Entries by Dale Swanson

It's a the dirty little secret that UPS and FedEx don't want you to know about.....or is it? Did you know that you can achieve next day delivery by using UPS or FedEx Ground? Yup that's right! In many cases a ground package will get to its destination in one day GUARANTEED. In fact by using the ground delivery map you'll notice that ground packages can get to their destination for the most part between 1 and 5 days. This is very useful knowledge whan comparing next day air, second day air, and three day shipments to ground shipping. By doing so you can save several dollars on overnight and second day air packages.

Typically warehouses are in the know about this. But you shouldn't leave this to the warehouse to make the decision. These rules should be built into your busines systems. For example, our solutions automatically rate shop and provide a list of carrier services that will meet a specified delivery date.

Perhaps the biggest offender of overspending on shipping is the office worker unfamilar with delivery comparison. Giving office workers the capability to prepare shipments from their desktop is a license to spend money. So if you're going to do this, ensure that business rules are enforced through your business systems. Most carrier provided systems don't offer this level of control. Ensure your range of shippers from office staff to warehouse operators use systems with business controls built in.

Get you ground delivery maps here:

http://www.fedex.com/grd/maps/ShowMapEntry.do

http://www.ups.com/maps

The SQBX package tracking system is an enterprise mail and package tracking and delivery management system that supports both workstation and mobile computer receiving capabilities. In other words you can receive inbound mail and shipments using multiple computer workstations or use our mobile handheld computers like the Motorola MC55. Depending on your situation workstations, mobile computers, or a combination of both may fit your needs.

Situation: You Simply Want A Count Of The Packages Dropped By The Carrier

Both our mobile computers and the web-based workstation software have the capability of a quick scan of inbound packages to get a count of the packages unloaded by the carrier. All that's required is a quick scan of the carrier barcode on each package to give you a count of the total packages received. This allows you to verify the number of packages the carrier is having you sign for. Later when time avails itself you can rescan each package and enter the details required for your internal operation.

Situation: Computer Access To Your Receiving Dock Is Not Available

No problem, use our mobile computers to receive packages into your organization. You can enter the same details on the mobile computer that you can with the desktop computer. In fact, multiple mobile computers can receive on the dock. Each user can than take his packages directly out for delivery.

Situation: Your Company Has Detailed Data Requirements To Track Inbound Packages

In this case it may work better for you to enter receipts into the workstation. Obviously a computer workstation has a much larger monitor and usually a full size keyboard for entering data. Entering large amounts of package receipt data into a mobile device slightly larger than a cell phone may get tedious.

Situation: You Require Internal Routing Information To Be Attached To The Package

Typically this requires using the computer workstation with an attached label printer. However, this will soon be available on our mobile computers as well.

Speed vs Mobility

A computer workstation has a lot more horsepower than the processor on a mobile computer and therefore is a lot faster when receiving packages and conducting research on your receipts and deliveries. However, sometimes the mobility of the handheld computer is so convenient that using it for receiving outweighs the speed of the desktop. This is certainly the case during the delivery process. It's unlikely you're going to be satisfied lugging your desktop computer around your mail route to capture the recipients signature.

SQBX Mobile, whether used on the Motorola MC55 or on your Windows Mobile cell phone, is built the world's fasted compact database technology. Our mobile application can support the largest data capacity in the industry. It's also very fast. So feel confidant that whether you chose the computer workstation or the mobile software, you'll receive and deliver packages and mail expeditiously.

Today a customer called after his company owned PC went to computer heaven. His IT department installed a new hard drive and applied their corporate image. "But what about my SQBX receiving system?", the customer enquired. Now that's the beauty of a web-based system. All he needed to do was simply navigate to SQBX.com and start receiving again just like he did before the big crash. Even more importantly, all of his data was safe and secure on our managed servers. Even better, this customer could have switched to any PC in his organization so that his inbound receiving process was not delayed while his computer was repaired.

That's what software as a service is all about. A fully managed service that provides your application, your technical support, and your data backed up daily and readily available from our secure data center in a flash from any computer with proper credentials. All of our applications are provided this way:

• SQBX - web based package tracking and delivery management featuring the fastest search algorithms and the highest mobile computer data storage available in the industry
• SQBXvt - web based visitor tracking with automated data retrieval from US driver's licenses
• SQBX Asset - complete enterprise asset tracking
• ZenVentory - web based inventory and warehouse management feat

SQBX is a web based receiving, visitor tacking, and asset tracking system that you access through your web browser. It is completely hosted and managed by us. There are several reasons why this is cost effective for our customers. 

1. You don't have to buy any servers. To compare SQBX to other receiving systems you have to remember that our receiving software can serve one workstation or thousands of workstations. If you wanted to do this with our competitors you're going to need you own servers to serve the application to your company's workstations. You'll have to pay for the hardware and the operating system.
2. If you need your own servers you'll need internal I.T. support to manage and back up your system. Even if you're only getting one workstation you're going to have to manage data backups. With SQBX we back up your data incrementally everyday. We do full backups on the weekends. All backups are taken off site for safety.
3. Someone has to physically install the software on each workstation. The cheapest way is for you to do it. Our competitors however will charge you. This could become quite expensive if you're a large enterprise. SQBX is ready to go. If you choose SQBX for you package tracking, visitor tracking, or asset management needs your account can be ready to go in as little as one hour.
4. Your software may become antiquated. If you purchase your software you may never get updates unless you pay for them. SQBX is always up to date with the latest enhancements and newest technology.
5. You may have to wait to get service from your software provider. With SQBX however, support is a mouse click away. Our customers rave how quickly their questions are answered. We're fanatical about supporting our customers.

