Why Ranger SST?

So, why should I switch to the Ranger tow management solution?   This is the most frequent question we field in calls from tow companies who are dissatisfied with and/or have outgrown their current software.    The answer from our customers would be: “You’ll make more money!”  Our customers have experienced the promise of value that has guided the development of the Ranger solution over the last 15 years — more calls per driver while using less fuel!   However, for potential customers, it seems to come across as too simplistic and is generally greeted with skepticism.  They are looking for more tangible specifics – in the words of an old Wendy’s ad:  “Where’s the beef?”

The capabilities of most tow management systems have improved over the last 15 years, so the distinctions that make a difference in bottom-line performance require more than a superficial review of just dispatching–so–Why Ranger?

Revenue-Focused Innovation

Beyond delivering the operational basics of assigning trucks and providing accuracy in accounting (which may not be so “basic” in other software), Ranger provides capabilities to improve bottom-line performance, but also to grow the top line, assisting customers in:

• Building direct (B2C) relationships with residents in their local market – diversifying their “channels” to these customers to include more than insurance companies and/or motor clubs. Residents can support both towing businesses in their community and local charities.  Tow companies receive geo-located requests for help through Ranger, “cut out the middleman,” provide responsive service, and set fair pricing for the value delivered.
• Providing “Self-Service” options for their (B2B) key business customers, including the on-line entry of service requests, and access to reporting (e.g., property managers can review activity in Ranger’s PatrolWorks^TM)
• Assessing sales/marketing opportunities using Ranger’s Heat Maps which highlight underserved locales

Specialized Capabilities: Lot Management

Ranger’s LotMaster^TM provides all the functionality expected in a storage lot solution and much more.  In addition to the integration with Auto Data Direct, and lien letter preparation:

• A purpose-specific mobile application for those attending the lot that enables picture-taking (the scope then extends from the tow through to discharge) for added protection against litigation.
• Easy physical inventory management of vehicles – placing inexpensive “QR Codes” (bar codes) on vehicles at Admit, that creates an electronic tag that can be scanned for periodic comparisons to the list in the Ranger solution
• Workflow Management to track the progress of a vehicle against process milestones – e.g., Lien Letter Sent

Specialized Capabilities: Commercial / Heavy Hauling

Ranger’s TransportOps^TM  is aimed at three market applications:  transporting construction equipment (e.g., between a rental location and a building site), moving containers (e.g., to/from multi-modal shipping points), and relocating automobiles for auction (e.g., from a towing company storage lot to a regional auction facility).  The process capabilities enable dispatchers to:

• Plan/schedule their loads for the next day (or “next week”) by truck and driver
• In late afternoon, send advance notices to drivers. Text messages are sent by Ranger to each driver on their personal smart phone (and updates as needed).
• Automatically dispatch assignments to the driver’s Ranger mobile device the next morning at login, eliminating the morning congestion in Dispatch
• Empower drivers to enter and track mult-task jobs on the mobile app (load, pick-up, drop-off), that are recorded with the job record and printed on the invoice
• Identify emerging issues before they become a major problem (e.g., a driver that has overslept)

Pricing Made Easy

Pricing in Ranger has two distinctive pillars – first and foremost is ease of use.  In response to customer suggestions:  “we don’t want to work for the technology; the technology needs to work for us,” Ranger developed the “Pricing Factory.”

The Pricing factory makes it easy for dispatchers to handle the complexity of diverse requirements in towing and recovery:

• From consistent pricing that has been negotiated with Key Accounts, to “pricing on the fly” in special situations such as snowstorms or hurricanes
• From split invoices for motor club calls (isolating the amount to be paid by the customer) to quotes that can be saved and emailed to a customer
• From pricing all SKU’s of AAA batteries (Retail, Pro-Rated, Member, Warranty), to complex recoveries (or HD repair) with as many extras (or parts) as needed

The second pillar is that pricing is fully integrated with the Ranger mobile app.  Account-specific pricing goes to the mobile app with the call.  Dispatchers don’t need to figure it out and send messages to the driver.  The driver doesn’t need to figure it out.  The device has all the needed formulas and calculates the correct pricing – including the customer-pay portion of an invoice.  And, drivers can pre-authorize and process credit card payments in the field.

