Published July 2007

Get With the Program

By Jim Kneiszel (page 26)

It takes a savvy search to find the right GPS and software solutions for your business. But the technology hunt may bring a big customer service and labor-saving payoff.

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In the old days, you would toss the vacuum truck keys to a newly trained driver and rely on him to run a portable restroom service route as efficiently as possible. You’d count on the driver to take the most direct route between units in the field, to stay within the speed limit and stop for each and every unit that needed servicing.

How would you know your trust in that driver was honored and that he was good at mapping out his daily stops? You didn’t. Was that the most efficient way to run your portable sanitation business? Well, no. But it may have been the best you could do with the business resources you had at the time.

Myriad of Choices

Efficient route planning and comprehensive supervision of employees are two major issues driving an enhanced interest in products that combine useful business tools with devices that utilize Global Positioning System technology. With a myriad of computer software tools available today, it takes serious research by PROs to find and fire up the best product for each business application.

Over several years, software solutions have emerged to help PROs manage workflow in a more efficient manner. As the software has been refined to meet the specific demands of restroom contractors, the necessary hardware to harness the business reporting technology has come down in price, shrunk in size and accelerated in computing and communication power.

Several companies have served the industry for some time, providing all sorts of important technology business solutions, from automated billing and service-route planning to new and exciting ways to track vacuum truck usage and inventory control. At the same time, mobile phone giants, including Nextel and AT&T, have jumped in with push-to-talk phone solutions aimed at human resources and equipment tracking.

Just this spring, AT&T launched a GPS-based workforce management service, TeleNav Track, which couples with devices like the Research In Motion BlackBerry to meet many generic business needs.

But choosing the right GPS or software solution for your business is not as simple as text messaging any of these providers and sending your drivers down the road. Keying into the product that best suits your individual needs is going to take some research. You’ll need to focus both on your own priorities for information gathering and which product will best address those priorities.

Fueling Interest

In the not-to-distant past, PROs may have said keeping their drivers on schedule was their highest priority in looking for a vehicle-tracking solution. Getting a better handle on employee hours and workload reduces labor costs and leads to a more equitable division of labor among drivers.

But when fuel prices started a relentless climb a few years ago, the main emphasis shifted to containing those operating expenses. Common sense tells you that efficient routing — especially if it involves several drivers covering an expanding service territory — can easily save gallons of fuel a day.

Route planning that takes overall miles, road construction and other factors into account can go beyond fuel savings and get drivers back to the shop quicker every day. And a dollar saved on operating expenses is either a dollar in your pocket or a dollar that can be trimmed from your bill to the customer.

More efficient routing and other business practices through software and GPS technology can result in better customer service … and improved customer service can give you the edge over other restroom contractors, especially in a competitive environment. With efficient routing, you may be able to promise service in a pinpointed time frame. You will certainly be better equipped to offer emergency service to full units or a frantic call for an additional restroom at a construction jobsite or special event.

Proof of service is another advantage of tracking technology. As sophisticated programs can track the number of times your driver activates a vacuum pump, you can offer proof of the number of restrooms serviced at a location and when the service was performed. Some technology products can be tailored to log a variety of PRO-related tasks, including measuring liquids flowing into and out of a vacuum tank.

In Driver We Trust

If — despite rising fuel costs — your biggest concern remains keeping drivers on task, GPS coupled with a software solution will be a faithful supervisor in the field. With the right technology you’ll know when a driver is speeding, the length of his lunch break and if he veers off course to do his grocery shopping.

Ritam Technology offers Summit software

Ritam Technologies’ Summit software products offer basic street-level mapping solutions, advanced mapping tools and service driver efficiency tracking devices. Basic mapping automatically plots jobsites on street-level maps. Service stops are optimized to shorten travel time and improve driver efficiency, providing standards for time and mileage by driver.

Advanced mapping automatically absorbs optimized service stop sequences back into Summit. Route sheets are instantly organized in optimized sequence. Job addresses are automatically geo-coded, saving the latitude and longitude — global position system — data to speed future mapping operations and ensure accuracy.

Summit provides customers proof of service for individual units through its exclusive ERIT (Electronic Routing and Inventory Tracking) system or through enhancements to the @Road GPS/AVL system. Rather than just knowing where a driver has been, we know specifically what units and jobsites were serviced, and which ones couldn’t be serviced. Reasons are noted for those not serviced and managers are pro-active in customer follow-up to correct problems and ensure timely satisfaction. For information: 800/662-8471; www.ritam.com.

Clear Computing and Insight USA present TACMobile 2.0

TACMobile 2.0 from Clear Computing and InSight USA links back office operations with your mobile workforce. TACMobile, which runs on Microsoft Windows tablets or laptops, provides drivers, sales staff and owners with the latest information on customers, sites, work orders and routes. The back office gets electronically updated with notes, proposals and productivity information. There’s no duplicate data entry.

In the service or utility truck, TACMobile is a vehicle information center monitoring the location and activity of the driver, and providing the driver stop-to-stop voice driving directions, location tracking on detailed street maps, a touch-screen for easy data entry and barcode scanning for production tracking. Dispatchers can go on the road with a mobile operations center and see current locations of all vehicles. There’s no need to be in the office to get the latest information. For information: Clear Computing Inc. at 888/332-5327 or InSight USA at 301/866-1990, ext. 201; www.clearcomputing.com.