When you way all of these things up selecting a hosted solution for receiving software is a good choice. Overall you'll save money, get faster support, and always have the most up to date software.

The long awaited release of our newest version of SQBX Mobile, the mobile software for package tracking, is right around the corner. This latest version we believe will be capable of supporting the largest number of packages and recipients available on on a mobile device. We've built a super compact database to allow users to receive and deliver thousands of packages on our mobile computers. The new compact database allows data to be synchonized with the server at blazing speeds.

We never put our lab coats away and we're relentlessly working to make SQBX the best package tracking software available. SQBX provides the newest technologies available for receiving and delivering packages in your organization.

For those of you watching the 2 hour premiers of Fox's 2010 version of 24 you probably saw how CTU was thankful that the UN scanned and tagged all inbound packages. CTU used this information to draw on all packages received including who the package was sent by and for what recipient it was meant for.  This is exactly what SQBX package tracking software does. SQBX users simply log in to SQBX online, enter the sender and recipient details, then print a barcode that uniquely identifies that package. Each movement of the package is date and time stamped and marked with the user's details that moved the package. A complete history of the movement to the point of delivery is maintained.

It sounds like a prefect opportunity to make SQBX the official sponsor of 24!

UPS has a wonderful online tool for getting advanced notification of expected packages coming to your organization. If you have a UPS account, you can sign up for this free service. Each day UPS updates Quantum View to show each package's delivery status. Check with one of our SQBX representatives to discuss how UPS Quantum View Data and SQBX (The web's fastest and easiest receiving system) can streamline package tracking and deliveries in your organization. This combination is truly a way of gaining global visibility all packages destined for your organization, , received, and internally delivered.

Visit SQBX.com to read more.

We're extremely proud of the the enthusiasm our distributors and customers alike have shown our SQBX package tracking software. So this has prompted us to add visitor tracking functionality to SQBX. Using the software as a service model SQBX-vt visitor tracking will be completely web-based and managed on our secure web servers. With SQBX-vt you can receive visitors into your organization and do one or more of the following:

• take the vistor's photograph
• scan a barcode to associate with the visitor (license, vendor id, etc)
• scan their driver's license
• scan a fingerprint

SQBX-vt Visitor Tracking is in development with a scheduled release in August 2009. But if you can keep a secret her is a sneak peak:

Following our successful launch of our Package Tracking Software in the UK SQBX.co.uk, we're equally proud to announce the launch of SQBX.ca

, a web-based inbound mail and package tracking system for the Canadian market. Both countries now have their own servers based in their respective countries managed by local staff.

The SQBX receiving software lets your employees quickly receive carrier packages and mail into your organization so that they can routed and delivered with complete accountability. Using an array of barcode scanning and mobile computer technologies input is minimized and digital signatures are captures. SQBX also supports label printing and desktop signature pads.

SQBX is unique in that it is provided as software-as-a-service (SaaS). In other words, we manage all of your data and software and provide the use of the software via the Internet. All that is required at your end is a PC with a web browser. Your data is stored securely in our world class data centers with daily off site backups. And since we also manage the application for you, your software is always getting attention by our development team so that you can enjoy using software that is continuously updated and improved. This also means that support requests are instantly handled.  Lastly, SQBX is served from blazingly fast servers. To deploy servers of this nature in your organization would make a receiving system like SQBX cost prohibitive.

Visit out contact page to get in touch with us!

SQBX is the Internal Package Tracking system which has been taking the USA by storm over the last couple of years. Already with distributors and resellers all over America, you can now become SQBX enabled in the UK by contacting us at Songbird Creations.

Any organization with a mail room stands to benefit from SQBX in several ways.

Traceability

Know at all times where a package is within the organisation. Know when it was received. Know when it was delivered and be able to look back at the packages own history to see dates, times and even signatures. Know what happened to the package every step of the way.

Accountability

Record damaged or tampered with packages as they are received by taking photographs using any camera or even via a camera on the mobile device or Windows mobile phone. The photographs are securely stored and remain an indelible part of the package's history.

Performance

SQBX is fast, really fast and has the horsepower and capacity to outperform local server systems in every way. Being internet based, it's backed up by the kind of power that local servers can only dream of.

Mobile

SQBX takes advantage of the latest in handheld computing technology, offering rugged mobile devices from Motorola and Janam, you can take your packages with you and make deliveries, collect signatures and even pick-up - all from the palm of your hand. The data is safely stored away on the device in non-volatile storage until you decide to synchronise with SQBX at the end of the shift, day, or when the desire takes you.

