Reflecting on the 2011 MCAA Annual Meeting & Exposition

Last week’s 2011 MCAA Annual Meeting & Exposition was held at the Red Rock Casino, Resort, & Spa in Las Vegas, the third and final year at this venue. It was a well-attended event with over 400 representatives from delivery companies, shipping and logistics companies, and vendors. (EXPAND for more...)

CXT Software is a long-time supporter of the MCAA, and keeping with our tradition, we were a vendor exhibitor and sponsored the professional photography for the event. Andre did a great job capturing the special moments, as well as the not-so-special moments—and you thought what happened in Vegas stayed in Vegas! The networking was strong, and many attendees were looking to extend their businesses by working with other delivery professionals they connected with at the event. There were also a significant number of first-time attendees this year.

Jim Luciani, Todd Wiebe, Mike Babcock and Darin Soll represented CXT Software at this year’s event. The days were filled with numerous meetings with customers at our booth, over meals, at receptions, during the bowling event, and even while taking a late Friday dip in the pool. Our booth stayed very busy even as the exhibit hall was closing down and our booth was being disassembled around us!

Although there were some improvements in the CXT team's bowling skills, the consensus is that we should stick to software!! The event was a great success and we thank the MCAA for their hard work in hosting the industry’s premier show. See you at the next show!

Record attendance at ECA MarketPlace 2011

The Express Carriers Association’s (ECA) 15th annual MarketPlace 2011 trade show, held last month in Atlanta, enjoyed record attendance this year. (EXPAND for more...)

ECA MarketPlace has a unique format in which carriers (delivery companies) sign up for interviews with shippers and vendors. Carriers, shippers, and vendors are matched up and provided with interview schedules. Two days of the show are dedicated to these interviews, and the general consensus is that this is a great way to get "face time" with partners that can help grow your business.

The entire CXT Software Sales team, along with our CEO, Darin Soll, attended the MarketPlace. Our Sales team worked our vendor booth in the exhibit area, handled our scheduled interviews, and we all took advantage of the many opportunities to network with customers, prospects, and vendor partners. Darin met with customers and prospects, and provided booth support.

Our announcement that Android support is a month away generated lots of interest, and was one of the factors that kept customers at our booth long after all the other vendors had called it a day!

Eddie Pillow, Director of Sales & Marketing for Pillow Logistics, one of CXT Software’s newest customers said, “The feedback from the shippers regarding our use X Dispatch was that it is best-in-class courier software.” Our Engineering team works very hard to build and maintain the data integrations that connect our carrier customers with their shipping and logistics partners. It’s not uncommon for shippers to pilot new integrations with CXT Software customers, and we pride ourselves on our responsiveness to both shippers and carriers as data integration needs arise.

Congratulations to Fiona Morgan and the entire ECA board for making this year’s MarketPlace a great event. Also, this year I was extremely flattered to have been nominated for the position of Secretary by my fellow board members. I have accepted, and will serve a two-year term.

The CXT Software Sales team came away from the show with several solid prospects that we are now working hard to bring on board. All in all, a great show for carriers, shippers, and vendors!

CXT Software 2011 Users Conference a smashing success

CXT Software’s 2011 Users Conference opened Friday, January 28, with a golf outing followed by an evening welcome reception. The weather was fantastic with temperatures in the low 70s and a beautiful view from the outdoor patio at the Sheraton Downtown Phoenix. (EXPAND for more...)

On Saturday, after the buffet breakfast and opening remarks, I presented the state of the company, from our success in 2010 to our direction for 2011 and beyond. Kicking off the next session with a memorable scene from the movie “Tommy Boy,” Todd Wiebe, VP, Enterprise Accounts, and John Pribula, Software Engineer, followed with an overview of last mile distribution, including an "under the hood" look at our powerful and flexible X Route architecture, working seamlessly with our X Mobile product to provide our distribution customers with comprehensive management of stops and parcels. After a brief break, Todd then facilitated a panel discussion in which CXT Software customers discussed their real-world experiences with distribution work and how they are leveraging technology within their operations.

Following a delicious buffet networking lunch, Derek Figg, VP, Engineering, led two afternoon sessions covering product updates. First up was a detailed look at versions 10.0 and 10.2, presented by various members of the Engineering team. Next up was an overview of product plans for upcoming versions 11.0 and 11.2, appropriately introduced by a scene from the movie “Spinal Tap.” After a brief break, the afternoon continued with Shaun Richardson, VP, Services, presenting an update on services and support. An evening “dine around” capped off a productive day with opportunities for peer networking at various restaurants in downtown Phoenix.

Sunday morning began with another buffet breakfast, followed by a very informative session in which Shaun helped demystify integration technology by explaining acronyms and buzzwords from ASN to VAN. Finally, after a break, customers had an opportunity to ask detailed questions and experience the latest mobile devices hands-on in a series of technology roundtables.

Congratulations to Dan Pousson of IntelliQuick Delivery, winner of an Intermec CN50 ruggedized handheld in this year’s drawing!

In the six weeks that have passed since CXT Software’s 2011 Users Conference, we have received a ton of positive feedback on the conference. Everyone loved the venue (and the weather), and felt that the agenda was well organized. Many customers are excited about distribution opportunities, especially after learning about all the shippers and 3PLs in our integration line up. X Tracking with Bing Maps is also a highly anticipated new feature. Many customers developed relationships with peers that they believe will be mutually rewarding over time. Last but not least, many customers went out of their way to let us know how impressed they were with the CXT Software team.

