Automation and the Service Company

1. Automation and the Service Company Feb 26, 2014

2. BMSs . . . The General Concept • Dramatically reduce your workload, making your work more easy, and your own stance more relaxed. • Reduce the quantity of needed personnel. • Improve the quality of your work output, thereby making your customers more happy. • Enhance your bottom-line.

3. Call-Taking and Call-Management • Optimized environment for call-taker to enter and retrieve information, as calls come in. • Integration with caller-ID and/or other telephony, instant links to current job info, plus customer-, job- and product histories. • Intelligent linkage into scheduling, job-creation, and other down-stream processes. • Integrated alert re credit issues or other “red-flag” matters.

4. Automated Integration with TPAs • Automatically keep each informed of your vacancy for scheduling, for each/any applicable zipcode. • Automatically receive dispatches, with all appropriate and perfectly-accurate detail, directly into your BMS. • (Automatically keep TPA informed of appointment changes, changes in status, elements of progress and completion).

5. Automated Integration with Consumers • A beautiful online interface for intelligent self-booking by customers. • Emailed-triggered up-front scheduling via online interface where service ordered by third-party • Email-triggered re-booking on existing jobs after parts arrive. • Email triggered appointment confirmations (via online interface (email may include pic of tech who will be coming, interface alternately accommodates cancelling or rescheduling, etc). • Confirmations may alternately be accomplished via robo-call or text messaging. • Consumer may “track” her tech’s progress on day of appointment. • Consumer may at-will checking on job progress. • Consumer may participate in built-in survey system. • Consumers encounter saved time, enhanced convenience, and is impressed by company’s high-tech stance. • Office saves time and labor. • Accuracy and visibility enhanced in both directions

6. Management of Pre-Screening Processes • Have a system that accommodates easy prior review of each upcoming new appointment, to see if parts should be ordered (or pulled from the shelf) in advance of technician going. • System should link automatically to parts management for s/o parts, or to inventory, to “tag” parts that need pulled for going with tech • System must accommodate method to assure tech brings pre-screened parts with him. • System can also accommodate pulling of relevant technical articles, with printouts provided to tech – or, much more preferably, hyperlinks provided via an electronic dispatch.

7. Scheduling, Routing and Dispatch • Perfect and instant visibility into graphic relationship of what’s scheduled for each day, and of where present caller also fits geographically. • Simple click to create appointment. • Graphic and automated bases to optimize distribution of jobs between techs, and sequence of jobs for each tech. • Automated mechanisms to confirm appointments with customers, including via email or robo-call. • Multiple and simple automated means to convey each job to each tech. • Graphic visibility into each tech’s progress and geographic position, throughout each day, and easy ability to reconfigure as needs arise. • Automated monitoring of on-time performance, within built-in alarms. . • Reduce “windshield time.” • Improve on-time arrivals. • More jobs per tech per day. • Techs may possibly swap parts when they are close to each other, mutually assist, one tech may take another tech’s job when the first is running late, etc. • Much easier to clump in a single trip jobs that are to out-of-the-way areas. • Fewer no-shows.

8. A Mobile App for the Tech • Techs have perfect interface in which to automatically receive jobs, with all appropriate detail. • Details include full job into, plus parts he should be taking, prior history on job, prior history on the machine, prior tickets on the job, prior monies collected, prior pics as connected to the job and prior pics as connected to the machine, etc. • Integrated TimeCard punch-ins, punch-outs, review and correct. • Automated route-guidance via MapPoint, GoogleMaps, integration with enabled GPS, etc.. • Automated updates to/from office. • Automated call-aheads via Robo-Call. • Click to arrive, complete, etc. • Integrated picture taking (with provision for pic caption, etc.). • Electronic disclaimers. • Speak to describe work performed. • Integrated parts database, linkage to online sources (including parts lookup, product history and entitlement, etc.) • Indicate parts used from stock (with visibility regarding what is in stock, warning against s/o of item in stock, etc). • Indicate items direct-ordered or p/u from vendor. • Indicate items wanting office to order. • Integration with flat-rate system, whether internally-created or published BlueBook. • Compilation of E-Ticket (with misc. options such as exclude part numbers, show total only, print –as-estimate-only, optional language, etc.) • E-Signing by customer. • Print or email ticket. • Integrated CC processing. • Scheduling return visit. • Creating new jobs. • Participation on office-mail system.

9. Job Management and Control • Complete and multi-dimensioned visibility into status, progress-state and event history on every pending job. • Automated insertion to jobhistory, of text describing every event as relevant to the job. • Built-in structure that assures, by the mere mechanics of system use, jobs are rapidly pushed forward. • Automated monitoring, with alarms to alert when and if any job somehow falls through the cracks.

