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Short Line Data Systems ROCS Update – November 2006
Website: www.sdsrocs.com
Greetings:
The fall meetings have ended, and we are taking a well-earned breather from our travels about the country. This short break is allowing us to catch up on some promised upgrades for customers, and we are working on some of the new products and new versions that we have been talking about for the last few months. In this month’s update, we’ll run down what’s been going on with ROCS, ROCSDispatch, and PET ROCS, and go through the other goings on.
ROCS
We haven’t run out of new things that we want to try with the EDI system, and this month we have been working on a couple of new tools. First has been the addition of a retransmit button to allow the user to send the last block of messages again if there is a problem with the FTP or internet. We have also been building Demurrage reports for our newest customers, Everett RR and Seminole Gulf, that are customized to their demurrage tariffs.
In addition to the new stuff that we have been working on, we continuously review the work that we have done in the past. Some of the parts of ROCS are more than five years old, and we have learned a lot about Access during that time. When time permits, we go back a look at these older functions and update them if needed. Most of the time these changes improve the speed at which ROCS runs, but sometimes we are able to eliminate a “this is just how you have to do it” type issue.
One other ROCS project that we have in the works is a lighter version of ROCSMobile that will allow ROCS and ROCSDispatch users to send Waybills, Switch Lists, and Forms D/Track Warrants to smartphones (like a Blackberry), and have the ability to print them out. Other than the phone, the only additional hardware needed is a Bluetooth enabled printer, which are made by Pentax, HP, and Brother, and there is an inexpensive printing package available for the Blackberry. We are currently working on formatting the reports to use the hardware, and should have results shortly.
ROCSDispatch
As we mentioned last month, we have revised the conflict checking system in ROCSDispatch, and are testing it at two of the user railroads. We have made a lot of progress with this new system, and we will be continuing refinement of the test systems before deploying it to the rest of the users.
We are also looking at other new functions related to Forms D/Track Warrants, train occupations, and GPS integration. We’ll work on these as time permits, while the mobile printing functions will be created concurrently to the ones being developed for ROCS.
PET ROCS
The passenger season has ended at the Maine Eastern, and other than a couple of special trains for the holiday season, we are done running our excursion service. The off season will allow us to review the performance of PET ROCS and make any changes that will be needed for the 2007 season. We will also be able to make some of the on the fly changes that we have made to the system more efficient, and better coordinate the user interface.
PET ROCS is available for purchase now, and any potential users will be able to participate in the yearly revision process, and make the changes to PET ROCS that will make it conform to your situation.
ASLRRA Regional Meetings, and the Annual Meeting
The ASLRRA Regional meetings have come to a close following the Eastern Region meeting in Lancaster, PA. As you all know, we attend all three meetings, and it is interesting to see how the program evolves from the first meeting to the last. For example, when the first meeting took place at the beginning of September, the changes to Car Hire Rules 3 & 14 were new news to us. By the Lancaster meeting these rules were understood, and presentations were made to the membership that explained the upcoming changes.
With the end of the meetings, my focus turns to the 2007 Annual Meeting. As many of you know, I am the chairman of the Annual Meeting planning committee, and I have been working with the ASLRRA staff to plan what should be a very exciting meeting in Baltimore. If anyone has a presentation or a topic for a presentation, we will be having six different 45 minute breakout sessions with eight different educational tracks, and we are looking for your topic. To suggest a topic or if you have a full presentation, email Kathy Cassidy (kcassidy@ASLRRA.org) and we’ll add it to the list for consideration.
Well, that is all for now. We’ll be back at the start of December with our holiday edition which will have all the news fit to print.
Stay Safe,
Steven Friedland President. |
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