What’s new in Circuit for Teams
It was previously only possible to access detailed delivery data by performing a global account search. This would only provide results for the specific information that was searched for.
Now monthly reports containing detailed delivery data can be exported at the touch of a button, giving you instant access to granular performance information.
With four new delivery analytics reports, you can further analyze delivery costs and performance metrics.
Understand the most common reason for failed deliveries, monitor the percentage of late stops, and track the average cost per delivery over time.
Filter each report by depot, team, or driver for a more granular view of activity.
Go to Settings > Analytics to access the delivery reports dashboard.
Watch our latest product update video and discover more about the following features:
Now you can safely and securely provide read-only access to your account, allowing specific roles the ability to view and search all account data without being able to make any changes.
Read-only roles have access to view all available account information as it happens but cannot make any edits or access account settings.
This restricted role can be useful for teams looking to safely outsource their customer support to a third party or share the real-time route tracking view with partners.
Dispatchers can sometimes encounter incorrectly located addresses on a route due to inconsistencies in mapping data provided by third parties. These can be corrected by reporting the issue to Google Maps or Open Street View, but those updates take time.
Now dispatchers can instantly correct or pin the location of a stop simply by clicking on the map.
Managing multiple routes in the same geographical region can create a visually crowded map, making it hard to see individual stops and route progress clearly.
Now dispatchers can toggle between detailed and simplified stop markers on the map view.
Simplified stop markers reduce each stop on the map to a small square.
Every business model handles delivery in a different way and has unique needs when it comes to how routes are optimized. Companies that pay their drivers by the hour may want to optimize routes based on speed.
It’s now possible to customize your route optimization settings to suit your delivery style better.
Dispatchers often need to make the same change to multiple stops on a route, but individually updating stops is inefficient and prone to human error.
Now dispatchers can save time managing stops with batch editing. It provides a quick and easy way to apply the same change to a group of stops.
Manually adding stops or batch-uploading route data using a spreadsheet can be time-consuming and inaccurate.
The latest version of the Circuit for Teams API is two-way. This allows you to import and manage data using the API and subscribe to published event-based information.
Integrate your existing systems with the API to automate processes and speed up your delivery operations.
Go to Settings > Integration to read the complete technical documentation and best practices.
Identifying areas where delivery performance can be improved without access to the right data can be difficult.
Circuit for Teams users can now access and run a range of delivery analytics reports to gain deeper insight into performance.
Go to Overview > At the top of the page, the daily analytics snapshot displays:
Some drivers may be more experienced than others or drive a more suitable vehicle, making them better equipped to carry out certain stops.
It’s now easy for dispatchers to only allow certain drivers to carry out specific stops.
POD requirements can now be turned on or off for specific stops. Drivers can skip POD collection when it is not needed, which helps them to save valuable time across the duration of their route.
Dispatchers can now see the real-time status of stops on an active route and make live changes to increase the chances of successful delivery.
Dynamic stop status icons are live indicators of a stop’s delivery progress:
Hover over each icon for additional detail about:
Dispatchers can now choose to add customer service contact details to the delivery information available to customers, providing a better delivery experience to customers who need help.
Dispatchers who need to modify routes that are already in progress can do so whilst automatically notifying drivers about the changes that have been made.
Same-day updates to routes are now easily carried out by Dispatchers and communicated instantly to drivers.
In addition to the default map view, dispatchers and admins can now select satellite view for a photographic bird's eye view of routes.
This provides detailed satellite imagery of the landscape, which can help when trying to pinpoint hard-to-find or incorrectly mapped stops.
Circuit for Teams users can now access and benefit from Circuit’s Webhook API V0.1b
The API enables two different software programs to communicate and provides access to useful event-based data.
The API publishes data relating to three key events:
Go to Settings > API to read the complete technical documentation and best practices.
On a route, dispatchers can select:
This allows drivers to complete priority deliveries at the beginning of their route and leave less urgent deliveries until the end.
When there is a problem with a delivery, dispatchers and admins often have to find proof of delivery and forward that to the concerned client or customer.
You can now easily find and copy all the POD information from a specific stop in one click.
Dispatchers who need to make last-minute changes to optimized routes can now easily make and roll back changes.
To minimize disruption to the driver, it is also possible to choose how those changes will impact the existing route order.
