Answer: The mobile computers that route sales people use to create invoices while in the field are what really gives Solid Route Accounting™ business system owners a competitive advantage over their competition. Each handheld computer operates by settings specified in its mobile unit record, which resides in Solid Business Central™. Note that the number of mobile unit records that a business is allowed is controlled by license.
If additional mobile unit licenses are required, please contact a Solid Innovation Product Specialist who will be happy to assist you with any questions and pricing regarding this licensing. For new business system installations, please review the training materials provided with the business system purchase to get the first mobile unit records created. Those training materials have been tailored to the needs of new clients, and will serve you better than this Solid Know How™ article.
The first step in adding a new mobile unit record is to create a mobile cost center for it to belong to.
- In Solid Business Central™, navigate to [Datafile / Cost Center / View] and use the [Insert] key to add a new record.
- Set the Num field to an unused cost center number. Solid Innovation recommends reserving the 900 series of cost center numbers for administration cost center needs, such as for adjustment cost centers.
- Once the number has been entered, verify the Type field is set to M for Mobile. A company is allowed to have as many Fixed type cost centers as needed, however the number of Mobile type cost centers is controlled by their license.
- Following this, set a Name for this cost center as well. The 'Adj_To' and 'DamagedStk Adj_to' fields are for specifying to which cost center inventory adjustments and spoiled returns will be routed, which is by default 998. Change these if needed, and use [CTRL+END] to save this new record. Once saved, all fields except for Num and Admin can be changed at a later time if needed.
- Once the new mobile cost center record has been saved, navigate to [Datafile / Cost Center / Mobile] to view the current mobile unit records in the system. New mobile unit records being added to an existing system will often have settings that mirror those of existing records. If this is the case, take the time to copy down the settings of an existing mobile unit record so they can be copied over to this new record being created to speed up the data entry process.
- When ready, use the [Insert] key to add a new record. Set the 'Route #' field to the same three digit number as the mobile cost center that was just created, to assign this record to that mobile cost center. Ensure that Active is set to Y, and assign this record to an employee and supervisor, if applicable.
- Choose the correct Printer type for the printer that's assigned to this handheld computer. The most common types are type 1 for full page 8.5" x 11" invoice printers, or type 4 for 4" thermal slip printers. The Version should be left as 'CURR' to ensure the most current version of Solid Sales Pro™ will be uploaded to the handheld computer.
- The 'Customer Groups to Load' field can be used to specify what Customer Route Groups will be loaded onto this handheld computer. Only customers belonging to the Customer Route Groups set here will be available for sales on the handheld computer. All customers can be loaded by writing the word 'ALL' in this field, or specify specific Customer Route Groups by separating them with a comma, such as 002,004,005.
- Also enter in a Description for this mobile unit record, which can be similar to, but not identical to, the description of another cost center or mobile unit record. Set all the other options as needed, and use [CTRL+END] to save this new record.
- Before synching the handheld computer to this mobile unit record for the first time, always ensure the Re-Init field for this record is set to Y for Yes. To do this, view the desired mobile unit record, and use the [F3 – Initial] key from the 'Menu Choices' along the bottom to change the Re-Init field above to Y.