Whew! Its been a very busy couple of months here at OnForce. Today we’re releasing OnForce v3.6, which has two very significant upgrades, and is the first of a number of releases over the next few months that will significantly upgrade our Marketplace and the applications our buyers and providers use.

This release brings a significant renovation and upgrade to the Buyer Command Center, and also brings the launch of our PowerMatch-ready provider profiles, which will enable buyers and providers to take advantage of the upgrade to PowerMatch driven work order routing that’s coming in OnForce v4.0.

h2. Revamped Buyer Command Center

As we announced to our buyers over the past few weeks, we have completely overhauled the design of the Buyer Command Center. This re-design set out to accomplish several important things:
* Clean up, simplify and make the Buyer Command Center significantly more usable
* Make the Buyer Command Center easy and fast to navigate and bring important information to the foreground
* Re-organize the Buyer Command Center around how our buyers use the application

With this redesign, we think we’ve upgraded the experience for new and experienced OnForce buyers alike. We’re proud of this simple, clean look. Your favorite functionality can be found in the left-side menu on each page, and we will be updating our online tutorials and offering instructor-led training sessions, “accessible on our training page”:1 in the coming days.

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h2. PowerMatch-ready Provider Profiles

The new PowerMatch-ready provider profile enables providers to update their service profiles for use with the PowerMatch routing tools, available with OnForce version 4.0. PowerMatch-ready profiles are the first significant upgrade to how providers indicate their skills and present themselves to buyers since OnForce (then ComputerRepair) launched 3 years ago.

Providers now have much more flexibility to indicate the activities they are both willing and able to perform. The PowerMatch-ready Profile maps to the new work order creation and routing technology that will be available with OnForce 4.0. The new profile is based around the specification and selection of “skills”, which are made of actions that a provider of capable of performing on one or more kinds of equipment (also called objects).

The actions:
* Data Migration
* Data Recovery
* Diagnose & Repair
* Install/Setup
* Parts Swap
* Training
* Upgrade/Tune Up

The objects/equipment types are extensive, some examples include:
* Computer Desktop Complete System
* Computer Desktop Internal Component
* Printer, Copier, Multifunction (simple)
* Printer, Copier, Multifunction (complex)
* Operating System
* and many others

Along with the new PowerMatch-ready profile, we’ve also created a new interface for selecting provider skills. You’ll have to try it out to see how elegant it is, but we’re confident that it actually makes filling out a profile — a task that used to take providers up to an hour — much easier. We also think its fun to play with as well!

We’re getting the PowerMatch-ready profile out to all providers now, in advance of OnForce v4.0, which will launch in a few weeks. Every provider should upgrade their profiles as quickly as possible — Lauren’s even put together a contest with prizes including an AppleTV and a Wii — to be ready for the arrival of PowerMatch routing.

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h2. Providers can be logged into their Online Office and the WAP site at the same time

Many providers have asked for the ability to use the WAP site without being logged out of their Online Office. We’ve now added the ability to be logged into both at the same time.

h2. Sneak Preview of the MarketView Index

Ever wonder how prices vary from state to state or category to category? Does VoIP work cost more than networking work? Is there sufficient POS coverage in Georgia to bid on a 200-location rollout, and how should it be priced? For the first time in the industry, and available only through OnForce, this information is just a click away. The “OnForce MarketView Index”:2 breaks down the entire marketplace and enables you to see a state-by state view of vital statistics such as:
* Most recent pricing
* 60-day average pricing
* Provider coverage
* Median time to acceptance

MarketView also enables buyers to filter the marketplace by work order category to see the slice of information that enables them to price, win and fulfill projects.

We are releasing the MarketView Index as a beta so our buyers and providers can be the first to see and test it. We welcome your “feedback”:3 as we continue to evolve this new view into the IT services landscape. Check out the “OnForce MarketView Index”:2.

!http://blog.onforce.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/marketview.png!

