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Short Line Data Systems ROCS Update – March 2006
Website: www.sdsrocs.com
Greetings:
Well, the sixty degree days of winter are over here in New Jersey, and we have been enjoying the cold and ice of a traditional February. The cold has not kept us from being quite busy, with the CSX Short Line Meeting, preparing for the ASLRRA Annual Meeting, and the continuing development of our family of products.
CSX Short Line Meeting
We were honored to attend the CSX Short Line Meeting again after a year layoff (can you believe that Rob is a year old?), and as always CSX put on one hell of a show. The trade show was a great success, and we had a great time showing many people ROCS, ROCSMobile, and ROCSDispatch, and we look forward to continuing the conversations started in the near future. As always, if you have any questions about any of our products, or would like an online demonstration please give us a call or drop us an email. Kudos to Len Kellerman, Gina Arnold, and the rest of the CSX team that ran a great event.
New Logos
We have updated our website and our products with our new logos. Most of you have seen the first evolutions of the logos over the last year, and during the last month we have finalized all of the artwork. While the new logos don’t make the products work any better (or worse), they are a sign that we really don’t stand pat on anything, and give us a fresh look for 2006. The new logos are up on the website, and will be on all of our stuff at the ASLRRA Annual meeting in Orlando April 23-25.
New Training Materials
As many of you know, manuals are generally the weakest point of most software, and while I hate to admit it, it isn’t one of our strong points either. In many cases, it is a choice between working on the product or the book, and usually the product wins. We have taken a new step in our documentation, which is creating PowerPoint slide shows explaining most of the basic functions of our products. The shows can be viewed multiple times, printed out, and run along side the system. Another nice feature is that the shows point to the exact button or field that the user needs to click on or fill in, so that the user gets a much better feel for the screens and understands the functions and procedures better.
As time permits, we will be creating these shows for all of our products and distributing them to the users.
Version 10
We have been continuing our efficiency improvements on V10, and while these are not “big ticket” items, they get rid of some annoying quirks of the system. We have been tightening up the automatic download system, and improving the transparency of the functions. The new NexPath message system should start testing shortly, as most of the message maps are complete.
Dispatch
We have finished the automatic system that checks if there is an open train movement if a new movement is started. The system gives the user the option to close the open movement (Form D or Track Warrant), or to leave it open. In addition to keeping things “clean” this function also cuts down on the number of keystrokes or clicks the user needs to do to operate the system. It is our belief that our products should make life easier both by easing the paperwork load, and keeping the steps needed to operate the system as simple and few in number as possible.
Well, that’s just about all for now. Next month we will preview the ASLRRA Annual Meeting in Orlando and some of the announcements we will have there, as well as updating the goings on with our products.
Stay safe,
Steven Friedland President |
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