Release 2022.2.4977.57755

March 2022 Release

Important Note for All Customers with Installations on Their Own Servers

We are continuously working to improve the security of our software, closely following the standards of the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). With this update, we will again implement several new features that limit the ability to cause damage, whether intentionally or unintentionally, from within the system.

If you use the eTASK FM portal with an SSL certificate, please ensure before installing this update that your certificate is trusted throughout the entire chain, even if it is a self-signed certificate.

If you have been using the eTASK FM portal without an SSL certificate (only http instead of https), please consider whether this can remain the case. The current security changes specifically address attacks originating from within the network, where an attacker already has access to resources and uses them, for example, to inject malicious code into otherwise harmless applications, or for highly targeted social engineering. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at Projektteam@etask.de.

For all customers in the eTASK Cloud, the enhanced security features will be automatically activated upon installation of the update.

Important note for customers using the eTASK Maintenance or eTASK Facility Management products

: As part of this update, we are working to better harmonize and clarify the terminology used in these products. For more information, please refer to the individual release notes and the articles linked therein in our Support Center. After
updating your portal, please also download the corresponding workflows from the eTASK Customer Center’s Plug-In Store and install the latest versions. If
we are hosting your portal in the eTASK Cloud, we will handle the workflow updates for you.

Important Note for Customers Using eTASK Inventory, eTASK Suite Inventory, and eTASK Win/App Alarm

List As previously announced with the last release, we are discontinuing support for the "eTASK" app in the Microsoft Store and will not be releasing any further updates. The new "eTASK Mobile" app, featuring a revamped technical framework, is now available to all customers.
To switch to the new app, please synchronize the data in your currently installed app and then uninstall it from your inventory device. Next, install the "eTASK Mobile" app on the device and log in to your portal as before.
Aside from the fundamental technical changes, only minor graphical changes have been made to the user interface. The app’s functionality remains unchanged.
Please note that the old app will still work with this release. This will no longer be the case with the release of the next version.
If you have any questions, eTASK Support is happy to assist you at support@etask.de or +49 2203 92538 38

eTASK API

Improvement: eTASK API expanded to include room groups

Room groups can now also be controlled via the eTASK API. Data from the FM Portal can be retrieved and processed via the API. With this release, you can now also use the room groups from your FM Portal via the API.

eTASK BIM

Improvement: IFC file now directly available when uploading building models from modeling software

Your FM Portal allows you to publish your building models directly from your modeling software to the portal. We have improved this process for you with this release. The generated file is now displayed directly next to the building model revision as soon as it arrives in the portal. If problems arise during this process or during subsequent processing on the BIM server, it is now easier to determine where the problem occurred. In any case, you can download your IFC file under "Control Panel - Portfolio (BIM) - BIM Model Management - Revisions" in the "BIM Original File" section.

Improvement: Better Handling of Changes to the Server Environment

If you have made changes to the server environment of your FM Portal or your BIM server, this has sometimes led to problems when subsequently uploading building models. We have now made the import process more robust, so you can work on your server without hesitation and then use the import process for building models into your FM Portal as usual.

Improvement: Separation of Stamp Display and 2D Elements

You can choose for an object (such as a door) whether a floor plan view of the object should also be displayed in the 3D view of the associated building. You can do this, for example, for doors to decide whether the door’s footprint should also be displayed. Previously, this was also linked to the display of stamps and the opening direction of a door. We have now separated these, so that you can still see stamps on objects even when the display of the 2D element is disabled.

Improvement: More Consistent Display in BIM Explorer

Previously, there were sometimes differences in the display of the same objects/rooms/floors, depending on where in the portal the view was accessed. We have now standardized this so that the display of your objects/rooms/floors depends only on your settings, not on the location from which the view was accessed.

eTASK Payment Transactions

Improvement: Improvements in the automatic creation of payment runs

In the system configuration, you can set the intervals at which automatic payment runs are created for the future. If you have an approved invoice whose payment due date falls within a period for which no payment run has yet been created, this release will now also create a payment run for that period. All defined rules are taken into account, such as the selection of weekdays on which a payment run is possible. In addition, we have prevented the assignment of approved invoices to payment runs that are still open but lie in the past. This ensures that all scheduled payments are in the future. An automatically created payment run that remains empty or from which an invoice has been deleted is automatically closed. With this release, there are therefore no longer any open payment runs that are empty and lie in the past.

