We are proud to announce that after three years of development we are releasing the new user interface of the system, VISCO Version 5.0 (V5). As of April 1st, 2020 a select few existing customers have moved to the Beta version as well as all new implementations. These Beta customers are able to take advantage of the opportunity to work in the improved user interface and have more input into specific design choices in exchange for a willingness to report previously unknown issues and patience while we resolve them.
Some benefits of V5 include:
- Speed-Order entry and Order processing is 100% faster and more efficient
- Faster Learning Curve-More intuitive user interface means new users are able to get comfortable working in the system more quickly
- Greater Flexibility-With built-in dynamic screens and data grids, we are now able to offer much more flexibility and more no-cost/low-cost customization
- No more “locking”-If you are familiar with the version 4 user interface then you know that the system will “lock” records while they are being edited by another user. In the new interface, the locking takes place at the specific field level so this is no longer needed
- Tighter Audit trail-All changes to primary records are tracked within the system so you can go back and see which user made changes and when.
- Fully integrated calendar-users now have ability to flag events to show up in their personal calendar. For example a Purchase Order ETD or Container ETA
- Document Preview-Users can now see the documents being produced as they are entering orders
- Improved search function-Get to the information you are looking for more quickly
For customers who have used the system “Out of Box,” you will be able to be moved over to the new interface relatively quickly, while more heavily customized installs will require more preparation and testing. The majority of the work in moving over existing customers is replicating specific custom behaviors on button clicks since those buttons do not exist in the new environment. An example of this would be if the system is checking for available credit or applying a credit limit warning on the Sales Order “Assign” click, then we need to find a new way to do this in the new environment because the Assign button does not exist in V5.
There are no changes to the database itself so the transition is more about making sure that all custom work is carried forward. As a result, there will be a period where users will be able to log into either version 4 or version 5 and in some cases a combination of both. We will be scheduling the transition on a customer by customer basis from May 2020-December of 2020. We anticipate that both versions will be supported until December of 2021 at which point only the new interface will be supported.