For those of you who attended the CXT Software 2011 Users Conference, thank you for making it a smashing success! If you were not able to make it this year, don't miss next year's event!

X Dispatch 10.2 Enhances Mapping Services with Bing™

With the release of X Dispatch Version 10.2 just around the corner, I wanted to give you a preview of mapping enhancements available in 10.2 using Microsoft® Bing™ Maps. Bing™ Maps already makes plotting stops and calculating distance a breeze. And in 10.2, both on-demand orders and routes will plot stop data using Bing™. (EXPAND for more...)

Bing is fast and smooth--you can glide across town, find directions, locate services, and even get up-to-the-minute traffic conditions. Bing enables X Dispatch customers to get one step closer to real-time maps, reducing the need for third-party mapping applications.

In the past users have had to rely on separate mapping software to help them plot routes, get driving directions, and calculate mileages. With Bing Maps, all the overhead of running these tasks is left to the Bing servers. There is no extra software to install, no updates to apply, no street data to update, and best of all, it's fast. With the click of one button, I can plot all the stops on either my active or planned routes. I can see all my route stops listed in sequence and review driving directions, time, and mileage.

Bing enables customers to take advantage of the best features available for geographical decision-making. And with X Dispatch Version 10.2, more of those features will be at your fingertips!

2010 MCAA Annual Meeting & Exposition

I'm having a deja vu moment--while it feels like we were just in Las Vegas, another year has come and gone. With time flying that quickly, we are obviously keeping busy. (EXPAND for more...)

CXT Software’s sales team, along with CEO Darin Soll, attended MCAA’s 23rd Annual Meeting & Exposition at the Red Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. The turnout for this year's show was approximately 20 percent higher than the 2009 show, and the level of traffic at the CXT Software booth was solid throughout the conference. Not only did the team meet new prospects, but they were also able to catch up with our ever-growing customer base, and share new product features with them.

CXT Software continued its tradition of MCAA support as a contributing sponsor for the 2010 conference. We sponsored the photography for the opening reception and the bowling night. The pictures turned out great, as a matter of fact, I think this was the best photographer we have had yet.

Speaking of bowling--what a fun time. Unfortunately, we were not able to win the bowling tournament due to a weak link on our team. Fortunately for us, CXT Software's CEO leads software companies better than he bowls, however, we all enjoyed the games as it provided a welcome break in that "always on" mode that you are in when you attend these shows.

Congratulations to the entire MCAA team--Bob, John, Tara, and Linda--for putting on yet another great trade show!

2010 Express Carriers Association Marketplace

It is definitely conference season! CXT Software’s Sales team took its show on the road last week to the 14th annual ECA Marketplace conference in Dallas. We are thanking our lucky stars that we decided to bring the entire team, because not only was the conference a huge success for the ECA, it was a huge success for CXT Software! We had such a great turnout at our booth that most of the time, all three of us were busy speaking to conference attendees at once. (EXPAND for more...)

To say that the meeting was well attended would be a huge understatement. This year’s meeting hit record numbers in attendance, from not only carriers and shippers, but from vendors as well. Maybe this is a barometer reading that our economy is starting to recover a bit. All in all, we were as busy as busy could be the entire time we were there, but what is most important was the number of new people we met, as well as the large number prospects interested in our market-leading products.

In addition, the Intercontinental Hotel in Dallas is a great venue for this show, and the food and service were exceptional. Always a good thing when you can keep such a large crowd happy. Our team felt that all felt that the evening agenda changes for this year’s conference made already good conference even better, especially in the area of networking.

Kudos to the ECA Board of Directors for selecting a great location, as well as all the planning they put into this excellent event!

Speaking of the board, I was elected to my first term on the ECA Board of Directors at this year’s business meeting, and I’m looking forward to serving in that new role.

2010 Texas Courier & Logistics Association Conference

The TCLA's (Texas Courier & Logistics Association) 4th annual conference was held in Galveston, Texas, on March 25-27 at the Moody Gardens Hotel. They had a good turnout and some interesting speakers, including an opening keynote on "Overcoming Adversity," and another presentation on "Selling Up In A Down Economy," both very appropriate topics for the current business environment! (EXPAND for more...)

Attendees had the opportunity to visit vendor booths and participate in round robin discussions to learn more about vendor products and services. Attendees were encouraged to visit all the vendor exhibits to get their Passport signed, which gave us a chance to meet more of the attendees. The signed Passports went into a drawing for a brand new TV. Willie Frost from Roadrunner Couriers was the big winner of the TV.

Friday evening's Texas Hold'em tournament was a blast, especially for the card sharks in the group. There were some great prizes for the top eight finishers, including a $100 American Express gift card sponsored by CXT Software.

Overall, a great conference, and CXT Software is proud to continue its support of the TCLA.

2010 California Delivery Association Convention & Exhibition

Typically, when a business trip involves a two-hour flight delay, a hotel room numbered 1313, and a tsunami warning, words like "nightmare" come to mind. Fortunately, the highlights of my trip to San Francisco for the 2010 California Delivery Association Convention & Exhibition more than made up for what turned out to be very minor setbacks. (EXPAND for more...)

On Friday afternoon, Jim Luciani, CXT Software's Vice President of Sales & Marketing, represented CXT Software in the annual Go-Kart race. While his solid times did not put him on the podium, CXT Software's long history of racing excellence was commemorated with the presentation of the "Lyndon Edmonson Fastest Non-Courier Go Kart Driver" trophy on Saturday.

