Sometimes, when new features are implemented or synchronization issues arise within OnTime Mobile for Windows Mobile, rebuilding the associated data file is necessary.

Note: A stable and reliable internet connection is required to perform this operation. We do not suggest performing the following steps if there is a possibility that you will lose internet connectivity.

How to rebuild your data file in OnTime Mobile for Windows Mobile

1. Open OnTime Mobile and sign in.
2. Wait at the home screen for the initial synchronization to complete.
3. Click on the Tools menu and choose Options.
4. Select the Database tab.
5. Click the Repair Database button.
6. If the repair is successful, a message will appear indicating success and that the application is synchronizing with the server. Dismiss the message and tap Cancel to close the Options screen.
7. Wait for the synchronization process to complete before using the application.
8. Once synchronization is completed, resume using the program.

If the steps outlined above do not work as desired, try performing a soft reset on your device and repeating the process. If you still are not satisfied with the results, contact our technical support team for assistance.

OnTime Mobile may be installed to a Windows Mobile 6.5 device via connection to a desktop computer. Alternately, the delivery software may be installed directly on the device. This method is useful, especially when you do not have immediate access to a desktop computer. 

How to Install OnTime Mobile Directly on a Windows Mobile 6.5 Device

1. From your Windows Mobile 6.5 device, open Internet Explorer and navigate to ppc.ontime360.com.
2. Tap the Download Now link.
3. Choose Menu and then Open.
4. The program will download, usually to the “My Documents” folder.
5. Once downloaded, installation will start. The installation screen will appear for a few moments while the app is installed.
6. Once installation is complete, an “All Done” message will display at the bottom of the screen. Then the installer will automatically close.
7. A shortcut for OnTime Mobile should be in the Start menu, toward the bottom.
8. Tap the shortcut to launch OnTime Mobile.

OnTime can use email to SMS gateways to send text messages to a driver’s phone or pager. This functionality can help to save money by avoiding SMS sending fees.

Start by associating a driver’s SMS gateway with their user account as illustrated here:

This address is usually comprised of the ten digit phone number followed by the domain of the mobile service provider. For example, the SMS gateway domain for AT&T is txt.att.net, making the driver’s full SMS gateway address look something like this:

5415551234@txt.att.net

You can find a comprehensive list of carriers and their email to SMS gateway addresses here:

http://www.emailtextmessages.com/

If you have trouble locating the correct address, contact the driver's mobile service provider for assistance.

Finally, don’t forget to test the address before using the phone in the field. Test messages in OnTime and try sending an email to the address to ensure that everything is working properly.

In addition to OnTime's simplified and automated process of generating invoices and sending them to QuickBooks, OnTime offers the ability to customize the information included in those invoices. Customization can be accessed from the Post to QuickBooks dialogue box within OnTime Management Suite:

Click the Options button to be presented with a list of fields that you may include in your invoice when it is sent to QuickBooks.

These fields will appear in each line item under the description column in the QuickBooks Invoice. Place a checkmark next to the items that you would like included:

To rearrange the order of these fields, select the field that you would like to move and drag it above or below the other items to the desired placement:

Once you have selected the fields to be included on invoices sent to QuickBooks, click OK to save changes and complete customization.

OnTime is equipped with the ability to export transactions to QuickBooks. To utilize this feature, you need to give OnTime permission to send data to QuickBooks. If QuickBooks does not automatically prompt you for permission in a window, you'll need to manually configure QuickBooks to allow OnTime. If you see a message indicating that “QuickBooks could not be started”, that “QuickBooks is not installed”, or that “OnTime could not find QuickBooks”, try the below steps:

Note: You will need to have administrative access to QuickBooks to adjust some of the settings below. If you do not have that access, contact your QuickBooks administrator to change these settings.

1. Start QuickBooks and load the desired company file.
2. Open OnTime Management Suite and attempt to post an invoice or payment to QuickBooks.
3. A prompt window should appear. If it does, select the option Yes, whenever this QuickBooks company file is open and click Continue.
   
4. If you still have trouble posting to QuickBooks or the window shown above does not appear, close all programs and restart your computer. Sometimes rebooting will help clear out cached settings in QuickBooks that prevent third party programs from connecting properly.
5. After restarting, open QuickBooks and the desired company file.
6. In QuickBooks, select the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
7. Select the Integrated Applications section.
8. Select the Company Preferences tab.
9. Ensure that the check box labeled Don’t allow any applications to access this company file is unchecked.
10. Ensure that there is a check mark next to the OnTime entry in the list box:
    
11. With the OnTime entry selected in the list box, click the Properties button.
12. Ensure that access rights are selected:
    
13. Click OK to save the changes in QuickBooks and close all windows. 
14. Attempt to post an invoice or payment from OnTime. If still unable to connect, contact our support staff.

