Here is a brief list of Dattaca's rich set of features. Click on each item to view its synopsis: High performance Large capacity Current technologies Comprehensive on-line Help Intuitive graphical user interface Windows compliant user interface Tight security Assignable user authority levels Restricted company data access multi-company and office support in one database Shared access to customers, vendors and agents Elegant organization of displays and dialog boxes Equally strong support for all three transport modes Practical file setup to handle many legs in mixed modes Simple allocation of cargo from one leg to another Expeditious shipping form creation and archiving Convenient cargo consolidation mechanism Powerful function for packing cargo into container Encompassing support for job and quote files Labor saving spawning of job file from quote file Automatic currency and measurement unit conversion Accurate freight cost calculation from rate and cargo spec. Comprehensive support for three contract terms Easy comparison of costs from multiple vendors Effective purchase order tracking Efficient mail and reminder messaging Inclusive support for four types of sales invoices Meticulous matching of expenses to sales invoices ISO 9000 supportive checklist function Integrated access to Word and Excel applications Reliable tracking of customer appointment and minutes Simple hardware and network requirement High performance Dattaca is a client-server system — the database server stores and distributes data while the client PCs do the processing. This division of labor gives you the best system performance. We have optimized Dattaca's database structure and algorithm. The result is a fast and responsive system. Large capacity Never worry about outgrowing your freight management system again. Interbase is a powerful database engine that offers the best value; it's more than enough to support the largest freight forwarders in the world. When your business grows, Dattaca will grow with it. (Go to the External Link page to link to the Interbase website for more information on Interbase) Current technologies We use Delphi and Interbase to build Dattaca. Both are current mainstream computing technologies produced by Inprise (formerly Borland International). Inprise upgrades and releases a new version of these tools every six months. You can be sure that Dattaca will stay current for a long time. (Go to the External Link page to link to the Inprise website for more information on Delphi and Interbase) Comprehensive on-line Help Dattaca has an on-line Help function that can be used as a tutorial for new users or as a reference. You can find information using the table of contents, index or full text search capability. You can use it on-line or, if you prefer reading from paper, print a hard copy. click here to see on-line Help content click here to see on-line Help index click here to see on-line Help search Intuitive graphical user interface Dattaca's graphical user interface is the same as the current generation applications. It supports mouse functions, check boxes, radio buttons and drop down list boxes. Command buttons are placed where they're needed, and are enabled or disabled depending on the circumstances. You can use Dattaca without having to remember a set of esoteric codes. click here to see a sample dialog box click here to see sample GUI components Windows compliant user interface Dattaca complies with the Windows interface standard. It has the familiar cut and paste, minimize and maximize capabilities. If you know how to run Windows, you'll be very comfortable with Dattaca. click here to see a Dattaca window click here to see cascading Dattaca screens click here to see tiled Dattaca screens Tight security You control who gets access to Dattaca. Even if someone gains access to your computer network, he cannot get at the Dattaca data without logging on to Dattaca using an ID and a password. Assignable user authority levels Protect sensitive data from unauthorized access by assigning the appropriate authority level to each user. Dattaca has ten user authority levels ranging from Guest to System Administrator. Each user authority level has an associated set of functions and commands. click here to see the authority levels Restricted company data access For each Dattaca user you set up, you assign the companies that he can access. The user can't see job files, quote files or financial data from companies to which you have not given him access. Multi-company and office support in one database From a single database, Dattaca can support up to 36 independent freight forwarding companies operating from 36 offices. From a single log on, you can access information from all or a subset of the companies. It also allows you to administer and support all offices from a single location. Shared access to customers, vendors and agents Eliminate confusion and duplication of stakeholders. Enter each customer, vendor and agent into Dattaca's database just once. And have all your freight forwarding companies and offices get equal access to the same set of customer, vendor and agent information. Elegant organization of displays and dialog boxes Dattaca organizes the displays and dialog boxes in Books. For example, the File Book lets you work with file data, and Customer Book lets you work with customer data. Displays and dialog boxes are logically laid out within each book. click here to see Dattaca book list click here to see navigation bars Equally strong support for all three transport modes Air freight, with its standardized rate structure, is the easiest to support. Naturally, most freight management software does air freight well at the expense of land and ocean freight. Dattaca does equally well with all three, and all three modes get similar treatment. Practical file setup to handle many legs in mixed modes Each Dattaca job or quote file supports one journey with up to 25,900 legs joined together from end to end, or in parallel with common origin, common destination, or common origin and destination. Use this powerful function to model real life shipping jobs with much greater accuracy, and to make the journey much easier to understand. click here to see a journey example click here to see the dialog box for adding a new leg Simple allocation of cargo from one leg to another If a piece of cargo has to travel from one leg to another, you only need to define the cargo once. Then, use the Allocate function to move it from one leg to another. You can view all the cargo that comes into the origin location of a leg, then decide to allocate all or a subset of the cargo. click here to see a cargo allocation example click here to see the cargo allocation dialog box Expeditious shipping form creation and archiving When you create a leg, you define its itinerary; specify its shipper, consignee, and agents; and define the cargo. Dattaca puts together shipping forms based on the information. This is very efficient when you need to produce a number of different forms for the leg, because it saves you the labor of having to re-enter the same information for every form. click here to see the air leg shipping forms click here to see the ocean leg shipping forms click here to see the land leg shipping forms Convenient cargo consolidation mechanism If there is cargo from different job files that can be consolidated, Dattaca will find it for you. After creating a consolidation leg in a consolidation file, just click <Add>, and Dattaca will search the database and consolidate cargo from uncompleted legs that have a common