Saturday morning began with a buffet breakfast and the CDA membership meeting. While our first speaker was unable to make the trip due to snow in the Northeast, he agreed to deliver his presentation via speakerphone and it was very informative. Jim and I manned the CXT Software booth when the exhibit floor was open and we discussed our products and capabilities with a number of interested conference attendees. On Saturday afternoon, a series of "power roundtables" enabled attendees to interact with industry experts on a variety of topics. Jim led discussions about various methods of injecting orders into delivery management software such as X Dispatch and X Route.

I had an early flight on Sunday, so I missed Sunday morning's activities, but the sun was out, and I had a great view as we climbed out of San Francisco on our way back to Phoenix.

Unfortunately, Lyndon was not able to attend this year's event. While he and partner Dan Calderone were missed by the CDA regulars, by the end of the show, at least one of them remarked, "Hey, this new guy isn't all bad." Was that before or after I picked up the tab at Kincaid's? On a serious note, however, I enjoyed getting to know everyone and hearing all the war stories. There is no shortage of humor in the delivery industry.

CXT Software continued its long tradition as a top sponsor of this event, and we believe it to be money well spent. Congratulations to Andrew Brady, Dan Bender, and the rest of the CDA team for organizing another great show.

Florida Messenger Association Meeting

The Florida Messenger Association (FMA) meeting was held on January 28th and 29th in Tampa, FL. A Brazilian style steakhouse was the first stop on the agenda Thursday evening. It was a great evening with around 80 people attending. Friday was full of meetings and the opportunity for attendees to visit a variety of industry vendors at the “Vendor Fair.” Each attendee was encouraged to visit all the vendors and get their "passport" signed and placed in a drawing at the day’s end. CXT Software provided five $100 Amex gift cards for the drawing. (EXPAND for more...)

The FMA is a relatively new organization and is off to an excellent start with this being their first big event. CXT Software is proud to participate and support the FMA as a Platinum sponsor. Hey....coming from Denver, Florida is not a bad place to visit in January!

Perspectives on the 2009 MCAA-NTLA Executive Roundtable Series

CXT Software was a sponsor and participant at the MCAA/ NTLA executive roundtable series September 29th-October 1st. The event was held at the Hyatt Gainey Ranch in Scottsdale, AZ, which coincidentally is only about 20 minutes from our downtown Phoenix office. The resort is very beautiful and relaxing with its pools, spa and plush gardens. However if you ask our VP of Sales, Todd Wiebe, he may tell you a different story since he was awakened at 3:00 am to noise from the loading dock. Todd can be a bit high maintenance when it comes to hotels--it’s always entertaining to watch the front desk clerk as Todd goes through his laundry list of requests at check-in.  Apparently this is not the first time his efforts have backfired! (EXPAND for more...)

The roundtables featured many interesting guest speakers. One in particular conducted by Chuck Forsythe, the head of supply chain security for Purdue Pharmaceuticals, caught the attention of our sales team. He provided some great insights into what is happening in the industry to ensure safe and secure delivery of pharmaceuticals. He informed us about new technology and methods that are making it more difficult to steal highly-desired drugs. Many of CXT Software’s customers are involved in distribution work for the pharmaceutical industry and I'm sure they found this session very valuable.

CXT Software took advantage of the location of the MCAA/NTLA roundtable series in an effort to help everyone keep costs down in a tough economy by holding our annual users conference at the resort. CXT Software customers were introduced to our new CEO, Darin Soll, and his direction for the company. Then they participated in mini-roundtable sessions on various topics of interest. Last but not least, our Vice President of Engineering, Derek Figg, reviewed new product features since X Dispatch version 9.2, and provided an advance look at product enhancements planned for 2010.

The evening events were a great deal of fun, especially the BeavEx-sponsored Fantasy Sports League off-site reception. Our CEO was very excited to meet Jackie Moon in person! OK, maybe it wasn't the real Jackie Moon...

The show was a great success and allowed us to catch up with familiar faces as well as develop relationships with new ones.

The Top Ten reasons you should attend the MCAA/NTLA convention this month

Coming up very soon, September 29 - October 1, 2009, is the combined MCAA/NTLA convention. This is the second year the two groups have come together for a convention. I am very excited to see this happen because of how it strengthens our industry and unifies our presence. In the spirit of Top Ten lists, here is one on why you should attend: (EXPAND for more...)

10. Arizona in the Fall...very nice

9. Golf in Arizona in the Fall...even better

8. Jack Daly, great keynote speaker on sales

7. Staying up on industry trends and legislation

6. Courier Focus Groups - a very popular session last year

5. Tasty food

4. Hyatt Gainey Ranch is a fantastic hotel

3. Several great sessions over two days

2. Beavex throws a rockin offsite party

1. CXT Software User Forum - (you knew it would be number one!)

Sources of information for the new delivery company owner

I’ve spoken with many prospects over the past several months that are in the beginning stages of starting up a delivery company. They typically have many questions besides the implementation of X Dispatch. I’ve helped these entrepreneurs as much as I can by referring sources of information and people to them that can help. I’d like to review several sources of information here to better enable new (and maybe not so new) company owners to start their businesses off on the correct path. (EXPAND for more...)

1. Join the MCAA – This is the number one recommendation I can make. The Messenger Courier Association of America provides a great wealth of information and contacts for anybody in the delivery business. Visit them at www.mcaa.com

2. Check out Yahoo Groups “Couriers” (or other transportation-related) discussion board - A service of Courier Magazine, the international newsmagazine of the messenger-courier and expedited delivery service industry, this list enables courier executives to communicate with each other about industry issues, questions, problems and concerns. You do not have to subscribe to Courier Magazine to subscribe to this list. Visit them at groups.yahoo.com

3. Join LinkedIn – LinkedIn is a professional networking website in which you connect to past and present colleagues and other professionals you’ve known. Within LinkedIn you can join groups, such as the “LinkedIn Transportation Professionals” group that I’ve joined. Relevant subjects are discussed in such groups and thus they can provide valuable information for any member.

