VALE Entry Level Software

Customer Records – This area enables the creation, amendment and maintenance of customer account names and addresses plus related locations.

Supplier Records – This area does the same for suppliers of purchases or goods or services to be supplied for stock or directly to end users.

Machine and Serviced Items Records – This area contains detailed records of all serviced items to be held and maintained for service, billing and contractual records purposes. This can include facilities management.

Sales Order Processing, Service Billing and Supplies Invoicing – VALE software handles new business and upgrade business order processing and invoicing, meterage and regular charge billing, time and materials billing and supplies order processing and invoicing.

Invoices can be posted via emails, digitally directly to other accounting systems or posted the old fashioned way.

Service Call Processing – This module handles all types of service calls including machine, services and software set-ups and installations, on-going breakdown and maintenance calls, return to fit calls, planned maintenance calls and de-commissioning.

Calls can be placed via the company WEB site, from service telephone calls or automatically for planned maintenance.

VALE’s Nimrod field engineer sub-system is a comprehensive application employing Android, or iPhone Operating Systems on the respective smart phones that employ these systems.

Service Call Processing can be integrated to mapping software.

Stock Control – VALE software handles serial numbered items, engineer stock, consumables, supplies and non-stock items, most of this in real-time if that fits the way the end user company wishes to work.

Purchase Order Processing – This area enables purchase orders to be placed for all types of stock, automatic back to back production of purchase orders from sales orders and automated replenishment orders to be produced.

There are also a number of other software options available on request.

The VALE software is very efficient so it does not require very much in the way of a server to run it.

Naturally the number of users will decide the power of the server required and following are a couple of example specifications.

It is very likely that your business has such a server already in place on to which a VMWare type server can be loaded, perhaps that on which the business’s accounting software is running or the common filing system.

The virtual machine could be running Windows or Linux Operating System. VALE software has a proven track record running on Centos 8.1.

4 User Specification to 8 User Specification to run the VALE Software

Examples of users of the system would include a user processing sales including the customer and finance details, a user ordering the items sold from suppliers, a user controlling stock, receiving and issuing it, a user taking and assigning service calls and a user raising service invoices.

Depending on the size of the business one user might be handling multiple tasks.

Whilst a book-keeper will be running the accounts that user would also want access to the VALE system, for example to check invoices when handling credit control and so on.

A virtual server handling from 4 to 8 users should have disk space of at least 20GB, have 2 CPU’s assigned to it and have 2GB of RAM.

9 User Plus Specification

In this case the minimum specification of the virtual server should be 30GB of disk space, 4 CPU’s assigned to it and have 4GB of RAM

Additional Hardware Requirements

Obviously at least one printer should be linked to the server in order to output invoices for checking, delivery notes for picking etc.

Users would employ their usual PC’s or Laptops and field staff may employ smart phones that run the VALE mobile applications. These can be running either the Android or iPhone Operating Systems

For this case and for an integrated WEB application a Microsoft Internet Information Services server would need to be employed.

VALE Software is constantly being updated but it continues to employ very proven and reliable core software under the wraps.

Mercury Service Call Processing

Example of the view calls screen

Updating a call

General Mercury Maps View – each engineer’s call are in his colour

The map view can be enlarged to show a particular area in more detail, also the detail of the calls and the engineer’s routing for the day plus views of the buildings he is visiting.

Nimrod field engineer application

List of calls for the engineer                                                          Machine and Customer Detail

VALE Service Billing

In this example the basis of billing is via meter readings which can be posted automatically from applications such as PrintMIB and One Stop or entered manually as below where visibility of previous invoices makes sense checking entries easy.

The VALE system handles regular service contractual charge billing, rentals and time and materials billing.

Examples of the former can include maintenance contracts for items as diverse as boilers, vending machines, printers, telephone systems and various types of software support.

The VALE software comfortably handles cover for labour for example but also charges for other items such as parts and consumables or warranty related claims.

Processing Sales

All the complexities of invoicing machines, services, software and related products are covered by the VALE software including settlements, trade-ins, plus additional items such as extra software licences or services.

The example below is a machine and services sale which is being financed.

This example is relatively simple but multiple machine or service sales to different locations and many other options are handled efficiently and simply by the VALE software.

In this example a back to back purchase order has been created by just a few key strokes.

The high degree of integration of the system means that related aspects such as handling the set-up, installation and preparing the machine for on-going billing can be handled seamlessly.

Years of experience going live in well over 100 implementations has enabled VALE software to achieve the go live state swiftly and professionally even during lockdown.

The proven steps are:-

1. Completion of a requirements document that will highlight the customer company’s business needs as well as integration to other software employed such as accounting packages like Sage, Quick Books, Oracle, SAP etc.
2. As a result a system configuration and a training plan is produced.
3. Extractions of current data are organised and that data posted into the VALE database.
4. As part of the detailed training, which is exhaustive and delivered in the main by a human being, includes instructions on gathering and entering extra data.
5. Processes are defined and used as part of the training including being included in videos that end users can refer to any time in addition to the personal training sessions.
6. Required outputs are configured e.g. invoice, delivery note and purchase order formats.
7. The going live is supported by VALE skilled operatives who are connected to the end user company throughout the process until it is complete.
8. On-going support continues once the going live is competed.