Rermag 5203 Baseplan Screengrab 1
Rermag 5203 Baseplan Screengrab 1
Rermag 5203 Baseplan Screengrab 1
Rermag 5203 Baseplan Screengrab 1
Rermag 5203 Baseplan Screengrab 1

Interviews with Software Manufacturers: Built-in Functionality

Aug. 7, 2015
RER interviews Shane Stigler, chief operating officer, Baseplan, about mobile functionality, digital security, systems integration, asset management and more.

RER interviews Shane Stigler, chief operating officer, Baseplan, about mobile functionality, digital security, systems integration, asset management and more.

RER: Is strengthening the mobile functionality an important current emphasis? What are your company’s capabilities and strengths in that area?

Stigler:  Our first commercially viable mobility product was released back in 2003 and we’ve continued to develop for emerging platforms ever since. The relentless penetration of smartphones and tablets into people’s daily lives has naturally extended into their workday so it made perfect sense to develop and support BYOD along with focused and specific mobile solutions. We currently have hardware and software agnostic solutions that enable drivers, service technicians, rental counter staff and customers to access and process a wide range of functionality on-site, in a storage yards or at a branch level.

What are some of the advancements your customers are calling for that you’re working on?

Making the most of the built-in functionality of smart devices is one of our key areas of focus. Using pictures for records, utilizing GPS capabilities, electronic signature capture, CRM and of course communication are all being used in previously un-thought of ways to solve some interesting challenges. The more electronic manufacturers add functionality into their devices the more Baseplan is free to dream up new ways to take advantage of those functions.

What about payment by smartphone, how is that capability progressing?

Processing payment by smartphone has been around for some time and the more services like Apple Pay, Google Wallet and Switch become mainstream, the more our clients will embrace it, so naturally Baseplan will be there to embrace our customer’s needs.

Are customers concerned about the safety of their data, protection against hacking or other invasions of privacy and information theft? What is your company doing to protect your customers?

Digital security is always one of the biggest challenges for any company, public or private, big or small. The media is filled with examples of data security breaches of some of the world’s largest firms and even governments have suffered from damaging information theft. Baseplan works closely with our clients to ensure they follow industry standard best practices and protect themselves from any form of data breach.

How important is it to be able to integrate with other types of software, for example, integration with SmartEquip and other software-related service providers?

Software integration is probably the single biggest challenge of implementing any ERP system today. You need an ERP system to be flexible and talk with all your existing applications. Baseplan architecture is designed from the ground up for just that type of flexibility. Not only have we partnered with vendors like SmartEquip via our purpose-built Gateway product but we also run on a very modern up-to-date Microsoft framework which enables us to build new integrations very easily to meet our customer’s needs. We currently have interfaces for Vertex, Kofax and many others.

How can your software help a rental company better analyze its cost structure and determine which equipment is profitable and which isn’t? How can your software help a rental company determine at what point a piece of equipment becomes unprofitable and should be sold?

Asset management is one of Baseplan Enterprise's core strengths. With complete integration between the Rental and Financial modules you can get real-time utilization information that allows you make time sensitive business critical decisions that will put you ahead of your competition.

Asset management is woven into the fabric of Baseplan so much that it is one of the first things we show potential buyers. Utilization and ROI statistics at an individual asset level are just three clicks of the mouse away. You can easily see the financial contribution of each individual piece of equipment and how that affects the bottom line. This enables management to make the split-second decisions regarding equipment performance and help guide their capital budget (CAPEX) for the future.

How about fleet inspections and diagnostics/interface with telematics systems, what is your functionality in this arena?

Baseplan has integrated with telemetry technology solutions since 2001. Telemetry provides real time actionable data such as breakdown response, service requirements and utilization/billing information. Modern telemetry products augment our rental system and we're excited to see customers now recognizing the benefits that integrated telemetry provides. This is a major growth area for equipment management businesses and will be a defining point of difference in the near future.