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Contracts

Modified: 2018/07/06 15:06 by admin - Uncategorized
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Contracts

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Introduction...

This is where you manage contracts for all Customers. It can be launched directly from the Dashboard.
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Layout

Across the top you have the main menu providing access to various tools that can be applied to one or more customers or contracts.

On the left-hand side, you have the Customers pane. On the right-hand side, you have the contract/Projections pane. They are split by a Splitter Bar.

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Main Menu

  • File
    • Print: Prints the existing visible list.
    • Print Preview: Print previews the existing visible list.
    • Close: This closes the window.
  • View
    • Archived: Persistent toggle to show/hide Archived customers and contracts. See Archiver.
    • Trashed: Persistent toggle to show/hide Trashed customers and contracts. See glossary

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      New ability to Check On/Off Archived/Trashed contracts
      (with the "Archived" column up)

    • Reset: Resets the view of both panes (modified using MyViews) to their factory-original state.
    • Refresh: Refreshes the content (data) in both panes.
  • Tools
    EC Due to the Depth of the Contracts Documentation we have expanded these tools to their own pages.

  • Pending Contracts: Contracts that have been placed within the system by Salespeople or other Station staff that have not yet been approved for airing.

See PendingContracts.

  • Make Goods: This provides a list of all spots that have been bumped from your Logs. In addition to Customer, SalesPerson and run dates the windows shows total revenue and count of bumped spots. From this list, you have the option of canceling/trashing any spots you do not wish to MakeGood. Check the box in the "dismiss" column next to the spots you wish to eliminate and then click the "trash" button that will appear in the bottom left corner of the screen.

See Makegood.

  • Print Confirmations: When approving a Contract and the Customer is configured to print Confirmations, the Contract goes into a queue to be printed; this window provides access to that queue so that you can print queued contracts.

See Print Confirmations

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Customer Pane

On the Left side of the Contracts window is the Customer Pane. This window lists all of your customers. It has columns that can be added/adjusted for personal customization. You can double-click to open the Customer window on any highlighted customer. Right-click to open the context menu.

Some customers may or may not be hidden as Archived or Trashed (depending on what you have checked). Customer names can be displayed 3 ways, Fully lit-Active and running contracts, Faded-Archived or Faded with the line- Trashed.

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Columns

  • Standard
  • Additional
    • Agency: See Agency.
    • Archived: List # of archived contracts. See Archiver.
    • Balance: The balance owed by Customer.
    • Revenue Source: The RevenueSource entered on the Contract.
    • Revenue Type: The RevenueType entered on the Contract.
    • Sales Person: The SalesPerson entered on the Contract.
    • Status: The current status of the Customer.
      • Active: The customer is active.
      • PrePay: This checks the default prepay checkbox.
      • Warning: A contract made for this customer will flag a warning.
      • On Hold : This Customer is on hold and you cannot make new or change contracts.
      • Collection: This customer is in collections and you cannot make new or change contracts.
      • Archived: This customer has been archived. (will show as faded).
      • Trashed: This customer has been trashed. (will show as faded with a line through).

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Context Menu

This menu is accessed by using the mouse to right-click anywhere in the Customers pane. See Common UI Behavior.

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  • Open: Opens the highlighted Customer. See Archiver.
  • New: Creates a new Customer.
  • Archive: Archives the Customer. (Will only see this if the customer can be archived)
See Archiver
  • Trash: Trashes the Customer. (Will only see this if the customer can be trashed)See Glossary
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Hot Keys

  • F1: Launches the help system (requires correctly configured web browser).
  • Enter: Open the highlighted Customer.
  • Del: Deletes the highlighted Customer.
  • Ins: Creates a new Customer.
  • CTRL+F: Find Contract using Contract number.
  • CTRL+SHIFT+F: Find/Filter Customers pane using one or more words.
  • Left Arrow: Moves navigation to the left pane (Customers).
  • Right Arrow: Moves the navigation to the right pane (Contracts/Projections).
  • Home: Moves the highlight to the top of the current pane.
  • End: Move the highlight to the bottom of the current pane.
  • Esc: Closes the window.
  • F5: Refreshes the data in both panes.

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Contracts Tab

The contracts pane contains a list of all of the existing contracts related to the currently selected Customer (in the Customers pane). It has set of default columns that can be reset in the Main Menu. (see above). You can alter these columns to better suit your personal customization. From this pane, you can double-click to open the highlighted contract or right click to open the context menu.

