Skip watching entire videos - get the full transcript, search for keywords, and copy with one click.
Share:
Video Transcript
Video Summary
Summary
Core Theme
Towbook offers a powerful and flexible dispatching system designed to streamline towing operations, providing comprehensive tools for managing calls, communicating with drivers, customizing views, and integrating with other services.
Dispatching is where you will be spending most of your time,
and Towbook has the most powerful and flexible dispatching system in the world.
Chapter 1 - Dispatching Lists
Let’s cover some basics of your Towbook system.
Status Colors (what each status color means)
The color legend is at the bottom; each call has a color associated with the status,
so you can easily see which calls are waiting, dispatched, enroute,
on scene, being towed, arrived at their destination, or any late or missed ETAs.
You will notice on the left that calls are kept in lists to help keep things organized.
If the “Current” list is selected, you will see all calls that are “Waiting” and “Active”.
If you want to see calls that are waiting or active,
you can select the “Waiting” or “Active” lists to see only those calls.
All calls that have been completed can be viewed under the “Completed” list. This is a
comprehensive list of all completed calls in your company’s history, beginning with the most recent.
Scheduled calls will appear in the “Scheduled” list and will automatically move to your
“Current” list 6 hours before the job is scheduled to be completed.
If a call was cancelled, you will find all cancelled calls under the “Cancelled” list.
You can undo a cancelled call at any time;
once undone, the call will be back in your “Waiting” list.
Quotes are another important option in dispatching.
When a prospective customer calls in and asks you to price a job,
you can create a quote in a few clicks.
If the customer calls back and asks you to do the job,
you can convert the quote to a call with ease.
Chapter 2 - Dispatching Features
Let’s review some basic dispatching features.
Search & Quick Search
There are a couple of ways to search for jobs using Towbook.
The first is the advanced search option by clicking on the “Search” icon.
Here, you can find jobs by name, phone number,
account name, vehicle details, driver, dispatcher, or date range.
In addition, you can also use our quick search option, where you’ll find jobs using keywords;
such as account name, partial VIN, call number, or invoice number.
Driver Messaging
At Towbook, we believe communication is key.
You can send a short, one-way text to your driver via the “Driver Messaging” option.
Select “Driver Messaging” at the top and pick a driver from the drop-down menu.
Write your message and select “Send Message” to send a text message to your driver.
It is important to note that this option has a 140 character limit;
if a longer message is needed, we recommend using our Chat feature which will be discussed later.
The Request Log is where you will find all information relating to digital dispatches,
other requests such as emailed jobs, and digital connection status.
The ‘Digital Dispatches’ tab is where you can see all offers that have been
sent via Digital Dispatch and the status of the offer.
‘Other Requests’ contains any emails sent to your Towbook.net email address.
And the ‘Digital Connections’ tab is going to show the list of
the motor clubs that are digitally connected to your Towbook account.
Towbook offers the ability to collect surveys from your customers.
To access the surveys your customers have completed, select the Survey icon.
This will show a list of the completed surveys with their rating, the review,
and the call the review is associated with.
If you have your surveys connected to your company website, you can
choose to display the survey on your website.
Chapter 3 - Dispatching Customization
If you would like to customize your dispatching screen, you will find it
easy to change views and show the data your company feels is most important.
Dispatching Views
To change views, select the “View” icon located next to the search bar.
You have (4) views to choose from:
1. Card View will show you the most information per call.
2. Grid View will show the same data as Card View but will add
filters that allow you to filter the calls by column heading data.
3. One-Line Grid View also has filters and condenses the calls on your screen,
which is useful for managing a large volume of calls at one time.
4. Classic View is a hybrid option between the card view and grid view.
Page Settings
To modify what data is displayed on your screen, select the “Settings” icon.
From here, you can click and drag data sections you want to see in each field,
as well as adjust the hierarchy.
Any data sections under the “Header” field will be displayed on the call here.
Dragging data to the “Columns” Section will make it appear as
a filter in a grid view or will be a main section within the card view.
Any data carried over to the “Expanded Info”
column will display when you click on a call to expand it.
You can also format data sections to stand out even more by making them
different colors or adjusting the text styling.
Once your dispatching screen is customized to fit your needs,
click “Save” to put these changes into place.
Now that we have the basics down, let’s create our first call!
Feel free to follow along with us in your Towbook system!
Creating a Call
To create a new call, select the “New Call” button in the top left corner;
this opens the call editor.