Customisable

Make your own SQBX. SQBX can be customised to suit your business. A staggering amount of options are available for you to tailor, from the names of the fields to the look of the application, even down to the watermark used to secure the signature from misuse.

SQBX is so adaptable in fact that it already caters for and is in use by many different types of organisation; From Banks, Hotels, Resorts to Museums and Movie Studios.

Always Improving

You'll never be stuck with stale software. SQBX is constantly evolving to customer's needs constantly being improved, even the handhelds auto-update themselves. Furthermore, at no time will you be asked to pay for upgrades. They're free. By listening to the customers, SQBX becomes stronger for everyone.

Little or No IT involvement

Your company's IT department often has the unenviable job of supporting the infrastructure of all manner of 3rd party applications so it comes as something of a surprise and more often than not, relief to hear that in most cases all SQBX needs is a connection to the internet.

There are many other features to talk about such as Route Management, Online Help, Instant Support, Recipient Alerts to name a few, the best thing to do is to see it for yourself.

Check out www.sqbx.co.uk for more information on SQBX features.

If you're in the USA, you should visit www.sqbx.com.

Contact us via the Contact Songbird page or Email us at sqbx (at) songbird-creations.com to arrange a free webinar and you'll see why SQBX is the most exciting, dynamic and above all - useful tool your post room will find.

SQBX is by far the fastest and most flexible package tracking system available today. SQBX is cross browser compliant supporting Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari. We use technologies for interfacing to peripherals such as label printers, scanners, mobile computers, and desktop  signature pads that allow us to deploy our software over the greastest mix of computer operating systems. 

Since SQBX is delivered as software as a service, you can harness our blazing speed without the financial outlay normally required for an in house server to match this power. After all, our system is designed to deliver millions of page views per day. When you mix in superb security, rigourous patch management, and daily and weekly backups we're sure you'll find it difficult to match a locally installed server based package tracking solution.

SQBX is designed to quickly receive carrier packages, internally route them, then quickly capture the recipient's signature for proof of delivery. Read more at SQBX.com or call (800) 268-6296 for a demo of the fastest and most flexible inbound package tracking system available.

We expect to release our newest packing process in Zenventory inventory tracking system in July 2009. This revolutionary approach to completing picking and pack verification through to containerization is sure to delight those using legacy inventory management systems. Zenventory will offer a simple and intuitive packing screen that allows packing orders into multiple containers, then allowing these multiple containers to be packed into one or more master containers. Packing lists can be printed for each individual container. There will also be support for container license plating. While this sounds like standard functionality we can't wait to unveil the interface. We are so sure of the uniqueness of our system that we are considering a patent. To see a demo please call us at (800) 268-6296.

We're pleased to announce that our SQBX Mobile Package Tracking System now supports the Janam XM65 mobile computer.  The Janam XM65 is a mid-range rugged mobile computer with the following features:

Pocketable Ruggedness Freescale™ MX21-266MHz Windows Mobile 5.0 Premium 802.11b/g WLAN Bluetooth 2.17 x 2.95in QVGA Color Touch Screen 1D or 2D Scanner

The SQBX Delivery Management system is a web based receiving system that allows mobile collection devices such as the Janam XM65 to receive, route, and deliver packages and important mail. The recipients signature is easily captured on this device. The Janam XM65 is another powerful addition to the easiest and fastest receiving system available!

Are you stuck with Outdated, Boring and Mundane package delivery software?
Does your system provider fail to advance your system or charge the earth for the changes you need?

We are very aware that systems such as SQBX become essential tools within the organization. They're used all day, every day. So we decided to make the application even easier on the eyes. Our customers enjoy free updates and benefit from our relentless desire to add features that make our internal package tracking system the premier solution for all size companies.

We've not just taken a large paint brush to give each page a new coat of paint, we've lovingly re-crafted each aspect of SQBX to help you to get the most out of it, to save you time and to help you to do your job without undue fuss.

Here's a quick rundown of the new features of SQBX.

1. The Dashboard - Gone is the fixed page showing only a small amount of information, only applicable to a few. Now you have a customizable dashboard where you choose what you want to see, what's important to you. Just drag the 'Widgets' from the toolbar onto your dashboard and it's yours.
2. Icon Toolbar - The handheld device already has easily recognizable icons to represent common functions. We've taken those icons and added them to the site along with a few new ones for site specific features. Now everything is accessed from this toolbar.
3. Received and Delivered Today searches - This has been a common request, so we've taken it on board and added this feature too..
4. Greatly enhanced View Only mode - The View Only users can now see everything they need to, they even get a dashboard to help them to answer the questions they get asked and investigate for themselves.
5. In addition to these visible changes, a lot has happened under the hood too. We've improved synchronization performance by deploying our blazing database engine on to the Windows Mobile mobile computers.
6. We've improved our routing system for our Windows Mobile devices and added a whole host of easy to use maintenance functions within the online application to make creating routes and managing your location tree as simple as possible. With just a couple of clicks, you can set up a new route and have packages automatically acknowledge the new route.

So there you are. We hope you have as much fun using these new features as we had creating them.

We reserve the right to make SQBX even more fantastic.