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Columns

Standard

  • Contract: Contract number.
  • Status: The current status of the Contract.
    • Pending: Not yet approved. Actions available are Modify, Approve, and Trash.
    • Trashed: It was trashed before it was approved. Action available. Un-trash (which returns it to Pending status) (removes it from view unless the View trash is enabled.
    • Aborted: An Approved contract that was canceled before it started running.
    • Approved: When a contract moves from pending to approved all spots and off-air revenue is generated and available to be placed on logs and invoices.
    • Running: At least one or more items are currently on a log or invoice. The only Actions available are Modify and Cancel.
    • P.Cancel: This is a contract that has been canceled but at a later date. when this date arrives its status will change to Cancelled. Action available is Undo and Cancel.
    • Canceled: Is a contract that has been canceled. Meaning all items that would have run from the date of cancelation forward are marked as trashed. This trashed item will not execute. Action available is Undo and Cancel.
    • Completed: Is a contract that all items have been executed or trashed and all related invoices have been finalized. Action available is Modify. (maybe)
    • Paid: This is automatic. it's a completed contract where the balance due is zero. Action available is Archive.
    • Archived: It was a paid contract that has been archived. Action available. Un-archive (which returns it to Paid status) (removes it from view unless the View archived is enabled.)
  • Start Date: The Contract effective start date (determined based on the Contract line items).
  • End Date: The Contract effective end date (determined based on the Contract line items).
  • Revenue Source: The RevenueSource entered on the Contract.
  • Revenue Type: The RevenueType entered on the Contract.
  • G$: The gross revenue of the Contract.
  • Sales Person: The SalesPerson entered on the Contract.
  • P.Conflict: The primary Conflict entered on the Contract.
  • Estimate #: The estimate number entered on the Contract.
  • Product: The product entered into the Contract.

Additional

  • Agency: See Agency.
  • Billing Cycle: The billing cycle of the Contract.
  • Canceled Date: The date the Contract was canceled.
  • Comment: The comment on the Contract header.
  • Co-Op: Is the contract a Co-Op
  • GE$: Gross Effective money for the contract.
  • PrePay: A Column with checkboxes marked for prepay, unmarked for not prepay.
  • Station: The Station or Stations that the Contract targets.

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New Button

New Button-Creates a new contract to the customer you have highlighted.

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Context Menu

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You can interact with each individual Contract by launching tools from the associated context menu (accessed by right-clicking on the Contract). (See Common UI Behavior.)
  • Open: Opens the highlighted Contract.
  • New: Creates a new Contract.
  • Duplicate: Duplicates the highlighted Contract. Duplicate is very usual for creating modifications to a contract where you want to have different Invoices reflecting the change(s). Additionally, it is a useful tool for creating a new Contract well after the original has already completed; especially regarding situations where "re-orders" are common.
  • New From Package: Creates new Contract from a Package.
  • Create Package: Creates a Package using the highlighted Contract as a template.
  • Cancel: Cancels the highlighted Contract... ASAP.
  • Print: Prints the highlighted Contract as a Confirmation.
  • Print Preview: Print previews the Confirmation of the highlighted Contract.
  • Export: Exports the highlighted Contract to one of several available electronic documents.
  • Split: Provides a tool to split the highlighted Contract on a billing cycle boundary.



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Hot Keys

  • F1: Launches the help system (requires correctly configured web browser).
  • Enter: Open the highlighted Customer.
  • Del: Deletes the highlighted Customer.
  • Ins: Creates a new Customer.
  • CTRL+F: Find Contract using Contract number.
  • CTRL+SHIFT+F: Find/Filter Customers pane using one or more words.
  • Left Arrow: Moves navigation to the left pane (Customers).
  • Right Arrow: Moves the navigation to the right pane (Contracts/Projections).
  • Home: Moves the highlight to the top of the current pane.
  • End: Move the highlight to the bottom of the current pane.
  • Esc: Closes the window.
  • F5: Refreshes the data in both panes.



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Projections Tab

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This is a snapshot of the revenue projection report for a 3 month period.

See ReportRevenueProjection



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Contract

A contract represents a unit of order that defines who, what, when and how much will eventually execute and ultimately bill. This window can be accessed from the Dashboard, Contracts, AR and Log.

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Layout

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Across the top of the window, you have the main menu that gives you access to various features.

The top half of the main part of this window are fields that represent the "header" of the contract. The fields in this portion of the contract are automatically populated (when creating a new contract) using the values specified on the Customer.

The bottom half of the window contains tabs that show the contract line item(s) and the rotation(s).

