By Dave Sunkenberg
VP Network Services, Agero

As of September 2013, it is reported that 74% of smartphone users are taking advantage of location-based services.  Apps such as Foursquare, Uber and Yelp are designed to use your location to recommend places to go, find a local coffee shop, and get you a taxi. The use of these location-based apps is growing extremely fast, with over 130 million Americans utilizing them every day.

So, why are location-based services important for tow providers like you?  They enable you to become more efficient, save money and time, and offer the customer a better experience. Nearly 40% of tow trucks have installed a hard-wired GPS device, and more than 60% of tow truck drivers carry a smartphone, making it easy for those drivers to transition to a location-aware application, such as Agero’s Roadside Connect, or a mobility-enabled dispatch management system, such as Progressive Platform’s “Tow Aces” or Beacon Software’s “Dispatch Anywhere.” With location-aware capabilities, you can more effectively manage your fleet and your communications with your customers. Agero’s Roadside Connect mobile app is completely free to download. With the newest version of the app (available on Android now; coming to iPhone in March), dispatchers can see where their trucks are located on a live map; they can assign the driver closest and best equipped to serve the customer, and lower their ETA’s and operate more efficiently.

Customers also benefit from tow providers being location-aware. Agero’s system will alert the customer of how long it will take for your driver to arrive, keeping them informed of his or her progress.

“Location-based services are the future of roadside,” says Mark Fensome of Progressive Platforms. “The technology makes it so much easier for providers to manage fleets – it’s more cost effective and fuel efficient.”

Agero
One Cabot Road, Medford, MA 02155
www.agerosupport.com

“What’s messing up your day?” This is a question I ask folks who inquire about our products. Do you feel like you’re losing money? Are you spending too much time at work? Are you spending hours and hours on your billing? I’m sure many of you can relate to this. You work hard, sometimes so hard it’s difficult to make sure you’re covering all the bases. You can’t be everywhere at once. This is a common issue, and there are tools out there for you!

Dispatch Anywhere is made for you…specifically for owners of towing companies, and no one else! We help you manage your business even when you’re not there.

It starts with a call from a customer. All of your accounts and motor clubs are set up in the software. This makes you efficient. Services, pricing, required information fields, default services, and mileage calculations are all preloaded. This means when you select an account for a new call request, this information is there for you. Calls can be manually created in a matter of seconds. Your motor club calls arrive digitally through TowMagic. Imagine a digital request from a club that you accept on your computer and all your call information populates in the call screen. You select a driver/truck on your computer and drag them on top of the call. Confirm it and the request goes out to the driver. Your driver received the call and instantly confirms it. You know this because the call status on your dispatch screen has changed to “confirmed.” This is the first timestamp on the call. Your driver uses a free App on his smartphone to receive call information. He can let you know when en route, arrived, loaded, dropped, and finished. All of these time stamps will appear as the current call status back at dispatch. You can also select your map tool from the dispatch screen to view the location of all the jobs you have on the board in relation to your drivers. We can use the GPS location of their smartphone to track them. This map can detach if you use multiple monitors in the office. We can also track the black boxes from many third party GPS solutions if you desire.

Your driver’s mobile app offers accountability and accuracy. Drivers can touch addresses and phone numbers in the job information for auto dialing or GPS routing to locations. They can select the vehicle type to link to Towspecs for recommended methods and tips. They have the ability to add photos that get stored with the call and can be viewed from dispatch. Drivers can take payments and print or email receipts and tickets from the field. When a driver finishes a call, they are prompted to enter Items that you set as required like VIN and odometer for specific accounts. This gives you all the info you need for billing as soon as the job is completed. Storage calculations for impounded vehicles begin accruing as soon as the job is completed. Dispatch Anywhere allows you to produce invoices and take payment when vehicles are released. Any invoice, statement, or report can be faxed or emailed directly from the same screen.

Billing your accounts and motor clubs is less painful. First, you post your calls. This allows you to view all unbilled calls and will highlight any call that needs information before billing. This allows you to focus only on the calls that need attention rather than looking through everything. Once calls are posted, you can print your statements for all your accounts. Billing your motor clubs is just as easy. Simply select a group of calls to send by checking a box next to each one. Then you click the send button. We will digitally push calls out to most of your clubs’ web sites. It’s about 15 calls per minute! This reduces the manual entry that is consuming your time.

