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