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Main Menu

  • File
    • Save: Commits any changes made to the server.
    • Print: Prints the contract as a Confirmation.
    • Print Preview: Displays the contract as a Confirmation for review or printing.
    • Close: Closes the window.
  • View
    • Spot Detail: This launches the SpotDetail window that displays the overall status of each item contained on the Contract.
  • Tools
    • Approve: Approves the contract and closes the window.
    • Cancel: Cancels the contract; can choose immediately or as of a date in the future.

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Fields

  • Customer: See Customers.
  • Agency: See Agencies.
  • Sales Person: See Salespeople.
  • Estimate # or Est/Adv/Prod: If an Agency that has an EDI # configured, the field will be split into three parts providing the ability to enter the Agency Estimate Code, Agency Advertiser Code and Agency Product Code. In most cases, all three are required. If no EDI # is configured (or this Customer is not associated with an Agency, an Estimate # field is provided. See Estimate number linking below
  • P.O. #: The purchase order number.
  • Pre-Pay: Checking Pre-Pay allows the use of the Pre-Pay column in the Log Editor to identify clients that are of this status.
  • Product: The product.
  • Discount % (Optional): Provides the ability to apply an overall discount to the entire contract (on an Invoice-by-Invoice basis).
  • Agency Commission %: This field is automatically populated using the selected Agency's default AgencyCommission.
  • Sales Commission %: This field is automatically populated using the selected SalesPerson default Commission. If, for example, you provide a bonus for first contract of new Customers, you can modify the percentage on a contract-by-contract basis. (See Commission.)
  • Tax (Optional): See Taxes.
  • Revenue Source: See RevenueSources.
  • Revenue Type: See RevenueTypes.
  • Primary Conflict: See Conflicts.
  • Secondary Conflict: See Conflicts. Now can be changed without Correction Mode.
  • Billing Cycle: This dropdown will allow you to choose the way contracts generate Invoices. You have several options:
    • None: This is a special "billing cycle" that effectively disables any Invoice from being created and is meant for a contract that is a PSA, Promo, Bonus, etc.
    • Calendar:The items on this contract will be automatically placed within a calendar month billing boundary; if the contract runs where the items cross over multiple months (calendar month billing boundary), multiple invoices will automatically be generated accordingly for each month.
    • Broadcast: Similar to Calendar except on a standard radio broadcast billing cycle boundary.
    • Weekly: Similar to Calendar except on a weekly billing cycle boundary which starts at the beginning of every Monday.
    • End of Schedule: Regardless of how long the contract is running, Normally only one Invoice will be produced. If there is a mix of spots and OAR it will do 2 invoices. One with the spots and one with the OARs. This type of billing cycle is recommended for "short-run" orders.
    • Begin of Schedule: Once this contract is approved, an Invoice is immediately produced and approved that can then be sent to the Customer for payment for the total of the contract. As the items execute, further Invoices are created (similar to the Calendar billing cycle) that are zero dollar and can be used a affidavit of performance. Begin of Schedule is ideal for handling Pre-Payments.

      CS It is possible to change this value after the contract has been approved using Correction Mode; however, extreme care should be taken when doing so as this completely removes any existing Invoices and recreates them based on the newly selected billing cycle. Any payments that have been applied will also be automatically reversed and will need to be manually reapplied after the newly created Invoices are re-approved.

  • Invoice Type: There are several Invoice types to choose from:
    • None: When selected, also automatically sets the Billing Cycle field to None; effectively disabling the creation of any Invoices for this contract.

    • Detail: The default and most verbose of Invoice choices available; as much detail that can be provided is provided.
    • Summary: Significantly reduces the amount of information provided.
    • Time: Groups the items by time.
      Time/Rates - Groups the items by time and rate.
    • The Detail, Time and Times/Rates Invoice types can also include the Affidavit or Notarized Affidavit texts as configured in Station.
    • Co-Op Notarized Affidavit: This specialized Invoice type is very similar to Detail but includes a breakdown of each piece of Copy.

      CS Invoices can be further defined (what is included, how the information is presented, etc.) by using the options available in Group.

Estimate Number linking

When printing confirmations any contracts for a customer that share an estimated number will print as well. If you need to check if the said contract has other contracts linked to estimate number we suggest using Print Preview. If you have confirmations that need to be printed singly you can place an exclamation point (shift+1) at the beginning of the estimated number to break this link.

Invoice Type can be changed without Correction Mode.