This is the first of three components that together will allow dispatchers and admins to edit live routes in the near future.
Companies with more than one depot location can now create multiple depots.
Searching for individual drivers and routes on specific days can be time-consuming if you plan routes daily or have a large driver team.
Now you can clearly see which days of the month have routes on them, and which days have active drivers.
The most important information for a customer is when a package is due to be delivered. Not being able to set or communicate timely delivery windows accurately can cause customer service issues.
Our new Dynamic and Fixed delivery window options allow you to customize delivery windows and easily communicate delivery ETAs to your customers.
Set a fixed time window for customer updates, regardless of the stop ETA.
For example, set a fixed time window of 9 am-5 pm for all deliveries, and this will not change regardless of the route progress.
Set a minimum and maximum dynamic time window for customer updates which changes in real-time depending on the progress of the route.
For example, set a dynamic time window with a minimum value of 30 minutes and a maximum value of 2 hours for a stop with an ETA of noon.
Your dynamic time window will show customers a minimum delivery time of 11.30 am-12.30 pm, potentially increasing to a maximum delivery time of 10 am - 2 pm, depending on route progress.
Circuit’s customer notifications provide a tracking link that displays real-time delivery windows so customers can always access the most accurate ETA.
Drivers often finish their day with unassigned, unattempted, or failed stops. To make sure these stops are completed on the next try, dispatchers need to reassign them to new routes.
Manually completing this process can be time-consuming and confusing. We’ve developed our Copy Stops feature to quickly handle this process.
Previously, you could only search for stops individually, this made tracking down and resolving customer service issues potentially tricky and time consuming.
We've now released our new search function, available across all plan types on the web app. This allows you to search your entire driver team and all stops quickly and easily using any information associated with a stop, for example:
Click the search icon in the top right hand corner of the main dashboard, or press S on your keyboard to open the search function.
Type in your search query. Where possible we suggest using the order number as this is unique to each stop, and as such will provide you with more targeted search results.
Search results are displayed with a relevancy bias, beginning with the most likely stops to match your search query.
Click on a stop from the search results and you will be taken to the stop details where you can find information such as delivery status, and attempted location.
Large numbers of overlapping routes and stops previously caused the map view to become cluttered, and hard to read.
Our updated map provides a clearer image when managing multiple routes, and creates unique URLs for sharing map views.
From the main web app dashboard click the View button. Manually zoom in to your desired location, and this will become your default view.
Click on a route to select it. The selected route automatically turns opaque and becomes the focus of the map. All other routes and stops become transparent for ease of viewing.
Click on a stop on the map or in the Overview sidebar. The map is automatically reoriented to zoom into that stop location. The Overview sidebar highlights that stop within the list.
Exit a stop or route and the map will return to your default view.
You can now share a deep link to a unique map view (when you have a route or stop selected) by copying and pasting the current search bar URL.
Incorrect addresses provided by customers or accidentally uploaded to routes can create unreachable stops. These look wrong when plotted on the map.
The previous solution was to delete incorrect stops and re-add them correctly. It’s now possible to edit and correct the address of an existing stop.
Previously, editing additional stop details would mark the stop as ‘changed,’ requiring re-optimizing the route.
You can now edit the following information for a stop without re-optimizing.
Hard-to-navigate apps provide a poor user experience.
Our new navigation design is intuitive to use.
Circuit's logo changes to a blue pin icon when you click away from the main dashboard. You can return to the main dashboard by clicking the blue pin icon on any page.
All pages now display your account details in the top right corner.
A driver who does not know that a stop is a pickup could waste valuable time looking for a package to deliver. Dispatchers may also not leave enough room in the vehicle if they don't realize a stop is a pickup.
Drivers and dispatchers can now mark stops as pickups or deliveries.
Insufficient proof of delivery (or attempted delivery) can cause delivery drivers problems. Delivering alcohol, for example, requires a signature as proof that the recipient is over 18. Photographic evidence of delivery can be needed to prove that a package has been delivered to the customer's designated 'safe place.'
Drivers can now select from the following options:
Each of the above options allows you to:
As soon as a driver adds proof of delivery, it is immediately available for dispatchers to view in the stop details tab.
The status of a delivery stop is an essential attribute for drivers and dispatchers.
