To ensure that our clients stay updated with new feature releases in our products, as well as share their experiences with other users, ANB conducts quarterly client user forums to:
1. Present new updates in eTRACK+
2. Talk about different tools available in the eTRACK+ toolkit
3. Answer user questions, and
4. Collect feedback for further optimization.
The final eTRACK+ user forum for 2021, exclusive to our clients, was held on December 8, 2021, with several participants sharing their thoughts and suggestions. Moreover, the participants felt that their takeaways from the forum can be applied to their daily work. Here is an overview of each of the sessions presented by our eTRACK+ solution specialists.
New eTRACK+ Features:
Michael Stockard, Principal at Stockard Energy Advising kicked off the event with a short intro about the forum and the agenda. This was followed by Abhishek Balakrishnan, President at ANB Systems who introduced some of the predominant features developed in eTRACK+ over the past few months such as:
• Secure Attachments.
• Form Field Indicators.
• Payment Gateway Integration.
• Process Decisions – Stakeholders outside eTRACK+.
• Digital Signatures using DocuSign.
• Integrations – AHRI, DLC, Energy Star Equipment Libraries.
After Abhishek’s presentation came the core sessions for each of these eTRACK+ toolkits – User Guides, Configuration, and Security. These were covered through the following topics:
• Reviewing Your Configuration
• Security Is Game One
• Guiding Your Users
These sessions were conducted by ANB’s business analysts who have experience implementing and supporting solutions for various utility use cases. Let’s see what the key takeaways from each of these sessions were.
Reviewing Your Configuration
This was presented by Shivani Deodhar. eTRACK+ is a highly configurable platform that puts the power of configuration in the hands of the user. With this power comes the responsibility of configuring integrity. Shivani demonstrated how configuration can be reviewed by discussing individual component review and the single configuration snapshot report. She talked about how the configuration snapshot report summarizes most of the platform component configurations in one spreadsheet that can be downloaded on an ad hoc basis or on a periodic schedule. She gave a live demo on how this approach saves time over manually reviewing each configuration one by one.
Security Is Game One
Security is paramount in an application such as eTRACK+ that contains some data on customers and their applications. Nima Mohammadi explained some of the key security features implemented in the eTRACK+ that tackle security threats from both inside and outside the platform. Our clients are demanding more in terms of security and can rest assured that ANB is doing all it can to make the platform and the user experience secure.
Nima highlighted eTRACK+’s security toolkit, comprised of existing and new security features like data masking, role level security, single sign-on features, mobile app security, and API security of which are currently available and used by clients in eTRACK+.
Some of the live demonstrations given during the session
• How data masking partially masks sensitive data
• How role level security restrictions apply
• How single sign-on technology securely authenticates users and allows a single point of control over user access
• How eTRACK+ mobile apps respond to invalid logins and how to set up a PIN to control data theft.
Guiding Your Users
Samartha Mohan delivered this segment, which covered two major topics: Portal Outreach and Platform Guides, and how they aid business teams in providing add-on functionality and training manuals to their users or downstream vendors.
He discussed the many categories, query features, commonly asked questions, and documentation as part of the portal outreach. He highlighted the configurability of portal guides, which provides various tools and functionalities within eTRACK+ to help the end-user.
Furthermore, our client from Oncor Electric Delivery shared how they make use of user guides. They explained how they train new employees in their organization, who are responsible for reviewing all interconnection applications, and how user guides improve the user experience and reduce the number of installer and user inquiries that arrive in their department’s inbox.
Customer Interactions
We conducted a Q&A discussion in each session, where our clients raised numerous questions, and our solution specialists answered them promptly. Our clients felt that these sessions were insightful in terms of providing new perspectives about the capabilities they already knew as well as learn the use cases of new features that they weren’t aware of.
Conclusion
ANB’s User Forum is a great place for clients to get support, share pain points, and discuss issues relevant to their services. Our solution specialists assist them in achieving their goal by improving our product; if you are our eTRACK+ client and missed our recent user forum, don’t worry! Register here to access the recording. For more information about ANB Systems or any of our other products, please schedule a demo or contact us and our solution specialists will get in touch with you soon.
