Why are we changing?
Like life, technology doesn't stand still. We're making the most of the new tools available to achieve our goals of delivering better, leading edge software to our clients.
We want to simplify and update the design to improve extensibility and flexibility, improve user-friendliness, standard functionality and reliability.
It was also important for us to ensure IBIS is globally applicable.
Key Features
- Make IBIS even easier to use
-
Customisable report options
- Customisable screens
- Streamlined processes
- Even more reliable and robust
Where are we at?
Currently we are sitting on stage 7 of our 9 stage development process.
Stages of Development
1. Develop base infrastructure and communication layer
2. Complete Stage 1 Functional Specification
3. Develop Stage 1 functionality
4. Develop visual concepts for main 'dashboard' screen
5. Complete Stage 2 Functional Specification
6. Implement Stage 2 functionality
7. Internal testing and documentation
8. External Beta testing
9. Release for general use
What tools are we using?
IBIS is an n-tier application developed in C# using the Microsoft .NET 3.5 framework. It runs on SQL server, in most cases the free Express edition can be used given the IBIS database does not get bigger than the 4GB limit.
Client to server communication can be using https or tcp protocols. This allows IBIS to run on a local network or across any standard broadband internet connection, meaning that the server can be accessed from one or more sites while maintaining secruity over sensitive data.
Want more information?
We are happy to provide our clients with a preview of our functional specification for the new version of IBIS on the provision that this document be treated as confidential.
We invite all users who request a copy of the fucntional specification to provide feedback on the changes being implemented in the new version of IBIS.
Please contact us to arrange a copy to be sent to you.
Latest Update
29 April - 8 May 2009
Erik is currently in Whistler fine tuning the system for our first 'Go Live' which we are all very excited about. He has made refinements to the reservation dashboard based on user feedback and has also created a new Real time booking website so non-IBIS agents like hotels can book our operators products directly without the hassle of phone calls. He's not getting in nearly as many days of skiing as he had hoped but is making great progress with development.
Matt has been beavering away in Christchurch working on refinements to the stock system while Christine and Ali have been creating videos of the new system to be used for training and demos.
10 - 28 April 2009
Our focus over the last few weeks has been to polish up the reservation dashboard in IBIS as well as the Point of Sale system. We will be updating you with a few videos on these modules - in the reservation dashboard video, the focus is on how it is used for an information centre.
Nexus Point of Sale video (6 min)
System overview for Information Centres (8 min)
6 March - 9 April 2009
A month has gone by and we have been working flat out on Nexus - testing and polishing out rough edges so we can start delivering to our customers.
Here is a summary of what we've been up to:
Alison is still cracking through the online user guide and working at building plenty of help into each screen being developed for the new system.
Erik has been refining the reservation dashboard even further for activity operators. He has also worked through most of the ticketing and reservation requirements for agents in preperation for internal testing.
Christine has been hammering out importing data into Nexus, refining the database structure and making sure the logic behind the system is correct.
More videos to come after Easter!
23 February - 6 March 2009
Alison and Christine have been working hard on the user guide, so this update you've got a video from Alison showing where we have got to with that...
User guide (3 minutes)
They have also been doing screen mock-ups for different views in the reservation dashboard, but those are a bit hard to show so you'll see some of this in the next update.
Erik has been focused on the reservation dashboard, so here's a video on the next round of changes to that...
Reservations (10 minutes)
And here's a photo of what Matt has been working on - there's some serious thinking going on here!
9 - 20 February 2009
This update looks at Erik and Christine's progress with the reservations dashboard and product setup, plus the concepts of individuals and membership which are all covered in the videos below.
Alison has been refining our icon set in the main menu as well as adding 'super tips' - these are hover tips that explain what each screen is used for (you'll see the odd one of these showing up in the videos). She has also been working on the tool tips that show for each field in the screens, explaining what information is required and where it is used in the program.
Matt has been working on background stock processes, getting the ledger posting functionality working as well as some fine tuning of data caching.