Everything you do on a daily basis is creating data about your business. All of this data can now be filtered into multiple reports. Our reports will allow you to look at driver performance and commissions. Daily logs, ETAs, calls by the hour ETC. Sales reports allow you look at sales by driver, by service, by truck, or payment method. Impound reports that can be created by account for your police calls. You can run release reports with or without amounts. The list goes on and on.

Here’s the bottom line! You know your business better than anyone. You can tell when something is not right. Maybe you feel like you’re getting behind. Are you making as much as you think? Being able to find an issue as fast as possible is the key. Beacon Software gives you the right tools with Dispatch Anywhere and TowMagic.

Beacon Software
www.dispatchanywhere.com
(866) 437-6653

Using sureFleet, companies can enter all maintenance performed on their fleet, store all data, and maintain vehicle, and equipment lists. sureFleet is specifically designed to help business operations with better tracking and reporting on fleet preventative maintenance needs, repair costs, fuel purchases, and more. sureFleet provides notification when services are due, plates are expiring, state or internal safety inspections are due, etc. It provides data capture and reporting associated with fleet maintenance to record everything from oil changes and fueling information to engine overhauls and tire positions.  sureFleet incorporates detailed reporting and advanced tracking methods with the capability of tracking the maintenance for an unlimited number of vehicles. The system also manages insurance policies, accident reporting, image storage, and even vehicle depreciation. There is also a sureFleet mobile app available for both Android phones and tablets, as well as iPhone and iPad devices. The mobile application allows drivers to update odometer and fuel purchase information, complete standard or customized pre- and post-trip inspections, report accidents, as well as perform appearance inspections with photos and more. sureFleet is specifically designed to help your business operations by providing better tracking and reporting on fleet repair costs, downtime, fuel mileages, and other daily maintenance costs. This type of valuable information allows users to control the cost of managing their fleet of vehicles. sureFleet is integrated with BudgetGPS for fleet tracking and offers further integration to other GPS systems as well as inventory control tools. With a price point of less than $2 per week, per vehicle, the sureFleet return on investment is significant.

Learn more at www.surefleet.com.

TOPS towing management software is designed to manage all aspects of a tow operation from the initial tow request to the vehicle’s final disposition. The TOPS system provides a unified and sophisticated platform for call-taking, dispatching, inventory management, lien processing, and auction administration. TOPS supports single and multi-company operations, and provides individual company and roll-up accounting and management reports. TOPS will enable your staff to work smarter with advanced tools that include powerful mobile applications for drivers and lot managers designed for the iPhone, iPad and Android mobile phones and tablets. Update call status times, upload and store call-related photos and email call receipts to customers directly from your mobile device in the field. Enjoy enhanced data accuracy and improved employee productivity through drop-down menus, short code or type ahead field entry, pre-population of call information and integrated swipe devices (where applicable) for quick data entry. Improve workflow and ensure employee accountability with features such as automated pricing, tow ticket management, driver and release clerk payment management systems, and sophisticated security. TOPS protects your interests by offering process, screen and field level security via user access roles. These access roles keep employees focused on their specific tasks, limiting their visibility into systems outside of their area of responsibility. TOPS allows you to gain a better understanding of the big picture of your business with detailed management, customer activity, and driver and truck productivity reports. TOPS integrates with GPS, motor club, police and municipality systems, and imports directly to QuickBooks.

TOPS
Contact: Nathan Barker
Phone: 866-800-8677, opt. 2
Email: Nathan.barker@txisystems.com

Towbook is 100% web-based, so you can use Towbook from any device with Internet service, including PCs, tablets and smart phones. Plus, there’s no software to install, so you’re always running the latest version. Towbook’s mobile apps for iPhone and Android make it easy to update call information, take pictures, decode VINs, send invoices to customers and much more.

Towbook can synch with your QuickBooks account, too, so you don’t have to double enter invoices and you can avoid costly billing mistakes. Towbook runs great on Windows, Mac, iOS and Android.

Built for Towing

Dispatching. Towbook’s real-time dispatching makes all call information instantly visible to all your employees – nobody has to refresh screens or wait for updates.

Motor Club Calls.  Motor club calls go directly into Towbook, automatically creating a new dispatch and alerting everyone on your team that a motor club call came in.

Impounds & Private Property. It’s easy to manage impounds with Towbook, including calculating daily storage fees, tracking police holds and releasing vehicles. Plus, Towbook will automatically notify private properties when you tow a vehicle, including sending photos.

Reporting. Use Towbook to report on business performance, track daily call volume, manage accounts receivable, calculate commissions and much more.

