Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Version 3.0 of the Online Translation Manager (OTM®) sets new standards in online project management for language service providers

Berlin, August 3, 2010 – LSP.net, the provider of unique solutions and quality management tools for the language industry, today announced the production release of its workflow solution OTM 3.0. The new version offers significantly expanded functions for the LSP online project management platform.

LSP.net CEO Ulrich Scheffler explained, “The new release enables our licensees to customize project communication with their customers individually in any language. We have also continued to optimize the business components of the software to offer users unobtrusive guidance for commercial correct processes. OTM is an all-round solution for language service providers and sets new standards for online project management with respect to functionality, transparency, security and availability.”

Along with the standard system languages English, Spanish and German, customer interface components for the OTM platform are now also available in Dutch and Portuguese. And the new OTM localization interface enables additional language localizations to be added quickly and easily.

The Online Translation Manager (OTM) directs and manages project processes for translations, editing, localization and desktop publishing. It is an expert software as a service (“SaaS”) system that is simple to operate and is available around the clock. All you need is an Internet connection.

OTM service starts at only € 29 per month. A free 30-day trial of OTM 3.0 with full functionality can be requested at the LSP.net web site.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

_changelog OTM Update 3.0 – 2010-08-02

  1. Online order
    Customers with service pages can place an order using an online form. The online form is converted automatically to a PDF file and added to the project documents. The PM gets a message under “Orders” that the order has been received (just like when a faxed order has been uploaded).
  2. Additional languages for communication with customers
    All communication with customers (e-mail and PDF documents) can now also take place in Dutch and Portuguese (BR). The customer user interface is also available in these languages.
  3. Back-end tools for adapting standard texts
    The following standard texts can now also be individually customized in the administration module:
    - e-mail to customers
    - texts in documents for customers (quotations, invoices, credit notes, etc.)
    - services offered
    - OTM web site navigation menu
  4. Resource service pages
    The color themes were upgraded.
  5. Various other minor improvements were implemented.
The next OTM update is scheduled for September/October 2010.

Friday, July 16, 2010

_changelog OTM Update 2.6 - 2010-07-16

  1. Partial invoices can now be created as postable documents in a project. They are taken into account on the final invoice.
  2. Customer credit notes (for example, a goodwill credit note) can be created for a project.
  3. A payment request can now be generated for a project. This is the commercially correct solution for customers subject to prepayment. A proper invoice can be generated after the prepayment is received or the project is concluded.
  4. Features 1, 2 and 3 can be tracked appropriately in the OTM bookkeeping module.
  5. Further improvements were made to the token editor for localization. This is not seen directly by licensees.
  6. Various other minor improvements were implemented.

The OTM 3.0 update is scheduled for August 2, 2010.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

_changelog OTM Update 2.5 - 2010-07-05

  1. Services are configurable for agencies
    Administration > Agency > Core data > Projects
    The services offered by the agency can be selected here. Services which are not selected do not appear in the system’s list of services, for example on the quote request form.
  2. Bookkeeping
    If there are changes to the master data for the resource between the time a credit voucher is downloaded and the status is changed to “paid”, a warning will be shown next to the status selection box.
  3. Line item specific taxes
    Individual tax settings can now be defined for the line items of quotations and orders.
  4. Subtotal
    A subtotal can be inserted in the quotation after a line item:
    Quote > Line items > Edit line item > Quantification / Price > (checkbox selection)
  5. Exporting search results
    Part or all of the search results list for customers or resources can be exported in LDIF format.
  6. “Change password” for PMs in the project manager front end
    Project management interface > User preferences
  7. OTM basics / Q&A
    Linked via the PM front end
  8. New design for the customer front end
    The logout button was moved from the bottom left to the right top.

The next OTM update is scheduled for mid-July 2010.

Monday, May 3, 2010

_changelog OTM Update 2.0 - 2010-05-03

  1. A list of the terms for areas of specialization can also be displayed in Quote > Address and Quote > Line items > Areas of specialization.
  2. The inquiry form for project managers is now integrated into the PM-front end and is no longer a pop-up.
  3. Agency administration: Navigation menu has been revised, one (sub-) menu item per tab.
  4. Accounts payable vouchers: Agencies can specify in OTM whether resource invoices are to be created by the resources themselves, or whether credit notes are created by the agency (self-invoicing). Invoices from resources will have a document number issued by OTM. Resources can input additional invoice numbers in accordance with their own bookkeeping requirements.
  5. The input of taxes and of tax rates for accounts payable vouchers for domestic clients (agencies) is handled by the resources on their service pages.
  6. The CSV-exports of receivables (invoices) and payables (accounts payable vouchers) include the taxes and tax rates contained in the particular voucher (but not their specific amounts; these may have to be calculated individually from the gross amounts).
  7. Creditor numbers (specific to the agency) can be appended to resources, and debtor numbers can be appended to clients. These numbers also appear in the CSV-exports.
  8. A code is provided in Agency-Administration > CI > OTM-Website which permits the incorporation of the inquiry form into an existing agency web site using the
    <  iframe > tag.
Next update is scheduled for June/Juli 2010.

    Saturday, February 6, 2010

    Browser war finally ended

    For the benefit of our users we finally decided to pull Microsoft Internet Explorer® from the race. With the February OTM update, it will be no longer possible to login to OTM project manager's and administrator's modules with any IE version (see also LSP.net post Oct. 2009).  
    Note: OTM service websites for resources and customers are NOT affected by this decision.

    The decision was made because MS IE is not conform to W3C's HTML and CSS standards. This causes tremendous extra time in programming, often resulting in unpleasant compromises.

    We recommend to install a W3C-conform, even securer and much faster browser like Mozilla Firefox (Version 3 +), Apple Safari (Version 4 +) or Google Chrome (Version 5 +).

    Of course, we´ll check MS IE9 in 2011 for compatibility issues :-)