Posts Tagged ‘Property Management’

DOWNLOAD UPGRADE

Issues resolved and new features:

Arrears Report

The status of the current month was read incorrectly. It used an exclusion status a customer which sometimes gave an amortization error.

Supplier Statements

The short term deposit amounts were not included in payments.

Recurring Billing

Before updating the invoices a check is done to ensure Pastel is in the correct period.

Bank Statement Import

The customer descriptions were not found.

All the products developed by Novtel are fully integrated with Pastel Partner and Pastel Express. This requires a constant upgrading of the custom in-house developed Pastel Integration Toolkit to ensure compatibility with the latest Pastel products.

The latest Novtel Toolkit version available is 1.4.0.4. This Toolkit is a requirement before upgrading to Pastel 11 Build 2.2. This Toolkit forms part of the Novtel product upgrade. It is a requirement to upgrade to the latest version of the specific Novtel product before upgrading to Pastel 11 Build 2.2.

All upgrades are available by visiting the Novtel Forum or specific category on the Novtel Blog for Customers doing own upgrades. Customers requiring assistance with upgrading are welcome to contact the Novtel Support team.

Novtel Website

Novtel Forum

The Novtel Meter Reading system is a necessity for any business that has the need to keep track of any meter readings. The system gives you not only the ability to manage your meter readings but also the ability to call up the history of any of your readings. With seamless integration with Novtel Reservations there is no need to add entirely new properties for all your meter readings it will already be there. Keeping track of your meter readings has never been easier. With an easy to learn and even easier to master interface there is no need to appoint new staff just to use the system anyone can use it.

The system is extremely powerful but will not use unnecessary system resources just to start up. The interface also gives you at your fingertips access to update your readings and managing multiple charges is also possible. It is possible to set up as many charges as you need and changes to the charges can be made while properties are already associated with that charge. Updates to the readings will also reflect on the Novtel Reservations system.

When moving the mouse over bookings on the Novtel grid the detail information of the tenant will be auto displayed on the information box bottom middle of the grid screen , did you know that when pressing Ctrl + I buttons on the keyboard the Invoice related to that booking  will be displayed on the screen.

Ctrl + Q will display the booking as a quotation.

All clients who use the Novtel products pay a monthly fee per workstation.  The fee is deducted by debit order.  In cases where no debit order is installed and the client pay by EFT, no auto authorization is allowed.  The clients who pay per EFT, must send through proof of payment to allow authorization for the following month.

AUTO AUTHORIZATION WORK AS FOLLOWS: 

RESERVATIONS:

Between the 20^th and 23^rd of every month the authorization codes is sent out from the Application program.

When a client’s program does not auto authorize, the following procedure is followed:

*          Check the Base Serial number, e.g. SP0001.  The Base Serial Number must be identical to  Novtel’s Application Program.  The client must go to “Record Upgrade” and type in the correct Base Serial Number and Accept.  Then the client restarts the system, and then the Base Serial will be changed.

*          Check the Reference number, e.g. WHFG-1TG8-C0XP.  If the Reference Number differs, it must be changed on the Novtel Application System to be the same as the one on the clients system. The reason for Reference Numbers change might occur when the client re-installed the application or formatted a hard drive on the application workstation.

*          When the Base Serial Number and the Reference Number is corrected, the client must go to Setup then Authorization

*          Check if tick is on at Use Online Authorization.

If tick is on, click on Test Service and if it shows “Test passed” the system will automatically auto authorize monthly.  If “Test Service failed” , the following procedure must be followed :

Novtel personnel will install the auto authorization program.  Internet access must be available on the workstations to complete authorization setup.

RELATIONS MANAGEMENT:

The following procedures need to be followed if Base Serial Number and Reference Number is not the same as reflected on the clients system:

*          Novtel Personnel must Click on Start then run then RegEdit, and change the Serial number and Reference Number on the clients PC accordingly.

Water Meter Reading

By Johan Kotze, Novtel Development

There is a major gap in the property industry when it comes to keeping track of water and electricity readings. Many property management departments of estate agencies have no means of keeping track of the meter readings of their flats and housing complexes.

This is what makes the Novtel Meter Reading system such a vital tool to those in need of something more than spreadsheets. Not only is this system it easy to use but it is also very powerful and very versatile. Integrating directly with Novtel Property Management there is no duplicate data taking up disk space on the user’s system and also no need to enter details for each property twice.  All the data is directly transferred from Novtel Property Management. A great feature of this system is the ability to set the reading date as property management departments doesn’t always have the time to enter the reading the day they took it. The system also saves time that is needed to enter the readings as all you have to do is enter the new reading and it calculates the costs based upon the charges you have set up.

