I’m happy to announce that next weekend, on September 1, we will be releasing version 2.0 of CxAlloy FM, our online facility maintenance software.
Since the initial release of CxAlloy FM in 2011 customers have come to appreciate the simplicity and ease of use of our facility maintenance solution, and version 2.0 is careful to not lose any of those key characteristics. In fact, several of the improvements double down on those aspects, working to make the software easier to understand.
The improvements in 2.0 can be grouped broadly into four major efforts:
- A visual refresh of every page
- Completely new scheduling that adds seasonality
- Improved filtering and navigation
- Upgraded file handling
Visual Refresh
Every page has been entirely rebuilt. We’ve added more color, made controls more consistent, and made many, many other small improvements throughout the application to make it nicer to look at and easier to use.
One other important aspect of this work isn’t actually visible – the interface is now built on a standard foundation that will make make it easier for us to make future additions and improvements to the interface.
New Schedules
Schedules are all new from top to bottom. New features, a new engine, and a dramatically improved interface.
Seasonality
In 2.0 we have added a long-requested feature: seasonality. You’ll now be able to make schedules that only create work orders during part of the year, or that run more frequently in one part of the year than the rest of the year.
Not only have we added seasonality, but we’ve created the best interface on the market to do so. Have a schedule that should only run in the summer? Simply drag the slider to limit it from June to August. Have a schedule that should run once a week the first half of the year and twice a week the second? Drag the slider to June, then click to add a second period for July to December with a different frequency.
Multiple work orders from a single schedule
The other significant feature we’ve added is the ability to create a single schedule that generates multiple work orders. For example, rather than create a separate schedule for each individual air handling unit, you will instead be able to create a single schedule for the “Air Handling Unit” equipment type. That one schedule will then create one work order per related air handling unit.
Easier to use
We’ve made a lot of changes intended to make it easier to understand, use, and manage schedules. That includes a new live preview of your schedule’s dates when creating or editing schedules, showing schedule assignments directly in the list, allowing batch reassignment of schedules, and more.
New Foundation
Again, part of the story here is new technology under the covers. Our new scheduler is built on an internet standard (RFC 5545) that’s been battle-tested on hundreds of different calendar programs. That means our schedule behavior is more consistent with what you’re used to from other calendar software such as Microsoft Outlook.
Improved Filtering and Navigation
We’ve made it easier to find and view the information you are looking for. Perhaps the most helpful feature is maintaining your filters. Now when you filter a list you can jump between the details and list without losing your filters. Even better, you are able to navigate to other items in your filtered list directly from the detail.
Filtering is better, too. We’ve added more filters and made longer filter lists searchable dropdowns.
We’ve also standardized every list to be a paged list with consistent controls, including “Select All” and “Deselect All” for fast batch editing, and we’ve added more batch functions.
Finally, a small but significant change is that you can now go to any page in a facility directly from the top menu. Go straight to Procedures without a layover at the Work Orders page!
Better File Handling
We’ve updated our document areas with a new easy-to-use uploader and image thumbnails.
A New Beginning
This update has been in the works for a long time. Along the way we’ve come to a new recognition of the amazing product CxAlloy FM is and the even more incredible product it can become.
We’re now moving forward with an expanded development team, a dramatically updated codebase, and at least a couple of thousand ideas for future improvements. 😃 We hope you’ll join us!