2a. Adding and Editing Addresses
There are 4 key records that you will put into Easy Rides. Addresses, Client records, Trip Tickets and Subscription Trips. This document will explain how to add and edit each of these.
Adding Addresses:
The Address Table will be used as a master list for the all of the addresses and destinations in the database. Addresses can be inserted, removed or edited using this form. It should be noted however, that addresses that have been used in a client or trip record should NOT be removed, but instead edited or consolidated with another address.
On the address form, the “Place Name” refers to a short descriptive name for a place such as “Anthony Apartments” or “Post Office” or “County Hospital”. The “Place Name” is what displays on the Driver Manifest - later we’ll discuss how to insure drivers have all the information they need for a trip. The “Street Address” refers to the actual numbered street address for a place. The “City” or “Site” is where the address is located. The “City” or “Site” information will come from a drop down menu in the upper right of the table. If you have the GIS enabled version of Easy Rides the site will be automatically assigned.
You can access the Address list by going to Tools->Addresses
During initial setup it is important to add as many frequently visited location addresses to the database as possible. Adding these addresses now will save schedulers and others hours of time later. You will add residential addresses for Clients as you add or edit clients. For Business Addresses, begin by typing the “Place Name” then the Street Address. The street address will automatically be copied into parentheses next to the place name. This ensures that the driver will see bot the name of the location and the street address. Once you choose a City and click Add.
When you click on Add, one of 3 things can happen:
The system successfully geo-codes the address. In this case, you can then select the address for your trip or client record.
The system doesn’t find an exact match, but finds a similar address. In this case a dialog will appear suggesting a different spelling of your address. You can choose the suggested spelling our your own spelling. Click Ok and the address will be ready to use. Note: Google is used to geocode the address, and tends to prefer no punctuation and abbreviates street labels and directions. Example: Street would be St and North would be N
The system doesn’t find even a close match. In this case you will be presented with a map where you can click the exact location of the address. Zoom in on the correct area, click on where you want the address to be, and click OK to save the address.
Editing Addresses:
There can be undesirable consequences to deleting or removing addresses. Deleting addresses can corrupt the database and provide inaccurate reporting. It is recommended users instead edit or consolidate addresses.
To Edit Addresses, from the dispatch board, select Tools, then Addresses.
The list of addresses appears after the first blank line on the form. To find an address, key in the place name or type the first few letters of the place name. In this instance the frequent addresses are those that begin with the letter “d”. Notice Dr. David Krause’s listing does not display the address in the “Place Name”. It could be confusing for drivers to not know the address. In the following example the “Place Name” will be changed to include the Doctor’s address.
Consolidating Addresses:
Sometimes an address is accidentally added more than once. When this happens, instead of deleting an address, it is better to consolidate the address. This finds all instances of the addresses and combines them into one. This is preferable to deleting addresses, because deleting an address has the potential to effect reporting of trips to the deleted address.
First from the dispatch board, select Tools, then Consolidate Addresses.
In the example below, the letter “n” was typed in the “Place Name” field. This displayed a list of all places beginning with “n”. There are two instances of the high school listed at 11761 Ridge Rd. We only want one so we’ll remove the extra. First, we double click the address we want to retain. That places it below the other address.
http://download.mobilitat.com/secure/training-videos/consolidate_addresses-desktop.mp4
Avoid deleting addresses. If existing or past clients or trips used an address, deleting it can effect reporting. Instead use the consolidate address tool.