Uploading Tasks with Coordinates using a CSV File

We are very glad to announce a much needed improvement we have done to our Task Upload system: loading tasks with coordinates using a CSV file. Many companies need to send out employees to remote locations that don't exactly have a specific address and need to make use of GPS related task features, such as Clock-in Lock or GPS Auto Task Change, so this is where this feature comes in.

The beautiful thing is that the process hasn't changed that much at all, if you check our article about loading Tasks with Default Fences, you'll notice it's pretty much the same!

So, on to the new part! Start by going to "Maintain Task/Customer List" within the Basic section of the Administration tab:

Next, select the team or teams where you wish to upload the tasks to and select the option called "Load tasks/customers from Comma Delimited File to selected teams:

Then, you will be shown the format that needs to be followed to upload tasks, notice how pretty much the only required field is column A with the name of the tasks, but to upload using coordinates, you will need to use columns R and S as shown here:

Select whether to append or replace the tasks list, according to what you need, then the list will be loaded and you will get this confirmation screen:

If everything is correct, click on the Save button to complete the tasks upload.

You can verify that the tasks have been correctly uploaded by going back to the team you loaded them to in the "Maintain Task/Customer List" section, then clicking on any of the jobs that should have coordinates. You will see something like this, notice the values set in the Latitude and Longitude boxes:

From then on, you can create a Custom SmartFence for each, or attach a default SmartFence to any number of them, and as we mentioned on a previous article, you can do this automatically with the same CSV file!

We hope you like this feature, let us know in case you have any comments or questions below.

Until next time!

--Econz Team

Timecard GPS: Uploading Tasks with Default GeoFences

Our system has the power feature that allows you to use smart fences for each specific task. You can use it to enable Entering/Leaving Area rules or even enabling Clock-In Lock using a default smart fence.

The great thing about adding a rule to the default smart fence is that you can use the same one for each task and the application will automatically recognize the address and apply the rules to it.

We have just made a change that will make your life even easier, now you don't need to enable the default smart fence to each task individually, if you have a long list of jobs with addresses and need to add some rules, you can apply the default fence right from the CSV file!

Here is how you do it, first go to the Administration tab and select "Maintain Task/Customer List:

Then click on the checkbox to the left of the team (or teams) you are going to upload tasks to:

Open the dropdown menu and select the option "Load tasks/customers from Comma Delimited File to selected teams".

You will be taken to the upload screen, notice how all of the steps are pretty much the same way we have been doing it for a while, but the example image shows what has changed: (notice columns N and O):

The External ID can be used for internal purposes, in case you have additional codes attached to your tasks or need it for an integration, but the last column "Smart Fence" is where you can define if you want to use the default fence by using the word "default", or if you won't use any smart fence rules, leave it at "none".

Keep in mind that you will need to have created at least a default rule so you can take advantage of this feature. If you aren't sure that you have one, go the Administration tab and select "Rules, Action and Fences", select the "Manage SmartFences" options and the Default rule will be the first one on the list, click on Edit to view its contents:

This example has a "Clock in Lock" rule created:

If there are no rules, make sure to add one so you can add it as a default rule to all the tasks within your CSV file.

Let us know if you have any questions in the comments section!

--Econz Team