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Short Line Data Systems Inc. ROCS Update – May/June 2008 Website: www.sdsrocs.com Greetings – Is it already the middle of June? It seems like we just got home from San Antonio a couple of days ago. While the above is a bit of an exaggeration, the 2008 ASLRRA Annual Meeting was nothing short of a resounding success. Judy Petry and her planning committee did a spectacular job of putting together a first rate program, and we were just blown away by the number of people at the convention, and in the exhibit hall. The industry as a whole is on a roll, and we are really looking forward to the 2009 Annual Meeting at the Red Rock resort in Nevada. Moving on, we have had a lot of things going on here. In this update we will bring you up to speed with the upcoming release of Version 11 of ROCS, a new project that we are starting to work on, our travel schedule and a new addition to the SDS family. Now let’s get on with the show. Version 11 We are very close to releasing Version 11, and this new version of the venerable ROCS system will definitely be the smoothest running version yet. We have spent the last couple of weeks rewriting the car hire and reclaim system, adding a great amount of flexibility to the system. We have also made changes that ensure compatibility with the new RCH car hire payment system, and the retirement of the Appendix H report that used to be sent to each payee with your check. We have also closed some loopholes that have existed since we built the Exchange Tape car hire system almost five years ago, and added new reclaim messages that are user defined, replacing the fixed messages and paper reports in the system. We are working with the publishers of our new FTP communications software, ScriptFTP, on a data download script, and we have been testing the new data transmission script at the M&E for the last eight weeks, with very impressive results: the best month of transmissions to Railinc with the old software averaged in mid 80% range overall, and with the new software the number shot up to the mid nineties, with most categories having 100% of the messages received. Our current plan is to distribute V11 to the customers with reclaim reporting first, hopefully in the next couple of weeks or so. We wish that we could have gotten this out sooner, but this has been a real thrash to get everything working the way that it is supposed to. The initial users of V11 will probably not get both parts of the new communication system, as we want to test the sending side thoroughly before releasing it to the masses. New Project We are in the definition phase of a new package of management tools for train crew record keeping. What we are trying to do is create a single database that will keep track of an employee’s various qualifications and test dates, and provide both warnings and reminders when those qualifications are due for renewal. We met with the FRA last week for some advice on how to go about this in a way that is acceptable to them, and they were very helpful with their guidance. We’re going to start building the system over the summer, with the goal of beta testing it during the fall. If everything proceeds as planned, this new product will be available late in 2008 or very early in 2009. On the Road Again We have a couple of customer visits scheduled for June and July, and we will probably make some appearances at a couple of the state short line association meetings over the summer. We will be at the NS Short Line Meeting at the end of June, but we will not have a booth at the Trade Show on Monday night (it was our turn this year to sit out), but we will be available at any time to demonstrate any of our products, and we look forward to seeing everyone in Roanoke. The Bus Now Has Two Targets Since I started SDS nine years ago, one of the premises that I have worked on has been that I would not expand the employment of the company until it was needed, and that the right people were available. Many of you have known that I have been “trying out” a number of people over the last year or so, and for various reasons nothing has worked out. It now my pleasure to announce that we now have employee number one. I have hired Susan O’Connor as our Operations Manager for Short Line Data Systems Inc. While she has not worked in the railroad industry, she has extensive sales and administrative experience, and her role will be to help me keep the plates spinning by covering a number of the non-technical jobs within the company. Susie’s email address is soconnor@sdsrocs.com, and many of you will be hearing from her over the next couple of weeks. I ask that you welcome her to our industry, and be a little patient if she asks some rookie questions. Well, that is all for now. We will be back next month (I promise it will be July) with all of the latest from Short Line Data Systems Inc. Stay safe, Steven Friedland President |
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