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Mobility News

August 2005 - Report Time-Out Fix - NEWS DATE 8/01/05

The CRAB Mobility Team has been working hard and has had recent success with the Reporting time-out issue. We very are pleased to inform you that query processing speed has increased, allowing users to run queries that previously timed-out. Users will now experience faster query processing and report viewing times.  The longest time we have clocked for 'select * from qRoadLog' is about 17 seconds - well under our 30 second time-out limit. (However, we still recommend selecting just the fields that you need for your report instead of  using SELECT *.)

Mobility deployment is almost complete with 35 counties presently deployed. After the final counties have deployed CRAB will begin to add more features to the application. We continue to review all submitted feedback reports at weekly development meetings and several county feedback reports get implemented in the application as resources, time and benefit to users are considered for each report.


April 2005 Mobility Update
- NEWS DATE 3/30/05

  • A new Mobility Release is planned for the the week of 4-8 April. The release will include Changes to Security, Audit Trail and Pavement Management. A detailed listing of changes will be posted to the web and emailed to Roadlog mangers upon release.
  • Two major milestones have been met this week. All counties have submitted their CRIS data for conversion to Mobility and all counties have responded to the Mobility data conversion survey.
  • Mobility is now deployed in 30 counties. One more deployment is planned next week. Thanks to all of you for your hard work and patience during this deployment.
  • We have added an additional Mobility Fundamentals class in June. To check the class schedule or register for training use the quick links on the left of this page.

February 2005 Mobility Update - NEWS DATE 1/30/05

Mobility is now deployed in 22 counties. Two more will deploy this week. CRAB suggests that Mobility is used in tandem with CRIS until development of Mobility is complete. Thanks to all of you for helping make this deployment happen. We appreciate your time and hard work. This will provide users with the opportunity to compare data and reports from both and get comfortable with the new application. Most counties are running Mobility over Terminal Services and will continue to do so for the long term. A few counties will convert to their own SQL Server after any deployment issues are addressed and changes to the database and application taper off.

The Mobility User Fundamentals classes are coming to a close on April 1 2005. Check the training schedule for the remaining available seats. Again priority will go to counties who have not completed the training.

We will receive a new build of Mobility in the next 30 days (approx). We expect to release the new build soon after subjecting it to extensive testing. Thanks for your continued support.
 

(2.18.2005)  The CRAB training staff has added an additional class to the Mobility Fundamentals training schedule.  This  class will be held on April 21st and 22nd here at CRAB Central.  To signup, please visit the Mobility training site from the left hand menu.

Deployment Update - NEWS DATE 11/30/04

Mobility has deployed in fifteen counties. Another seven county deployments are in progress. Counties should use Mobility in conjunction with CRIS for the time being. Issues found during this deployment phase will get fixed soon and changes to application and the database will taper off so that soon Mobility will stand alone as the CRIS replacement for all of your inventory and database needs.

New Report Tool Update for Terminal Services Users - NEWS DATE 10/26/04

Now you can save a report layout or export file to our ftp server and download and save them to your local computer. If you have been or are planning to deploy on the CRAB Terminal Services for Mobility, a new function has just been added to the Mobility Reporting tool. It has always been impossible to store a saved report or export file to a place where you could get access to it from your local computer. With the help of Steve Hoffman of Clallam County, Dan has setup a shared directory accessible directly from the reporting tool when you SAVE or LOAD a stored report or export a file to the CRAB ftp server. When you have completed your report and either left it in its native RPX format, or exported it to an XLS or PDF or TXT, or RTF, or HTML or whatever file, you can now save it to a shared drive from the reporting tool.

Deployment Update - NEWS DATE 10/26/04

We are happy to report that Mobility has now been deployed to 10 counties. Three are using their own SQL Server back end and 7 have deployed using Terminal Services. Six more county deployments are presently in progress. Twenty three counties have attended our Mobility Fundamentals Training and we continue to schedule and conduct trainings approximately every two weeks.

October Eastside Regional Training - NEWS DATE 10/11/04

Regional Training in Eastern Washington took place on 4-8 October in Pasco and Davenport. County Staff from 9 counties attended. We really enjoyed it and heard the attendees did too. Thank you all for coming and special thanks to to Max Becker of Lincoln and Matt Mohoney of Franklin county for your assistance and the use of your facility.

First County deploys Mobility - NEWS DATE 6/23/04

Lewis County became the first County to successfully deploy Mobility on 6/23/2004.  They are running the Mobility Database on their own SQL server backend with Mobility running in about 6 separate locations. They will run both CRIS and Mobility in tandem for a while to ensure a smooth transition.  Lewis County's great support and overall enthusiasm made the final install a piece of cake.  Many thanks and kudos to Matt Hyatt and all of the Lewis County Public Works and IT staff who made this such an easy implementation.

The responses from county deployment and data conversion surveys have been enthusiastic. CRAB has assigned each county to a deployment priority group. The county is then ranked with a deployment priority from 1 to 10 based on their readiness to move to Mobility and when we received their survey.  The lower the group number the sooner a county will be scheduled to attend training and then be scheduled for deployment.

Check the training page for latest class dates and information.

Mobility Deployment Phase Begins - NEWS DATE 6/1/04

As many of you know, over the past 3 or 4 months we have actively been beta testing Mobility. We are happy to report that we have completed that process with enthusiastic endorsements from the beta test counties and we are now beginning the process of deploying version 1 of Mobility. However, this is a process and we need your help in how we proceed from here.

Our beta test counties have all indicated that, based on their experiences testing Mobility, they are ready to deploy. It was their considered opinion that Mobility is indeed ready for prime time and they are ready to move forward and leave CRIS behind. The CRAB Mobility Team is in full accordance with their decision and are ready to officially get them up and running.

To get an overview of Mobility, read about the beta test and search the Mobility knowledge base for known Mobility issues. You can also watch demos of Mobility in action or visit the Mobility_Webhelp site and take a tour of Mobility.

Beta Wraps up - Mobility User Training Begins - NEWS DATE 5/19/04

Beta testing concluded with a wrap up meeting at CRAB on April 19th. The first ever Mobility User Fundamentals class took place in Olympia on 13-14 May 2004. Twelve participants from the six beta counties attended and had very positive feedback overall. Go to the training page to see course outlines, dates, and training related information.

Beta Test Kicks off in Olympia - NEWS DATE 1/13/04

The Mobility beta test officially launched in Olympia on January 13th. The beta testers include Kittitas, Lewis, Pierce, Thurston, Walla Walla, and Yakima county. County representatives attended a detailed one day training event that covered an introduction to the application architecture, data conversion process, bug reporting, and hands on time with Mobility.

The beta test will last approximately eight weeks. The beta test is the last phase in testing prior to the imminent release of Mobility. Beta test counties have the opportunity to get the first look at Mobility and provide feedback that will drive the future direction and development of the application. Barring no serious development issues, Counties will have the option to fully deploy Mobility shorty after the completion of the beta.

Mobility WebHelp is the help system that will be used with Mobility. Mobility help is a work in progress and will grow with the application. Go to Mobility WebHelp and get a preview how Mobility works.