4. Join your local delivery company organization – They are too numerous to list here but Googling on your state and “delivery organization” should provide a good start.

By getting involved in such organizations you will meet many like-minded individuals in this delivery business and most are more than willing answer the questions that you may have.

Partnership between Operations and IT

There is a statistic thrown around in IT circles that 80 percent of IT projects fail. While this may conjure up images of high-profile projects in which Fortune 100 companies throw in the towel after spending millions on doomed projects, the lessons learned apply to all companies. The primary lesson learned is a surprise to many business leaders: IT projects rarely fail because of technology--they fail because of broken partnerships between Operations and IT. (EXPAND for more...)

These broken partnerships take many forms, but the scenario I see most often is one that develops when a business automates all or part of its operations with new software. In this scenario, somewhere along the road to implementing the new software, the IT team ends up with more than its fair share of the responsibility. The Operations team consciously or unconsciously transfers business process responsibility to IT as well. Almost overnight, IT finds itself managing not only the technology infrastructure (workstations, servers, phones, networks, printers, software support, etc.), but also finds itself being held accountable in tense meetings with upset customers because rates were not set up properly, or with upset accounting teams because no one bothered to collect email addresses from customers before they attempted email invoicing.

Whether a business is implementing a new software application, rolling out new mobile devices, or contracting out a customization, it is critical that Operations not wash its hands of process ownership. In other words, the fact that a business process is now executed in software or on a handheld device does not make it an IT process. It has simply become an automated Operations process. IT is responsible for making sure the software or handheld is up, running, and connected, and Operations is responsible for making sure the processes and workflows now involving automation work effectively.

So clearly, Operations and IT need to have an effective partnership. IT must commit to ensuring that the automation is deployed properly, runs reliably, and can be recovered in the event of a failure. IT must also commit to understanding Operations' processes at a high-level in order to effectively broker conversations between Operations and the technology vendor(s), and to help educate Operations on the capabilities and limitations of the automation. Operations must commit to developing a detailed understanding of how to use the automation in order to have the level of comfort necessary to retain ownership of their business processes, map them to the automation, and communicate additional needs effectively to IT.

Companies with effective Operations-IT partnerships are able to put technology to work faster and leverage more of its capabilities. It is a winning formula that will keep your next IT project from becoming a statistic!

R.O.E.

This is not supposed to be the forum for what I am about to talk about. We are supposed to write blogs that are more about the industry, and less about us. However, this time I am going to break the rule. Why, because we have this great little application that has been available to our customers for over 2 years, and needs some shine in the spotlight. This application could have huge benefits to a lot of our customers, or potential customers. (EXPAND for more...)

The application goes by the acronym of R.O.E., which stands for Remote Order Entry. Simply put, it is an application that can be loaded on a customer’s computer in their distribution environment that will allow them to scan parcels quickly, much like the software the large integrators use. It allows parcels to be scanned via a tethered or wireless bar code scanner as the parcels come down the line to shipping. Then once the parcels are all scanned, the customer can print shipping labels, and upload the data to the X Dispatch environment with one simple click of a button. Viola, all packages scanned, labeled, and transmitted to the courier company’s dispatch screen. It doesn’t get any more efficient than that!

New Mobile Device - Motorola MC55

The hottest area of technology in the delivery industry over the last two years has been mobile devices and applications. When I say "mobile device," I'm referring to a ruggedized handheld computer designed for barcode scanning and/or signature capture and able to absorb a four-foot drop to concrete (military spec). As shippers continue to drive their barcode scanning and signature capture requirements through the supply chain, the marketplace has been craving a device that has it all: ruggedized handheld form factor, barcode scanning with a laser, signature capture, GPS, Windows Mobile OS, and optional camera. Oh yeah....all of this for around a thousand dollars. (EXPAND for more...)

The new Motorola MC55 hits all of these points. The MC55 has been tested and approved to work with X Mobile from CXT Software, and its performance/cost ratio is hard to beat.

Introduction - Mike Babcock

I’ve now been with CXT Software for three months. I started May 4th and have learned so much. From the first flight to our corporate headquarters, to driving through the desert to attend the 2009 MCAA meeting in Las Vegas, and through intensely studying the product at our office in Richmond, VA the time has really passed quickly. (EXPAND for more...)

CXT has come a long way since I first met Dan Calderone sometime in the mid 1990’s. I was installing delivery software for him in California when we each worked for different companies. I remember standing in the server room when Dan said he knew he could create a delivery software program that was better than what was currently on the market at that time. Roll the clock forward ten years. I had worked for a large national delivery company for most of that time and then had the opportunity to look Dan up earlier this year. I was quite impressed by the company he and his partner, Lyndon Edmonson, had started. CXT Software is now considered one of the top delivery software companies in the US and as luck would have it they were looking for a Sales Executive for the eastern region.

Today I made my first sale so I can now officially consider myself a CXT Sales Executive. I’ve been giving solo software demonstrations for about a month and have really enjoyed showing X Dispatch to many prospects. They are quite impressed with the modernity of the program and immediately grasp how the many features in X Dispatch can benefit their companies. I’m looking forward to making many more sales.

