GPSLive.co.uk – Our online live tracking panel GPSLive is now compatible with Coach Manager private hire and contract booking system.
Please get in touch with us if you would like to integrate your trackers to your existing Coach Manager account.
Check out our GPS Tracker category to view our vehicle GPS Tracker list.
Coach Manager is a start to finish solution for the management of private hire and contract work specially designed for coach, minibus, chauffeur and community transport operators.
The software offers secure handling of bookings, easy and efficient allocation of vehicles and drivers, client confirmations, driver work tickets, invoicing and a built-in sales ledger with extensive financial reporting facilities and an optional link to Sage 50.
Microsoft SQL Server Platform
Coach Manager has been developed using Microsoft Visual Studio and the Microsoft SQL Server database engine. SQL Server is part of the Microsoft.NET Platform and is an industrial strength database engine designed to handle hundreds of simultaneous users. It delivers stunning performance with unparalleled reliability and security. It is designed for systems that are in constant use under the most demanding circumstances. Coach Manager is designed to be used with Microsoft SQL Server Standard Edition. Alternatively, all but the largest operators can use it with the royalty-free Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition.
Google Maps for Work Integration
Coach Manager is fully integrated with Google Maps for Work. This means business and other address lookups are virtually instantaneous, as are route calculations and the return of travel times, distances and latitudes/longitudes. All the facilities of the familiar free version of Google Maps are integrated into Coach Manager including the map, terrain, satellite and street views, draggable routes and real-time traffic information.
Quotations and Pricing
Coach Manager combines a sophisticated but easy to use price calculator with a quotation management system designed for the rapid input, storage and retrieval of private hire quotations. In conjunction with our Google Maps for Work integration, the price calculator makes it easy for sales staff to consistently and accurately calculate prices for the hire of vehicles under a wide range of varying circumstances, at different times of the year, for destinations both near and far. Quotations can be posted or emailed to a client and on acceptance can be converted into a firm booking in a matter of seconds.
Private Hires
The private hire side of Coach Manager can handle anything from a straightforward requirement for a single vehicle through to a highly complex multi-movement booking with multiple vehicles and drivers.
Contracts
The contract side offers a similar degree of flexibility but adds a facility that allows the dates on which a contract operates to be entered on a year view calendar. The system can cope with any pattern or frequency and dates can be added or removed simply by clicking on the calendar. A wizard can be used to quickly schedule a contract for any number of future months or years. The times on which a contract operates can be easily edited for any given individual day.
Confirmation Letters
Coach Manager can automatically generate a letter of confirmation for every new private hire booking. The system includes a built-in word processor which allows an unlimited number of letter templates, each designed to cover a different circumstance, to be created and stored. Letters are automatically selected for dispatch by post, fax or email according to the preference of each individual client.
Where Is My Coach?
Our “Where Is My Coach?” service allows your clients to see the location of their allocated vehicle on a Google Map on the day of their booking. Both the original confirmation letter and the pre-departure email include a link to a mobile-friendly website which shows the current position of the vehicle in relation to the pick-up point and destination.
Scheduling
A powerful graphical scheduling system shows bookings which have already been allocated to a vehicle or driver alongside those that haven’t. As each unallocated booking is selected, the required time slot is highlighted on the graphical display facilitating the choice of an available vehicle or driver. Bookings are then allocated simply by clicking on the chosen vehicle or driver. Bookings can be moved from one vehicle or driver to another using drag and drop.
Work Tickets
Driver work tickets are generated automatically from the booking details and can be selected for printing by date or individual driver. Work tickets can be printed onto plain or pre-printed stationery. They can also be emailed to a driver for remote collection and printing.
Invoices
Invoices are also generated automatically from booking details with clients being invoiced immediately, daily, weekly, monthly or on demand according to the setting for each client. Invoice details can be previewed on screen and, if necessary, the underlying booking details can be amended prior to printing. The system offers a choice of single or multiple bookings per invoice according to the preference of each individual client. Invoices can be sent to the client either by post or by email depending on client preference. All invoices are stored in a document database for future referral.
Sales Ledger
All invoices are posted automatically to the built-in Coach Manager sales ledger. The system handles all forms of payments and makes it very easy to allocate payments to invoices. The sales ledger has extensive reporting facilities including a sales daybook, client statements and an aged debt analysis. An optional link to Sage 50 Accounts is available if required.
Gross Payroll
The optional Gross Payroll module is fully integrated into Coach Manager from original booking entry, through actual time and mileage update and on to payroll production and export. The module replaces the need for time-consuming manual pay calculation, automating the production of all the data necessary for input into an external payroll system.
Coach Manager Online
Coach Manager Online allows a coach company to create its own corporate website from details entered into Coach Manager in nothing more complicated than plain English text. Operators can create and maintain their own website without the need for any special skills and without having to know anything about how websites work. As content is entered, the system automatically builds a professional website that is highly optimised for all the leading search engines.
Online Quotations
An optional additional component for Coach Manager Online provides operators with an online quotation request facility. Clients are guided through the process of describing their proposed journey in a straightforward step-by-step manner and can choose the vehicle they require from a selection of images. New requests are written directly into the Coach Manager database allowing them to be responded to immediately.
Coach Manager Connect
Coach Manager Connect is a groundbreaking service that connects the Coach Manager booking system at over 400 of our clients to create a powerful community-wide communication network. By utilising an Internet-based data server, it allows operators to easily subcontract bookings to other operators, browse and take on bookings offered by other operators and instantly transfer booking details in both directions.
Fully Integrated
Coach Manager is fully integrated with our VOSA approved Vehicle Maintenance System. As vehicles are allocated to bookings the system automatically checks with VMS to ensure there are no conflicting workshop commitments or outstanding defects. The system is also fully integrated with our Tour Booking System.
Coach Manager Express
Coach Manager Express is a simplified version of Coach Manager aimed at operators with smaller fleet sizes. By removing a selection of features designed for some of our larger clients, we’ve made the system much easier to use. At the same time, it is still extremely flexible and is capable of delivering everything a smaller operator could need in a booking system. Coach Manager Express can be upgraded to the full Coach Manager system when and if required.
http://www.distinctive-systems.com/products/coach_manager
