This article gives details of features and fixes included in each release of the software. To see which version you currently have installed see this article HERE
For older release notes click HERE (Jan 2021-Dec 2021)
For older release notes click HERE (Jan 2022-Dec 2022)
RELEASE NOTES: Jan-Dec 2023
For earlier releases please use the links above to see the features release during the relevant year.
Version History (Click an item to jump to that section)
- Click here for Version 1.00.23.138 (18 May 2023)
- Click here for Version 1.00.23.090 (31 Mar 2023)
- Click here for Version 1.00.23.041 (10 Feb 2023)
- Click here for Version 1.00.23.013 (13 Jan 2023)
Next Release (Coming Soon)
Features
Rate Times taken from 'Parent' if none exist at Client
When using Timed Rates it is now possible to set up the system so that if there are no Rate Times configured for the Client record itself, then it will take the Rate Times from the Parent instead (If using Parent/Subsidiary)
The new feature is activated with parameter TEMPS, Flag(44)
User Access Control (UAC) Can now be used to Restrict access to Contact Tickboxes (as seen on [Summary] tab of Candidates.)
It is now possible to setup a User Access Control record, to limit which users are able to tick any of the 20 tickboxes that can be added to the [Summary] tab of candidates.
Access can be granted as Read-Only / No-Access
Read only - Check box greyed out; No Access - Check Box hidden
Timesheet Entry - All Offices [ ]
Within the TIMESHEET ENTRY screen, for systems that are Multi-Office it is now possible to display timesheet records from "All" offices rather than simply the 'selected' office as displayed at the bottom of the screen (See below)
The new feature is activated with parameter PAYROLLB, Flag(32)
Improvements to Import Candidates from Excel and Import Clients/Contacts from Excel
When importing records from excel sheets, the system now displays an improved summary screen at the end of the process to indicate what has been loaded.
Example of Import Candidates from Excel
Example of Import Clients/Contacts from Excel
This additional information helps confirm that the import has completed.
Text Notes (icon) available in AWR Record
It is now possible to define a Free Text / notes field linked to the AWR record.
Text added to an AWR record in this way, is then available as a MERGE field to be used on Templates/Emails if necessary.
(Technical Note: Can be added to code table Free Text Code [230] - using object type AWR )
New Merge field for 'Stage Notes'
If you are using compliance items and have setup Stages & Stage Notes for any of these items, it is not possible to pull-through these 'Stage Notes' as a merge field onto email & Journal templates.
{Important: If using 'Stage Notes' as a merge field, it must be included as part of a Multi-line field within the template}
Template Maintenance - Templates can be assigned to a TEAM, and set to "Disabled" to hide.
Within the TEMPLATE EDITOR, two nea features have been introduced.
1. Templates can be assigned to a TEAM - and thus will appear only for Users who are part of the relevant TEAM. {Teams for users are set on their UserID within User Profiles}
2. Templates can be set as Disabled [ ] - When a template is disabled it will be hidden from users, but is still accessible via Maintenance > Tools > Template Maintenance so can be re-enabled if required at a later date.
NOTE: After the introduction of this feature, it is only possible to DELETE a template if it has been set as Disabled [ ] first.
Miscellaneous/Internal Developments
- CV Text search from the candidates workbench will now replace MS Word 'smart quotes' with straight quotes. {which prevents errors in the MS indexing service}
[Previously caused an issue if a user copied a boolean text search such as "Credit Control" and "Sage Payroll" from MS Word]
- The [Journals] tab of Assignments (headhunts) has been enhanced and now allows users to filter the displayed journals by Method
- The 'century threshold' for datea can now be changed. By default this was set as '31 But can now be changed; To accept the new threshold will require users to download the latest K7Connector, which can be obtained from www.influence-it.co.uk/downloads
After the new client, the threshold for customers on our Direct servers will be '89.
- Non-Hrs rates can be defaulted as either ZERO or ONE, within the booking Entry Form. This is not controlled with a new parameter TEMPS, Flag(45). The default setting for the system going forward will be for non-hours rates to default through as zero (0).
- Broadbean/Ad-courier tab now warns of incorrect login credentials.
- New parameter added to WARN if no email signature has been selected. When sending an email (Journal) from Influence, the system will warn the user if they have not selected a valid email signature. (Parameter JNL, Flag(42) is the new item to control this).
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue that could cause a crash when opening a folder from the [Docs] tab of a Match record.
Release: (18/05/2023) Ver: 1.00.23.138
Features
New 'First Booked', 'Last Booked' and 'Bookings Exist' searches added to [Companies] workbench
The 'Date Type' criteria at the top of the [Companies] workbench has been extended to allow searching by 3 new Date Types; First booked, Last booked and Bookings exist.