CXT Software attends CDA show in California

I recently attended the California Delivery Association meeting a week ago. It was a great event held Universal Studios CA. It was attended by 70+ delivery industry professionals and had some outstanding speakers as well. This group is a tough crowd, and I mean that in a good way. California must be one of the toughest states to do business in. California has some of the highest sales tax rates (yet to increase again next month), some of highest income tax rates, and fuel rates that are usually the highest in the nation. As a result of all the aforementioned, you end up with one of the highest costs of living in the U.S. Therefore, you need to have thick skin just to live here, let alone run a business. I speak a bit from experience as I have lived in California most of my life, and have owned two businesses here as well. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else because of the climate, but the business climate is another story. Congratulations California courier owners on making it through another year of doing business, and living in California. (EXPAND for more...)

The second night of the conference a large group of us visited a local piano bar at the Universal City walk. It was a blast, but what was really great was that we found that not only do we have talented business owners here in the state California, but that a few of them have musical talents as well. One courier owner was allowed go up on stage and play the drums with the group, while another took his opportunity to show off his pipes. What a talented group we have here!

CXT Software ready to launch a new support site

We have been looking for a nice support tool to provide ticket entry and management for our customers for a while now. We are happy to have finally found a sweet product that has a full knowledge base, ticket management, trouble shooter, support news, and some even more exciting cool features such as being able to look up your X Mobile settings and remote assistance. (EXPAND for more...)

We are currently working on filling up the knowledge base full of useful information sure to incite a mad rush of people to the support site. Well it might not be the black Friday of support sites... but we like it and we think you will to! Stay tuned to the our usual news channels for updates to when the support site and some other cool products from CXT Software will be coming.

The TCLA February 2009 Meeting

I recently attended the Texas Courier Logistics Association meeting a few weeks ago. It was a great event held in Austin, TX. It was well attended with over 50 people and some outstanding speakers. This group is well organized and is making a big push to get relief from recent margin tax legislation that hurts the courier industry and many other small businesses. This was the big focus for the event and the reason for meeting in Austin, the state capital. They had a rally at the capital and met with government officials to discuss how much the margin tax is hurting the courier industry. (EXPAND for more...)

The opening night was a lot of fun, with an entertainer singing, bantering and pulling names for many items that got raffled off. Everything from Wolf Chili to and XBOX 360 provided by...you guessed it...CXT Software! It was by far the most coveted item raffled off.

Personally, I got a small taste of Austin when I went out with a few others to see some local live music which was very impressive. They’ve got the music scene down on weeknights so the headline show starts at 8pm and business guys like me can be in bed by 10:30. No wonder Austin call itself Live Music Capital of the World...they think of everything for their customers!

CXT Software’s New Product Release Cycle

One of the biggest challenges of the growth at CXT Software is the need to manage that growth to better serve our customer base. As CXT Software continues to add to its dynamic staff, we are tirelessly looking at ways that we can improve upon our processes to assist our clients in doing business. (EXPAND for more...)

One of these solutions has been to add to our technical support staff. We have added key members to our support team that will enable us to not only increase efficiency on answering support and training questions, but to spend more time ensuring that the our customers’ needs are met. The additions to our team have allowed CXT Software to reduce support turnaround time as well as become more thorough in working with users on training and understanding of our ever-evolving software suite.

As many of you know, CXT Software made a determination several years ago that to match the varied goals and needs of our customers we would need to put more policies in place regarding our software release cycle. Our internal goal is to manage two branches of our software, a development branch and a "maintenance" or "bug-fix" branch. The maintenance branch of the software would be a stable, rigorously tested and released branch of the software that we would release on an annual basis to the general CXT Software client base. The branch would be based upon a snapshot of the development branch, with all features set in place. From there, we only add bug fixes and minor tweaks to ensure that the product is as reliable and efficient as possible for our customers.

The obvious downside to an annual maintenance branch is that there is a requirement to wait once a year to gain the cutting-edge development that CXT Software is continually adding to the development branch of the software. Although we allow for any customer who so chooses to move onto the development branch at any time, most of our clients are better-served in waiting for a thoroughly tested version of the application at the yearly interval. However, as CXT Software has grown, we feel that we are in a position to increase that interval to twice per year. By merging our development into the maintenance branch of the software every 6 months, we can ensure that our customers are getting these cutting-edge features at a quicker rate, with the continued stability of our maintenance branch of the software.

For instance, our current maintenance version of the X Dispatch suite is version 9.2.8. If you have not upgraded at this time, I highly recommend that you do so. We have been tirelessly adding features and performance to the application suite that I am certain you will find important to your company’s continued growth. As always, all upgrades to your purchased X Dispatch suite are completely free (okay, excluding the small amount of time it takes to actually run the upgrade!).

The faster release cycle of the X Dispatch suite of software will allow you to retain your technological edge over your competitors while reducing the frustration and loss of efficiency that can come from buggy software. Stay tuned in the next few months for yet another major maintenance milestone that will contain even more features and productivity enhancements.

New Employees Have All the Fun!

When you’re a new employee, it takes a keen eye and a sharp wit to keep up in today’s fast-paced and exciting world of technical support. From making coffee runs to washing everyone else’s cars. Fortunately, I do not do any of these tasks. I am more what you may call a classically trained technical support specialist. I keep my day-to-day happenings more in line with customers’ needs. (EXPAND for more...)

