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 !
With Ranger’s SmartDispatchTM, dispatchers are equipped to excel – with capabilities that aid both seasoned dispatchers, and recent hires.
SmartDispatchTM 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 and providing updates to achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction).
And, GPS tracking and mapping (built on Google maps) is fully integrated into the Ranger solution – No separate bolt-on product for GPS is needed.
Ranger’s LotMasterTM provides all of 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
Absolutely! Ranger’s TransportOpsTM 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)
In Ranger – pricing is made easy. Pricing capabilities build on 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 of 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.
Ranger’s innovative solution – PatrolWorks with LPR (PWLPRTM) is private property enforcement reimagined. PWLPRTM integrates license plate recognition technology to “change the game” from late-evening searches for vehicles without stickers to safely scanning license plates with cameras on a spotter vehicle. The solution sets new expectations for information transparency within the community with (mobile-friendly) portals for both property managers and residents. There is complete visibility to both permitting and enforcement (the most important information).
PWLPR creates a profitable ($ Million++?) growth opportunity for towing companies delivering services by:
- Increasing revenue from impounding. PWLPR provides an exclusive, differentiated solution to fuel your growth in the market.
- Reducing operational costs. Savings result from both License Plate Recognition (LPR) and streamlined processes for impound management and customer service.
- Generating income from permit processing. Managing the database of license plates for parking permissions provides the foundation to also manage permitting on behalf of properties (even if LPR is deferred).
- Creating a new revenue source from ticketing (a.k.a. citations). While a new idea for many, it is an enforcement tool that benefits both the community and you.
- Enabling you to control your own destiny. PWLPR positions you to change your role from “vendor” (working for someone else) to becoming the property’s “partner” in improving performance in parking management. This reduces the risk in plans for future revenue and growth.
Ranger has long been the leader with high-reliability mobile applications. 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
Using Ranger ensures the numbers are right. “Easy-of-use” seems like the 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 both easy-to-use, and designed to deliver accounting accuracy:
- 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
- The linkage to Quickbooks includes sending invoices and the application of payments! Users can select from multiple processing modes and have unparalleled visibility – transactions that will be sent, running log of transactions being sent, and a report of transactions that were successfully sent.
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.
And, 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.