ServiceCore

Scheduling and routing in one system

ServiceCore is business software for companies that run septic pumping, grease trap cleaning, portable toilet and roll-off rental operations. It is built around the daily cycle of these firms: customers, jobs, schedules, routes, inventory and invoices. The product works with QuickBooks, and the developers say their team has more than a decade of experience in the waste industry, which is why the software is shaped around the way such firms run.

Pinning exact locations

A job can be given the address held on the customer record or entered directly when the job is created. The location can then be refined by dragging a pin on a map to the exact spot, such as a particular parking space, so that the driver reaches the right point. The system stores the coordinates for that location, which the company says means drivers are sent to the correct destination.

Service areas and billing

Owners can define as many service areas as their business needs. Each area is drawn on a map and given its own colour, and invoices are charged according to the area served. This suits a firm that bills some areas differently or that assigns particular routes to certain drivers, because the pricing and the route follow the same boundary.

A live view of the day's work

Office staff see the day's jobs as soon as they log in, arranged by driver and by day or week, either as a list or on a map. Filters narrow the view to particular job or rental types, service areas or drivers. Changes during a working day are handled by assigning drivers when a job is created or when the schedule is adjusted. A suggestion tool ranks drivers by available capacity and by how close they are to the job, and adjustments are made by dragging items on the schedule.

Route optimization and the driver app

The route view shows the service time, drive time and total time needed for each route, and the user can move stops around on the map or in card view. An automatic optimization arranges the stops once a departure time and the start and end locations are set, which the company says can save hours on a long route. The driver app keeps field crews in step with the office, and inventory tracking covers the units and equipment the business owns. Digital marketing tools support the rest of the business's growth.