  • TFN: Think of this as a reminder to identify a contract as being "until further notice"; this can be seen in the Contract report to help keep track of these types of Contracts. (Now A Legacy option).
  • Comment: The information entered in this field will be included on the Invoice as part of the Invoice header. For certain scenarios it may be necessary to specify a slightly modified comment on a per-Invoice basis; for these, we provide the following replacement tokens:
    • <priormonth>: The name of the month for the Invoice end date minus one month.
    • <month>: The name of the month for the Invoice end date.
    • <nextmonth>: The name of the month for the Invoice end date plus one month.

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Informational Glyphs

The fields in the header (top half) of the window are automatically populated when creating a new contract using the defaults as defined on the Customer. These fields can be modified for circumstances where the default is not appropriate for the specific contract needs. When doing so, a blue informational glyph is displayed next to each field that does not match the Customer default value(s).

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Contract Notes

The notes tab contains a single field that provides you the ability to enter notes that will only be seen by Users. This field is never included on Confirmations, Invoices or Statements.

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Hot Keys

  • F1: Launches the help system (requires correctly configured web browser).
  • Esc: Closes the window.
  • F5: Refreshes the data in both panes.

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Dropdown Menus

We have added a context menu to the Customer, Agency, Owner, Sales Person, Primary Conflict, Secondary Conflict, Revenue Type, Revenue Source, Avail Type, Credit Policy, Country, Tax, Tax-on-Tax, Fee, Voice, Sales Commission, Agency Commission and Category drop-down selection boxes throughout the application.

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Tools include Open and New.

For those that are more Keyboard Centric we have also added the hotkey ability "Insert" while tabbing through the contract and customer windows

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EC - I'm cycling through the Customer, Agency and Salesperson fields using TAB hotkey. I also leveraged the ESC hotkey to close window.



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Contract Line Items

One or more entries are entered in order to specify the number of units to execute and/or billing lines to be created.

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Layout

It has columns that can be added/adjusted for personal customization. Double click to open the Highlighted Spot/OAR. Right-click to open the context menu.

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Columns

Default Columns
  • Line: The number given to the line its in.
  • Station: The station.
  • Avail Type: See Availtypes.
  • Start Date: The start date of the spot/Oar.
  • End Date: The end date of the spot/Oar.
  • Length: The length of the spot.
  • Rate - Rate per Spot/Oar play.
  • Qty: Quantity, the amount of spots.
  • Trashed#: The number of trashed spots
  • Total: The amount of money its making.

Additional Columns

  • Comment: If there is a comment place on the spot/Oar.
  • End Time: The time of day the spot/Oar runs to.
  • Override Advertiser: A checkbox to notify if you have/have not overridden an advertiser. (can only see and do if you have an option on).
  • Override Conflict: A checkbox to notify if you have/have not overridden a conflict. (can only see and do if you have an option on).
  • Placement: The Placement.
  • Repeated: The setting on Spot/Oar daily or weekly.
  • Start Time - Start time of Copy/Oar.
  • Schedule: The schedule of the spot/oar in days/week.
  • Status: The status of the spot/Oar

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Improved Lines

EC We have made some changes to the Contracts window it now reflects the "expected" line item end dates instead of the originally entered end dates:

Before alterations:

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After 4 days of spots are removed from the last week:

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Confirmation print preview:

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Context Menu

Right click on the Contract Line Item pane brings up the Context Menu:

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  • Open: Opens the Spot.
  • Duplicate: Brings up a copy of the Spot/Oar as another line, allowing adjustments/alterations and ability to place as a new spot/Oar.
  • Cancel: Opens up the Cancel window:

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Allows you to Cancel a spot or OAR immediately or at a certain date.

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Hot Keys

  • F1: Launches the help system (requires correctly configured web browser).
  • Up Arrow: Moves the highlighted bar up.
  • Down Arrow: Moves the highlighted bar down.
  • Esc: Closes the window.
  • F5: Refreshes the data in both panes.

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Calculated Summery

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This is a calculation summery (shorthand notation) of added/removed revenue, spots, and line item count.



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Spot Line Item

A Contract line item represents a sub-unit of an order that defines who, what, when and how much will eventually execute and ultimately bill. This window can be accessed from the Contract.

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Layout

Across the top of the window, you have the main menu that gives you access to various features.

The main body of this window are fields that represent the "line item" of the Contract. Some of the fields in this portion of the line item are automatically populated (when creating a new line item) using the values specified on the Customer.

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Main Menu

  • File
    • Save: Commits any changes made to the parent window (Contract).
    • Close: Closes the window.
  • View
    • Placement Summary: This window displays the placement of the spots related to the Contract line item on Logs.
    • Invoice Summary: This window displays Invoices related to the Contract line item.
  • Options
    • Override start date: Provides the ability to "back-date" a line item; this is useful when entering a "write-on" Contract.