OnTime can easily transfer invoices and payments into QuickBooks 2002 Pro and higher.

How to Export an Invoice to QuickBooks 2002 Pro or Higher

1. Launch QuickBooks and open your company file. The file open in QuickBooks is the one that OnTime will connect with.
2. Open OnTime Management Suite.
3. Enter the Billing area in OnTime Management Suite and choose the Invoices list.
4. Select one or more desired invoices from the list.
5. Right-click the selected invoices and choose Post to QuickBooks.
6. The resulting window will display a list of the invoices selected to transfer. Review the list, then click Send to QuickBooks.
7. If you are prompted for permission to allow OnTime to communicate with QuickBooks, grant OnTime the necessary rights.
8. Follow further onscreen prompts to successfully copy the information to QuickBooks.

OnTime keeps track of the invoices that are transferred to QuickBooks and will issue an alert if you try to send the same invoice more than once. You may always delete an invoice in QuickBooks to import it again from OnTime.

The invoice number in OnTime will be used as the invoice number in QuickBooks. You may override the invoice number once the invoice has been imported to QuickBooks.

OnTime requires that the company name of a customer exactly match the customer name in QuickBooks. If a match is not found, OnTime will create a new customer record. Keep the names of your customers consistent between OnTime and QuickBooks to minimize duplicates.

Line items in invoices must be assigned to an Item in QuickBooks. OnTime will create new services items in QuickBooks, corresponding to the name of your price sets in OnTime. If a service item does not exist in QuickBooks and OnTime creates it for you, the item will automatically be assigned to the "Other Income" account in QuickBooks. You may change an item to a different account in QuickBooks. QuickBooks should offer the option to retroactively assign transactions to the new account.

How to Export a Payment to QuickBooks

1. Launch QuickBooks and open your company file. The file open in QuickBooks is the one that OnTime will connect with.
2. Open OnTime Management Suite.
3. Enter the Billing area in OnTime Management Suite and choose the Payments list.
4. Select one or more desired payments from the list.
5. Right-click the selected payments and choose Post to QuickBooks.
6. The resulting window will display a list of the payments selected to transfer. Review the list, then click Send to QuickBooks.
7. If you are prompted for permission to allow OnTime to communicate with QuickBooks, grant OnTime the necessary rights.
8. Follow further onscreen prompts to successfully copy the information to QuickBooks.

OnTime keeps track of the payments that are transferred to QuickBooks and will issue an alert if you try to send the same payment more than once. You may always delete a payment in QuickBooks to import it again from OnTime.

The reference number in OnTime will be used as the payment number in QuickBooks. You can override the payment number once the payment has been imported to QuickBooks.

OnTime requires that the company name of a customer exactly match the customer name in QuickBooks. If a match is not found, OnTime will create a new customer record. Keep the names of customers consistent between OnTime and QuickBooks to minimize duplicates.

OnTime will automatically attempt to apply payments to invoices that are linked within OnTime. This process is subject to the applicable invoices existing in QuickBooks. Otherwise, the payment in QuickBooks will not be applied correctly.

Oftentimes, companies or organizations that are considering subscribing to OnTime ask about its zone-to-zone pricing capabilities. The OnTime suite is equipped with a multitude of features that make zone-to-zone pricing viable. This type of pricing method offers the ability to type in two ZIP Codes and receive an approximate quote. 

Zone-to-Zone Pricing Accuracy

Zip code-based zones are generally not considered the most accurate method, especially for couriers that service a limited area. ZIP Codes may cover large, irregular areas and, most of the time, distance is measured from the center of the ZIP Code. The actual address being shipped to may be miles away from the zip code's center, resulting in inaccuracy. Because the two zip codes represent two separate zones, the discrepancy essentially doubles.

Additionally, zone-to-zone shipments are generally measured in a straight line, not along the route that drivers will use. As a result, the distance calculated will almost always be shorter than the distance driven.

Potential inaccuracies will generally cause zone-to-zone measurements to be 5 - 30% shorter than the actual distance.

Because of these discrepancies, OnTime includes a sophisticated mapping and routing web service that will calculate the exact distance by road between two locations, accurate to 1/10 of a mile.

Why Use Zone-to-Zone Pricing?

Considering the above issues, why would someone want to use zone-to-zone pricing? 