From here, you also have the option to turn the call into a “Completed” call,
“Scheduled” call, or create a “Quote”.
Select the account the call is for,
fill in any contact information, and enter the pickup location.
Notice the “3” buttons next to the pickup location.
The plus icon allows you to add multiple addresses to the call.
The “Pin Drop” icon will allow you to drag a pin to any location you would like,
in doing so you can also choose to use the GPS Coordinates or the suggested location address.
If your customer is unsure of their exact location, you can use the “Target” icon.
Clicking on this icon will allow you to populate your customer’s location in the call via text
message request. Towbook will send a text to your customer asking them to share their location;
once it is shared, the location will automatically populate in the call!
Next, you will want to add a destination address. Here, you will see a drop-down
menu to indicate whether your destination is an address or whether you will be taking the
vehicle back to an impound lot. This step is important, as this will tell
Towbook to start accruing storage according to your storage preferences in “Settings”.
Select the reason for the call, indicate a priority if needed, and enter your ETA.
Next, you will enter any vehicle details.
Towbook is known for our plate to VIN technology!
Here, you can enter the license plate and state of a vehicle and we will populate the VIN,
Drive Type, vehicle weight, year, make, and model automatically!
Next, add the vehicle color, odometer,
select whether the vehicle is drivable and indicate whether keys are present.
If you know which driver this call will be dispatched to,
you can add them now. If not, you can dispatch this at a later time.
Add any important notes that you would like to make about this job.
If you receive motor club work, any details from the club will be listed here. Additionally,
you can also use these to convey information to the driver assigned to this call.
When adding Billing Notes, it is important to note that they are only visible to managers
and dispatchers. You will also use this box if you are billing a call
directly to the motor club using Towbook’s Direct Billing feature.
Lastly, it is time to add your invoice charges.
Towbook can automatically calculate your mileage based on your pickup and destination location;
you can also apply deadhead mileage if needed!
If an impound destination was selected, you will see the line item for storage
automatically populated, along with any rates that populate via pricing rules, and fuel surcharges,
which will be covered in another section. Add any additional charges or discounts,
click Save Changes and you have successfully created your call!
If you need to create a call quickly, the only field that is required is the pickup location;
all other fields can be updated at another time.
Dispatching a Call
At this point, you can select the option to create the call
or dispatch it right away to the assigned driver.
When the call has been created, it will show on our “Current” call list in “Waiting” status.
To dispatch the call, click on it, then select “Update Status” at the bottom.
A window will appear where you can change the status to “Dispatched” or any other status option.
Select a driver to assign the call to; notice that Towbook will indicate each driver’s distance
from the service address and when they are expected to complete any current assignments.
Once the status is selected, click “Update” to save any changes.
Drivers will then receive a new call notification on the Towbook mobile app,
where they can accept the job, update their status, and navigate to the service location.
When a driver accepts a call that has been dispatched to them, a “thumbs up” icon will
be displayed on the call so you know that the job has been received and accepted.
Updating the status of a Call
As a best practice, we always recommend that the driver update the call status from their mobile
app; this will ensure that accurate GPS data is collected. Status updates from the mobile app
are saved automatically and will be updated in real-time for managers and dispatchers to view.
Managers and Dispatchers can update the status of
a call manually by clicking on the call and selecting “Update Status”.
Once the window appears, you can update the
status from the drop-down menu and click “Update” to save any changes.
Chapter 5 - Accepting Digital Offers
Calls can also be sent to your Towbook system from accounts like motor clubs and local shop accounts.
When a motor club sends a Digital Dispatch offer, a notification will appear with the call
information. A manager or dispatcher can accept the call with an ETA or reject it with a reason.
If you accept the offer, the motor club will be notified
and will either award your company the call or reject the ETA you provided.
If the call is awarded by the motor club,
you will then see the call appear in the “Waiting” tab, ready to be dispatched.
All digital offers and details can be found in the Request Log, discussed previously.
Chapter 6 - Expanded Options
Once a call is created, you will notice several options appear when clicking on it.
You can make changes to a call by clicking on “Modify” in the expanded view.
The Call Editor will appear, and you can change or add any details added to the call originally.
Click “Save Changes” once you are finished.
Update Status
As drivers work a call, the status will update on your screen automatically.
As mentioned previously, a manager or dispatcher can update the status
manually by selecting the call and clicking on “Update Status”,
but as a best practice we recommend having the driver do this from their mobile app.
Chat
In Towbook, you have the option to message the driver on a specific call.
