Why Ranger SST?

Why should We Switch to the Ranger Tow Management Solution?

This is the question we receive most often during calls from towing companies who are unhappy with their current software or have outgrown it. Our customers’ response would be: “You will increase your profits!” Our customers have witnessed the benefits of the Ranger solution, which has been continuously improved over the past 15 years to provide more calls per driver while reducing fuel consumption. However, potential customers often find this answer too simplistic and approach it with doubt. They are seeking more concrete details – as the famous Wendy’s ad once asked: “Where is the substance?”

Why Ranger SST?

Over the past 15 years, the functionalities of the majority of tow management systems have significantly advanced. Consequently, in order to truly enhance bottom-line performance, it is imperative to delve beyond a mere surface-level assessment of dispatching and consider the key differentiators that truly matter.

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 are able to support both towing businesses in their community, and also 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 PatrolWorksTM)
• Assessing sales/marketing opportunities using Ranger’s Heat Maps which highlight underserved locales

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 snow storms 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.

Easy and Effective Dispatching with Ranger’s

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.

Specialized Capabilities: Relocation/Private Property Enforcement

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

Mobile-Enabled Functionality

• 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

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.

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.

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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!