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Notifiers

Some fields of the window are automatically populated (when creating a new Contract) using the defaults specified on the Customer. These fields can further be modified for circumstances where the default is not appropriate for the specific Contract needs.

  • Station: See Stations.
  • Placement: The weight applied to spots related to this line item when scheduling side-by-side with other spots. The range is 1 to 10; 1 being the more weight (more likely to be placed prior to others).
  • Avail Type: See AvailTypes.
  • Rotation: Defaults to Automatic; however, can be modified to point directly to a particular (existing) Rotation. This significantly limits the flexibility related to scheduling and should only be done under very specific (in other words, very rare) circumstances.

CS In order for a Rotation to be assigned, the rotations on the overall Contract must be saved first; you can do this by pressing the Apply button on the Contract window. This must be done in order to have the necessary "pointers" available for assignment.

CS It is easier to state that you should avoid using this; if the circumstances arise where it becomes necessary to be utilized, it will be very obvious. This setting, in any case, is mistakenly utilized because of a lack of knowledge and experience in how the Rotation selection works and, when utilized incorrectly, can severely limit the flexibility offered and restrict your ability to quickly and easily make changes as Copy changes over the duration of a Contract. When in doubt, chances are you don't need to use this; to be sure, please contact customer service for advice.

  • Start Date: The starting date for the "pattern" of units (spots) to be generated.
  • End Date: The ending date for the "pattern" of units (spots) to be generated.
  • Start Time: When scheduling these units (spots) on the Log, what is the starting time range that it is legal.
  • End Time: When scheduling these units (spots) on the Log, what is the ending time range that it is legal.
  • Length (Secs): Specifies the length of the units (spots) that will be generated.
  • Rate - Specifies the amount associated with each unit (spot) that will be generated.
  • Schedule: See below.
  • Comment: Optionally enter a note to be associated with this line item.

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Hot Keys

  • F1: Launches the help system (requires correctly configured web browser).
  • Esc: Closes the window.

Schedule

Weekly (Default) When creating a weekly based line item, the M-Su fields are provided so that you can specify how many units (spots) will be generated per encountered day of the week between the specified Start Date and End Date. The Skip Weeks field provides an easy means to generate a pattern for the first scheduled week and skip x week(s) before repeating the specified pattern. The summary below this section displays the total number of units (spots) and the revenue associated based on the line item Rate.

Daily ★ When creating a daily based line item, the M-Su and Skip Weeks fields are replaced by a single Calendar button. The summary below this section displays the total number of units (spots) configured on the Calendar and the revenue associated based on the line item Rate. For further details regarding modifying the units (spots) configured for this type of schedule, see ContractLineItemCalendar.

Not available in Essentials.



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Off-Air Revenue Line Item

This allows you to apply an Off-Air Revenue to a contract.

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Layout

Across the top of the window, you have the main menu that gives you access to various features.

The main body of this window are fields that need to be set up before adding the OAR to the contract. Some of the fields in this window are automatically populated (when creating a new OAR) using the values specified on the Customer.

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Main Menu

  • File
    • Save: Saves the Oar.
    • Close: This closes the window.
  • Options
    • Override Start Date: Overrides start date to be before the last locked log.

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Notifiers

The fields in the top half of the window are automatically populated (when creating a new contract) using the defaults specified on the Customer. These fields can further be modified for circumstances where the default is not appropriate for the specific contract needs.

  • Station: See Stations.
  • Start Date: Start date of OAR.
  • End Date: End date of OAR.
  • Rate: Rate of OAR.

Frequency Pane

You can set the frequency of the OAR to fit your needs.

  • Once: A use once single OAR.
  • Once per Day: Daily Oar.
  • Once per Week: Weekly OAR (with drop-down for the day it will invoice)★
  • Once per Month: Monthly OAR (Will invoice on the 15)

★ Feature not available in Essentials.

EC In Essentials The "Once a week OAR" will Invoice on Mondays only


Comment pane -This section is for your notes you want to see on invoices.

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Hot Keys

  • F1: Launches the help system (requires correctly configured web browser).
  • Tab: Moves curser through all dropdowns in window.
  • Esc: Closes the window.
  • F5: Refreshes the data in both panes.

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Contract Rotations

The rotations define how Copy is attached to the individual units (spots) when locking (approving) a Log.

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Layout

It has columns that can be added/adjusted for personal customization. From this pane, you can double-click to open the Copy Assignment window or right click to open the context menu.

