Adam Kropf, head of product & development, Texada Software, talks with RER about its new Dashboard Calendar; improved in-yard returns; self-service e-commerce; and more.
What have been the most important new developments in your software in recent times?
Kropf: Last fall, we launched the Dashboard Calendar on the Texada platform. This tool gives rental company staff a bird’s-eye view of their business, allowing them to see reservations, deliveries, pickups, work orders, and contracts all in one place. The Dashboard Calendar provides you with the information needed to manage your team’s workload and the power to organize tasks ahead. We like to think of it as a digital version of the whiteboard found in many rental shops.
Since the launch of Texada Pay a couple of years back, our team has been working on some new and exciting features to simplify payments even more. One example is enabling invoices to be emailed directly through the Texada platform. This feature is easy to implement and spares your staff the headache of constantly having to chase down payments. It’s a win for the customer as well because the payment link is conveniently found in their inbox where they can pay from any device.
Other new and upcoming improvements include product substitutions, enhanced permissions and user security, improvements to mobile inspection forms, improved in-yard returns, and more.
What are likely to be the most important new developments in your software in the foreseeable future?
The team here at Texada is hard at work implementing a number of new features we have been dreaming about for a while. One thing that gets us all excited is the ongoing redesign of Texada’s user interface. Our entire platform is currently being overhauled to include mobile-responsive transaction screens, updated features, simplified workflows, and other upgrades to elevate the user experience.
The past couple of years we heard a lot about rental companies adopting e-commerce as a far more important part of their business and software manufacturers are offering more capabilities. Enhanced customer portals have been a big part of it as well. Now that people are returning back to more “normal” lifestyles and work methods, are e-commerce and enhanced customer portals continuing to be just as popular?
E-commerce and self-service portals are extremely popular, and current trends indicate that this popularity is increasing. As the cost of running a rental business continues to rise, rental companies will need to take every opportunity to increase efficiency and cost-effectiveness. At Texada, we have seen this in the demand for Texada GateWay, our self-service e-commerce solution. By allowing customers to rent and buy directly from the company website, GateWay gives valuable time back to rental company staff so that they can focus on other aspects of their business.
Rental companies are now receiving a lot of data through telematics communications. How is your software helping rental companies to process and most effectively utilize this information?
Through Texada, rental companies are able to bill their customers based on actual meter usage and with real-time updates from telematics. This provides you with an accurate breakdown of usage so that you can bill appropriately. We also allow rental companies to track rented equipment through Texada GateWay, so you can see where your equipment is located in real-time.
How does your software help sales staff and service personnel on the road?
The Texada Mobile application enhances workforce productivity by enabling mobile work orders, tickets, returns and so much more. By providing instant access to equipment location and status information, history, photos, and notes, Texada Mobile helps service personnel efficiently manage their workflow through an intuitive mobile application.
Texada Mobile also empowers rental companies to provide a better experience for their customers. By being able to fully process customer returns from the yard as well as inspect equipment on the job, companies are able to reduce the risk of unexpected equipment downtime. Everything in Texada Mobile is updated in real time, which allows for instant changes, clear communication channels, and the ability to make last-minute changes to a driver’s workflow.
