How does 'Mobile Mapping' work?
Posted by Craig S, Last modified by Craig S on 12 January 2023 09:30 PM

This article will explain how the ‘Mobile Mapping’ feature in Handheld Contact will work.

Note:  All route mapping is applied to activities only.  If you want to get directions to a single contact record, its best to open their specific contact details and tap on the required address.  Searches will allow for multiple pins within the specified radius to be applied.  Click here for more information on Searches.

 

iPhone/iPad:

  1. Open Handheld Contact and from the ‘Dashboard’ view, open the Menu and tap on 'Mobile Mapping'.
  2. Handheld Contact needs to be supplied with criteria for mapping. The available options are:
    1. Today’s activities – Mapping will be applied to all activities for Today.
    2. Activities for date – Mapping will be applied to all activities on a specific date.
    3. Searches – The list of pre-created Searches will be provided and selection can be made. Pins will be applied to the addresses of those contacts that have Work/Home address attached to their contact details.
    4. Search nearby - Will look for all contacts in a given area based off their State/Province and within a given radius of the starting location.
  3. Once one of the selections are made, choose ‘Go’.  If selecting 'Searches' jump to Step 9 below.
  4. If opening routes based off activities, the ‘Edit Route’ screen will appear. This screen will outline the listing of activities.  If 10 activities are scheduled, then 10 separate locations will be displayed.  Please note that Handheld Contact will only support the first 11 locations from this listing.
  5. The ‘Edit Route’ page allows the user to modify the route as needed. Options on this page are as follows:
    1. Tap and drag – Move activities higher or lower in the listing based on user preference.
    2. Invalid Location - If there is a location that is invalid you can tap on the ‘Edit Location’ link to update the address where the activity where be held.
    3. Multiple Contacts – If an activity has multiple contacts assigned and no valid location field, tapping on this task allows the user to choose which contact will have their address mapped.
    4. Delete – If an activity is not required to be mapped, it can be removed from the route. Tap on Delete to remove.  Note: This will not delete the activity from Handheld Contact.
    5. Caution icon – This icon will be applied to items where the Location field is invalid or the calculated location is outside of the default Radius (200kms). To remove this icon, tap on the ‘Edit Location’ link to apply a valid address or tap on the caution icon to set the Contact address.
  6. Once all changes are made to the ‘Edit Route’ page, press ‘Done’ to proceed to the route. A final popup screen will appear asking if you have all locations set correctly, choose ‘Continue’ to proceed.  Pressing ‘Cancel’ will remain on the ‘Edit Route’ page to complete changes.
  7. The ‘Map View’ screen will appear. This will pin up to 11 locations and show the route between them.  On this view you can zoom in or out to view the full route.  If changes are required, press the ‘List View’ button in the lower left corner.  Selecting a pin will give two options:
    1. Show Activity – This will open the Activity screen for this item so you can see all of the details applied.
    2. Show Directions – This option will provide directions via Google Maps from ‘My Location’ to this specific pinned location.
  8. When ready to start driving, press the ‘Go’ button in lower right corner. This will pass all locations to the Google Maps application.  Note: If the Google Maps application is not installed to the device a pop up will appear asking if you want to proceed with Google Maps via Safari.
  9. If selecting 'Searches' to route, you need to choose the required Searches from the provided pop-up.  Once highlighted, press 'Go'.
  10. Handheld Contact will take the Radius supplied (default is 200kms) and show all addresses within that area.  To change Radius, tap lightning bolt icon from 'Mobile Mapping' screen.
  11. From the 'Map View' screen where all pins are displayed for contacts, you can zoom in/out as required.  Select a contact pin to show a top banner.  Two options will appear.  They are: 
    1. Show Contact - Allows direct access to the Contact record to see Details, Activities, Notes, History, etc.
    2. Show Directions - Will take the address of this Contact and pass it to Google Maps for routing directions.

 

 

Android:

  1. Open Handheld Contact and from the ‘Dashboard’ view, open the Menu and tap on the Mobile Mapping option.
  2. Handheld Contact needs to be supplied with criteria for mapping. The available options are:
    1. Today’s activities – Mapping will be applied to all activities for Today.
    2. Activities for date – Mapping will be applied to all activities on a specific date.
    3. Searches – The list of pre-created Searches will be provided and selection can be made. Pins will be applied to the addresses of those contacts that have Work/Home address attached to their contact details.
    4. Search nearby - Will look for all contacts in a given area based off their State/Province and within a given radius of the starting location.
  3. Once one of the selections are made, choose 'GO' in the upper right.  If selecting 'Searches', jump to Step 10 below.
  4. If opening routes based off activities, the ‘Task list’ screen will appear. This screen will outline the listing of activities.  If 10 activities are scheduled then 11 separate locations will be displayed (10 activities plus 'My Location').  Please note that Handheld Contact will only support the first 11 locations from this listing.
  5. From the 'Task list' view, you can select any of the activities to view their details/make changes.  There will be two icons in the top right of the banner.  They are:
    1. Map - This will plot all addresses onto a map so you can see where these locations are found.
    2. Route - This will send all addresses to Google Maps.
  6. After pressing the 'Route' button, the Google Maps application will launch automatically.  Each of the locations will be placed into the software along with 'My Location'.  Please note that from this point onwards, Handheld Contact has passed the information to Google Maps and Handheld Contact no longer involved at planning routes.
  7. The 'My Location' point will be used as the first item on the listing regardless of activities.  All remaining activities will be mapped in the same order coming from Handheld Contact. 
  8. To change the order in which these are plotted, press the 3 dots icon in the upper right and choose 'Edit stops'.  You can then tap and drag the locations as necessary.  When finished, press 'Done'.
  9. When ready to begin driving, press the 'Start' button in the lower banner.
  10. If selecting 'Searches' to route, you need to choose the required Search from the dropdown provided.  Once selected, press 'Go'.
  11. Handheld Contact will display the full list of all contacts that exist in the selected Search.  To proceed to map, press 'Map' icon.
  12. Handheld Contact will take the Radius supplied (default is 200kms) and show all addresses within that area.  To change Radius, tap the 3 dots menu in the upper right corner and select 'Select radius/unit'.
  13. From the map view, you can zoom in/out as required.  Select a contact pin to show the name of the contact.  When selected, two buttons via Google will appear.  They are:
    1. Show Map - This will launch the Google Maps application and show this pin on the map.
    2. Show Route - This will launch the Google Maps application and provide directions from 'My Location' to this address.