[1]http://www.onforce.com/training
[2]http://www.onforce.com/marketview
[3]http://www.onforce.com/contact

OnForce v3.5 brings some big changes for buyers and providers. Please read carefully below to learn about all of the updated features in this release.

h2. Add Windows Vista as OS choice

To coincide with the launch of Microsoft Vista, we’ve added it as an Operating System choice for provider profiles and for work orders.

h2. Hourly Rate Work Orders

OnForce buyers can now create hourly rate work orders. When creating a work order, buyers have the option of pricing a work order as:

* *Flat Fee* - The provider will be paid the amount you specify in the “Spend Limit” field upon successful completion of this work order
* *Provider Specified Hourly Rate* - The provider will be paid at an hourly rate specified in their profile for the selected category, up to a maximum of the amount you specify in the “Spend Limit” field, upon successful completion of this work order
* *Buyer Specified Hourly Rate* - The provider will be paid at an hourly rate you specify in the “Hourly Rate” field, up to a maximum of the amount you specify in the “Spend Limit” field, upon successful completion of this work order work order

*Providers should be aware that while we enable buyers to create hourly rate work orders, it will take some time for them to migrate over to the new work order structure.* If a buyer hasn’t migrated over yet — this is especially true for buyers that use our “APIs”:1 — then providers may still see hourly rate work orders that look like flat fee work orders. In these cases, the hourly rate is detailed in the work order description. We ask that providers be patient as buyers upgrade, and be aware of this situation and read the description of all work orders carefully.

Buyers that use the “Work Order Upload Tool”:1 can download an updated template and instructions that detail how to create hourly rate work orders.

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When a provider receives an hourly rate work order, it will indicate the pricing of that work order in the Pricing section:

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Conditional offers can be made on hourly rate work orders. When a conditional offer is made, both the spend limit and the hourly rate can be increased. For flat fee work order, only the spend limit can be increased.

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Buyers can see the requested spend limit and hourly rate for a conditional offer.

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Buyers can also increase both the spend limit and the hourly rate of an hourly rate work order.

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When a provider closes an hourly rate work order, the labor total is automatically pre-filled based on the number of hours they have worked on site. The Labor Total field can be adjusted based on the actual amount the provider wishes to bill the buyer.

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When a buyer closes a work order, they can see the agreed upon hourly rate.

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Providers have the option of setting a minimum hourly rate along with a minimum spend limit. The minimum hourly rate will prevent a buyer from routing a work order to a provider when the hourly rate is set below the provider’s minimum.

!http://blog.onforce.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/11-minimum-hourly-rate1.jpg!

h2. SMS Notification for Conditional Offer Acceptance or Rejection

When a provider makes a conditional offer that is either accepted or rejected by the buyer, we now send out an SMS message if SMS messaging is active for that provider. This SMS is in addition to the existing email message that we send out automatically.

h2. Electronic 1099s

Providers can now download their 2006 year 1099s from OnForce through their Online Offices. If a provider has entered their Social Security Number (SSN) or Employer ID Number (EIN) and has earned $600 or more in 2006, their 1099 is available. If a provider has changed their SSN or EIN over the course of the year or has more than 1 provider online office, their 1099 will be mailed to their street address.

Electronic 1099s are available under the My Payments menu in the Provider Online Office.

h2. On-site Dates Are Editable for Providers Completing Work Orders

Providers can now edit all of a work order’s on-site dates at any time. We pre-fill on-site dates based on work order sub-statuses to speed filling out this form. In addition, providers can now enter all of the completion information for a work order — including payment, resolution notes, additional work requested, and custom fields — and save that information to complete a work order at a later time.

[1]http://developer.onforce.com/api/12

Stop right there, provider. Were you about to email support to ask about the work order timer? Or, perish the thought, call OnForce to comment or complain about the timer? Don’t! This post will answer all of your questions. (In fact, if you attempt to contact us about the timer, I will direct you to this very page!)

Let’s start off with the basics. The work order timer is designed to ensure that all providers read work orders before accepting them. OnForce sets the timer at ninety seconds starting the very moment that you arrive at the work order page (after you pass the “CAPTCHA”:1 that keeps out the robots). It does not matter when anyone else got to that work order. They have their own individually-timed ninety second wait.

“Balderdash,” you say. “there are anomalies, I’ve seen them myself….” Here are some popular ones I hear at least once a day.

Let’s say you are second to a work order page, and the provider ahead of you has a mere one second advantage. Perhaps both of your timers will hit zero at almost the same time, and perhaps you will click accept before the button or page disappears… and you still do not get the order. Does this mean that the timer made a mistake? Or that OnForce has biased the timer against you?

