Category Archives: Anywhere

Manage saved searches centrally

With saved searches, each user can filter or sort their customer list differently depending on the purpose, and subsequently call them up again at any time at the push of a button.

As of this update, administrators can now create saved searches centrally, which can be employed by all users.

Here’s how it works:

    1. If you are an administrator and do not have customers of your own, first log in to a user account that has customers.
    2. Navigate to the customer list.
    3. Use the Advanced search to set the desired filters and sorting.
    4. Click Saved.
  1. Click Save search organization-wide…
  2. Enter a name.
  3. Click Save.

This saved search is now available to all users.

Bear in mind:

  • Only administrators can create and delete organization-wide saved searches.
  • This functionality is available not only for the customer list but also for all other lists, i.e. also for appointments, tasks, reports and users. Just click the “Search” icon above the respective list.

Translate custom fields and saved searches into other languages

Do you have users with different languages in your portatour® company account? Do you use custom fields? Then you will be thrilled with this functional extension: you can now translate these fields into other languages.

Here’s how it works:

  1. As administrator, open the Options.
  2. Click Translations in the Data Management section.
  3. In the menu, select the language for which you want to enter translations.
  4. You will now see an alphabetically sorted list with all names, values and descriptions of your custom fields. In addition, the names of organization-wide searches are also included.
  5. Enter the translations in the respective language. Leave translations blank if you want to continue using the original text.
  6. Click Save.

Users with the respective language will then see the translated texts in portatour®.

Bear in mind:

  • The modification of an original text causes its translations to be discarded. As such do not forget to add translations when you make changes to custom fields. You will be reminded when you save the custom fields.
  • When you translate the values of selection fields, saved searches based on those field values might not work. For organization-wide saved searches, use the key of the selection field value by employing an “equals” search filter. In users’ saved searches, we recommend using the translation of the selection field values in the user’s language.
  • The translations of field names are also used in the column headings when exporting data. Take this into account when you process exported files in other systems.
  • The translation functionality is not available if you use portatour® in combination with Salesforce or Dynamics CRM. The translated field names are obtained from there.

New Maps October 2020

Today we have updated the map data and traffic flow data on our servers.

Changes in the road network and driving speeds may affect driving times between customers, so we recalculated them for you in portatour®. Some users might notice the change when updating the schedule next time.

In addition, when displaying maps in portatour®, the loading times might take a little longer since the map details need to be downloaded to your device again.

New Maps May 2020

Today we have updated the map data and traffic flow data on our servers.

Changes in the road network and driving speeds may affect driving times between customers, so we recalculated them for you in portatour®. Some users might notice the change when updating the schedule next time.

In addition, when displaying maps in portatour®, the loading times might take a little longer since the map details need to be downloaded to your device again.

Improved Online Help

As of today, new and improved online help for portatour® is available.
Click the question mark symbol in the main menu bar or in the pop-up windows of the portatour® application to open the new online help. Alternatively you can also navigate to help.portatour.com directly.

More content

  • Online help for browsing and searching
  • Video Tutorials
  • Frequently asked questions and their answers
  • Manual as PDF download
  • Contact Support

Improved search

Using the new search function, you can quickly find the articles or videos in the online help that are relevant for you. Simply type in the search terms and the results will immediately appear, sorted by relevance.

New design

We have given the online help a fresh coat of paint. Both functionality and user-friendliness have been improved.

Improved usage on smartphones and tablets

The online help is also now easier to use on smartphones and tablets while on the move.

Content provided according to your product variant and authorization level

In the menu (next to Help Center For), select your portatour® product variant (Anywhere, Salesforce, Dynamics CRM, etc.) and your authorization level (user or administrator).

More languages

The range of languages has been extended. In addition to English, German and French, the portatour® Anywhere online help is now also available and updated in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. When no translation is available, the English version is displayed.

Your feedback

We are constantly working on improving the online help and adding new content. If you have any comments, please send them to feedback@portatour.com You will also find a feedback section under the individual articles. Please let us know whether an article was helpful or what we can improve. Of course we are also happy to receive positive feedback.

We wish you much success with the new online help!

Search for appointments, tasks, reports and users

One of the most frequently used functions in portatour® is the customer search. It is available as quick search, extended search and saved search.

As of now the same functionality is also available for appointments, tasks, reports and users. One difference: whereas in the customer list the search function is always displayed, in the other lists you have to switch to the search mode by clicking the magnifying glass symbol. Another click on the magnifying glass symbol ends the search mode; you will see the standard view of the respective list again.

What else is new in the search?

  • The symbol for the extended search is now a filter symbol instead of the configuration wheel symbol.
  • If an extended search or a saved search is currently active, this will be easily recognizable by the yellow color of the respective button. In addition, a new button with an X symbol is displayed to the right of it, with which you can end the search and return to the standard view.
  • If an extended search or a saved search is currently active, you can also perform a quick search, which will narrow down the search result even further. Up to now, every quick search has ignored previous searches.

