RENTAL SOFTWARE
34
ACCESS, LIFT & HANDLERS
JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2014
fully integrated so as soon as a user completes
a new rental transaction, the service request is
populated and ready to be dispatched.
Fuel monitoring
Managing fuel costs is a time consuming task
prone to a variety of issues, especially with the
current trend of fuel prices. Wynne Systems’
latest update aims to make this daily task
easier.
Wynne’s Fuel Management tool is a brand
new automated fuel management system
developed to maintain, control and monitor fuel
consumption. It has the ability to eliminate the
unauthorized dispensing of fuel and limit the
amount of fuel dispensed per asset.
“Managing fuel costs is a time-consuming
task prone to a variety of issues, especially
with the current trend of fuel prices,” Bureau
explains. “The solution is fully integrated with
our Wynne ERP and is intended to help our
customers account for and track a number
of variables pertaining to their fuel operating
expenditures.”
More mobile solutions
RMI Corp.’s new Advantage Cloud model has
made it possible for RMI to deliver more than
40 mobile functions to users in the field. Its
mobile functionality is device independent,
meaning that Advantage Mobile functionality
can be run on any web-enabled device such as
a smartphone. Additionally, these functions can
also run on a laptop and/or desktop computer.
Genisys Software’s latest and greatest takes
the form of Genisys Mobile, real-time integrated
software developed for use on mobile devices.
Genisys Mobile is browser-based so no data
or files are saved on the actual device being
used. Users can look up customer information,
inventory availability, rates and more.
Customers can look-up account balances,
credit limits, addresses, phone numbers,
open orders and open invoices. There is also
the ability to look up inventory, which allows
users to check rates and availability for any
customer and any date range in the future.
The software also allows users to create or
convert reservations directly from mobile
devices, including setting up delivery, adding
jobsite information, the name of the customer’s
authorized employee, the purchasing order
number and any rental or sales items required.
The reservation can also be converted to a
contract or a quote can be converted to a
reservation or directly to a sales invoice for
inventory or equipment purchases.
Geniys Mobile also allows users to print, fax
or email directly from the device they’re using,
as well as enter fuel and update meters and
quantity on bulk items; receive purchase orders
and receive delivery notifications. Another
function allows the driver to set up delivery
dates and times and to capture the signature of
the customer at the time of delivery and/or pick-
up. The time clock function allows employees to
access time clock records when they are not at
the physical rental business location.
Also in the e-realm is Solutions by Computer’s
Enfinity e-portal, which enables rental
company’s customers to check rates, submit
rental requests, call equipment off rent and
view their account activity reports from any
browser. It’s also built to accommodate further
smartphone functionality for the field such as
the ability to reserve equipment on the fly and
check dispatch status.
Two features touted by Solutions by Computer
include the E-Sign signature option which is fully
integrated with its Enfinity system and allows
any user-operated mobile device to seamlessly
incorporate the customer signature into the
transaction record.
The company also has email updates
automatically generated by the system and
rental operators then are notified on their mobile
devices when issues arise, such as overbooking,
wait lists, risks and more.
■
Wynne’s Fuel Management
tool is a brand new
automated fuel
management system
developed to maintain,
control and monitor fuel
consumption.
Scaffold software solutions
ALH
asked
Ali Hajighafouri
, global business development
manager for scaffold-focused Avontus Software, for his
views on some pressing software topics.
What is new for rental software this coming year?
There are a lot of great new developments on the horizon, but the nature of those depends on what
kind of rental software you’re looking at. The general rental packages are continuing to market
to specialized companies like access equipment providers, but they still seem set on developing
generic features—financials integrations, a few new reports, but nothing innovative for a particular
industry like access. Operational concerns, things that are necessary to everyday life at an access
company, seem much less important to the developers of those products.
We’re the only company out there providing a fully integrated solution for scaffold design,
estimation, inventory control, job management, and invoicing, and we’ve just begun offering
multiple different editions of our system to cater to every customer’s budget and functional needs.
Rather than struggle to map their work to generic rental software, access companies can use our
products and have programs that adapt to their specific needs.
Do you provide ‘asset tracking’ software? If so, what do your customers use it for?
We certainly do! Since 2006, Quantify has been helping access companies manage scaffolding,
motorized equipment and tools, both in terms of tracking assets between locations and invoicing
for and servicing equipment. They’re also able to incorporate freight, labor and other charges,
track their utilization, and forecast their needs, leading to better cash flow and cost control.
Because it’s specialized for the industry, our customers use it to manage all aspects of their
equipment movements in great detail, and our industrial access users also present the software as
a key differentiator when bidding on major contracts.
Our customers use the software to ensure that they’re running an efficient, profitable business,
and because our products are specialized to serve this industry, they have the best toolset
available to achieve their goals.
Anything new with ‘the cloud?’
Avontus has just begun offering a new product, Quantify Cloud, which enables those with limited
IT resources or who prefer a subscription model to use our rental software over the Internet.
We found that there was a real gap in the cloud computing arena; rental programs available in
the cloud tend to be generic and either very limited or very expensive. Quantify Cloud gives our
customers a no-hassle full inventory and rental management solution that’s specialized for access
companies.
