE: Geocoding enhancements

Comments Off on NEW FEATURE: Geocoding enhancements by on March 27, 2012

The latest Headlight release includes some major enhancement for getting customers pinned (aka geocoded) on the map correctly. It includes reporting tools for identifying mispinned accounts, ability to view individual route days and using Google Maps for all address lookups.

NEW FEATURE: Smart Sync Enhancements

Comments Off on NEW FEATURE: Smart Sync Enhancements by on July 28, 2011

The latest Headlight release includes some new features that will help you keep the route information up-to-date. Most of you already use Smart Sync to transfer information between the billing system and Headlight. Depending on the vendor, it may even be happening automatically behind the scenes each night. The problem was users often forget to […]

Smart Sync User Instructions

Comments Off on Smart Sync User Instructions by on July 25, 2011

This tutorial explains the process for updating Headlight using Smart Sync files. We recommend weekly updates for most industries with prescheduled delivery routes, but consider making daily updates when new accounts are added frequently. Enable Smart Sync Before importing files the first time, Smart Sync must be part of your Headlight plan and enabled. Just […]

Smart Sync Automation

Comments Off on Smart Sync Automation by on June 27, 2011

Every Headlight account come with Smart Sync. In order to use this feature, you’ll need to have Smart Sync enabled and some technical information which can be found under Setup.

Categories: Headlight API