RouteOptix offers Fleet Management Software

Routing and Fleet Management Software from RouteOptix Management Systems Inc. provides portable restroom operators with not just data, but real information to help manage their businesses better. GPS fleet management captures all sensor and event data on all your remote vehicles and forwards the information instantly to a data warehouse. Integration to routing software is available in two ways: 1. Integration in real time to the routing software for applications that require dynamic routing throughout the day; 2. At the end of the day, download and compare actual event information with your planned route for a precise comparison of all your day’s activities.

Full fleet management reports are available for all other areas of your business and for all levels of management. Applications include payroll preparation, fuel usage monitoring, cost calculation based on time, distance, stops, starts and your inputs. Enhance service by notifying customers whenever a vehicle arrives at their yard to offer service. For information: 866/926-7849; www.routeoptix.com.

Tracker Solutions offers Septic Tracker

The Tracker Solutions business software, Septic Tracker, helps portable restroom operators schedule unit deliveries, servicing and pickups. The system is simple to tailor to the needs of individual companies and tracks route information and billing information on one screen. The program requires only two mouse clicks to schedule a customer. A software demo is available at the Septic Tracker Web site. A new release of the software will include enhancements directed specifically at portable restroom contractors. For information: 888/308-0651; www.septictracker.com.

VMSoft Products offers SAFE software

With the SAFE software program from VMSoft Products, portable restroom contractors enter GPS coordinates for unit placements and customer site locations, print reports and view screen listings for deliveries, pickups, and scheduled service. The software can also be used to create Excel spreadsheets that can be imported into Microsoft Streets & Trips or MapPoint. This built-in process will display each customer’s site location or portable restroom location on a map, making it easier to route technicians or drivers.

The program will create recurring invoices and space them as many days or months apart as desired. Service can be scheduled by days of the week or calculated by days between visits. Keep track of inventory and create future reservations.

A free trial of the software is available. It is compatible with Microsoft 98/2000/ME/XP and Vista operating systems. For information: 940/367-2247; www.thesafeprogram.com.

Burdilla Lanser Technologies issues GlobalLive NOW!

Burdilla Lanser Technologies has released its second-generation fleet management solution, with added customer benefits. The new GlobalLive NOW! Fleet Management solution is a fully Internet-based, owner-controlled, customizable, GPS tracking system that provides an “instant click” map of your fleet. It provides various key reports like mileage, start/stop, usage, time onsite, and a “nearest vehicle” feature that allows optimization of pickup/delivery routes.

Benefits of the program include: automatic Internet-based real-time tracking of all vehicles, tracks fuel costs, labor hours, reckless driving patterns, unauthorized vehicle usage, creates driver profiles and ensures drivers follow optimized routes for deliveries and pickups. Customer locations can be imported in the software for easier tracking of pickups and deliveries. Demo software is available. For information: 530/885-2550; www.globallive.com.

Famhost GPS links with JaRay, Linkwriter

The FamHost GPS solution updates vehicle status or other events on a real-time dashboard that can be viewed within seconds from any computer that has Internet access. It includes licensing for a high-quality interactive map that updates the status of the driver and job information automatically. Vehicle route, speeds, a 20-point maintenance system and other fleet information are stored online. Job information can be scheduled for same or future dates and displayed on the same maps and reports as the driver information. It can show all the times a driver went to a specific location, sort jobs by how far they are from a driver for fast dispatching, display how far drivers are from each other or from a job so that you can send the closest driver in case of emergency. The software integrates into JaRay, Linkwriter digital pen solution and other software systems. For information: 800/658-1676; www.famhost.com.

QT Technologies presents Productivity Engine

QT Technologies aims to help PROs enhance profitability and efficiency through the Productivity Engine mobile data terminals and integrated in-cab/in-office business tools. Productivity Engine consolidates all of the major functionality to support a PRO business into one service, offering real-time order management with optimized dispatcher tools, GPS-enabled mapping/routing to minimize fuel usage and truck tracking to monitor where every vehicle is at all times.

The product also speeds cash flow by taking credit/debit card and electronic check payments upon delivery/service, and integrates delivery and inventory management with truck controls and other sensors for complete service records, including time, date and volumes. Productivity Engine integrates with existing accounting software to provide full reporting/reconciliation. For information: 866/788-3241; www.qttechnologies.com.

Shop Till You Drop

Here are a few tips for finding the software or GPS technology that will best serve your company:

Visit company Web sites

Technology providers usually detail product information online. Scan a company’s entire Web site, looking for software features and benefits, hardware and communications device requirements, a FAQ — or frequently asked questions — page, customer testimonials and satisfaction guarantees. Use the contact link to ask further questions. Sometimes companies prefer customer contact through e-mails, while others also provide telephone contact information.

Get references

If a product seems like it will fit your needs, ask the company to provide references from customers using the product to do the same work you perform. Look for other portable restroom operators on the list and call them to learn any industry-specific pros and cons about the product. Ask users about product reliability and their customer service satisfaction with the software provider.

Talk to friends in the industry

Networking with PROs who operate businesses of a similar size will help you make an educated choice. You can talk to other contractors at a trade show like the annual Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo International or the PSAI Convention & Trade Show, or by signing up for the e-mail PRO Discussion Forum at www.promonthly.com. Members of the Portable Sanitation Association International can ask the trade group for a network list of companies interested in discussing GPS system solutions.

Give it a spin

Many software technology providers offer a free trial period where you can implement their system to see how well it will work with your business. If you don’t like the way the program works, simply delete the demo software and keep looking. If you like the product, you can purchase the full software system.