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| What’s New | The upgrade process | Your live trial and due diligence | Going live & finishing touches |
What’s New
AbtracOnLine is still the same old Abtrac that you know and have relied upon to help run your business.
What’s new is that AbtracOnLine has been rebuilt from the ground up using the latest technologies to give you the best product for your business needs.
This does mean that there are some slight differences visually and functionally – which is why the first step in the upgrade process involves setting up an AbtracOnLine trial containing your Abtrac V5 data.
There’s a lot more about the features in AbtracOnLine here on our website but the main things you’ll notice are:
- Accessibility. AbtracOnline lets you work from anywhere, no more being tied to your desk and no more hardware complications. If you have a data connection you can use Abtrac from anywhere on almost any device.
- Easier to use. A rebuild and redesign means we’ve been able to streamline processes, and more elegantly set out the data entry screens for many features in Abtrac.
- Better technology.
- It’s faster – the only limit is your internet connection. Run it using Google Chrome for the quickest browser available.
- Regular and Responsive updates. Because it’s cloud we can guarantee everyone has the most up to date version all the time.
- Security. It’s backed with the might of the Microsoft Azure network with all of their data security allowances, and our own too.
This Getting Started with AbtracOnLine page is also a good place to review how the new version of AbtracOnLine works and how it compares to your current version.
The Process of an upgrade
The upgrade is your choice.
We won’t force you into upgrading if you want to stay with what you’ve got, and we will continue to support the desktop version – Abtrac5 for a few more years. But any future development will be in our new version AbtracOnLine, so as time goes by you may be missing out.
There are a few key steps in upgrading to AbtracOnLine:
We need to review a copy of your Abtrac5 data and run some analysis
We will upload your data to the trial site where you can login and see how it looks
AbtracOnline Training – A run through with the support team
We will have a run through together so you can ask any questions
AbtracOnLine Trialing – Running both systems side by side
Before going live you must do some due diligence and trial AbtracOnLine
Obtain responses from other Abtrac Users in your office
You can give other people at your office access to the trial to do the same
You let us know you’re ready to change and we can schedule a Go Live date
Customise your invoice and integrations
Once you’ve gone live you give us instructions about Invoice Modifications and Accounts Integrations to MYOB, Xero etc.
Read on for details
Preparing your data
Before we can give you an upgrade we will need to review a copy of your Abtrac V5 datafile and run some analysis here at our end on your data to make sure that it is compatible with the new system. These tests are mainly data and infrastructure checks and are no replacement for your own hands on testing (read on for how we help you with this).
Uploading your data
Once we have run these tests we will upload your data into a trial so that you can see what the new AbtracOnline system looks like with your contemporary data. When the trial is ready we will give you your new logins to the system
AbtracOnline run-through
After you have your logins to the system we will arrange a time when we can go through the system together, so that we can show you the features and you can ask any questions you can think of at the time. This normally takes from 1 – 2 hours.
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AbtracOnLine Trialing – take time to make the transition smooth
To really test and be comfortable with a system you need to use it.
As mentioned earlier AbtracOnLine has been rebuilt based on the original Abtrac but it is a new system with different technology. You will need to invest time and do your due diligence before we schedule a go live date.
Be fair to yourself and give it a good test.
This doesn’t mean you need to greatly increase your workload, input all the data twice, nor invest huge amounts of time into the trial. What’s easiest is to go about your daily business using Abtrac5, and then repeat key tasks in the new version.
As you create your invoices, run reports, create projects and amend tasks just pop some details into AbtracOnLine too. Enter 1 or 2 jobs, do some timesheets and disbursements, raise a couple of invoices of different types, and run your reports.
People tell us this only takes an hour or so, many others have done it with a group of work colleagues to make sure everyone is comfortable before giving us the green light.
It’s the easiest way to see how it works, and the quickest way to highlight both how you work, and what features you need to investigate further, in order to satisfy yourself that AbtracOnLine meets your requirements in the same way that Abtrac5 does.
Why do you need to invest this time before upgrading?
We know what Abtrac V5 does and we’ve re-written most of it into Abtrac Online. But we don’t know what you in particular do with your Abtrac V5. So it is essential that you go through your own due diligence to ensure Abtrac Online is suitable for your needs. If something is missing that you need, we will schedule it to be done to enable you to migrate to Abtrac Online ASAP.
Obtain responses from other Abtrac Users in your office
After this we recommend that you confirm opinions with other users in the office and see if they have any questions for us as each person uses the system slightly differently.
To make your testing easier we have a checklist for you.
You can view the checklist and download a pdf copy here.
The checklist runs you through all the key parts of the system methodically, so you can be sure you’ve seen it all and can draw our attention to any queries or special cases you may have before going live.
Because AbtracOnLine is a cloud version we cannot customise features specifically for your office as we did in Version5, so it’s imperative you know and understand the differences and talk to us about any special cases for your office before going live.
If you have any questions please ask.
We want to make the process as simple and stress free as possible.
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Arrange a go live date
When you are ready to go live we need to arrange a time that suits both yourselves and the team here at Abtrac.
We can normally have your data uploaded in a less than day so we recommend getting your data in the afternoon of any day so we can upload overnight and by lunch the next day you will be up and running.
During this time you will not be able to use Abtrac. So we recommend arranging the cutover when you have completed your invoicing run, or when your Abtrac use is at its lowest point in the month.
Confirming users and licensing
How AbtracOnLine licensing works.
The AbtracOnLine license fees are on a per user basis.
We define ‘users’ as being not only current logins, but the number of current employees being managed through Abtrac– that is anyone who logs on, or who has timesheets done for them, or is being processed through Abtrac in any period.
That’s different from Abtrac5 where you were licensed for a certain number of con-current logins at any one time, but were able to have as many current logins and employees as required.
Before you go live you can estimate your AbtracOnLine license fees using the pricing guide on our website: abtrac.com/pricing
Confirming your licensed users.
Before we take a final copy of your data to go live you could also check your current employes in Abtrac5. Make any that are historic non-current from System Management > Administrator > Employees.
We will create AbtracOnLine email logins as a combination of employee first then last names, once your site is live you can confirm and update addresses and passwords using this article.
Once the system is live we’ll ask you to confirm and amend the current employees uploaded from Abtrac5, and we’ll send your a confirmation of your new fees.
Create your invoice modification
Once your data has been uploaded we will recreate your invoice modification from your Abtrac V5 version in the AbtracOnline version. This is a rebuild using different technologies so there may be slight differences but it will be very close to the look and feel of your previous invoice layout. This is all done as part of your upgrade so there is no cost to you so long as the layout is a replication of the Abtrac V5 version.
If you would like to make some design changes to your invoice at this point then we can work together to get this done but large changes may be chargeable time.
Accounts Integration
As part of the Go Live process we’ll discuss your current accounts integration and make a time to configure it sometime after your system is live.
The link is slightly different for the different software packages, we’ll check your settings in AbtracOnLine together and then complete a quick training sessions once it’s done to show you how it works.