Release Notes - SmartOffice 2015 Release 14

About This Document

For general information about SmartOffice release notes, visit the Release Notes home page.

Revision History

These release notes may be revised after their initial publication. This section lists the dates of any revisions as well as a list of changes.

December 9, 2015

• Initial publication.

January 7, 2016

• SmartOffice Pro Changes: Added Advisors/Agencies, SmartPolicies, SmartCaseManager and SmartCommissions sections.

January 18, 2016

• SmartOffice Pro Changes: Added SmartInvestments section.

• SmartOffice Pro Changes: Added "Tier licensing name changes" enhancement (PMG-589737) to the Core System section.

• SmartOffice Pro Changes: Added solution for bunch PDF report issue (PMG-592491) to the Core System section.

Release Overview

Note: This release of SmartOffice was made available to a limited number of SmartOffice Online customers. Most SmartOffice Online customers were upgraded directly to SmartOffice 2016 Release 1.

The main enhancement in this version of SmartOffice is an updated look and improved navigation. However, several other important changes have been made.

• New product name: The full-featured, desktop/laptop-optimized interface for accessing SmartOffice is now called SmartOffice Pro. The change helps to distinguish it from the lighter, mobile-optimized SmartOffice Anywhere interface that is optimized for beginners and for users who do not require the full SmartOffice feature set.

• New release naming: The naming of SmartOffice releases now contains the year of the release and the release number for that year (e.g., SmartOffice 2015 Release 14).

• Outlook sync changes: This version of SmartOffice drops support for SmartOffice Sync for Outlook, the Outlook add-in that enabled users to manually sync calendar and contact records between Outlook and SmartOffice (this includes the QuickSync feature). Users who need Outlook contact and calendar sync are encouraged to use one of SmartOffice's automatic Microsoft Exchange sync solutions:

• SmartOffice Online customers can get Exchange sync through Ebix's partnership with Financial Computer. For more information, call Financial Computer at (800) 777-9188.

• SmartOffice enterprise customers can contact their Ebix account manager for more information about implementing Exchange sync.

Finally, this release packages updates that have been applied to SmartOffice servers since SmartOffice v7.6.3 (Rebuild 13). Additional updates that have not previously been applied to SmartOffice servers are also included.

Enhancement Highlights

This section provides quick links to the featured enhancements in this release.

Core System

• Updated look and streamlined navigation

System Requirements

The system requirements for SmartOffice have changed with this release. The most significant changes are:

• Support for Internet Explorer is now limited to version 10 and later.

• Users no longer need to enable Compatibility View in Internet Explorer.

For detailed system requirements, see System Requirements.

Note Regarding Text Changes in SmartOffice

This release may contain minor changes to text in dialog boxes and other areas of the SmartOffice user interface. Changes of this type are typically made to correct spelling, grammar, punctuation and other language-related issues. Such changes normally are not listed in this document unless they affect the way the application works.

SmartOffice Pro Changes

Core System

Featured Enhancements

Updated Look and Streamlined Navigation

The look of SmartOffice Pro has been updated throughout with a more modern color scheme and icons. In addition, pop-up windows have been largely eliminated, and several adjustments to navigation have been made to help users access features more quickly.

The key changes are summarized below. For a more general overview of the SmartOffice Pro user interface, see Navigation.

Feature

What's New

Quick Action Corner/Alert Center

The appearance of the Quick Action Corner in the upper-left corner was updated with new icons and is now more compact in size.

at the top of any page. For more information, see Quick Action Corner and Alert Center.

Search Box

The Search box at the top of all pages functions much like it did in previous SmartOffice versions, except that the Detailed Search link has been renamed Advanced and is now located to the right of the Search box. In addition, the search  drop-down list is organized into submenus.

For more information, see Search Box.

Side Menu

The Side Menu can now be collapsed to display only icons. This enhancement allows users to expand the main content area for viewing records, lists, reports and other content. For more information, see Side Menu.

New Menu

at the top of any page. For more information, see New Menu.