Export Consultant Metrics now has option to display/include Targets
The option to export consultant metrics found in Maintenance > Reporting Tools > Export Consultant Metrics, now has the option to include any Targets that have been set as part of the grid.
The figures can then be exported to MS Excel for further analysis.
User "All Offices" tick box
Within Maintenance > Setup > User Profiles, when using a Multi-Office system, it is now possible to set the default office for a user, and also specify that they should have access to 'All offices'.
(If the user should only have access to selected offices, please leave 'Access All Offices' tick-box [ ] unticked, and specify individual offices using the Allowed Offices selection below.)
Social network sites now allow Mixed-Case
The two social network fields on the candidate record now allow copy/paste of MIXED CASE url's, for case-sensitive sites, such as YouTube. ▶️
Searching for Vacancies from the [MATCH] tab of a candidate now allows search of 'Their Ref' field.
When using the [NEW] button at the bottom left of the [MATCH] tab of a candidate to search for vacanices, the criteria labelled Desc/Ref now searches the 'Their Ref' field from the vacancy as well as the 'Description' of the vacancy.
PLANNER Customisation - Additional fields can now be added to the right of the Planner view.
When viewing the planner, it is now possible to build your own Styles and show additional fields from the Candidate (or Contact, CTD or Policy files) to the right of the main PLANNER view.
To add new fields simply click the Grid Style Selection icon at the top right, and then click the green ➕ to build a new style.
New Pay Type (ELS) - Added to Pay Types [166] code table
The ability to add a new pay type that behaves differently that PAYE, Ltd or Umbrella has been added to the Pay_Types [166] code table. It is enabled with Extra_numeric (3) and should be set to value of 4.00
The new Pay type of "ELS" (type 4) behaves as follows;
- When exported to TEMPAID, it will be seen as if it were a LTD Company
- When making bookings at a client it is seen/treated as if it were PAYE (thus allowing work at GLA sites, or sites restricted to PAYE only workers)
- When sending Assignment confirmations, the 'bcc' contact from the 'umbrella' company will be cc'd on the confirmation.
- Unlike Umbrella companies, when editing the Pay Type details on the candidate record, the Bank Account details will be editable (although the Bank A/c Name will default to the worker name.)
Miscellaneous/Internal Developments
- The [SETUP] button at the bottom left of the CV&Skills tab of a candidate now has a hover-tip explaining that it will open the Attributes Setup facility.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue with Booking rates when editing a single day within a pattern booking. Now allows one day to have independant rates from all other days in the pattern.
- Fixed an issue with the [Reset Hours] button in TIMESHEET ENTRY which could cause the system to allocate hours to non-working days.
- Fixed an issue when amending vacancy rates (Temp Vacancies) - Editing rates on existing TEMP vacancy will correctly cascade through future bookings, but leave existing (timesheeted) entries 'as was'.
- Fixed an issue affecting colours of cells when Candidate RAG report was exported to MS Excel; the colouring of cells now correctly reflects those of the on-screen report.
- Fixed an issue on the planner; If a booking (BKD) is added on-top of an existing 'marker' (such as AM available, or PM Available) then they system should inherit the times for the "DAY" shift from the selected client.
- Fixed some glitches with timed rates when applying complex time structures,
Release: (31/03/2023) Ver: 1.00.23.090
Features
Automatic Email when Vacancy Status changed from Selected Statuses
A new feature has been introduced to allow users to specify that the system should offer an email (journal) to the vacancy contact whenever a vacancy is moved off of certain statuses.
Against each Vacancy Status Code [904] is is possible to specify a *Call Type and to say whether the system should create an email when a vacancy is changed TO the selected status <or> changed FROM the selected status.
Example
You may wish to get the system to pop-up an email template every time a vacancy is changed OFF of "LIVE" status so that you can contact the client and ask them for feedback about your performance.
Please follow the link below for more information:
https://influence-it.kayako.com/article/180-vacancy-status-updating-match-status
Booking owner held at SHIFT (day) level
Normally, when a booking is made the 'Owner' is assigned to the whole set of bookings (e.g. If SAM made a booking from Mon-Thur, all 4 shifts would be assigned one booking Ref (such as 00012587) and SAM would be set as the 'Owner' for this set of bookings
A new parameter has been added to allow the system to hold the booking owner at the 'Day' (shift) level (as well as for the overall set). So it is possible to open the Tuesday and set the Owner of 'Tuesday' to be DAVE.
[Booking Set {00012587} Mon-Thur: Owner = SAM]
Individual Shifts >> [Mon/SAM] [Tue/DAVE] [Wed/SAM] [Thur/SAM]
New Parameter(s)
TEMPS Flag 41 - Booking owner held on booking record
Booking Role Automatically Set to Candidate "Current" Role
A New parameter has been introduced to set the 'Booking' role to be the Current role of the selected candidate. This is useful in situations where you have 'Bands' for a Role.
e.g. If you have roles of RGN, RGN3, RNG4, RGN5 (Band3, 4 & 5) - you can search for workers who have a 'sought' role of RGN, and then when you select a specific candidate the role will change to match their 'current' role.