Coming into CXT Software, I was ready for anything—an eager mind, much like a sponge, ready for the torrential downpour of information. From my office, I take phone calls and emails from customers who need their questions answered and issues resolved as quickly as possible. A dispatched ticket here, a forwarded email there, disaster averted. It is indeed a delicate dance—a well-oiled machine if you will. I am the first line of defense against technical catastrophe. Should I fail, the whole information superhighway goes down, casting the world and all its inhabitants back to the stone age. At least that’s what they told me when I was hired! Wow that’s a lot of responsibility. However, I still surmise that new employees have all the fun.

What It’s Like to be an Intern at CXT Software

Hey everyone, I’m Dave... you know, the guy that does all of the custom reports. I’m a software developer intern here at CXT Software and have been working here for almost two years. I’m really enjoying my time here. I receive invaluable experience working here and am given opportunities every day to expand my horizons and take on new responsibilities. (EXPAND for more...)

Considering the fact that the company's internship program is in its infancy, I thought I would give you an inside look at what it’s like to be an intern at CXT Software.

I have had the opportunity to develop in the X Dispatch product suite, work with SQL and Active Reports for reporting, troubleshooting support issues, markup HTML code and many forms of custom work for our customers. All of that aside, one of the best things about the office is the relaxed atmosphere where you can joke with your co-workers and enjoy your work.

Being an intern at CXT Software is a great experience and I would highly recommend it—besides, how many other interns can say they have an office with a window in downtown Phoenix? (And in case you were wondering, no I haven’t ever had to get anyone coffee.)

Putting Windows 7 Beta Through Its Paces

Microsoft recently released a public beta version of Windows 7, the successor to the troubled Windows Vista. Windows 7 brings some new features and more importantly performance enhancements. Even though the operating system is still in its beta stages, it already seems more stable than Windows Vista. (EXPAND for more...)

Everyone will be happy to know that Windows 7 is faster than Windows Vista. The operating system running in my virtual environment ran like a champ with only 512 MB of RAM. The new operating system turned off the Aero graphic effects because of the low RAM availability, but it ran as fast as a fresh install of Windows XP.

At first glance, Windows 7 looks nearly identical to Windows Vista, however, you will notice the taskbar has a slightly different appearance. It seems Microsoft has combined the familiar taskbar with the quick launch, making something very similar to Apple’s Mac OS X Dock. After a couple of minutes fooling around with the settings, I discovered it was possible to modify the functionality of this to behave more like Windows 2000/XP/Vista.

Hovering your cursor over a task bar icon displays all the current running instances of an application. If Aero was enabled the instances would actually show up as thumbnails of the window instead of a list as seen here.

One of the major annoyances in Windows Vista has always been the User Account Control, or UAC. Windows 7 has four different settings for UAC which will prevent its annoying face from popping out at you any time you try to do something. By default, the UAC is now set to a medium-high setting. In my testing, I was able to navigate around the operating system and make several system changes without ever getting a prompt. This definitely beats Vista’s limited UAC choice of being either on or off.

Windows 7 also comes with Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2. After doing some web browsing, IE 8 seemed to load pages faster than Firefox 3. IE 8 is also web standards compliant, so web sites should appear the same as if you were looking at the site in Firefox. IE 8 brings some nice features that Firefox doesn’t include as well as a feature from Google’s Chrome browser which allows each tab to run as its own process. This means if one of the web sites in a tab causes the browser to crash, only that tab will crash and the rest will remain open. (IE 8 Beta 2 is currently available for download for Windows XP and Vista).

While we haven’t officially certified Windows 7 to be ready to work with X Dispatch, all indications do look promising for the final product. I was able to install X Dispatch without having to jump through hoops or do anything different than our normal installation process. We’ll have to revisit this when the final Windows 7 product comes around, but so far so good.

X Dispatch worked out of the box on Windows 7 Beta 1.

Microsoft hasn’t set an official release date for Windows 7 yet, but has said it should be sometime in Q4 2009 or Q1 2010. My guess is sooner rather than later. The current beta is set to expire in August 2009; some people speculate that the final release will come soon thereafter. I, however, speculate Microsoft will still have a Windows 7 Beta 2 set to be released in a few months with an expiration of Q1 2010.

So far, things look pretty promising for Microsoft with this version of Windows in its current state. Even in beta it is a better operating system than Windows Vista. Overall Windows 7 is everything Windows Vista should have been, but got cut due to time restraints. I wanted to dump Windows Vista on my home computer and immediately switch to Windows 7, but remembered that it’s still a beta product and I don’t want to risk it, but it is very tempting.

If you would like to download a copy of Windows 7 Beta, it will be available at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/beta-download.aspx until February 10.

Customization for Better Data Management

As a member of the Implementation team here at CXT Software, I have the opportunity to work with many great customers, each of whom runs their business differently than the last. Each project brings new and interesting challenges, but I’ve noticed that a common thread is the desire to customize X Dispatch so that they can more easily and efficiently store and manage all pertinent information for their customers. (EXPAND for more...)

Whether it pertains to customer information on file or the information needed to thoroughly create a customer’s order, X Dispatch offers the flexibility to match your particular needs. I thought I’d give a brief overview of the customization capabilities in X Dispatch in case you were unaware or just need to refresh your memory.

You have the power to label several fields in the customer’s New Order form to help ensure that your CSR collects the proper data for each customer upon initial creation of each order, saving you time and money in the long run. If you find that you’d still like to use the default values for the fields but still need to store custom information, the ‘User Fields’ tab offers even greater flexibility:

To customize the information stored for each customer, utilize ‘Maintenance > CRM Fields’:

For step-by-step instructions for setting up CRM Fields, please browse to
‘Help > Manuals > What’s New…’ inside X Dispatch.