Options Menu

that frees space in section title bars for additional custom buttons.

Global Hyperlinks

The Global Hyperlinks in the upper-right corner (Home, Settings, Sign Out and Help/Training) have been replaced with a comprehensive profile menu, which you can access by clicking your name.

, accessing user and office settings and navigating to your home page and dashboards . For more information, see Navigation - Profile Menu.

Buttons

Buttons throughout SmartOffice Pro have been updated as part of the visual redesign. Here are a few examples of the new buttons for commonly used commands:

• Save

• Delete

• New Record

• Previous

• Next

• View SmartPad Notes

• New SmartPad Note

• Run Reports (PDF)

• Run Dynamic Reports

To quickly determine the function of any unfamiliar button, point to it to reveal its ToolTip.

Other Enhancements

• Tier licensing name changes: The names of the user license tiers have been updated to better describe the users they serve. The changes, from the lowest tier to the highest, are as follows (PMG-589737):

• Tier One is now Standard

• Tier Two is now Performance

• Tier Three is now Brokerage Management

• Tier Four is now Brokerage Management + Commissions

Resolved Issues

PDF Reports

• Customers with System office access were finding that lower offices did not have access to certain System-office PDF reports for use in bunch reports, even when those reports had the Available in all offices permission enabled. This issue was resolved. (PMG-592491)

Advisors/Agencies

Resolved Issues

• In several areas of the system, when users clicked the hyperlinked name of an advisor to view the advisor's record, the record contained e-mail addresses that did not belong to the advisor. This issue was resolved. (PMG-572251)

• A record visibility issue affecting SmartView for Advisors was resolved. Advisors who have SmartView Case Status Format accounts were unable to view presale activities in which the Visible to Advisors option was enabled. (PMG-599138)

SmartPolicies

Enhancements

• New plan types: Two annuity plan types (Indexed and FPDA) and three life plan types (Permanent, Life Settlement and COL) were added to the system. (PMG-596327)

SmartCaseManager

Resolved Issues

• Changing the status of a pending case to Approved was producing an error when no Await Approval workflow was configured in Policy/Case Setup. This issue was resolved. (PMG-590042)

• In the policy record linked to an informal application, users who selected a carrier and plan name were unable to save their changes. A message was prompting users to enter information in all required fields. This issue was resolved. (PMG-590064)

• An issue with Owner contacts in the Policy Relationship List of a pending case record was resolved. If an owner was not a contact in the SmartOffice database, case status reports sent to the advisor were listing the policy owner as "null." This issue was resolved. (PMG-593784)

SmartCommissions

Resolved Issues

General

• In enterprise hierarchies, commission check amounts were displaying incorrectly for advisors in different offices who had the same contact/advisor ID. This issue was resolved. (PMG-595400)

• When the target period was greater than 1, excess commissions were not being calculated with Excess Banding-type commission rates. This issue was resolved. (PMG-606661)

Carrier Interface

• Some commission transactions in NAILBA format were not being imported into SmartOffice through the Carrier Interface. A policy number missing from a transaction was preventing the preceding transaction from being imported. This issue was resolved. (PMG-590901)

Carrier Posting

• While viewing the details of an expected commission transaction in a carrier posting record, users who entered an amount in the Paid Commission field were finding that the value in the Net Expected Amount field was changing by a small amount (often by one cent) . This issue was resolved. (PMG-584340).

SmartInvestments

Enhancements

Investment Positions

• New columns for position lists and reports: Columns from the following security-related tables are now available for inclusion in all investment position lists and Position-category Dynamic Reports (PMG-573455):

• Security - Bond

• Security - Cash

• Security - Miscellaneous

• Security - Mutual Fund

• Security - Stock

• Security - UIT

• Security - VA

• New cash value column: A Total Account Cash Value column was added to the Investment Accounts table. The new column displays the sum of the dollar values of all Cash and Equivalent positions in an account. The column is available for use in investment account and position lists as well as Dynamic Reports that include the Investment Accounts table. (PMG-590135)

Resolved Issues

General

• A "failed to load object" error that users were encountering when trying to save changes in User Preferences - Policies/Investments was resolved. (PMG-587794)

Investment Accounts

• The system was not accepting a manually entered Closed Date when an investment account's Open Date was blank. This issue was resolved so that the system always accepts a Closed Date unless it is earlier than the account's Open date. (PMG-577952)

SmartOffice Pro Known Issues

This section lists significant issues that were identified after this SmartOffice Pro release was deployed to customers.

