Features
- OrderStream™ offers a wide range of order entry methods, sophisticated processing algorithms, management reporting and customized business options to help your business. For more information click on any of the bullet items below:
- The OrderStream™ secure web application uses the Hypertext Transfer Protocol with the SSL/TLS protocol to provide encrypted communication and secure identification of our network web server. OrderStream™ provides the following three user roles:
- Web Admininistrator
The web administrator maintains inventory, customer, shipto and pricing information. The admin user has access to all of OrderStream's functionality. The admin user can view and update all orders, set up sales representative and customer users, define customer and product groups and run administrative reports. The admin user can manually export closed orders and upload product images at any time.
- Sales reps
Sales reps can use the OrderStream™ web application to process customer orders from any Javascript enabled web browser on any hardware platform such as Windows, Linux, Macintosh or smartphone. A reduced set of functions are provided to sales reps to simplify usage, reduce the learning curve and protect sensitive business information. Reps can only view and update orders taken for customers in their own customer group.
- Customer users
OrderStream™ offers a set of B2B e-commerce order entry pages for Customer users. This simplified view of OrderStream™ allows pre-approved customer users to order from your catalogue at their convenience.
- Offline catalogue
The android OrderStream™ application can be used to build orders from offline catalogues. Once a catalogue has been set up for on-line use, synchronize your android device with the OrderStream™ server. Download a zip file containing images of your product line and you are ready to go. Select a customer, start an order, choose a catalogue then begin adding items to your order.
- Gallery style catalogue
The OrderStream™ web application provides the system administrator with tools to build simple searchable catalogues, upload item images and override catalogue item prices. Catalogue items can be searched on any field in the inventory record. Sales reps and customers can page through these catalogues and add items to the order. Catalogues can be pre-built and assigned start and end dates to restrict the period in which the catalogue pricing is in effect.
- Android native application
All of the traditional OrderStream™ features are available on a variety of android tablets and smartphones. Bluetooth enabled devices can be paired with the Motorola CS3000 Series scanners. The Motorola ET1 7-inch tablet and the Honeywell Dolphin 7800 handheld are ruggedized devices with integrated bar code scanners. The catalogue application is available on all of the devices but is especially effective on a 10-inch android tablet. Synchronization to the OrderStream™ server can be done wirelessly via wifi or cellular signal.
- Janam PalmOS devices
OrderStream™ may operate on any of the Janam XP Series PalmOS devices and includes an integrated barcode scanner with the unit. Synchronization to the OrderStream™ server can be done via wifi or cable linked to a computer or communication cradle.
- Mobile web access
A mobile optimized view of the OrderStream™ web application can be accessed from any mobile device that has a Javascript enabled modern web browser that provides HTTP-Secure support (access to https sites). Access can be through a wifi hotspot or the cellular network.
- Product pricing algorithms
OrderStream™ offers a number of pricing schemes. The basic pricing options are
- Base price, sale price and the manufacturers suggested retail price
- Seven levels of quantity break pricing
- Five levels of customer category pricing
- Manual discounts applied to an order's item
- Manual discounts applied to a complete order
- Order confirmation reports
Order reports are created on your android device as pdf's. They can then be printed directly to a bluetooth printer, routed to an ePrint printer or emailed as customer confirmation.
A wider variety of order reports in PDF format are available when the order is printed from the OrderStream™ server. A manual order print request made using the OrderStream™ web application creates an order report PDF that can be downloaded to the requestor's laptop or PC.
Order reports can be printed directly from PalmOS devices to a bluetooth or IrDA enabled printer.
During the synchronization process, order PDF's can be automatically printed to an HP ePrint enabled printer that is associated with a customer group. This allows tradeshow or showroom reps to print an order from a local printer.
Order confirmation reports can also be created when orders are exported to your back office and can be automatically emailed to the sales representative or customer.
Sample reports can be viewed on our screenshots page. - Standing Orders
Sales reps having customers who periodically purchase a recurring set of products can designate an order from the customer's order history as a template or standing order. These orders are sent to a rep's handheld and a copy can be used to build new orders. Standing orders are also available within the web application.
- New Customers
Orderstream offers your sales representatives the ability to take orders for new customers. The orders are placed on hold until resolved and released using the OrderStream™ web application.