Parameter TEMPS, Flag(42) activates the new feature.
Booking text copied when bookings are copied using the Planner.
It is possible to use Select/Copy/Paste on the [Planner] to copy bookings from one week to the next. When these bookings are copies it is now possible to copy any associated NOTES along with the bookings.
There is a new parameter that controls which Text will be copied along with the bookings. Parameter TEMPS, Flag(43) controls this.
| Setting | Details |
| N | No text is copied. (works as it does now) |
| K | This copies the BooKing 'Header' Text. This is the text associated with the 'whole' booking so a 3-day booking might have one set of 'Header' text for all 3 days |
| S | This copies the Shift Text. This is the text associated with a specific DAY - e.g. a 3 Day booking might have some text associated with ONE of the 3 Days, and when copying the bookings, that text would be copied to the correcponding Day. e.g. Text from Wed 8th Mar would be copied forward to Wed 15th March |
| B | Both. This will copy both the BooKing header text <AND> the Shift text for the set of bookings being copied. |
Filter TIMESHEET ENTRY based on the UserID who actually entered the Timesheet.
A new feature has been added to TIMESHEET ENTRY that allows users to filter the details based upon who has actually entered the Timesheet. There is a new drop-down for UserID next to the Entered Timesheets ( ) radio button
Different TIMESHEET Week-start by Office.
If you are running a Multi-Office system in Influence, then it is now possible to have a different Default Week-Start for each of your "Offices". E.g. The 'Aviation' Office might have the system set with a week-start of Sunday, whereas your DRIVING office might have a week-start of Monday.
A new parameter controls the feature
PAYROLL - Flag 60 - Use Week Begins from Offices(Code 005)
To set the actual week-start, open the OFFICES[005] code table and use the 'Extra Info [ ]' to set the required week-start day.
Candidate 'Last Contact date' / 'Last Contact Method' added to [Contracts] workbench
Two new columns have been made available to the [Contracts] workbench; these are Last Contact Date and Last Contact Method.
The information displayed in the new columns relates to the CANDIDATE who is currently placed/working in this contract, and is the last date/method that they were contacted (based on the usual 'Last contact Date' rules for methods/types).
Google Map Pins added to older {Searching} system.
For those customer that still use the older [Searching] part of the system to run Candidate/Contact/Client searches, the ability to shows the results of the search on Google Maps as pins has been added to the older searching.
Clicking the Map Pins icon in the toolbar will display the results on Google Maps.
| NOTE: In order to use the feature, users must download the Chromium Shim for KClient. The Chromium shim can be found on our downloads area - Please contact Customer support if you do not have this. {support@influence-it.com} |
Miscellaneous/Internal Developments
- Added a new field to Custom Timesheet Export for Parent Company Name.
- Now possible to show [TASKS] workbench within the [TEMP] Centre. {Previously TASKS were only shown on the main [Workbench] area }
- Technical changes made to improve capture tool when used with Eircode (Irish postcode equivalent) - new parameter WORKBENCH Flag (20) - Check for Eire/Irish Postcodes.
- Improved API posting to TSP (Timesheet portal) - improved record locking during booking posting phase.
Bug Fixes
- Corrected an issue when Bus.Area was set as a mandatory field on Vacancy records. This is now correctly enforced in all situations.
- Fixed an issue which could cause PO Numbers to get out of sync between TS Entry / Booking Entry. System now correctly writes the PO Number to both areas.
Release: (10/02/2023) Ver: 1.00.23.041
Features
Text Notes can now have 'Default' (Template) text
The text notes seen at the top of objects (Candidates, Client, Vacancies) can now have default Template text. Text is added via code table FREE TEXT [230]
To add the 'default' text (Template) - Go to Maintenance > Setup > Code Tables.
Open code table Free Text [230] and click the green + at the right-hand side. Any text added will become the Default/Template.
Highlight Compliance items with Future Start Date
The [Compliance] tab of a candidate will now highlight any item which has a start date in the future. This makes it easier to see areas where a candidate is not compliant yet
Enhancement to Geonames lookup (Foreign Postcodes)
The geo-location lookup that it used to determine latitute/Longitude has been enhanced, and two new parameters added for Default Country, and Characters from Postcode.
For some countries (such as Ireland) it is best to send only the first-3 characters of the postcode to ensure Lat/Long is found.
NEW PARAMETERS
GEO, TEXT(2) - Default Country
GEO, INTEGER(3) - Chars to use from Postcode
Additional MERGE fields for Journals {email}
Some new Merge Fields have been made available to email templates to allow users to pull in details of Parent companies (Applicable to clients who have had a parent organisation recorded).