• Speed: When you need to supply a customer with a quotation, zone-to-zone pricing with ZIP Codes will offer access to a quick and approximate quote.
• Simplicity: Couriers who have yet to develop a comprehensive pricing structure can use tools in OnTime to automatically download hundreds of zones in just seconds. Those zones can be quickly assigned pricing structures. 
• Quick ZIP Code Lookups are made possible, as detailed below.

How to Perform a Quick ZIP Code Lookup

Open OnTime Dispatch and create a new order. You will see a ribbon across the top that looks like this:

Click the Find Distances button. A window will appear:

In the example above, two ZIP Codes from the Texas area have been entered. Locations may also be specified by city and state, instead of by ZIP Code. Note: This tool can only measure distances within the United States and Canada. Other mapping features within OnTime can be used for other countries.

Once the desired locations are entered, click OK. OnTime will calculate the distance between the two locations and copy that distance into the order, as well as any other applicable zone information:

Once the appropriate information is set up, this process of generating a price for the customer will take dispatchers less than 15 seconds. This feature is available in OnTime software versions 2.3.1002 or higher. Standard or higher level subscribers may access this feature for free.

At OnTime, we are constantly searching for new features that will help our users save time and money. Some customers have expressed a desire for quick access to ZIP Codes. OnTime has always allowed users to enter zones in by hand or import them in bulk from Excel spreadsheet files; however, these methods were not always helpful to couriers without such spreadsheets to import from. With OnTime, you can quickly download zones from our web service, free of charge to OnTime Standard or higher level subscribers. Note: This service works for the ZIP Code system within the United States and does not work for other countries.

Download Zip Codes as Zones

Open OnTime Management Suite and enter the Locations area. Click on the link labeled Download ZIP Codes:

The resulting window allows you to search for ZIP Codes by State, City, or telephone Area Code. Type in the desired search term and click Search (Note: For state searches, use the two letter state abbreviation). Results will display in a list. Here is an example of a search for all of the ZIP Codes in New York state:

Tip: Click on the column headers in the list to re-sort the columns.

At this point, if you click the OK button all of the items in the list will be imported as zones. The city name will be used as the name of the zone.

To import specific zip codes, select only the ones desired for import:

The items highlighted in blue will be imported as zones. Remember: To select individual items from this type of list, hold down the control key (CTRL) on the keyboard while clicking the desired items.

Once the desired items are selected, click OK. The new zones will imported and a message box should appear.

Merging Zones

If you create a large number of zones, merging them together may make your database more manageable. OnTime makes this process easy with its function to merge zones together. To learn how to use this feature, click here.

When zone-based pricing is used, an unruly number of zones may be created. Fortunately, those zones can be consolidated. Starting in OnTime version 2.3.1002 zones you may easily merge zones, while OnTime takes care of the heavy lifting. If thousands of addresses and locations have been tied to a zone, you needn't go through and manually change those locations to a new zone. OnTime can automatically re-assign and consolidate zones for you.

• To take advantage of this feature, open OnTime Management Suite and click on the Locations area. Ensure that the Zones list is displayed.
• To merge multiple zones into a single zone, select the zones from the list to be merged and then right-click them and choose Merge.
• The resulting window will ask for a name for the new zone created by this merge.
• If any of the merged zones had been previously associated with locations or addresses, you may instruct OnTime to automatically update those locations by ensuring that the Automatically update locations to use the new merged zone box is checked.
• Click OK to merge the selected zones into a new zone and remove the old zones.

This article discusses the process of connecting OnTime to a Bluetooth GPS receiver. The below step-by-step directions should help to simplify the task for Windows Mobile users:

For regular Windows Mobile 5 or 6 touch screen devices:

1. Turn on your Bluetooth GPS receiver and open the Bluetooth Manager.
2. Tap on Start > Settings > Connections tab > Bluetooth Icon.
3. Ensure that the Turn on Bluetooth box is checked.
4. Tap on Devices tab and select New Partnership... After a few seconds, the BT GPS Device ID will show on the Select a Bluetooth Device page.
5. Tap once on the BT GPS Device ID and select Next.
6. Enter the Bluetooth device’s passkey (consult your user manual for this key) and select Next.
7. Check the Serial Port checkbox.
8. Select Finish.
9. Tap on the COM Ports tab and select New Outgoing Port.
10. Tap once on the BT GPS Device ID/Name and select Next.
11. Select a COM Port for this outgoing connection.
12. UNCHECK the Secure Connection checkbox.
13. Select Finish.
14. Launch OnTime Mobile for Windows Mobile and start the GPS service.

Important Note: Some models may not have COM 6 listed. In such cases, we recommend that you select the highest COM Port number first. If the higher number does not work, delete the outgoing COM Port and use the second highest available COM Port from the list and re-test.