- Multi-Company
OrderStream™ allows you to have several separate company databases on the BlackBerry™ or Palm™ mobile devices. Each company will have it's own independent customer and product records. Order entry remains the same for each company but the orders are kept separate and are directed to the appropriate company's database on the server automatically in a single synchronization session.
- Order types
OrderStream™ supports the following order types:
- Quotes
- Returns
- Invoices
- Customer Orders
- Credit Notes
- Pre-defined order comments
The Orderstream web application gives you an opportunity to enter a set of comments that will be downloaded to the sales rep's mobile device. The rep can add any or all of these comments to an order as well as any ad hoc comments durng the order close step. Item specific comments can be added at any point while taking an order.
- Order close options
The following information can be captured when closing an order:
- Expected Ship Date
- Cancel Date
- Terms
- Purchase Order # - customer PO #
- Ship Via - select the shipping method
- Order Confirmation - send customer an order confirmation
- Accept Back Orders - Yes/No prompt
- Ship Complete - Yes/No prompt
- EMail Address - capture the customer's email address
- Written By - the rep taking the order
- Global Discount - back pocket discount applied to the whole order
- DropShip Address - a temporary override ship to address
- Sync on Order Close - immediately sync the order
- Multiple ship to addresses
A customer can have a "Bill To" address, a "Head Office" address" and multiple "Ship To" addresses. The "Ship To" address can be selected when the rep creates the order.
- Dropshipping
Enter a dropship address when closing an order that will override the customer's normal "Ship To" address.
- Centrally managed and maintained data
Inventory, customer, shipto and pricing information is uploaded to the OrderStream™ server from the back office system and is immediately available to the web application. Sales reps receive the updated information on their next mobile handheld synchronization. Software is managed and maintained by Order Logistics IT staff.
- Server info
The OrderStream™ Server lies in the center of the Order Logistics family of products. It functions as the hub of all activity and provides the following functionality:
- Data synchronization of remote handhelds via the Internet.
- Initialization of new handhelds allowing zero-maintenance for units in the field.
- Corporate database maintenance via Web application which allows for user configuration, system settings and table maintenance (inventory, customer base, orders, etc...) directly at it's source.
- Upload and/or download of data (inventory, orders, etc...) via secure FTP communication or AS2 file transfers.
- Order entry for sales reps and customers
- Statistics and reporting for daily, monthly and yearly reports.
- Nightly backups of your data.
The synchronization server, AS2 servers and secure web servers are hosted at Rogers Communications, a world class data center located in Ottawa, Ontario. This facility features multi-homed large-bandwidth connectivity to all the major Internet backbones, triple redundancy battery backup including on-site gas-powered generators, full server maintenance including on-time patching, virus monitoring and firewall configuration. This assures the highest throughput and 22 hours per day up-time.
- Catalogues
OrderStream™ offers a variety of management reports to help run your business. Complete order history is available on the OrderStream™ server that will allow you to run YTD, monthly and historical comparison reports.
- Management reports
OrderStream™ offers a variety of management reports to help run your business. Complete order history is available on the OrderStream™ server that will allow you to run YTD, monthly and historical comparison reports.
- Customer and product grouping
The OrderStream™ administrator can create customer groups (by any customer characteristic...territory, language etc...) and assign them to individual sales representatives for service. These groups can be temporarily overridden when the sales representative travels to a trade show or can be reassigned as required. Inventory groups can also be created to restrict certain product groups to specific sales reps.
- Data Exchange
Inventory, customer, shipto and pricing files can be manually uploaded to/downloaded from the server to your back office system. Your company can also use the AS2 protocol to automatically exchange files. Orders processed by your sales staff can also be automatically sent to your suppliers for fulfilment provided that they are also an OrderStream™ user.
- User maintenance
The adminstrative user adds and maintains OrderStream™ users. Users are defined as either sales representatives or customers. Sales representatives will be able to add and update their own orders as defined within their Customer group. Sales representatives can be set up for either web access, mobile handheld access or both. Customer users however, are only able to create orders for their own Company via web access
- Accounting system interfaces
OrderStream's data exchange interfaces are compatible with any large or small back office system.