Who would use Trackpoint?
The Trackpoint framework was initially developed as a value-add service for transport carriers, but is flexible enough to answer other business needs: - Warehouses maintaining product inventories
- Shippers Posting orders to specific carriers
- Manufacturers keeping customers informed about the status of their orders
Trackpoint is designed to be an electronic bridge between those who have the information and those who seek it, moving useful information from a private, offline system into an online forum that is secure, friendly and convenient to navigate. | How does Trackpoint work?
In order to answer the growing need for "Instant Information" in the shipping industry, Trackpoint takes advantage of existing offline freight, inventory, or order-management systems in use by carriers, and operates using common data interchange standards to retrieve data from these systems. Carriers are able to maintain complete control over the frequency of data updates and the format of the resulting information to be displayed to their shipping clients, no matter how small or large the shipment. In a typical scenario, a carrier would send shipment information to Trackpoint hourly using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standards, or Trackpoint could connect to your backend data servers to query data directly, retreiving the data in Extensible Markup Language (XML) format. Actual connection methods vary greatly and are made based on the method most suited to your organization's infrastructure capabilities. Smaller organizations without the resources to support your own Information Technology department can even enter shipment information directly into the Trackpoint databases directly. A demonstration of how the information can be displayed to a shipping client can be viewed through our Test Drive page. | Can Trackpoint be customized?
Yes. The Trackpoint engine allows carriers to maintain complete control over both the display and the type of information, right down to the user level. This means carriers can configure a different display for each shipping client if so desired. In addition, due to the flexibility of the Trackpoint engine, third-party data can be integrated to allow clients a more complete shipment tracking experience. | Is the information secure?
Trackpoint uses a secure method of moving order information from the carrier's computer system to our secure Internet server, using a one-way, out-bound flow of information at pre-determined intervals. Once on our server, stored information can only be viewed by authorized users. Additional security concerns can be addressed at the carrier level, by limiting the information initially uploaded to the Trackpoint system. Although many carriers prefer using a simple reference number scheme to allow shipping clients to look up their details, some carriers may provide a more detailed coding system to its shipping clients separately, reducing the need for sensitive, detailed information to be stored on the Trackpoint site. | What does Trackpoint cost?
The majority of carriers would be covered under our basic program, which involves a one-time set up fee and a flat per-month charge. With the basic program, Trackpoint provides guidelines your Information Systems department needs to follow in order to send data to our server, and you use your internal staff to manage the set up and maintenance. If your carrier does not have sufficient internal resources to set up or maintain the data feed, Trackpoint consultants can manage these processes at a reasonable rate. | Can I test Trackpoint out?
Definately! This Trackpoint demo site is in place to give you the chance to "try before you buy", and see exactly how Trackpoint can bring value to your operations. In order to allow us to fully demonstrate its capability to your company, Trackpoint does not have a generic "demo" login account, but instead requires you to provide basic information in order to set up your own, personal, Trackpoint demo user account. This per-user set up allows us to work with you to determine your exact needs without disrupting the demonstrations of other visitors on the site. | Who do I contact?
For more information about the Trackpoint system please call (866) 943-0156 or contact us online now! |
|