License Plate to VIN. Towbook’s new license plate to VIN feature allows you to enter a plate # and the system will return the full VIN plus the make, model and year of the vehicle – saving time and reducing the chance for mistakes.

Why Owners use Towbook.

With Towbook, owners and managers have access to real-time data about their business. Call activity, income, driver status and much more are always just a few clicks away.

Eliminating hand-written tow tickets and managing transactions within the system reduces operating costs and prevents lost income by eliminating inaccurate or misplaced tickets.

Towbook’s simple reporting gives you access to dispatching, accounting, AR aging, driver performance, and much more in standard report or graphic views for easy understanding and comparison.

For owners and managers, having access to your company’s information 24/7/365 is a powerful advantage.

Drivers love Towbook.

Drivers can receive detailed call information on their smartphone so they can view and update call data when they’re on the move. They can also see pending calls assigned to them and accept calls once they’re cleared from their current run, reducing downtime between calls.

The Towbook mobile app “plate to VIN” feature allows drivers to simply key in a plate number to obtain the full VIN and other vehicle data, which is automatically added to the call – saving time and preventing errors.

Drivers can take photos of vehicles and add them to a call and they can capture customer signatures and email invoices, all right from their iPhone or Android.

Saving time for drivers and reducing the chance for errors is critical for any towing operation.

Towbook helps Dispatchers.

With Towbook, calls from Motor Clubs go directly into the system, automatically creating a new dispatch. This saves time for dispatchers and eliminates the chance for mistakes.

Towbook automatically calculates pricing for each call, including specific account pricing, mileage charges and daily storage, so you can quickly and accurately release vehicles.

Dispatchers can quickly locate a call record in Towbook, update the call and email call records to customers, insurance companies and police.

Towbook will help you organize your operation and give your dispatchers a set of tools that will help grow your business.

Why Towbook?

With no contracts and no up-front setup or training fees, we make it easy to get rolling with Towbook. Plus, Towbook is priced right with low monthly fees starting at just $49. Plus, you can add as many users as you want because we have no per-user fees.

Our simple setup process is so easy you’ll be entering calls the day you sign up. Plus we provide free training and support.

Your business is all about customer service, and so is ours. You can count on us to be there when you need us. We provide free support 24/7/365.

Towbook Management Software
www.towbook.com
(888) 884-9598

The development of Tracker Management Systems, Inc. from day one was based on building a solution for the many needs within the office of towing companies. Providing customer support and training on how to utilize the software to maximize profits became a comer stone. Tracker has been extremely successful at achieving these goals. Tracker is practically a household name within the industry for nearly three decades and now second generation family. If you do not use Tracker to manage your business, most likely a successful company that you admire does.

Tracker continues to offer leading edge solutions, such as the only complete management suite that includes the needed functions to be able to maintain a complete picture of your business. Tracker goes way beyond a simple dispatch system that sends calls to phones or TomTom dash GPS. Look under the hood and you will discover for yourself what all it does. Notice the detailed functions that you would want after you get the basic dispatch and impound storage features working. Most other software perhaps go a little deeper adding the ability to do your statements. Linking to QuickBooks or Peachtree accounting is a great time saver, but after these few features, there are dozens of processes and variables to your business that should and could be automated. Utilizing Tracker will give you faster, quicker more accurate information in fraction of the time.

Lastly, your software selection needs to be a very easy to use and easy to understand solution. Easy, simple and complete are Tracker’s core values. As just one example, look at our Tracker Touch product, which links the GPS in truck communications with a visual picture of your city. Add all your calls to the same screen, then give your dispatcher the ability to assign a call to the nearest truck within 3 seconds by simply touching the screen. Then be able to see the actual ETA of any assigned truck without talking to the drivers. Stop wishing there was a product like this. Stop wishing your company was up to speed. Tracker has products built for the way you run your business. These products are available today from Tracker. Call today to set up a live demo and get your questions answered.
1-800-445-2438

It is a year since Tow Professional reviewed the industry software market and much has changed. New towing software vendors are entering the market, providing competition for the more established software companies who have a long-standing national presence. These prominent software brands (Beacon, Tracker, and VTS Systems) have continued to add new features, and there is a growing trend, initially started by VTS Systems, toward collaborating with other technology leaders, Auto Data Direct and TomTom, providing expanded features at a lower cost. Over the past 12 months, Telematics or integrated GPS has become the fastest growing segment and a “must have” for competitive, cost conscience owners. Integrated Telematics link with your management software, providing “intelligent dispatch” and interactive driver/dispatcher input, along with real time vehicle performance data. TomTom’s “Traffic” stands out as a major advance, providing real-time updated traffic flow and congestion status, continually updating the quickest route from call inception to incident location. When used to optimal driver/truck efficiency, TomTom claims a 15 to 20 percent saving in fuel and maintenance costs.