The charges only have to be entered once and multiple properties can also use a single charging structure so no need to duplicate charging structures. In light of the recent drought that affected the Garden Route this system sets a prime example of what is needed to monitor the tenants of housing complexes as a history can be called up at any given time to see the trend at which water was used. If the system is used correctly it can also be used to help identify if a house or flat has faulty plumbing as working through spreadsheets and past bills can be a time consuming process that can be eliminated with this system.

Another problem with spreadsheets is that the person that sets up that spreadsheet sets a trend of how the data is captured and that makes it very difficult for the next person to work with as commonly seen bad habits are included in that sheet for example when a user has no knowledge of formulas and then tries to set up a formula to calculate the cost and does it incorrectly it can influence the entire future of data entered. This is where Novtel Meter reader brings a solution by unifying the way data is entered to a simple understandable way so the next user can quickly get up to date with the readings. Novtel Meter Reader also eliminates the need for doing complex calculations to calculate the costs of water and electricity by handling that for the user. If the cost of electricity or water changes there is no need to set up new charges as the charging structures can be edited by the user. The system also works out the average used by the tenant so the user has no need to go through the pain staking process for each property. The Novtel Meter Reader system like all the other Novtel systems was developed and is maintained by professional and experienced software developers.

Article by: Johan Grabe, CEO Novtel Group

Novtel’s new Toilet hire system developed in partnership with various industry leaders and Pastel Accounting is an extremely easy to use software package that manages the rental, hygienic scheduling and servicing of hired toilets the system are equipped with the following features:

• All the time availability of all types of units
• Site service auto synchronisation with current service schedule
• Unlimited service sites per customer
• GPS coordinates stored with each site
• Service truck drivers scheduling included
• Change 1000 services from one day to the next with click of mouse
• Overdue services auto priority for next working day
• Service scheduling weekly planning system
• Reports of weekly scheduled service
• Reports of services per area
• Reports of services per driver
• Daily scheduling schedule
• Service slips to be signed produced in seconds on daily basis
• Event scheduling a pleasure to do

The Novtel toilet hire system is equipped with:

• Branch transfer management and transportation tracking of hired items
• Maintenance tracking per toilet Service
• Contract management with site delivery address
• Delivery and collection management
• Rain days managed with ease
• No charge days managed seamlessly in the background
• Complete graphical view of overall yard activity and availability
• One button daily roll over procedure with Information of:
• Previous day balance due per store of active current contracts
• Increment for hired items for the day plus daily increment value
• Balance due per store after daily roll over of all active current contracts
• Loss as result of Rain day
• Loss as result of No Charge day (Sunday)
• One button monthly billing roll over procedure to Pastel Accounting
• Accumulated monthly totals per toilet
• Seamless monthly billing direct to Pastel Partner or Xpress
• Automated transfer of month end current hired toilets to new month
• Audit reports of monthly billing activities to Pastel Accounting
• Deposit management system
• Quoting system
• Staff activity tracking system

Novtel On-line Booking System

Article by Johan Grabe, CEO Novtel Group

The Novtel online booking system was developed for our customers in the Vehicle Hire and Hospitality businesses with central reservations needs. Novtel’s booking system runs on the reservations server and communicates directly to the on-line bookings website VIA a web service. As on-line reservations are requested on the website the Novtel system instantly supplies the availability of rooms to the website user.

The system allows the user to make on-line reservations and make full deposit payments towards the booking all web based. In the background Novtel collects all information regarding the reservation and instantly synchronises the web information with the Novtel reservations application.

We currently have a special deal running if you are one on of our Vehicle hire or hospitality users please contact us for more details regarding the introduction special.