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Columns

Standard

  • Station: See Station.
  • Items: The number of pieces of Copy in this particular Rotation.
  • Length: The length of the Copy in the rotation (all Copy in a particular rotation will be the same length).
  • Start Date: The start date that this particular Rotation is valid.
  • End Date: The end date that this particular Rotation is valid.
  • Start Time: The start time that this particular Rotation is valid.
  • End Time: The end time that this particular Rotation is valid.
  • Schedule: The days of week that this particular Rotation is valid.

Additional
  • Sort_Order: The Sort order of the particularRotation.

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Context Menu

Right-click opens up the Context Menu.

  • New: Opens up a new copy assignment window.

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Hot Keys

  • F1: Launches the help system (requires correctly configured web browser).
  • Up Arrow: Moves the highlighted bar up.
  • Down Arrow: Moves the highlighted bar down.
  • Esc: Closes the window.
  • F5: Refreshes the data in both panes.

CS The items are what define the number of units (spots) that can and will be scheduled. The rotations are leveraged by the Log to determine which Copy can be assigned to these units.

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Copy Assignment

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Layout

The fields in the top half of the window are not automatically populated (the station is populated). You have to modify for specific copy needs. The copy pane will list all copy currently attached to that rotation. It will be blank if you open a new rotation and have to add a copy from the list. see Rotation List (below)

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Main Menu

  • File
    • Save: Saves the Rotation.
    • Close: This closes the window.

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Columns

Standard

  • Cart: The cart number.
  • Name: The name of this particular piece of copy.
  • Ad-ID: See Ad-ID
  • Start Date: The start date of this particular copy
  • End Date: The end date of this particular copy.
  • Percent: The percentage of use of that particular copy.
  • Next: The copy you checkmark will be the first copy to be used when locking the log.
EC This will rotate to the next copy down the list on every locked log.
Additional
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Context Menu

  • Open: Open the highlighted Copy.
  • New: Creates a new Copy.
  • Delete: Deletes the highlighted Copy.
  • Duplicate: Creates a new Copy using the highlighted Copy as a template.

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Up/Down Buttons

The large up and down buttons located to the right of the Rotation list are used to move individual rotations up and down in the visible (sorted) list.

The importance of the order of multiple rotations cannot be overstated. To illustrate by using a specific scenario, let's say that you have a Contract that contains Copy that can run all day every day for the duration of the Contract and the Contract also contains a few pieces of Copy that run only during "lunch time". This can be handled simply by creating a single line item on the Contract and two entries in the rotations list. One entry would be for the all-day side of things containing Copy that can run the whole day for each and every day. The second entry would contain just the Copy that is valid for the "lunch hour". Here's where things get interesting...

Incorrect

The rotation list contains the All Day entry followed by the Lunch Hour entry.

In this configuration, each and every time that a spot (on the Log) determines which piece of Copy to choose, it will always stop at the first item in the list since it is legal for the target date, time, station, etc. In other words, the second entry will never be evaluated because the first item is always found to be valid.

Correct

The rotation list contains the Lunch Hour entry followed by the All Day entry.

When the Log attempts to determine which piece of Copy to assign, it will test the first entry. Only on the days that are valid, the time that is valid ("lunch hour") and other criteria are met will the first item be found to be valid and utilized. If it is not valid, it falls through to the next entry on the list; which, in this scenario, would be found to be valid.

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Hot Keys

  • F1: Launches the help system (requires correctly configured web browser).
  • Up Arrow: Moves the highlighted bar up.
  • Down Arrow: Moves the highlighted bar down.
  • Esc: Closes the window.

Now, by default, the Copy will be assigned to spots using a default of a 1:1 ratio. No matter how many pieces of Copy you put into a rotation they will rotate evenly by default. If you want to rotate them in a manner other than evenly, you will need to set up the rotation so that the Copy you want to happen more often than the others is duplicated according to the frequency you desire. To assist in doing this, you can use the Rotation Ratio Editor.

CS: This list is not, nor can be, MyViews enabled. This is because the order list of the rotations is of utmost importance because the determination of which Rotation can be utilized given a particular Station, length, date, time and day of the week is dependent on the order of the existing list. Use the large up/down arrow buttons on the right-hand portion of the list to move a highlighted rotation up/down accordingly.

CS: It is important to keep in mind that in addition to all of the parameters that are checked regarding each and every Rotation in the list, individual Copy start and end dates are also verified. If no piece of Copy is valid in a particular Rotation, even if the Rotation parameters are completely valid, the Rotation is considered invalid and the Log will continue to the next Rotation in the list for verification.