For many towing companies, paper ledgers, paper invoices, manual lien letters, and visits to the Post Office are just memories. Yet many in the industry are struggling to accommodate the never-ending advances in office automation. Not everyone caught the computer bug, and, to many, the black box in the office is something you do not mess with. Therefor it is important for the software developers, while providing additional cost saving benefits, to keep the programs intuitive and easy to operate. New operating platforms from Google and others are challenging the dominance of Microsoft and Apple by offering cloud friendly operating systems. However, Microsoft will not give up its global dominance of the OS market without a fight. Launched in August 2012, Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system has successfully moved Microsoft firmly into cloud OS territory. However, for those tow companies who are firmly entrenched in the traditional Windows 7 or previous versions of Microsoft OS, Windows 8 is a steep learning curve.

There is little doubt that web or cloud based technology, along with smartphones, tablets and a host of new apps, will dominate our industry within five years.

If your business is located in a rural community or a city that has below standard Internet service, then cloud technology may not be for you. Before you throw caution to the wind and give up your solid, reliable PC/server based application, and jump into a cloud solution, there are preparations to make and questions to ask.

• How reliable is your Internet connection (WAN), and do you have a back-up solution? “It is not if your Internet will FAIL, it is when.”
• Check your bandwidth capacity and the time it takes your screen to refresh or change (latency); a slow Internet not only adds frustration, it is operationally inefficient and a strong indicator of underlying problems. To conduct a simple test of your Internet speed, go to http://speedtest.comcast.net To operate an effective cloud base tow management program, you should have a minimum latency or “PING” rate of less than 30 ms (milliseconds), a download speed of not less than 20 mbps (megabits per second) and an upload speed of not less than 5 mbps. An efficient cable Internet service will provide 10 ms PING, 80 mbps download, and 15 mbps upload.
• Invest in a professional networking company to evaluate or build-out your office network (LAN). Build for the future; demand and Internet speeds will only get faster. Insist on 100/1000 or Giga switches, and if your budget will run to it, CAT 6 rather than CAT 5 Ethernet cabling.
• The reliable office network of the future will be a tiered system both hard wired, and Wi-Fi wireless. There simply is not enough wireless bandwidth to service a busy office. Multiple wireless users will cause data collisions, data corruption, slowness of screen refreshes and eventually crashes. Hard wire your desk PC’s All-in-One’s, semi-permanent laptops and network printers. Leave the wireless bandwidth for smartphones and tablets.

Without Internet, a PC/server-based system can enter and release vehicles, print statements and operate normally. Without the Internet, a cloud-based business is dead! Turn out the lights, close the door, and go home.

However, this should not be a showstopper, but it does need you to rethink your network priorities. Reliable, high bandwidth Internet and VoIP telephone services are essential to tomorrow’s towing and VSF businesses. It is usual to find three optional broadband providers in the larger cities, cable, DSL, and wireless; most areas will have two services available from which to choose. It is important that you have a primary and a back-up solution, one that you can switch to when the primary goes down. Notice I said when, not if! High-speed 4G wireless, although slower, makes an excellent secondary plug and play solution.

Do your research; do not go cheap, go for a business package; reliability and bandwidth are most important. Ask about outages and repair history; get it in writing. Cable offers the most bandwidth for the buck; up and down speed packages vary, so get the details. Some national cable providers have earned a poor reputation for return to service times, so ask around. DSL is the next best offering for bandwidth, as long as the phone lines are solid. In addition, check out bundling packages; TV, phone, and Internet bundling can offer great saving. Remember reliability and bandwidth is paramount!

Nigel Pestell
Managing Partner, Business Development
VTS Systems
(A Division of Collision Management USA LP)
14935 Dunwoody Bend, Suite 100
Cypress, Texas 77429

281.373.3072 US & CDN Sales, Ext. 104 /101
281.373.3072 Business Dev., Texas Statutes/TDLR Rules, Ext. 101
281.373.3072 Tech Support Center, Ext. 103
281.746.7816 US Fax
www.vts-systems.com