Easy and Effective Dispatching

With Ranger’s SmartDispatch^TM, dispatchers are equipped to excel – with capabilities that aid both seasoned dispatchers, and recent hires.

SmartDispatch^TM enables visual, drag & drop dispatch from the map.  Dispatchers can see ALL open jobs, and ALL available trucks, on ONE screen to make better deployment decisions — shortening ETA’ s and lowering fuel costs.

Perhaps less transparent, there is a significant benefit in shifting how dispatchers spend their time — from talking to drivers, to talking to customers (pinpointing locations so that drivers arrive sooner while providing updates to achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction).

In addition, GPS tracking and mapping (built on Google maps) is fully integrated into the Ranger solution – No separate bolt-on product for GPS is needed. 

Specialized Capabilities: Relocation/Private-Property Enforcement

Ranger’s PatrolWorks^TM for private-property enforcement supports an existing core business line or provides an opportunity for diversification and growth.  Distinctive capabilities include:

• Incorporating parent/child account structures – corporations to properties to lots
• Configuring specific requirements by lot by violation (e.g., grace periods, tagging, approval requirements)
• A special app to record/update violations that can easily be used by company spotters in a personal vehicle, a company driver in a tow truck, a third-party enforcement agency patrolling in their own vehicles, or even self-service by property managers
• A built-in “rules engine” that determines the readiness to tow a vehicle with one or more violations, including:
  • Tracking policies so that tows comply with property requirements
  • Automatic sending of approval requests to the designated Property Manager on their mobile device

Mobile-Enabled Functionality

As noted above, Ranger has three robust mobile apps – for Towing (Android and Apple), Lot Management (Android) and Private-Property Enforcement (Android).  The purpose of the mobile apps is not only convenience.  Ranger’s guiding principle for mobile app design is to extend the processes in the office to work seamlessly with resources in the field to:

• Shorten the time to cash – collect call/customer information needed for invoicing
• Reduce legal liability – e.g., customer signatures that authorize service and include damage waivers, signatures to acknowledge pre-existing damage
• Improve customer service – drivers can create a new call themselves when needed, and with permission, send invoices when clearing a call

The Numbers Are Right

“Easy” seems like an overarching goal until the accounting reports are wrong.  Ranger is more than a spreadsheet that allows changes to any number by anyone whenever it suits.  Ranger is easy-to-use, but with the requirements for accounting accuracy in mind:

• Process “guardrails” to prevent errors – including well-intended actions that seem expeditious in the moment, but that jeopardize accounting integrity
• User permission structures to align allowed actions with responsibilities/skills
• Audit Trails to track what went wrong and training needs

Reliability

Functionality without reliability (e.g., high uptime, no app “crashes”) is of little value.  Reliability is often an afterthought until the system is not working.  Ranger has more experience in successfully operating a completely “cloud-based” tow management solution (SaaS – Software as a Service) than anyone else.   Ranger has 15 years of “lessons learned” – eliminating the “glitches” that others are still discovering.

Also, Ranger has invested heavily for reliability/uptime.  The solution is hosted in a commercial data center with redundant internet, power, and cooling — with the latest in physical and logical security.  All data is backed up nightly.  There is redundancy built into each component of the Ranger infrastructure architecture.  And in a “worst case” scenario, Ranger even has a disaster recovery solution in place to fail-over to a different data center location.  Ranger functionality comes with reliability.

Why Ranger SST?  —   advanced technology for superior performance.  If you are looking to grow your top and bottom lines, give us a call and let us put Ranger Service Solutions Technology to work for you!

For more information, visit www.rangersst.com