CS: Rotations can usually be modified at any time throughout the active life of a Contract. Individual Rotation items are only needed for current and future Logs; once a Log has been locked and there is no plans to reverse this, the individual Rotation is no longer necessary and potentially can be removed to reduce any possible confusion that may occur to having a large list of rotations.

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Percentage (Ratio)

The Rotation Ratio Editor allow you to place Copy in whatever mix they need to be placed in your Contract.

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You will be able to move the Copy around in that rotation in any way you wish. Once the rotation is acceptable to you, click OK to save the rotation.

CS You can edit rotation at any time; even after the Contract is approved.

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Layout

The Ratio Editor window has three columns (Cart#, Ratio and Count). The Add Button opens the Rotation Items window (see below). Right-click to open a Context Menu. You can left click on any of the Ratio column lines to change the ratio number.

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Context Menu

Right-click opens up the Context Menu.

  • Open: Opens up the highlighted piece of copy.
  • Remove: Removes the highlighted piece of copy.

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Hot keys

  • F1: Launches the help system (requires correctly configured web browser).
  • Up Arrow: Moves the highlighted bar up.
  • Down Arrow: Moves the highlighted bar down.
  • Esc: Closes the window.

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Rotation Item(s)

The Rotation Items window holds all of the Copy connected to that Customer.

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August 2017:

With this new "NEW" button, you will be able to create a new copy from within a contract.

You can create a new copy like this from a Pending, Approved, Running, P. Cancel or a Canceled Contract.

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Layout

From this window, you can left click to put the highlighted copy into the rotation window. You can Right click to open the context menu. you also have the "Ok" and "Cancel" buttons in the lower right corner of the window.

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Columns

Standard

  • Cart #: The cart number.
  • Copy Name: The name of this particular piece of copy.
  • Ad-ID: See Ad-ID
  • Start Date: The start date of this particular copy.
  • End Date: The end date of this particular copy.
  • Times in Rotation: The number of times that copy is in rotation.

Additional


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Hot Keys

  • F1: Launches the help system (requires correctly configured web browser).
  • Up Arrow: Moves the highlighted bar up.
  • Down Arrow: Moves the highlighted bar down.
  • Esc: Closes the window.

Edit

"Complex Rotations"

We understand that there are rare instances where it would be "simpler" if it were possible to directly assign a rotation to a specific line item of a Contract. In order to facilitate this, we are introducing the Activate "Complex Rotations" override. capability that can be enabled on a customer-by-customer basis. The ability to activate this capability is limited to the Administrator role; as this option should only be active for customers that have "extremely complex" scheduling scenarios. In other words, this override should only be enabled if absolutely necessary as there are sizable downsides in the form of restrictions and possible missing copy confusion introduced when utilizing this feature.

To activate this override for a particular customer:

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  • Open a Customer.
  • Switch to the Scheduling tab...
  • Toggle the Activate "Complex Rotations" override. check box.

When enabled for a particular customer there will be additional capabilities exposed on the Contract window related to rotations and saving it the drop down menu will have the valid rotations listed.

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In the above screenshot, you will see that we begin working with Contract that has a single line item. This line item is currently configured as a "regular" rotation; meaning that it will utilize any and all rotations within the Rotation tab in order to determine what Copy to assign when locking a Log. We decide that we want to hard-wire the first (in this case "only") rotation to the first (in this case "only") line item.

CS - This would not be a scenario where we would do it this way... one line and one rotation is effectively already "wired".

We want to draw your attention to the fact that the Rotation column is blank at the start of this process. We will then double click on the first line item to open it. Once open, you will see a Rotation field with a combo box containing (assuming you have at least one rotation on the contract) Automatic and Rotation #1. The default is always Automatic regardless if the "Complex Rotations" override is enabled on a customer.

CS - Automatic is the recommended setting; use extreme care and caution if you decide to not use Automatic.

We, in this example, are going to modify the line from Automatic to Rotation #1. Upon pressing the OK button to accept the change, you will see that the Rotation column now displays Rotation #1.

Now that we've modified the contract to use Rotation #1 for line 1; the log will now ignore any and all other rotations on this contract when working to determine which copy to assign.

CS - If this rotation and/or associated copy become invalid, any and all other rotations will not be reviewed/evaluated. Additionally, Rotation #1 will also no longer be able to be used by any other line(s) on the contract as it is "wired" to line 1 and cannot be used with any line that is set to Automatic.

VR - If a rotation is assigned to a specific line it can only be used by that line. This makes the rotation assigned to the line invalid for general use of that contract.

VR - If you create a new rotation it does not actually exist until you hit the Apply button so is not available in the rotation combo box.