eTASK Catering Room Service

Improvement: Improved error message

When you book a room with catering, you must select a catering group. Previously, if you made a booking without selecting a catering group, a room booking was still created without being assigned to a catering group, and a somewhat ambiguous error message was displayed. We have now made this process clearer: A room booking with catering can only be created if a catering group has been selected. If you try to make the booking without a catering group, you will receive a clear error message and be prompted to select a catering group.

eTASK Vehicle Booking

New Feature: New Report: Vehicle Availability

In vehicle booking, this release introduces the new report "Check Vehicle Availability" under "Reports." Here, you can see for all your vehicles whether they are currently bookable or not. If they are not bookable, a note explaining the reasons will be displayed. You can find more detailed information about the report in the reference documentation. To access it, open the report in your eTASK.FM portal and click on the small blue question mark in the upper right corner ("Help").

eTASK Cost Entry

Improvement: Improved discount settings when creating an outgoing invoice

When you create an outgoing invoice, you have the option to enter a cash discount deduction in the entry screen. With this release, this setting is now carried over to the creation of invoice items. You can then make further changes there if, for example, only certain invoice items are affected by the cash discount policy.

eTASK Fleet Management

New Feature: New report on vehicle cost-effectiveness now available

Fleet Management offers a new evaluation. Under the reports in Fleet Management, you will find the "Cost-Effectiveness" report. This displays the cost-effectiveness of each individual vehicle in a clear traffic-light overview. The evaluation is based on a comparison of annual costs relative to the net purchase price.

eTASK Maintenance

Improvement: Create a company as a coordination group: Now possible even with very long company names

In your FM Portal, under Company (Basic Data - Companies & Addresses), you have the option to create the company as a coordination group in eTASK Maintenance. The name of the coordination group created in this way consists of the company name and a code for the area of responsibility. With very long company names, this sometimes caused problems in the past. We have now expanded the name of the coordination group so that even very long company names can be accommodated.

Improvement: Faster step transitions in the maintenance workflow

We have improved the processes that run in the background when switching from one workflow step to the next, so that they now run faster. This not only saves energy and resources but also provides a better user experience when working in your maintenance workflow.

Improvement: Greater clarity of the process through new workflow terms

The maintenance workflow now uses new, clear terms for workflow steps and buttons that make it clear to users where they are in the workflow. The maintenance calendar also now offers a better overview with new terms and color-coded display.

eTASK Room Reservation

Improvement: Catering elements can be defined individually for each building

Under "Infrastructural Building Management - Room Service - Catering - Buildings with Catering Room Service," you will find the "Buildings with Catering Room Service" form. Using this form, you can define a catering group and possible catering items (individual beverages, snacks, etc.) for the building. When booking the catering room service, only the catering items available for the selected building will be displayed. This release thus allows you to define your catering offerings on a per-building basis. You can find instructions in our SupportCenter by simply clicking the adjacent link to "IC2642".

eTASK FM Portal

New Feature: New Report on Room Group Utilization

(Customer reference: LOP CAFM 132)

Your eTASK.FM Portal offers a new analysis of room group utilization. You can group rooms into room groups to simplify their analysis. For each room group, the analysis provides the number of rooms assigned to the group, the total area of all rooms, the number of possible workstations, and the number of workstations currently set up. Finally, the expansion reserve shows the number of workstations you could easily set up in your existing room groups without any structural changes. The average area per workstation is also calculated for each room group. Additionally, a total is calculated across all room groups, allowing you to see at a glance whether you can set up additional workstations in your existing spaces and what the current utilization rate is. You can find the analysis in your FM Portal under "Basic Data - Employee Management - Other Reports - Room Group Utilization."

Bug Fix: Excel Export Now Again Supports Free-Text Search

In the last release, there was an issue when exporting table data to Excel. If the free-text search was used to export only specific data, this selection was ignored in the Excel export, and the entire table was exported. We have now fixed this issue so that, as usual, only the search results are exported.

Improvement: Maximum number of characters in email subject line increased

Previously, text used for the subject line of an automatically generated email could not exceed 250 characters. We have removed this restriction because some emails created by a workflow often have very long subject lines, which previously caused issues. With this release, emails with very long subject lines can now be sent.

Improvement: Improved functionality of numerical value filters in a personalized view

In your FM Portal, you have the option to create a personalized view for all tables. Among other things, this view takes into account any filters used. Previously, there were sometimes issues when numerical value filters with decimal places were used when creating a personalized view. We have now made these filters more robust so that they function exactly the same way when the personalized view is called up as they did when it was created.

Support Information: Excel Export: Supported Format

With this release, only the modern XLSX format is supported for exporting a table to Excel; the XLS format is no longer supported, as was previously the case.