THE BASICS

Once you have created a new call or accepted an order from a client (motor club or else) and if you have not yet dispatched it, the call will be placed in the Standby status. In other words, it is waiting to be dispatched. 

By clicking on “Standby” in the top menu in the desktop version of TowSoft, you will be able to see all the calls that are in that status. The number in the red circle in the top right corner of it represents the number of calls that are currently in that status.

Standby tab in TowSoft

In that window, you will find a table with the relevant details pertaining to the calls.

THE STANDBY CALLS TABLE, IN DETAIL

Here are the different columns you will find in that table and an explanation of them.

The Standby calls table

# -> The # that was assigned to the call by the TowSoft system.

2nd column -> The base (branch of the company) as defined in the “Companies and options” settings. The colour of the label is the one that was chosen when configuring the base and the abbreviation is what was defined in “Company Short Name”.

Base label in the Standby calls table

Defining the base in the Companies and options settings

P.O. -> The number (if any) that confirms that the call was approved by the client and that can be referred to if needed.

Client -> Name of the customer / vehicle owner on the road (top of cell, if any), as well as the name of the roadside assistance company (bottom of cell, in bold writing, if any)

Date -> Date and time at which the call entered the TowSoft system

Delay -> Elapsed time since the order entered the TowSoft system

Type -> Will display the actual service that is required on site and, in a label, the type of intervention (if one was associated to the service when your admin configured it).

Priority -> Level of priority as defined by your system administrator in the “Companies and options” settings.

Vehicle -> The vehicle that will be loaded onto the truck if known at the time the call was created.

Zone -> Zone associated with the call based on its location and according to the zones that were configured by your administrator.

Origin -> Address of the Site / location of intervention.

Destination -> Address of the vehicle drop off site / location

Notes -> Notes added to the call when created by the dispatcher or admin.

Actions -> Contains the different actions that can be performed from this table.

WHAT YOU CAN DO FROM THIS SCREEN

Dispatch the call -> Click on the “GO” button in the Actions column. Fill in the details to dispatch the call.

View the complete order details -> Click on the call number in the first column.

Add / edit the priority level -> Click on the priority label that was assigned to the call, change it and click the modify button.

Edit the vehicle -> Click on the vehicle information or on the pencil icon if none is entered.

Add / edit the zone -> Click on the zone label that was assigned to the call, change it to another one of the options from the dropdown and click the modify button.

Add / edit the notes -> Click on the notes or on the pencil icon if none is entered.

Delete, duplicate or print out the call -> In the actions column, at the right of the “GO” button, there is a button with three vertical bars. Place the mouse cursor over it and the option to delete, duplicate or print the call will appear.

Sort columns -> Click on the title of any of the columns to sort the calls alphabetically according to their content in that column. Click again to sort in the opposite order.

Export table -> Export the table as a CSV (MS Excel, Google Sheet, etc.), print it out, generate a PDF for it or copy it to the clipboard in order to paste it somewhere else by using the buttons at the left of the search bar.

Toggle column visibility -> By clicking on the “Visibility” button, you’ll be able to choose to hide a few columns from the table.

Update table content -> Click on the reload table button. This will only refresh the content contained within the table without refreshing the whole page.

Search in the table -> Type something in the search bar at the top right corner to try to find something contained in all of the listings.

Get a map view -> Click on the “Map View” button just above the search bar to see scene locations of the calls on a map.

Take a new call -> Press on the blue button at the bottom of the table to take a new call from that window.

* Note that the table displays a maximum of 100 calls per page. To get to the next pages, scroll down to the bottom of it and click “Next”.