TOPS began with a focus on full accountability of monies through the life cycle of all towing and impound events, including Lien and Auction. TOPS has checks and balances all along the life-cycle of an invoice to assure all dollars are accounted for – from tying the dispatch record to the driver’s ticket, when reconciling the drivers’ tickets and cash, balancing the release clerks’ cash drawer and moving monies collected at time of tow or through the AR process. TOPS also helps to ensure all necessary data is captured before the tow request is locked down and invoiced, which helps the invoice get paid quicker..
There are several features within TOPS which help business owners achieve this heightened sense of accountability. Let’s explore a few.
Control Customer. The TOPS system retains a record of the initial customer who makes the tow request, along with the customer that is responsible for the final billing of the invoice. For example, a tow is requested by the Police Dept., but the vehicle is towed to Ace Body Shop, and they are billed for the final invoice. By keeping track of both customers related to the tow request, you can run reports and do sales analysis on tow volumes by requesting customer as well as by billing customer.
Tow Ticket. If your organization uses tow tickets (manual invoices) the system will keep track of the status of the tickets that are open and unassigned, and those assigned to your drivers. No more keeping logs or ledgers of ticket books that are handed out to drivers, and no more orphaned or lost tow tickets that suddenly reappear when someone needs a copy of their receipt.
Pricing. Pricing within the TOPS system is extremely robust. Pricing can be added either automatically based on the circumstances of the tow request, or done manually as needed. The pricing in TOPS is structured around the services you provide your customers, and the prices you charge for those services. Services can be automatically added to tow requests based on your rules. Some examples of when services can be automatically added include:
• When a new tow request is taken – regardless of the customer.
• When a new tow request is taken for a Customer Type of Police and the Reason is Accident.
• When a new tow request has a Tow Type of Heavy Duty and the Reason is Broken Axle
• When a new tow request is taken between 8 pm and 6 am for a specific customer.
• When the Customer is Police Dept., and the Call Status is In Inventory.
This list goes on and on and is totally customizable. These rules are based on how your company operates, the contracts you have with your customers and the regulations that you are compelled to adhere to. This feature helps to ensure you are paid for all of the services that you provide, and you are paid at the rates you’ve contracted.
Checkout. The TOPS Checkout screen allows your accounting department to perform your reconciliation and confirmation in a batch process. TOPS Checkout offers the accounting department a simple and organized view of closeout documents outstanding by Driver or Release Clerk. This intuitive and interactive view allows the accounting department to manage any outstanding monies or documents owed by the driver or by the release clerks based on when the call was completed, when the money was supposed to be received, whether the vehicle was towed, released from inventory or sold at auction, and many others. This screen is a very powerful tool for your accounting department to make quick work of what is a very important task in your organization.
Reconciliation and Confirmation. The TOPS system requires your accounting department review, reconcile and set each tow request to be invoiced. These accounting steps in TOPS are referred to as Reconciliation and Confirmation. The Reconciliation step tells the TOPS system that the call price is correct, and that if the driver receives a commission on the call that he has done what is required of him to receive it. This includes turning in the proper paperwork and any monies he may have received for the call. Reconciliation also ratchets-up the available security on the call, and once reconciled, you can restrict access to make many changes to the call – including pricing additions and/or deletions. Confirmation is the final step in the accounting process, and tells TOPS that you have everything you need to get paid, and that this call is ready to be invoiced. TOPS also flags calls if a PO, RO or VIN is required, and will not let you confirm the call for invoicing if you do not have the necessary info.
Security. The TOPS system requires all users to have a unique user id, and each user id is associated with an access role. The access roles define the users’ capability or access level to the system. A very simple example of this is that call takers and dispatchers in a large operation probably do not need access to the accounting side of the business. Another example is that a release clerk might have access to take a payment at the window, but Manager level access is required to modify or remove a payment.
Retain All Records. And most important to you as an owner, calls cannot be deleted in TOPS. Once the initial call is created and saved, it can never be deleted. Calls can be canceled or worked through to completion, but they cannot be deleted under any circumstances.
In Summary, TOPS is a full-service towing management system which includes robust features for managing your back office and includes core functionality for managing dispatching and impounding of vehicles. Additional functionality specific to TOPS include…
- Mobile Applications
- Bidder and Auction Mgmt
- Customer Interfaces for Tow requests
- Custom Interfaces
- Motor Club & GPS Integrations
- Custom Applications
- Impound Lot Public Search Portal
- Personal Customer Support
- Batch Lien processing; DMV Integrations
- Managed Systems
- Certified Mail processing
- Superior System Uptime
Come see why TOPS customers remain TOPS customers for 20 years and run millions of calls on the TOPS platform!
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TOPS Quotes:
“Our business started with TOPS in the year 2000 – 21 years ago! TOPS offers a very complete and robust system that manages all aspects of my towing business. Our business is a multi-location operation, and we utilize the multi-company feature within TOPS for individual and rollup reporting. The daily driver reconciliation offers a concise and streamlined process and the reporting and interface to QuickBooks is spot on. Thanks to the TOPS team for offering tremendous service for our business.” – Dale – San Diego, CA.
“TOPS – it just works! From dispatching to automated pricing to end-of-month reporting – everything works and balances.” – Cathy R. – Jacksonville, FL.
“We moved our business to TOPS roughly 3 years ago when TXI Systems partnered with us on a municipal RFP bid, and we have not looked back sense. TOPS combined with BudgetGPS offers our business the right combination of towing management and fleet tracking. My staff quickly learned the systems and the support team is available when needed. Our partnership for systems to support the City contract with TOPS and TOPS CMA has worked extremely well. We look forward to growing with TXI Systems and TOPS. Thanks Team!” – Jimmy W. Columbus, OH.[/alert-announce]
About TXI Systems, Inc. Company
TXI Systems, Inc. markets and sells towing management products under the brand name of TOPS®. The TOPS® suite of products is deployed to private tow operators, municipalities and law enforcement. TOPS® software tools support towing dispatch, freeway service patrol, impound lot management, private property towing and more with efficiency, transparency, and accountability in mind. Let TXI Systems customize a solution for you today!
For more information or to schedule a demonstration please call 866-800-8677 Opt 2 or visit our website – TOPS® – www.topsdispatch.com
