Arsenault Associates announced the release of Dossier Version 6.1, the latest feature-rich edition of its fleet asset maintenance management software. Dossier 6.1 offers enhancements at both the individual user and enterprise levels, including Arsenault’s Instant Recall repair histories, new reporting capabilities and tools for compliance, benchmarking and automated report delivery. Dossier 6.1 is engineered for scalability from a single PC to the largest corporate environment.
“The enhancements in Dossier 6.1 were developed in close collaboration with our user community,” says Bob Hausler, vice president of marketing & technology at Arsenault. “For example, we’ve expanded what were already the best reporting capabilities in the industry. Reports in 6.1 are even easier to generate, manage, access and distribute, and our built-in data selection tool, Search and Select, gives users amazing capability to find the information hiding in their data.” The new release also includes the ability to have Dossier deliver reports via e-mail or directly to a computer or server.
One example of the retooled reporting capabilities, according to Hausler, is the ability to gauge the efficiency of a preventive maintenance program. “The PM Compliance tool is available as both a graphical dashboard view and through a full suite of reports,” he says. “You can see the percentage of PMs which were done late, on time or early – which can identify a waste of resources and money.”
Dossier 6.1 includes Arsenault’s Instant Recall repair history that appears automatically in a screen panel when a repair order is initiated. As elements of the repair order are entered, Instant Recall drills down through the vehicle history and displays related work previously performed. “You can hardly avoid noticing repeat work or indicators of problems behind a particular repair,” Hausler says.
Recordkeeping in Dossier 6.1 includes the ability to attach files – documents or photographs, for example – to repair orders, quotes and external work authorizations using the new “documents” tab on the relevant forms. “You can also attach documents to existing files,” Hausler says. “For example, you can attach a digital photo to an accident repair order, even if the repair is complete and the repair order closed.”
Larger Dossier users now will be able to “scale-out” Dossier 6.1 with multiple server systems to help increase performance and availability; this can be achieved with either physical or virtual servers. The enterprise-level architecture in Dossier 6.1 provides the structure for Arsenault’s Software-as-a-Service offering Dossier On-Demand, the secure, updated pay-as-you-go version of Dossier on the Internet.
Dossier 6.1 also includes the new Dossier Data eXchange (DDX) Application Program Interface (API) that allows Dossier to connect to other systems in real time. “In 2011, many of our customers are connecting their business systems,” he says. “We also have many opportunities where partner technologies and products could integrate with Dossier to provide value to Dossier users.”
Hausler says Arsenault already is using DDX for some Dossier options that communicate externally. Among them are Dossier On-Board, which provides telematics integration, often used with Networkfleet wireless vehicle monitoring and diagnostics. DDX also is used for the Dossier integration with NAPA TAMS II, which automatically populates Dossier Repair Orders with parts usage data from the customer’s NAPA account.