No! You had ninety seconds, and so did the person ahead of you. The one second gap was enough for our system to do its assignment-thing for them, but not long enough for your internet connection and browser to draw a new “missed order” page. While we strive to represent the state of the marketplace as accurately as possible in your browser, there is the lag time inherent in pushing or pulling data across the internet.

Another scenario: Let’s say you sit at the computer, get an order notification, rush to the page, start your timer first, and still you miss out on the order. But it said you were first! You were actually not first. Indeed, while the timer has started with impeccable punctuality, your browser, or our server, has failed to keep the HTML side of the equation updated, and someone else was first. They only had to be first by the thinnest slice of a second, after all.

Even if you feel as though there is no way you were not first given how fast you reacted, remember that OnForce is polling this data billions of times a second (well, Ok, may a little slower than that, but fast nonetheless). If your cell provider or ISP has a larger spam blacklist, or physically larger data-center, than a nearby technician, then just a few extra Bayesian comparisons, or feet of light-speed transmission, might make the difference between first, second, and third. Then again, a larger ISP may have faster servers. The scenario may change daily, hourly, or by the minute. Truly, we live in fascinating times.

If you must question the timer, ask yourself this first: Is it more likely that OnForce is micromanaging every routed provider’s timer on every work order, or, is the timer as represented on your work order page perhaps not up to the billionth of a second? There, every timer-accuracy-related question… answered!

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captcha

As part of Version 3.4, we are launching a redesigned work order PDF. The new design comes after lots of feedback and research into how our work order PDFs are used, both from providers and buyers. We are really proud of the new format, and believe its a big step forward in making OnForce more usable when you are offline.

!http://blog.onforce.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/sample-work-order-pdf-p1.png!

The first thing you’ll notice is that there are 2 different page formats. Actually, there are 3 sections to the work order, but sections 1 and 2 use the same page format. The portrait (tall) sections of the work order is for end user consumption. The landscape (wide) section is for provider use only. Changing the page orientation makes it much easier to tell these sections apart. In addition, there’s instructions, in color, at the top right corner of every page that let you know which section of the work order a page is from. Those instructions are:

* Get End User Signature And Keep
* Leave With End User
* Provider Instructions

That first section is always only 1 page long, and has a field for you to enter notes about the work that was performed so that the end user can sign off on that work. Some buyers want providers to fax back a signed copy of the work order, and page 1 is what you should get signed and fax back. If a buyer doesn’t want you to fax back a copy, its still a good idea to get that first page signed and keep it for your own records.

!http://blog.onforce.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/sample-work-order-pdf-p2.png!

You’ll also notice that the information on all sections has been cleaned up and re-organized. Both buyers and providers have told us that our new work order pages are much easier to read and understand, so we took that design and adapted it to our PDF.

!http://blog.onforce.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/sample-work-order-pdf-p3.png!

We’ve also eliminated the 2 pages of work order and IVR instructions, integrating the content directly into the work order layout. You’ll notice that at the top of each page of the Provider Instructions is a brief list of the essential IVR information, including our 800 number, the work order access code, and required and optional sub-statuses.

!http://blog.onforce.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/sample-work-order-pdf-p4.png!

Plus, we’ve eliminated lots of wasted space, so you should have even fewer pages to print out. Especially on longer work orders, the Provider Instructions section will expand from 1 to 3 columns taking up as much space as possible while remaining very readable.

!http://blog.onforce.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/sample-work-order-pdf-p5.png!

For buyers, all of the settings that you had on the old work order PDF are still in place. If you’ve hidden the OnForce logo or your own logo, they will be hidden on the new PDF as well. Also, all of the custom fields that you’ve configured for providers to set, and for end users to see are visible on the relevant sections of the PDF. And we’ve also made the buyer version of the the work order PDF reflect exactly what the provider gets (with the exception of those custom fields), so you can see exactly what your providers see when they print out their PDFs.

Six or eight guys working late, yelling at each other, sweating… for a whole month. And, visibly, there’s not much difference to the OnForce platform. OK, so maybe the part about yelling and sweating was a lie, but, believe it or not, we’ve gotten a lot done in 3.4 — behind the scenes.

You may notice some snappier performance; we’ve reorganized some of our key data to be more responsive and scalable. Our new hierarchical menu is also faster and smarter; the old one was adding a few unseemly milliseconds to page loads, so we ditched it.