This is a quick message to discuss what to expect with the Version 9.0 release. We want to discuss the release process and support expectations for next week.

Release Process

• Saturday Midnight (central time) the web server will be unavailable
• Technicians will be able to get their calls on Sunday and can work normally
• Only the office/dispatchers/web version will be unavailable until the update is complete
• We are expecting 9.0 to be available on Sunday around Noon

Export/Download
There will be no need to export.  

The technicians do not have to do a download to use 9.0. They will only need to download to get any new settings that you choose to activate in 9.0.

Technicians should upgrade and download the new app, but they do not need to do a full sync afterwards.  All of the updates, bug fixes, etc are included within the app itself.  

Update - Technicians will only have to download if they want the images to display on the new ESM Custom Proposal.  The images will not download as part of the app update, but rather from the main Download/Sync.

Monday Morning
To help ease the transition to the new system we have a couple of resources available.

Help Desk Articles

As always, we have articles in the Help Desk. There is one article in particular that we recommend - "Where did my tab/fields/pages go?" In this article we have mapped every page and field in the current system to its location in the new system. Having these PDFs printed out might be handy when trying to find information.

Here is the link for the rest of the 9.0 Updates.

Appcues

Second, we are rolling out a tutorial system that is incorporated into the software. The system is called Appcues. Please see a screenshot of what it looks like.

When you first login, click the "Get Started" button and then you can select a walk-through.  This will guide you through a new feature or process in real time. This way you are learning by doing. We are incorporating a handful of walk-throughs initially and if they are successful, we will roll them out throughout the system where appropriate.

Technical Support

Third, we have our normal technical/account support. We are anticipating having a higher than normal call volume early in the week. We will do our best to answer the calls, but it will be significantly faster to send us an email with any issue or question that you are having. When you email, please be as specific as possible and provide screenshots if possible.

The technical support email: support@p3helpdesk.com 

Software Expectations
With this update, every single page in the software was updated. This means it is quite possible that things that have worked perfectly before may now have an issue. If you encounter a problem, no matter how small, please report it to the Help Desk. Do not assume we are aware of the issue you are experiencing.

When you notify us of an issue, please send screenshots of the issue and the couple of steps leading up to it. The more details we have, the faster we can solve the matter.

We are committed to getting this version perfect as quickly as possible. As a result, the development team is not working on any new tasks until we have addressed all issues raised once the new version is live.

We are expecting to do daily updates the software in the first week in the web.   We will  resume communicating updates to the software in the Daily Updates and Bug Fixes article starting the Monday of the release.

Usage Expectations

With anything new, the site will feel different at first as we have changed the entire layout.  However, you will quickly find that it will be much easier to perform daily tasks.

Use the tools at the top of the page - the Action Bar, the Short Cuts, Recent History and Customer Search.  In our experience testing over the past several months, these tools decreased the number of clicks in the software significantly as the information needed, is always available.

As always, our software has been built upon incorporating feedback by those who are using it.  Please don't hesitate to give us ideas on how we can make this new version of the software even better.

New Functionality

P3 Updates

Bug Fixes

We will provide a list of the main bugs that were fixed shortly.  The tickets associated with the bugs will be closed out on Monday and you will be notified with any additional details.  One of the big bugs that was fixed was the duplicate invoice numbers when the tech goes offline.

QuickBooks Online

The team will resume fixing the outstanding QBO fixes immediately after 9.0 is live.