New Markets Discovering the Power of X Dispatch

Lately I have noticed more and more different types of companies inquiring about X Dispatch that don’t necessarily use it to generate revenue, but rather help manage an expense. (EXPAND for more...)

Traditionally, most companies inquiring about our software come from some facet of transportation, such as courier companies and trucking companies, which generate revenue by making deliveries.

Now, with the economy in its present state, we are seeing a growing trend of companies who maintain their own fleets to deliver and distribute their own products inquiring about X Dispatch and X Route in the interest of trimming expenses and increasing efficiency.

From a business development perspective, I think its impressive to see products we've developed specifically for the same-day delivery industry branching out on their own into new industries. Judging by the feedback we're getting from customers belonging to these new industries, not only has X Dispatch and X Route resolved the problems they were facing prior to using our products, but the transition was relatively pain-free and they have quickly begun to reap the benefits of adopting our software.

New Smart Phones Debuted at CES 2009

The 42nd annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was held in Las Vegas, NV from January 8-11. Despite the recent economic woes, attendance was estimated to be close to previous years.  Several new smart phones debuted at CES this year including the highly anticipated Palm Pre, which some people are now calling an 'iPhone killer'. That's a term that gets thrown around a lot, but the truth is that Apple's iPhone has enjoyed continued commercial success despite its competitors. (EXPAND for more...)

Similar to the T-Mobile G1 which featured the new Google Android operating system, the Palm Pre comes with a brand new operating system, webOS. According to the speech at CES by Palm CEO Ed Colligan, webOS was designed to make developing applications easy and Palm has already announced it will have an application store similar to the Apple App Store and the Android Market. The breadth of applications available from third-party developers on the iPhone has been a large draw for the device and source of income for Apple who receives a percentage of each transaction.

One of the most important features of a smart phone is ease of use and Palm's attitude towards webOS reflects their understanding of this principle. WebOS was built around a philosophy that everything you need should be available with one touch. Accessing programs is done via a favorites bar along the bottom of the screen and moving between open application looks like shuffling through a deck of cards. Instead of closing or minimizing applications, you can rearrange the order of your 'card deck' and simply drag them off the screen to close them. There are no save or close buttons, reflecting Palm's philosophy that the UI shouldn't get in the way of getting things done.

Beyond the OS, the Palm Pre has some nice physical and technical features. It is a mere 2.3in x 3.9in x 0.67in, smaller than the popular iPhone which is 2.4in x 4.8in x 0.48in. It has a 3.1in touch screen display, with a functional resolution of 320 x 480, and it includes all the bells and whistles consumers have come to expect from a smart phone like built-in GPS, Bluetooth capabilities, a camera, and 3G. It also comes with a few nice extras like a slide out QWERTY keyboard and removable battery.

It is too early to tell whether the Palm Pre will end up as a true competitor to the iPhone and it certainly may suffer from being put on the Sprint network, which was rated lowest in customer satisfaction in the latest Consumer Reports survey, but the UI is simple and efficient and it is nice to see companies creating operating systems for the phones which encourage the development and use of third-party applications. Exact details about software development for the Pre have not yet been announced, but support for Java has been mentioned, so it is likely X Mobile will already be fully supported.

A handful of other smart phones debuted at CES this year including the Nokia N97, which is optimized for media, the Pharos Traveler 137, which includes an interesting pay-as-you-go GPS feature and mobile broadband support, the Blackberry Curve, which unfortunately does not include 3G support, and the Nokia E71 which allows for two home screens to separate business and personal use.

New MacBook introduced at MacWorld 2009

In prior years I have attended the Macworld Expo in San Francisco and have always been fascinated by new gadgets and technology. I was unable to attend this year, but I was excited to hear about the new 17-inch MacBook Pro notebook. (EXPAND for more...)

I currently have a 2008 MacBook Pro 17-inch which I run Windows XP and X Dispatch 9 Workstation on. Popular virtualization programs such as VMware Fusion or Parallels allow any Intel-based Apple desktop or notebook computer to run a variety of Windows flavors which support X Dispatch. The performance in many cases is even better than running on physical hardware because of the optimization techniques of the virtualization software. I even run full copies of X Dispatch Server, X Import, X Route and X Internet—all of which work great on my MacBook.

This year’s 17-inch MacBook features some great new enhancements such as an industry first 8-hour lithium polymer battery that has a duty cycle of over 1000 charges—that’s approximately 200 charges a year for a five year battery life. The battery in the notebook, like many other Apple products, is now non-removable and has to be serviced by Apple to be replaced. When I first purchased my iPhone in 2007, I was a little weary of the battery not being removable, but after two years it never even crosses my mind. Along with a new battery, the 17-inch MacBook Pro receives a standard 1920 x 1200 high-resolution LED-backlit display with a glossy finish which looks gorgeous when viewing your photos. The 17-inch MacBook Pro now has an option for a 256GB solid state hard drive for faster performance and better reliability for impact.

Overall, I would say it’s another great product that just gets better year after year and I was excited to see it at the Apple Store following its launch at MacWorld 2009.

Striving for the Good Life

I recently heard a speaker talking about "The Good Life". Based on research cited from various sources, he boiled it down to what it isn’t, and what it is. Overall, I thought these were very good words of wisdom. (EXPAND for more...)

What It Isn’t

• Wealth and Possessions
• Beauty
• Thrilling Experiences (think bungee jumping)
• Personal Accomplishments

What It Is

• Close Friends
• A Good Marriage
• Control Over Your Life

Whether you agree with the above lists or not, it does get you thinking. It’s contrary to what we see in the media, magazines, newspapers, etc. One might think that the first list would bring total fulfillment, but that isn't what the research shows.