(all videos are shockwave format)
Individuals (6.5 minutes)
Membership (8 minutes)
Reservations dashboard and product setup (14 minutes)
Some other bits and pieces (4 minutes)
2 - 6 February 2009
This week we've been working on the reservation dashboard, business units and transaction control. These are again much easier to show you in a video:
(all videos are shockwave format)
Business Units (6.5 minutes)
Reservations (7 min)
Transactions (5 min)
25 - 30 January 2009
This week we've been working on security and some interesting user interface features which are much easier to show you in a video than describe...so here's a series of videos to demonstrate:
(all videos are shockwave format)
Logon process (5 minutes)
Audit function (6.5 minutes)
User interface features (6 minutes)
Permission structure (5 minutes)
What's next (3 minutes)
19-23 January 2009
After last week's big picture concept development surrounding the reservation screen and how our users would interact with Nexus (the big new version we are working on) we settled down into some more detailed development. A good thing, big picture development can be quite exhausting and a bit stressful because its not real ..yet!
We don't have many good screen shots from this week so I'll explain what we have been working on:
- User log on / Auditing process This is the system that allows a manager to see who changed what, when. There are many angles to it such as "for user 'xx' when have they logged on and what did they do", or when whas this record last changed.
- Hot user This concept is for the front desk situation where several people are sharing a computer. We want to make sure the swapping process is secure and the audit process reflects the true user.
- Importing and Exporting to Excel The current version of IBIS is able to export to Excel. Matt has implemented a system so that we can import data from Excel, this will be very useful for system setup where a new customer can provide supplier/account information in Excel and we can import directly.
- Interaction feedback As users move around a screen they may miss required fields or enter incorrect information. To make IBIS efficient and pleasant to use we are working on a slick feedback machanism so we don't annoy the user with lots of popup messages. Examples include required fields having a different background colour, the colour changing if you type too much text, mouse over feedback for the expected input of a field and auto password generation - no one likes inventing those!
- Feedback tracking As we move forward with Nexus it is important that we have a slick process for receiving user feedback and integrating it into the development process. Susan has deployed a new version of our issue tracking system that will be provide visibility for user feedback.
- Stock Purchase / Credit / Transfer / Adjustment design Christine has been hammering out the screen design, making sure that is as simple as possible. Expect to see some of this next week.
- Improving user interface There are some user interface elements that keep appearing all over the place, for example date range selection. In almost all reports you want to select by say last week or month, or year to date. In the current IBIS you pick start and end dates. This can be a bit frustrating so I'm working on tools to make selection easier.
- Server as service There are three ways of deploying the IBIS server - 1) a console application (only really useful for testing); 2) As an IIS application, works very well but difficult to set up, this is what we use to host systems for our customers; 3) as a Service, this is how we plan to deploy to cusomers who host their own system. Matt and Christine have worked through testing on a range of operating systems.
- Historic feedback
- Web site
We have gone back through the last 3 years of customer feedback to pick up any gems that were suggested. We have come up with a comprehensive list we will include in Nexus
Ali has setup up what you're looking at! so stay tuned...
Main Menu
Easier to Navigate
We wanted to make it easier to find your way around the new version of IBIS and provide you with more information at your fingertips. Some of the ways we are doing this are with feautures like:
1. Quick Access Ribbon
Display any of your frequently used screens in the toolbar at the top of IBIS in order to access them quickly.
2. Main Menu
Easy to view menu layout with descriptive text explains what the screens are used for.
The Nexus version will also feature some new customisation options like 'Pimp my IBIS' which allows you to change the display colour of your IBIS system.
We also have improved 'IBIS Messenger' allowing for inter-company communication with other IBIS users.
New Look Toolbar
Information is displayed in a new format that is easier to understand. Screens are grouped according to function and mouse-over tips will provide users with more information on what each screen is used for.
The Toolbar can be hidden for those users with smaller monitors - it will pop open only when a menu is selected.
Ibis Technology Limited, PO Box 2511, Wakatipu, Queenstown 9349, New Zealand
Phone: +64 (0)3 441 4431, Fax: +64 (0)3 974 6814, Email: sales@ibis.co.nz