This two-way messaging option is available by selecting the call and clicking on “Chat”.
This will open a chat window where you and the driver can communicate about
any call details and will be saved to the job for future reference.
Complete Call
Aside from the Update Status option, you can complete a call in just a few seconds.
Simple select the “Complete Call” option in the expanded view. Here,
you can update the times of each status, driver, and truck, as well as any payment information.
You can also add any call or billing notes here as well!
You can access the receipt of any call,
by selecting the “Receipt” option in the expanded view.
From here, you can view, download, print, or email the receipt and hide any charges or discounts.
If a signature was collected by the driver, this will be displayed on the receipt.
If you would like to email or text a receipt of the invoice with a message,
you can click on “Email” in the expanded view.
If a contact number and/or email was added to the call when it was first
created, the suggested contact information will appear here.
You can add other email addresses or phone numbers with a custom message
along with options to hide any charges or discounts. Chapter 7 – More Call Options
Our expanded view offers you a wide range of easy to access call management functions.
To access more advanced options, select the “More” option.
History will show you data from when the call was first created,
any updates or modifications and who made them.
If you need to cancel a call, the “Cancel Call” option allows
you to do so and add a reason for the cancellation, plus any important notes.
Remember, you can revert a cancelled call at any time, by clicking on the “Cancelled” list,
selecting the call, and clicking on “Undo Cancel”.
Delete Call
If a call was created and is no longer needed, feel free to delete the call.
Managers can bring back a deleted call by accessing the Deleted Calls Report;
this will be discussed in more detail in the Reports tutorial.
You can also duplicate any call at any time by selecting the “Duplicate Call” option.
This will automatically create a new call with the exact same details;
feel free to edit them as necessary and create your new call!
Print Call
We try to keep things paperless, but if you need to print the call details for any reason,
select the “Print Call” option; this will turn your call into a print-ready file.
Files
If you have any additional documents that you would like to associate with the call,
upload them via the “Files” option.
We allow roughly 30 common file types; including MP3,
Word, Excel, and PDF files up to 10 Megabytes per file.
Damage Forms
If your driver uploaded a damage form on-scene, you will be able to view those forms here.
Feel free to view, download, email, or text the damage form to any necessary contacts.
Damage forms will be discussed more thoroughly in the mobile app tutorial.
Accident Reports
If you do accident and recovery jobs, and must negotiate with insurance companies to get paid,
our Accident Report builder may help you get paid more on these jobs.
With this tool, you can create a very professional
Accident Report for any call in Towbook in just a few minutes.
Each report can include all notes, photos, and charges.
Push to QuickBooks
Towbook is integrated with QuickBooks for your convenience! You can select the
“Push to QuickBooks” option to send invoice and payment information to your QuickBooks account.
Add payments to a call at any time by selecting the “Payments” option.
Here you can record the payment amount, reference number, date,
and time, as well as the payment type.
Towbook is integrated with Square to help make the payment process even more efficient!
If a call is impounded, you can view it’s impound details by selecting “View Impound”;
impounds will be discussed more in a separate tutorial.
If you would like to view the account associated with a call, select the “View Account” option to
see all calls associated with that account. You'll learn more in the “Accounts” tutorial.
Replay
If your Driver is reporting their location to Towbook,
you can view a replay of the route taken on the call by selecting the “Replay” option.
You will see options to change the speed and remove the route or markers to get a closer look!
Roadside / Surveys
The Roadside option allows you to manually start the
Roadside.io process by sending your customer a link via text!
Roadside.io is Towbook’s own Uber-like technology,
allowing you to provide your customer with an innovative experience that helps them
be more in touch with the status of the job and provide contact information if allowed.
Once the job is completed, Towbook can send your customer a survey,
which will show up under the “Surveys” and you can choose to push the review to your website.
We have a complete feature video where you can learn more about
Roadside.io and the impact it can have on customer satisfaction and communication!
Chapter 8 – End
Because Towbook is completely cloud-based, you can monitor things from anywhere in the world!
As you get to know Towbook, you will experience all the amazing tools and
capabilities of our simple and powerful dispatching system.
Click on any text or timestamp to jump to that moment in the video
Share:
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
One-Click Copy125+ LanguagesSearch ContentJump to Timestamps
Paste YouTube URL
Enter any YouTube video link to get the full transcript
Transcript Extraction Form
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
Get Our Chrome Extension
Get transcripts instantly without leaving YouTube. Install our Chrome extension for one-click access to any video's transcript directly on the watch page.
