Getting Started - Roll Off Containers (Dumpsters)
Executive Summary
Your TrackAbout system has been set up and is just about ready! This Getting Started Guide will take you through the final touches needed to start tracking your Roll Off Containers.
Quick Start Guide
The Quick Start Guide is divided into three segments:
- Set up your system - This page leads you through setting up TrackAbout for your company.
- Using your smartphone - Roll-Off Containers - Now that your environment is ready to go, it's time to use your smartphone to collect information about your bins.
- Reporting and Maps - Roll Off Containers - Finally, see the bins on your Quick Map and pull useful reports about your bins.
If you need assistance during this process, contact support@trackabout.com
Log in to TrackAbout
You will receive an email from TrackAbout with a link for you to set a password and then log into the site. You can log into TrackAbout in a few ways:
- Go to https://www.trackabout.com/public/login.aspx
- Go to trackabout.com and click the "Login" link in the upper right corner of this page.
Check out the page on Navigation for info about how to get around the website.
Set up your Smartphone
Download the TrackAbout Smartphone App from the respective Apple or Android App Store. See our Smartphone page for assistance.
Set up your Locations
TrackAbout "Locations" are internal places where an asset can be located (does not include customer locations. These are managed separately). Every asset is either at an internal location or a Customer.
Your main company location is already set up in your system. If you need additional internal locations, Set them up from the List Locations page, found under the TrackAbout Config menu on the site.
- Refer to the Locations page or watch the video for more detailed information about TrackAbout Locations and how to create them.
Who owns your bins?
If all of your bins are owned by your company, there is nothing for you to do in this step.
If you use bins owned by other companies, set up an additional Owner in your system. Owners are created and managed via the Ownerships page on your TrackAbout website.
Refer to the Ownership page for more detailed instructions about how to manage Owners.
Internal Users
Setup accounts for your TrackAbout users who will be using the website and the smartphone app. This is done on the Internal Users page. For detailed instructions go to Internal Users
- Each user will be assigned to website and mobile roles. These determine what permissions users have within the system. System Administrator Role and Requirements
- There are two roles available to you:
- General - provides all available Roll Off Container actions
- Drivers - provides the Drop Off / Pick Up action
If you need additional roles they are set up and managed through the List Mobile Roles page. Information about how they work and how to set them up can be found here: Mobile Roles.
- The website users must all use passwords to log into the website.
- It is recommended that you send your website users a 'Welcome email' from the TrackAbout site that will allow them to setup their own password. In this way nobody knows the user's password except for the user.
- If any users do not have an email address, you can set them up with a username instead and manually set their initial password. Once logged in these users can change their password, but they are not forced to change their password.
Having trouble receiving emails from TrackAbout? See this page for information about how our emails are sent out.
Product Codes
A Product Code is the name used to indicate a specific kind of asset. This can also be called your part number, item number, stock number, product number or sku. It is the code used by your business system to track your inventory and sell things to customers.
Your new TrackAbout environment will already contain Asset Classifications/Product Codes for you to use. These can be viewed and created on the Product Code Mappings page.
If you need additional Product Codes, refer to the wiki page Adding Asset Classifications and Product Codes for more information about Asset Classifications and for instructions on how to manually create additional Classifications and Product Codes.
- See here for Product Code Tracking_Status
- See here for Mapping New Product Codes
Setting up to make Deliveries
Do you want to track your bins as they're dropped off and returned from customers? This allows you to have a clear picture of customer balances in TrackAbout to help with accounting and billing. If you want to track these drop off and pick ups, you'll need to do a bit more set up.
Customers
A customer's account needs to be created in TrackAbout before you start doing deliveries to them. At the very least customers must have
- Customer Name
- Customer Number
- Servicing Location - This is the internal location from which the customer receives service/deliveries.
- Customers are managed and added through the Customer List page
- For detailed information on how to add a new customer, please see the Customer page.
Bulk Load Customers
If you have a large customer base, you can upload your customers in bulk. To do this:
- Download this template and add your customer information: File:LoadCustomersTemplate.xlsx
- Save this as a tab-delimited text file
- On the website, use the menu bar and go to Integration > Import Customer Info
- Follow the instructions on the page
Note: If you need a specific import format other than the one provided here, please contact your support specialist.
Trucks
TrackAbout uses the truck information to assign orders to drivers.
Trucks can be set up using the List Locations page, found under the TrackAbout Config menu on the site. Make sure to select Location Type = Truck. Each truck should be named after a driver.
Example:
Truck Name = John Doe
Truck ID = JohnDoe
Drivers
Each driver who will be using the TrackAbout smartphone app to do drop offs/pick ups will need to have their own user account.
Set these up using the Internal Users page. They need to be set up with
- access to the iOS/Android app.
- login name
- password
- Branch (select the main location from which this driver will receive orders)
- Truck (The trucks should be named after each driver)
- Route (there will be a default route to select)
NEXT: Using your smartphone
Congratulations! You have now set up your TrackAbout website and are ready to begin your business processes.
Let's start scanning.
Please click below to learn how to use TrackAbout on your smartphone.