So, how does this tie into software? I’m glad you asked. I'd like to focus on one bullet point above, Control Over Your Life, and add to that gaining control over your business. CXT Software has solutions available that can help you achieve a level of control over your delivery business that you may not have seen before. We’re doing our part at CXT Software to help you live The Good Life.

Nextel Outage

We are getting nationwide reports of outages on the Nextel data network. If you are experiencing outages with your Nextel services, you should contact your Sprint/Nextel technical support representative with questions regarding this matter. (EXPAND for more...)

The issue appears to be affecting the majority of Nextel phones, but not all. It also appears that the issue is not related to location, based off the number of calls we are receiving to report outages.

While we are aware that these outages are occurring, you must call Sprint/Nextel technical support to resolve this problem.

Happy Holidays

It's that time of year again. It's a time when many of us reflect on those things that we give thanks for, and I am no different. (EXPAND for more...)

As I sit in my office, just coming back from a business trip, I am reminded of how special the delivery industry is and how fortunate I am to be part of it. I do not know of another industry that customers can truly be called friends. Dan and I have been invited into the homes of our customers to have dinner with their families, invited to stay the night (would never hear of having us stay in a hotel room), invited to celebrate birthday parties and Bar Mitzvahs, and to spend enormous amount of quality time sharing personal things and simply hanging out. I am truly touched by everyone’s graciousness and generosity.

For all of you that I have met, thank you for being there, and for those of you I haven’t, I look forward to calling you 'friend' as well. I never thought that I would say "it is good not to have customers", but instead, having friends is so much better.

I wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving and a safe holiday season!

— Lyndon Edmonson

Going Green with CXT Software

Did you know that your company can save time and money and help the environment simply by using CXT Software? It's time to GO GREEN with CXT Software! (EXPAND for more...)

Our suite of software products offer our customers the ability to save time and money all while helping the environment. Fuel costs and carbon emissions are a built-in part of the courier industry, however, the ability to group like jobs together allows for increased dispatching efficiency at the same time it decreases fuel costs and carbon emissions. Other capabilities of our software allow your company to operate completely paperless, from email invoices to digital signatures to document attachments.

You can reduce your paper waste, decrease postage and save time—three money-saving reasons to GO GREEN with CXT Software.

Ensenda and CXT Software

If you are not already familiar with the logistics company Ensenda, they are a very exciting company using technology in transportation unlike any nationwide provider that we have worked with in the past. Ensenda allows customers to utilize a network of independent last-mile delivery companies as if they were all part of a common company. This is accomplished, of course, using technology and the Internet. (EXPAND for more...)

Several years ago Ensenda approached us at CXT Software to create a scanning application connected to our X Dispatch enterprise software that would allow drivers and warehouse staff of companies using X Dispatch to receive order and parcel data from Ensenda at a wireless handset, collect scan data, and report chain of custody information back to Ensenda as parcels moved from warehouse to delivery. This was what Ensenda called Phase 1 integration. We were excited about the prospect of partnering with Ensenda to see this vision fulfilled. We used our existing X Mobile application and made several modifications that would allow for the needed flow of information. Both CXT Software and Ensenda were very pleased with the results of Phase 1 and rolled this technology out to several carrier companies beginning earlier this year.

As Ensenda has grown and their service offering has grown more diverse, Ensenda added a host of new feature requirements for carrier integration. This Phase 2 requirement meant several more enhancements to X Mobile and X Dispatch. We were again pleased to be able to make these enhancements quickly and accurately allowing us to receive a certification from Ensenda as a preferred provider of software for its carrier network.

We continue to offer development and support to Ensenda and look forward to seeing their vision develop and prosper.

How I Was Robbed of Being Crowned 'Disco King'

Returning home after the four-day shindig that was the first-ever combined MCAA/NTLA Executive Roundtable event, I had a little time to reflect on its significant highlights. I first have to say that the idea of combining these formerly separate events into one was an excellent one. Myself and the 200-plus attendees were able to reap the benefits of the MCAA's courier industry advocacy work as well as the efforts of the NTLA in establishing industry standards for certification of banking and pharmaceutical couriers under one roof. I personally found the presentations of the economist, the sales and marketing coach, and the pharma supply chain panel to be the most interesting sessions. (EXPAND for more...)

No convention would be complete without some evening entertainment, and this one was no exception with its Tuesday evening reception at the Stillwell House, courtesy of Beavex. We were bussed into downtown Tucson to an old house with a great outdoor patio and plenty of food and drink to go along with the shimmering disco ball and dance beats.

I couldn't resist. The theme of the convention was 'The Seventies' and I was ready to play along.

I hit the floor head to toe in polyester with flared out maroon pants, a big-collared shirt incapable of producing a wrinkle, serious 70's era sunglasses and itchin' to boogie.

That's right, call me T-Lite Wiebe. I boogied my way to the top prize in The Hustle Dance-Off and was told by many that I was a shoo-in to win the John Travolta Walk-Off as well.

But no—I was robbed.

Bob DeCaprio, Executive Director of the MCAA, was handed the prize. Coincidence? I think not. Clearly, this event was fixed. Bob had no moves and was wearing a blue blazer and khaki slacks, and most definitely did not bring the boogie.

I was robbed.

Nonetheless, I had a great time in Tucson and look forward to the next MCAA/NTLA event.

And Bob… one word—
Rematch.