A dynamic stop marker on the map means you don't have to scroll the stop list to find important information.
We've created dynamic stop markers that show if a stop is:
Dispatchers may need to deal with last-minute changes that can impact their routes. If the delivery vehicle has been loaded and a stop needs to be added, creating a new route to accommodate this change can cause problems for the driver.
This problem can be solved by editing stops on existing routes with minimal disruption.
Apply changes - If you choose to ‘Apply changes,’ the edited stops will be added to your existing route with the least disruption possible.
or
Create new routes - If you choose to ‘Create new routes,’ your route will reoptimize, and a new route will be created.
You can now export a CSV file that will show you how many stops a driver has made in a day, how far they have traveled, and how long it’s taken them. It's now much quicker to work out how much to pay them or how much fuel to reimburse them for.
Select “Analytics” from the Settings menu, choose the month, and download.
We plan to include more data in this report soon, such as the percentage of failed stops and attempts outside the time window, and make it possible to view the info in Circuit for Teams. Watch this space.
Not all deliveries are made to the correct location.
It occasionally happens that a package ends up at the wrong address. Sometimes it’s the drivers' mistake, sometimes it’s the data at fault, but it can be messy to resolve either way.
We have made it easier. Now, you can see where the driver was when the delivery was marked as completed, giving you the information you need to locate the misdelivered package and solve the problem more quickly. The drivers' location is saved when they hit the delivered/failed button at each stop.
You can view this in both the stop details and the map.
There are times when mobile network coverage is poor, or battery-powered devices fail, and drivers may need a printed manifest as backup for their route mapping app.
Every plan type now provides the option to print a manifest or export your route data as a CSV file.
In addition to providing all the essential stop information, the printed manifest is formatted to make it easy to read.
Finding a specific stop on a particular day can be challenging in a pool of drivers and routes. We have updated our design to make finding and focusing on particular routes and stops easier.
Not all drivers can deliver the same number of packages in a day.
Now it’s possible to specify how fast/slow a driver is compared to other drivers, which is then reflected in the optimized routes created.
From today stops allocated and ETAs in a plan take into account the experience or efficiency of the driver.
Not all drivers can complete their routes at the same speed. They might take more or less time to drive between stops, or to complete the delivery, they might be a new driver, a temporary driver, or driving in a new area.
You can override the default setting of average to slower or faster to reflect the speed of driving from stop to stop and completing deliveries compared to other drivers.
The setting can be changed at driver level by selecting "override route default" in the membership tab settings or at driver route level by changing the Driving & Delivery Speed settings depending on whether you want to apply the speed setting to all routes for that driver or a specific route.
It can be time-consuming and difficult for drivers to check additional delivery details with their dispatcher. They need that information at their fingertips for fast and efficient delivery.
Recipient
Package
Seller
Dispatchers can include this information when uploading routes or by clicking a stop. They can manually add/edit it.
Drivers can see this information in the stop details list. Tap 'see more' to see all the data.
We've recently made some significant upgrades to help you further reduce the chances of missed deliveries by keeping your customers up-to-date on what's happening with their packages.
If you're on the Recipient plan or above, with this update you can:
After a driver starts their route, your customer will get a message with general delivery info. This includes an estimated delivery time and a link to our live tracking site so that they can track its progress. 🙌
You will find a more simple look and feel that makes managing drivers with Circuit easier and faster to use as team members are now added and edited in a separate part of the Teams workspace.
You can easily add new team members individually, or add many couriers in a row. Give it a try by checking the ‘Add member’ box to include more than one new driver at a time.
Editing your existing team members is now easier, too.
Go to the three dots on the right of the team member's name for more info and to pull up their profile. You can change their name, display name, and role. Plus override their route defaults. When you select ‘Use defaults’, you can fix this so that your driver follows your set start and end locations.
If you uncheck this option, then you have the choice to customize your drivers' start and end locations individually. You can just pick another location and time and then save it. From now on, your driver is going to get routes that are tailored to them.
We've improved Circuit for Teams with some big new features you've been requesting: You have more control over driver setup. Now you can:
To make sure your customers get the best experience, we've made a small but significant change to Team Profiles. Now you can easily edit your team name when you log in to your settings.
This change shows in your navigation bar and in your customer notifications (both email, and SMS).
Try it out by going to Settings → Team Profile