Hints for the quick search

For those of you who don’t already know, in the quick search, you can enter multiple search terms in the search field. For example, if you enter “Turner Oakland” in the search field, all customers containing “Turner” and “Oakland” will be found – in this example in the name and the city. The words do not have to be written out in full.

Additional information

  • The search also affects the export button below the list. When a search is active, you can choose whether to export only the rows found or all rows.
  • You can search for appointments by clicking the list symbol at the top right of the calendar and then the magnifying glass symbol for the search.
  • In the reports list you will find the three well-known functions “Clock in”, “Clock out” and “Report day off” via the new button “Log working time”.

Find hotels through Booking.com

If you are planning routes with overnight stays on the way, the new function “Find hotel” can be helpful.

You will find this function in the following places in portatour®:

  • In the schedule by clicking an overnight stay suggestion or overnight stay appointment
  • Clicking an overnight stay suggestion or overnight stay appointment in the calendar
  • In the appointment details view of an overnight stay appointment

When clicking “Find hotel”, you will be forwarded to the Booking.com website in a new window where hotels nearby your overnight stay location will be suggested. You will see the availabilities and prices for the date of the overnight stay. The room search uses the criteria “1 adult” and “business person”. You can set further filtering criteria on Booking.com.

After you have booked a hotel on Booking.com, use the function “Change overnight stay location” in portatour® to enter the hotel address. This will create a new overnight stay appointment that replaces the old overnight stay suggestion or overnight stay appointment.

Hint: If you would like to stay overnight at a hotel more often or if you want portatour® to suggest this hotel on its own for overnight tours, enter it in portatour® by clicking main menu > My Places > New accommodation. Up to 25 accommodations are possible.

Move days in the schedule

As a user of portatour®, have you ever been faced with the following situation? portatour® has suggested a route for one day, which you would like to follow in exactly the same way, but for whatever reason you would rather drive that route on another day? Then you will enjoy the new functions “move day” and “swap day“.

You can find these new functions in the schedule and in the calendar:

In the schedule, switch to the desired day. There, scroll down to the bottom, click More and then the menu item Edit day.

In the calendar, click the header of the day, then the menu item Edit day.

A window opens for you to select the target date.

In the case of “Swap day”, select both days to be swapped.

Note that moved or swapped call suggestions are discarded when the schedule is updated. To fix these call suggestions on the desired day, they must be converted into appointments. In the selection box, choose between fixed appointments, where the time is kept exactly the same, or appointments flexible on the day, where the time remains flexible.

Bear in mind

  • Only those days that start and end at the home location can be moved or swapped. This means that the day may not have an overnight stay on the way. Likewise, no calls or appointments may have already been completed for that day.
  • If you select a target day in “Move day” where there are already suggested calls, these will be removed. Appointments are retained in any case, but this can lead to conflicts. In such cases, you will be warned in time and asked whether you want to move the day anyway. Consider whether a swap would be better in such cases.
  • Furthermore, you will be warned if a customer call on the target day could not be scheduled, e.g. due to restricted business hours, call blocks, customer holidays or scheduling restrictions.

Further improvements in March 2020

In addition to the major enhancements described above, the update features the following minor improvements:

Explanation of the symbols of the customer list

Symbols relevant to planning are frequently displayed in the customer list. So that new users of portatour® don’t have to look up their meaning in the online help, they are now also displayed on the customer detail page. A single click is sufficient to open the description.

Improved appearance of the map for geocoding

When entering or editing an address, the corresponding map in the window now has an improved appearance to make better use of space. You will find the zoom buttons in the upper left corner. The “GPS” button for capturing the coordinates of your current location is located in the upper right corner with the crosshair symbol.

Easy input of business hours or working hours

If you edit a customer’s business hours, you can simply copy the business hours of one day to days below. A single click on the downward arrow is sufficient for the business hours of the day to be copied to the following day with currently different business hours.

Example: To change the business hours for each working day to 10am-12pm and 2pm-4pm, enter these business hours only on Monday and then click the downward arrow four times. In this way, these times will also be entered for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

As usual, a click on the recycle bin deletes the business hours of a day.

The same functionality is now also available when editing working hours.

Navigation apps: Use of address or geoposition

In addition to the existing program setting to determine which navigation app should be launched when you click the “Navigation” button in portatour®, you can now also set whether the address or the geoposition of the customer should be sent to the navigation app. If you maintain the geopositions in portatour® accurately, it may be advantageous to use those.

Note that not all navigation apps support both modes. portatour® will automatically use the other mode if necessary.

New export format: “Excel with data table”

This new Excel export format differs from the original Excel format in that the data in the Excel worksheet is marked and formatted as a “data table”.

The new format is also available when exporting via the API if you specify the parameter format=xlsxtable in the URL. This format is useful, for example, if the exported data is to be processed automatically using Microsoft Flow.