origin and destination. There is no need to know before hand or remember the files that need to be consolidated. click here to see the Consolidation display Powerful function for packing cargo into container After consolidating cargo, use the Pack Cargo function to pack LTL or LCL cargo into container(s). You can change the content of a packed container at any time, and Dattaca also warns you if the packed cargo exceeds the capacity of the container. click here to see the Pack Cargo dialog box click here to see the Repack command Encompassing support for job and quote files Apart from minor differences Dattaca gives identical treatments to job files and quote files. You can create quotations from quote files but can't issue sales invoices or record purchase invoices. From a job file, you can issue sales invoice and record purchase invoice, but can't create quotations. Learn to build one type of file and you automatically can build files of the other type. Labor saving spawning of job file from quote file When you win a quote, click to create a job file from the quote file. The new job file inherits the legs and economic information from the quote file. All vendors and their rates you entered in the quote file are passed on. Don't waste time re-entering information you've entered once already. Give the operations staff a clear picture of what the quotation staff has done. Automatic currency and measurement unit conversion Dattaca stores a figure and unit for every monetary and measurement value. When a conversion between different currency or measurement units is required for display or calculation (such as adding or multiplying), Dattaca does it automatically, and eliminates conversion errors that humans are prone to make. For currency conversions, Dattaca automatically adjusts for the spread between selling and buying rates as well. click here to see the currency display Accurate freight cost calculation from rate and cargo spec. From the freight rate and cargo characteristics, Dattaca automatically and accurately calculates the freight cost. It compares cargo volume against weight and uses the larger one as the chargeable volume/weight. If it is cheaper to declare the weight/volume at the minimum of the next weight/volume break, Dattaca does so automatically. If actual cost is below minimum cost, Dattaca defaults to the minimum cost. Comprehensive support for three contract terms Select one of three contract terms for each job file: Rate Table, Cost Plus, or Fixed Price. Based on the selected contract term, Dattaca automatically calculates your client charges. For Rate Table contracts, Dattaca calculates client charges based on client rates. For Cost Plus contracts, it applies the mark up percentage to come up with client charges. For Fixed Price contracts, it ensures that total charge to the client equals the fixed price amount. Easy comparison of costs from multiple vendors For each freight or disbursement cost item, store the rates or costs from multiple vendors. On two displays, Dattaca lists all vendor costs in a common currency. Compare vendor costs directly and select the vendor you want to use. After choosing a vendor, declutter the display by hiding the unchosen vendor options. click here to see the Freight display click here to see the decluttered Freight display click here to see the Disbursement display click here to see the decluttered Disbursement display Effective purchase order tracking Use the Purchase Order Tracking module to acquire a purchase order's list of cargo and its characteristics from an Excel file. Without re-entering the information, bring the cargo into quote or job files and process as usual. From the Purchase Order Tracking module displays, trace the progress of each cargo item starting with Listed, to Received, to Verified, to In-Transit, and ending with Delivered. You can also bundle small purchase order items into larger pieces for easier handling. Efficient mail and reminder messaging Send a mail message to another Dattaca user. When the recipient logs on, Dattaca notifies him of the mail message. When the message is read, Dattaca records the date. Set up a reminder message for any user of Dattaca. When the recipient logs on, on or after the notification date, Dattaca will remind him of the message. When he reads the message, Dattaca records the date. click here to see the Message function display click here to see the Message Notification dialog box Inclusive support for four types of sales invoices Issue a pre-bill sales invoice to collect up-front payment, before any work is done. Issue a standard sales invoice to collect revenue and to recognize revenue from pre-bill invoices. If you make a mistake on a sales invoice, you can cancel it and start over again. Or you can adjust small charge discrepancies by issuing a debit/credit sales invoice. Meticulous matching of expenses to sales invoices When you create a standard sales invoice, you select the expense items to match to the sales invoice. Base on the matched expense items and the contract term of the file, Dattaca automatically calculates the charge and recommends the sales invoice amount. Your accounting department can do job costing on individual sales invoices. click here to see the Create Sales Invoice dialog box ISO 9000 supportive checklist function Use the Checklist function to build a set of tasks for each new job or quote file. A manager must assign or exempt every task. Assigned tasks must be signed-off by a staff member; then a manager must ratify the signed off task. When you seal a file, Dattaca will tell you if any task is not exempted or ratified. You can set up a different set of tasks for an air-import, air-export, ocean-import, ocean-export, land-import and land-export file. click here to see the Checklist function display Integrated access to Word and Excel applications Open Word and Excel from within any job or quote file, do your work in these applications and save the Word or Excel file to the Dattaca file. Once saved, anyone who opens the Dattaca file can access the Word or Excel files. If you have already created a Word or Excel file outside of Dattaca and want to associate it with a job or quote file, Dattaca provides a function to do that too. click here to see the Insert Document dialog box click here to see how Word appears in Dattaca click here to see how Excel appears in Dattaca Reliable tracking of customer appointments and minutes Use Dattaca's Customer Book to record meeting minutes, and plan appointments with your customers. After an appointment is set up, Dattaca will notify you two days in advance. When your appointment is completed, turn it into meeting minutes and save a permanent record of it. click here to see the Call dialog box Simple hardware and network requirements Protect your hardware and network investment. Dattaca runs well on 150 MHz Pentium PCs connected by an ethernet network. It can co-exist with Novell and AppleTalk. Satellite offices can use the internet to connect to the head office server. click here to see self hosting setup example click here to see Logmion hosting setup This is just a partial list of features. Dattaca does more and we want to tell you about it. Please give us your phone number and we'll call you back within 12 hours. click here to provide contact information Powerful functions are just one of many strengths of Dattaca. It's also backed by solid guarantees , a full range of services , and flexible licensing options. Logmion home | we welcome your comments Copyright © 2000, Logmion Software Corp., All rights reserved