New fields are: Parent Company Address, Parent Company Telephone No., Parent Company Web Site.
The fields can be found in the [Special Fields] section at the left of the Template Editor screen.
Miscellaneous/Internal Developments
Minor changes to the way emails are passed to Outlook in the case that someone has multiple accounts in MS Outlook. (Specifies default email, which was changed by Microsoft) - Item_Handle.SendUsingAccount$ = FLD(Usr_Row$.usr_USR_EMAIL$)
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue with SMS Scheduling, that means scheduled times were ignored when used from [Action] button on [MATCHES] tab of a vacancy.
Fixed an issue when filtering [Planner] using Client Status - now shows items as it should in all cases. (Streamline)
Release: (13/01/2023) Ver: 1.00.23.013
Features
AWR Report - Improved filters and Macro manager (send emails to Contact/Candidate)
The AWR report has been enhanced. There are now additional filters on the report for Pay Type, Pay Period, Bookings This Week, etc. There is also the ability to send emails to Contacts/Candidates from the report using the Macro manager.
For more information about the new features see the full support article HERE
Improved Signature Picker - ? Search
The Signature Picker has been improved. Typing ? will return a list of valid email signatures from MS Outlook for the user to choose.
Additional merge fields available for Journal Templates
Several additional merge fields have been made available in the Calculated Booking Fields section to the left of Template Maintenance so they can be added to email templates. The new fields are shown below.
| NI Value | [[BKG_NI]] |
| Pension Value | [[BKG_PENSION]] |
| WTD Value | [[BKG_WTD]] |
| Pay with NI | [[BKG_TOT_NI]] |
| Pay with Pension | [[BKG_TOT_PENSION]] |
| Pay with WTD | [[BKG_TOT_WTD]] |
| Pay with WTD + NI | [[BKG_TOT_ALL]] |
| Pay with WTD + NI + Pension | [[BKG_TOT_ALL_PEN]] |
| Margin | [[BKG_MARGIN]] |
Freeze Columns feature added to Candidate 'RAG' report
When running the candidate RAG report (Red/Amber/Green - Compliance) the system now allows users to specify the number of 'freeze' columns when passed to MS Excel.
Timesheet Entry - Improved chasing features.
From within Timesheet Entry it is possible to see details of UnEntered Timesheets. The details of these workers can be passed to the Macro Manager, and it is now possible to use a Multiline field to show details of the specific sites/timesheets that are yet to be returned.
Additional Bank Holiday Dates allowed
Currently the system can automatically lookup Bank Holiday Dates for England, Scotland or Northern Ireland in order to know on which dates to appply Bank Holiday rates to bookings. It is now possible to manually specify additional dates where you want rates to appply. {This is sometimes useful where days like Xmas fall on a Sat/Sun and additional days are given}
To turn on the Additional Bank Holiday dates, set parameter PAYROLL, FLAG(59) = Y
The Dates themselves can be specified using Maintenance > Setup > Parameters, then set the dates using PAYROLL, Date (1-10)
Miscellaneous/Internal Developments
Compliance Page Drag/Drop Improvements
The drag/drop of items onto the [Compliance] tab of a candidate has been improved. If one document/file has been used to satisfy multiple compliance items, then if a new version of the document with the same file name is uploaded, but only used for some of the items, then the new document will be given a unique name, so that the existing items remain linked to the original version of the file, whilst the updated items are linked to the new version.
e.g. Document-A.txt was originally used to satisfy 5 x compliance items (Comply1, Comply2, Comply3, Comply4 & Comply5)
A new version of Document-A.txt is uploaded, but only used to update Items 1 and 4. These two items would reflect that they are using the 'new' version of this document - i.e.
| ITEM | NAME OF DOCUMENT/FILE |
| Comply 1 | Document-A(1).txt (This points at the 'new' version of the file) |
| Comply 2 |
Document-A.txt |
| Comply 3 |
Document-A.txt |
| Comply 4 |
Document-A(1).txt (This points at the 'new' version of the file) |
| Comply 5 |
Document-A.txt |
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue in the diary when using [7-day] view which prevented the adding of appointments on certain days.
- Fixed a minor display issue which meant the text colour was incorrect on [7-day] view within Influence Diary.
- Fixed an issue with Timed Rates feature that caused problems when using rates with the same Start/End time, e.g. Sat 07:30 - 07:30
- Fixed a problem when trying to edit a Booking Pattern that had been created as a Ad-Hoc pattern linked directly to a booking.
- Fixed an issue that could cause DEPT codes to be lost from the [Misc] tab of a client record if the tab was not open when record was saved.
Graeme Orchard
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