Arsenault releases new edition of fleet management software

BURLINGTON, N.J. — Arsenault Associates has released Dossier Version 6.1, the latest edition of its fleet asset maintenance management software.

Dossier 6.1 offers enhancements at both the individual user and enterprise levels, including Arsenault's Instant Recall repair histories, new reporting capabilities and innovative tools for compliance, benchmarking and automated report delivery. Dossier 6.1 is engineered for ultimate scalability from a single PC to the largest corporate environment.

"The enhancements in Dossier 6.1 were developed in close collaboration with our user community," said Bob Hausler, vice president of marketing and technology at Arsenault. "Reports in 6.1 are even easier to generate, manage, access and distribute, and our built-in data selection tool, search and select, gives users amazing capability to find the information hiding in their data."

The new version also includes the ability to have Dossier deliver reports via e-mail or directly to a computer or server, according to Hausler.

One example of the retooled reporting capabilities is the ability to gauge the efficiency of a preventive maintenance (PM) program.

"The PM Compliance tool is available as both a graphical dashboard view and through a full suite of reports. You can see the percentage of PMs which were done late, on time or early — which can identify a waste of resources and money," Hausler said.

Dossier 6.1's Instant Recall repair history appears automatically in a screen panel when a repair order is initiated. As elements of the repair order are entered, Instant Recall drills down through the vehicle history and displays related work previously performed.

Record-keeping in Dossier 6.1 includes the ability to attach files — documents or photographs, for example — to repair orders, quotes and external work authorizations using the new "documents" tab on the relevant forms.

Larger Dossier users will now be able to "scale out" Dossier 6.1 with multiple server systems to increase performance and availability. This can be achieved with either physical or virtual servers.

The enterprise-level architecture in Dossier 6.1 provides the structure for Arsenault's SaaS (Software as a Service), offering Dossier On-Demand, the anywhere, anytime, pay-as-you-go version of Dossier on the Internet.

Dossier 6.1 also includes the new Dossier Data eXchange (DDX) Application Program Interface that allows Dossier to connect to other systems in real time. According to Hausler, this is more far-reaching than it might first seem.

"In 2011, many of our customers are connecting their business systems," he explained. "We also have many opportunities where partner technologies and products could integrate with Dossier to provide value to Dossier users."

Hausler said that Arsenault is already using DDX for some Dossier options that communicate externally. Among them are Dossier On-Board, which provides telematics integration and is often used with Networkfleet wireless vehicle monitoring and diagnostics. DDX is also used for the Dossier integration with NAPA TAMS II, which automatically populates Dossier repair orders with parts usage data from the customer's NAPA account.

"Not only does [Dossier 6.1] deliver great new features, but 6.1 really represents the next generation of Dossier platform technology; it positions our customers for the future," Hausler said.