10. Parts Management • Integrated parts lookup (via both locally installed data and auto-links to various vendors and other third parties, e.g., MPH) • Management of special-order parts. • Management of stocking inventory. • Management of parts-pick and retrieval processes. • Assurance all items are tracked “to-the-grave.” • Management of Cores (including systems designed to assure techs know to return with cores)

11. Management of Serialized Inventory • If you are a dealer, you need a interface to track each item of merchandise you have in stock • Includes ordering new/replacement items for serialized inventory, checking in items when they arrive • Must include mechanisms to easily review what’s in stock on basis of varying categories, such as make, color, type, flooring company and/or flooring expiration dates, etc. • Must include integration with POS, with automatic check-of items as sold when sold, etc..

12. Management of Self-Administered Service-Contracts, Extended Warranties and/or Maintenance Agreements • An interface that catalogs each of any such “plans” you may offer. • Further provides cataloging of “party” information (e.g., name, address, telephone numbers, etc.) for all parties involved in such plans, including (and separately) parties subscribed as actual plan clients, and parties representing locations where work is performed. • Provides mechanism to structure periodic billing according whatever basis may be desired, and to efficiently administer same. • Provides mechanism to schedule planned service events, according to whatever basis may be desired.

13. POS System • For over-the-counter parts sales. • For merchandise sales. • Integration with inventory, parts-ordering, funds control, CC-processing, sales accounting, etc. • Built-in and auto-applied markup system (applicable both to POS and pricing for parts as used in service).

14. Funds Control • Account for each item of incoming money. • Provide process to see and check-off each item as expected from each source. • Provide process to shepherd each item through to deposit, prepare deposit, reconcile deposits with bank statements, etc. • Provide process to reconcile actual funds received with sales accounting.

15. Post-Completion Management • Integrated claims creation and submittal. • Sales Accounting. • A/R Management (creation of A/Rs, statements and dunning letters, application of payments against A/Rs when received, etc.). • Commission Reports. • Accounting for Sales-Tax liabilities.

16. Comprehensive and Multi-Context Histories • Must have histories regarding all work performed as relevant to a customer, an address, and/or a particular machine. • Such histories should each stand independent, according to the basis involved (i.e., you should be able to see all history on a machine, regardless of who owned it or at what locations). • Such histories must each be instantly accessible via as-you-type searching, and from multiple convenient context (e.g., when call-taking) • Such histories should include applicable pictures, and connection to invoice images as involved on each applicable job. • Such histories should include comprehensive narrative histories regarding all relevant events on each applicable job. • Should be ability to instantly email or print applicable tickets, job descriptions, etc., to customer or other parties.

17. Reporting and Analysis • Evaluate Technician Performance, and in multiple categories, including rates of first-time-completion, quantity of visits-per-job, revenue elements per job, on-time performance, callback rates, graphic comparison of time clocked-in-on-each-job as compared to time punched-in-on-TimeCard. • Evaluate performance of office persons. • Evaluate clients, especially the larger ones such as warranty clients and other third parties, as to profitability, burdens imposed, etc. • Evaluate overall company performance, including aspects such as quality-of-service, customer-satisfaction, average margins, total revenues, etc. • Evaluate effectiveness (relative and absolute) of each advertising method and particular. • The visibility as created by these insights helps you better guide employees toward improved performance where needed, better reward, make better decision regarding to take the company, etc.

18. Miscellaneous • Intra-Office Communication: an internal mail system that works within the application itself; accommodates communication between both office person and technicians. • Employee TimeCard and payroll functions. • Integrated backup systems (along with mechanisms to accommodate fast recovery after system failure), user-defined access control (i.e., you can limit the actions each user may perform), tracking of what each user does, accommodation for remote access, etc. • Policing and accountability systems: the system watches your back for you, monitoring a plethora of functions and systems, so you don’t have to. • Direct and Targeted Marketing: system accommodates sending solicitations (email or snail-mail) on almost any basis wanted (e.g., service recently performed, customer owns a particular category of machine, customer purchased a particular category of part, etc.).

19. Included and Built-In, Full-Package Financial Accounting • As option to integrating with secondary system (e.g., QuickBooks). • Benefit is no need for separate system. • Another is all elements are fully and perfectly tied together (including accounts-payable, production of final-product Income-Statement and Balance-Sheet, etc. • A possible downside is it’s a less-standardized accounting system as compared to something like QB, may not offer the same degree of auto-coordination with an outside accountant, etc.