With the most recent release of Infralink/IMMS (v.3.5.19), we are happy to offer the following new features and functionality:

• Increased Contract Template Flexibility
  • A la Carte Template Usage
  • Link Durability
  • Merge vs. Overwrite Option for User Role Updates from Template
• Improved Asset History, Configuration and Life Cycle Controls
  • Asset Details Panel Improvements
  • Expanded Permissions Related to Asset Status Transitions
  • Asset Warranty Set at Asset Model
• Expanded Case Import Capabilities

Increased Contract Template Flexibility

Infralink/IMMS Contract Templates both expedite Contract creation and empower provide more Users with Contract creation capabilities. 

When creating a Contract, the New Contract form has always presented a "Template" checkbox. Selecting that "Template" option allows the new Contract to be cloned in the future for the expedited creation of Contracts that share the same configuration. 

Traditionally, when Users, with appropriate permissions, elected to clone a new Contract from an existing template, they entered the Name/Number, Customer, Contractor and Start Date for the new Contract. Then, the selected Contract Template would populate the Create Contract form fields, Details panel settings, and associations (e.g., User Roles, Case Custom Fields, Work Forms). Using a template in this way created a link between the Template Contract and the cloned Contract, essential for future, template-driven updates to the cloned Contract. If a User edited a cloned Contract in a way that created a discrepancy between that Contract's configuration and the Contract Template configuration, the link between that cloned Contract and the Template Contract was broken.

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Link Durability

When using multiple templates for the creation of a new Contract, a link is created between the new (i.e., cloned) Contract and each Contract Template used for its creation. These clone-to-template links are now more durable, withstanding changes to the cloned Contract. When cloned configurations are edited, the link between that cloned Contract section and the source Contract Template becomes inactive rather than nullified, even for Contracts configured prior to the v.3.5.19 release. An inactive link can be restored by using the Update from Template feature to overwrite that cloned Contract's configuration.

Merge vs. Overwrite Option for User Role Updates from Template

Editing a Contract Template has never provided automatic update to cloned Contracts via the established clone-to-template link. Rather, a User had to manually propagate template updates to select Contract clones. In doing this, template-based updates were delivered via an overwrite function. That is, the cloned Contract would conform completely to the Contract Template. This functionality still exists.
However, Infralink/IMMS now offers more flexibility when performing template-driven updates to the User Roles under a cloned Contract. This is accomplished with a "Merge" alternative to the overwrite tradition.
Let's say you make a spot change to a cloned Contract, adding a User who was not included in the Template Contract. When performing an Update from Template function for User Roles on that modified clone, you will now be presented with a "Merge" option, as well as an "Overwrite" option:

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Improved Asset History, Configuration and Life Cycle Controls

Based on user feedback, v.3.5.19 introduces broader features and controls related to Asset records.

Asset Details Panel Improvements

When a record is selected from either the "All Assets" or "Spares" grid view, the associated Asset Details panel is displayed along the right side of the viewing pane. IMMS v.3.5.19 now provides expanded functionality and record history within the Details panel.

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Expanded Permissions Related to Asset Status Transitions

As most IMMS instances support multiple programs and Contracts, not all globally-configured definitions (e.g., statuses, work flows, etc.) are relevant to each user or team. To better support Contract-specific procedures and restrictions, while streamlining the user experience, IMMS v.3.5.19 introduces more granular permissions related to the Asset life cycle and status transitions. New "Read" and "Update" permissions are associated with the Asset life cycle, and individual permissions can be created for each status transition within an Asset Life Cycle, similar to System Element Workflow transitions.

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• Asset Status Transition Buttons - The individual permissions associated with each Asset status transition will determine whether or not a user sees certain status transition buttons within the Asset Details panel.
• Error Message with System Element Installation - When attempting to install a System Element, a user with inadequate Asset deployment permissions will receive the following error message: "There are no Asset statuses available for which you can perform this update. Please contact your system administrator if you feel this is in error."

Asset Warranty Set at Asset Model

The duration of an Asset Warranty is now being set at the Asset Model level instead of individual Asset. The Asset Model will define the default length of the warranty in months. Each Asset of that Asset Model will have its own warranty end date based on the Asset purchase date. If no purchase date is set for an Asset, the warranty end date will be calculated based on the date the Asset record was created.

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Expanded Case Import Capabilities

The ability to bulk create and bulk update Case records via file import is a powerful and time-saving tool for many users. With the release of v.3.5.19, Case import capabilities have been expanded to now support import of the following Case attributes:

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