What’s New in Helm CONNECT 1.28?

Let me introduce you to some of the features and improvements available in our latest release, Helm CONNECT 1.28.

Your Documents, Anywhere, Anytime with Mobile Docs

Whether you’re shoreside or onboard, you and your crew can now access your documents from a phone or tablet. No need to be tied to a computer; our new mobile documents reader allows you to stay up-to-date and on the move. Plus, multiple people can access documents from their phones simultaneously, which means no more bottlenecks at the ship’s computer.

Flexibility at Your Fingertips with Grace Periods

This feature was crafted to handle the nuances associated with scheduling. A grace period is an extension to a due date, distinguishing between when something should be done and when something needs to be done. A weekly routine might need a one or two-day grace period, allowing users to manage their workloads without crowding the “Overdue” section with less severe items. This means you can assign shorter grace periods to higher priority items, and items with longer grace periods won’t bog down the “Overdue” section. We added a grace period option to both your form and checklist schedules, allowing you to decide when your forms and checklists are truly overdue.

Embed Images Right in Your Checklists and Forms

You can now embed images into the templates for your inspection, maintenance, and inventory checklists and forms. This allows you to easily include diagrams, photos, or examples of what you need your crew to work on.

Your Crew Can Now Request Pay and Submit Expenses from My Helm

Your crew can now manage their payroll requests and expenses right from My Helm. Their submitted items will appear on the new Payroll Requests tab under Personnel > Payroll for review by your payroll team and your crew will then be able to see in My Helm whether they were approved or denied.

Fill Spots in your Crew Schedule with Our 10ure Integration

Did someone fall ill and you have to find a licensed engineer immediately? Do you need an extra mate and you can’t fill the position from your existing pool of employees? Or are you simply short-staffed like many in the maritime industry these days? With just the click of a button, our new integration with our partner, 10ure, helps you fill those spots on your schedule by connecting you to the 10ure website right from the Schedule tab in Helm CONNECT. Now you can easily identify any gaps in your schedule that can’t be filled internally and quickly find the outside mariners you need.

Manage the Passengers on Your Vessels

Our new Manifest module allows you to manage, track, and report on the activities and services related to passengers—such as customers, vendors, and other non-employee individuals—who come onboard your vessels. From a dedicated Manifest tab in Onboard > Logs, you’ll be able to easily create and update passenger profiles, as well as onboard and offboard passengers, and track their daily meals and accommodations.

Note: The new Manifest module won’t be turned on by default when you upgrade to Version 1.28, so please contact your account manager for information.

Improvements to the Logbook Module

We made several exciting improvements to our Logbook module in this release, including:

Track Cargo and Fluids: This new set of add-on features allows you to monitor, track, and report on transactions for dry and liquid cargo and consumable fluids onboard your vessels from a dedicated Cargo tab in Onboard > Logs. These new features won’t be turned on by default when you upgrade to Version 1.28, so please contact your account manager for more information.
Manage Voyages: Another new set of add-on features allows you to create groups of logbook entries or “voyages” and manage, bill for, and report on everything related to those voyages. If you also subscribe to the new Manifest module and the new add-on Cargo and Fluid Tracking features, then manifest details and cargo and fluid information can also be associated with voyages and combined in your reports. These new features won’t be turned on by default when you upgrade to Version 1.28, so please contact your account manager for more information.
Configure Favorite Event Types: On the Setup > Events > Event Types tab, we renamed the Daily Logs field to Favorites and now allow you to configure event types as favorites. Your daily logs will now display at the top followed by your favorites.

That’s it for now. Be sure to check out our release notes for more details about Helm CONNECT 1.28, and subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest Helm news. Your account manager would also be happy to answer your questions about anything in this release or to set up a demo for you.

Remember, Early Bird tickets are now available for Helm Conference 2024 in October, right here in our beautiful hometown of Victoria, British Columbia. We’re thrilled to host this year’s conference at one of Victoria’s loveliest and most well-known waterfront landmarks, the iconic Fairmont Empress Hotel. Please join us for supercharged training, impactful sessions from other users and technology partners, and a can’t-miss look at the future of Helm CONNECT.

What’s New in Helm CONNECT 1.28?