Novtel Makes History         

Article by: Johan Gräbe – CEO Novtel Group

Novtel started doing business in 1991 as a sole propriety business. Four years later, on 4th November 1996 Novtel was officially registered as a South African Company. With this, the first official Novtel News bulletin we also celebrate our 15th birthday being part of the worldwide business community. Novtel’s thoughts regarding newsletters of this kind always were that it is not necessary because we do publish all activities of our company and new software development projects to the Internet at the following URL’s:

• The Novtel International website:  http://www.novtel.com
• The Novtel South Africa website:  http://www.novtel.co.za
• The Novtel United Kingdom website:  http://www.novtel.co.uk
• The Novtel Blog: http://novtel.com/blog
• The Novtel Forum:  http://www.novtel.com/forum/index.php?www

Today we realise that publishing information to the World Wide Web is just not enough because many users of Novtel does not necessary visit our websites on a regular basis to see what developments were done. After our research, careful consideration and discussions on the matter we all at Novtel agreed that we have totally underestimated the value and need of a Novtel News bulletin to the end user and prospective new users of Novtel’s products and services.

From November 2011 onwards Novtel’s plan is to send out one newsletter per month between the 20^th and 27^th days of each month covering mainly the following arias of our business:

• Upgrades released during the month on all 13 products we develop, maintain and support.
• Information and upgrades released on the add-on modules developed for Novtel and Pastel.
• Information on New Novtel products under development with estimated completion dates.
• Release information of beta versions of Novtel for test driving new Novtel developments.
• Pastel Accounting changes that will have an effect on our end users.
• Latest news on other Accounting software packages Novtel interfaces to.
• Interesting news regarding the Hire / Rental industry we supply the software solution to.
• Frequently asked Q&A Questions and answers about Novtel and its products and services.
• Tips and Tricks with Novtel Software.
• Changes to the Novtel software applications new legislation requires us to do.
• Inputs requested from Novtel users regarding planned developments.
• Step by step training of how to make full use of Novtel’s websites.
• Information about the services we offer.
• Feedback received from users on the Novtel News bulletin.
• Implementation and training methods Novtel uses.
• Novtel’s support systems and how to utilise all of its potential.
• Special offers we have for the month if any.
• General news and current interesting events within the Novtel Group.

Thank you for your time reading this article and please gives us your valued feedback it would be highly appreciated.

How to give Feedback:

1)            If you are registered on the Novtel Blog follow the following steps:

• Scroll to the bottom of the article
• Locate and click on “Comments“
• Log into the Novtel Blog when requested to do so
• Once logged into the Novtel Blog ——- >> Leave a Reply Box will open
• Below the “Leave a Reply” in the white box; post your feedback
• When done with the feedback, on the left bottom of the white box click the “Submit Comment” button

2)            If you are not registered on the Novtel Blog follow the following steps:

• Click on the link below:

http://novtel.com/blog/wp-login.php?action=register

• Register on the Novtel blog – only two easy steps to follow
• Log in to the Novtel Blog
• Scroll to the bottom of the article
• Locate and click on “Comments“ —– >> Leave a Reply Box will open
• Below the “Leave a Reply” in the white box; post your feedback

When done with the feedback, on the left bottom of the white box click the “Submit Comment” button

Why use access control

Article by Kobus van den Berg – Novtel Operations

Access control enables you to control who has access to your building.

Locks and keys also allow you to secure your building, but when keys are lost or stolen, the inconvenience and expense of changing locks and re-issuing keys can be considerable. Keys may also be copied, creating even more security risks.

All businesses, whether small, medium or large, have assets that need to be protected from theft. There is also the issue of protecting staff and their property. It is common in buildings that are secured by locks and keys for doors to be left unlocked all day. This opens up the possibility of opportunist theft and malicious damage.

An increasing number of organizations of all sizes have been recognizing the benefits of replacing their old key based systems for controlling access to buildings with electronic access control systems. The benefits in lower running costs and ease of administration are well proven.

Electronic access control provides the most efficient and convenient way of securing your building and assets. Installing an access control system means that you will never have to change a lock again. Access Cards/Tags  are issued to allow access through the controlled doors, and are easily barred from the system if they are lost, stolen or just not returned by someone who leaves your company. Barred access cards/tags will not allow access through the controlled doors.

Once an access control system is installed, all doors controlled by the system will automatically lock when the door is closed. Anyone without a access card/tag is unable to enter. If necessary, doors may be set to unlock during a designated time frame.

Access control can also offer flexible control over users’ access rights. For example, all staff can gain access through the main door of a building, but access to internal areas may be restricted to those who have a specific need to be there. Access may also be restricted by time, only granting access to particular users at certain times of day or night.

Reports can be produced which detail the movements of individuals or specific events.

Novtel’s Access Control software is developed with in-house electronic engineers to perform at the highest level of security and safety.  We supply software as well as hardware to accommodate all your access control needs.