Last Update: January 22, 2016

• Screen width: Resizing the browser window's width to less than 1152 pixels was causing the top header and side menu to become non-functional. This problem also appeared at smaller widths if the browser's zoom setting was greater than 100%. REsolved 1/22/2016

• Contact page layout: A page layout issue on the contact Personal content link was causing certain sections (e.g., Phone Numbers, Addresses) to expand in size. RESOLVED 1/18/2016

• Posted e-mail line breaks: When an e-mail message containing a reply chain was posted to the SmartPad, the line break was being rendered in white, which made it difficult to see where each reply began and ended. RESOLVED 1/14/2016

• Opening documents from SmartPad: After opening a document from a contact's SmartPad, users who closed both the document and the SmartPad were finding that the document was opening again on its own. RESOLVED 1/11/2016

• Page layout customization: When creating a custom page layout template, users were finding that the dialog box for specifying the contents of the page layout was too small. RESOLVED 1/11/2016

• Sign-in page errors: Users who were locked out of SmartOffice were not seeing an error message to that effect when they tried to sign in. Instead, these users were seeing an error message about incorrect sign-in information. RESOLVED 1/11/2016

• Quick report category selection: On the New Quick Report page, users were unable to select a category. RESOLVED 1/11/2016

• Key relation removal: After removing a key relation from a contact, users were finding that the relation's contact record was always being deleted as well, regardless of whether the user opted to delete it. RESOLVED 1/8/2016

• Launch E-mail command: Initiating the Launch E-mail command for a contact that does not have any e-mail addresses was resulting in a non-functional screen layout that required a browser refresh. RESOLVED 12/31/2015

• Flyover menus: Flyover menus, such as those that open when users point to the Correspondence and Customize List Layout buttons, were not always closing automatically. RESOLVED 12/31/2015

• Document upload: When a document was uploaded from the Letters/Documents content link, the page was failing to automatically refresh to display the newly added document. RESOLVED 12/31/2015

• New set from list: When a set was created from a selected list of contacts, the new set was being created, but the selected contacts were not being added to the set. RESOLVED 12/31/2015

• Column filters: After clicking the Apply Column Filter button on a column heading, users were encountering issues changing month and year on the calendar date picker. RESOLVED 12/31/2015

• Correspondence compatibility: Users who tried to resend correspondence in Internet Explorer 10 were encountering an error stating that correspondence in not currently supported in that browser. RESOLVED 12/31/2015

• New Contact button: The New Contact button was not appearing during workflows in which other kinds of records were being added, like Add Spouse, Add Dependent and Add Set. RESOLVED 12/29/2015

• Appointment confirmation letter: Selecting the Appointment Confirmation Letter option after creating an activity was producing an error message. RESOLVED 12/29/2015

• SmartSearch: Search results were taking longer than expected to render when using SmartSearch. RESOLVED 12/29/2015

• Number of Days Relative to Specific Date filter: Users were unable to create an Advanced Filter using the option for Number of Days Relative to Specific Date. RESOLVED 12/29/2015

• Dashboard Welcome tab: The SmartOffice dashboard was failing to display the Welcome tab. RESOLVED 12/28/2015

•  Activity outcome: Several activity outcome workflows were producing errors and failing to save outcome notes. RESOLVED 12/25/2015

• SmartOffice Anywhere sign-in: The Ebix SmartOffice sign-in page was failing to sign users in to SmartOffice Anywhere through browsers and smartphone apps. RESOLVED 12/21/2015