Edit

Spot Detail

This window reflects the individual details for each and every item scheduled on a Contract and can be accessed from the Contract window by using the View->Spot Detail entry on the main menu.

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Layout

Across the top you have the main menu providing access to various tools that can be applied to the current view.

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It has columns that can be added/adjusted for personal customization.

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Main Menu

  • File
    • Print: Prints the current view.
    • Print Preview: Print previews the current view.
    • Close: This closes the window.
  • View
    • Reset: Resets the view of both panes (modified using MyViews) to their factory-original state.

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Columns

Default Columns

  • Station: The Station that this item targets.
  • Contract #: The Contract that scheduled this item.
  • Line #: The line number of the Contract that scheduled this item.
  • S.Target Date: What is the currently scheduled target date. (Note: Can be different than the original defined target date.)
  • Log Date: What Log is this item scheduled, if any.
  • Inv Date: What Invoice date is reflected for this item, if any.
  • Spot Status: Reflects the current status of this item.
  • OAR: Whether or not this is an Off-Air Revenue item.

Additional Columns

  • A.Log Time: If this item has been reconciled, the time that it aired.
  • Cart #: The currently assigned cart (Copy) number.
  • Copy Name: The name of the assigned Copy.
  • Inv #: The number as reflected on the Invoice for this item.
  • Inv Status: The status as reflected on the Invoice for this item.
  • Inv Time: The time as reflected on the Invoice for this item.
  • L.Avail Type: The AvailType currently attached to on a Log.
  • Log Open: A checkbox column to show if Log is open(Checked) orclosed (not checked).
  • Log Status: The statue currently attached to on a Log.
  • O.Target Date: The originally targeted AvailType.
  • Rate
    The rate of this item as defined on the Contract.
  • S.Avail Type: What AvailType this item is supposed to target.
  • S.Log Time: The target air time as defined by the placement of this item on the Log.

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Context Menu

This menu is accessed by using the mouse to right-click on any item in the list. See Common UI Behavior.

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  • Reschedule: Prompts for a new date ranging from the overall Contract start and end date to reschedule the item to another target date.
  • Force Bump: "Bumped" spots are spots that, at one point or another, have existed on a Log (or been forced into a bumped status by using this tool).
  • Force OAR: "OAR" are off-air revenue item(s) that have not yet been transitioned to an Invoice.
  • Force Trashed: A "Trashed" is a spot or OAR that has been specifically flagged as "will not air/invoice" by a User.
  • Force Invoiced: It is possible (and necessary under some very specific circumstances) to "bypass" the regular process of scheduling on a log, airing, reconciling and directly place a spot on an Invoice.

These various tools are visible depending on User enabled roles and the current status of an individual spot/OAR.

To "reschedule" beyond a particular Contract expiration, you will need to trash the spots on the existing Contract and create a new Contract to schedule those items into a new billing period.

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Hot Keys

  • F1: Launches the help system (requires correctly configured web browser).
  • Up Arrow: Moves the highlighted bar up.
  • Down Arrow: Moves the highlighted bar down.
  • Esc: Closes the window.



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FAQ

Edit

Additional Information

Just a cookie for coming all the way down here. Hope this page has helped in some form.

As far as any added info. The kitchen sink in my house is a black, metal, 2-tub, under mount.





Table of Contents [Hide/Show]


Contracts
   Layout
   Main Menu
   Customer Pane
      Columns
      Context Menu
      Hot Keys
   Contracts Tab
      Columns
      New Button
      Context Menu
      Hot Keys
   Projections Tab
Contract
   Layout
   Main Menu
   Fields
   Informational Glyphs
      Contract Notes
      Hot Keys
      Dropdown Menus
Contract Line Items
   Layout
   Columns
      Improved Lines
   Context Menu
      Hot Keys
      Calculated Summery
   Spot Line Item
      Layout
      Main Menu
      Notifiers
      Hot Keys
         Schedule
   Off-Air Revenue Line Item
      Layout
      Main Menu
      Notifiers
         Frequency Pane
      Hot Keys
Contract Rotations
   Layout
      Columns
      Context Menu
      Hot Keys
   Copy Assignment
      Layout
      Main Menu
      Columns
      Context Menu
      Up/Down Buttons
      Hot Keys
   Percentage (Ratio)
      Layout
      Context Menu
      Hot keys
   Rotation Item(s)
      Layout
      Columns
      Hot Keys
   "Complex Rotations"
Spot Detail
   Layout
   Main Menu
      Columns
      Context Menu
      Hot Keys
FAQ
Additional Information