Route optimization software improves every kind of field service operation, from grocery deliveries to field sales appointments. But many business owners and managers leave money on the table by refusing to take advantage of this technology.
In some cases, people simply aren’t aware of the benefits of route optimization software. Others are misinformed about what it can do. To help shine some light and solve this problem, we’ve answered a series of frequently asked questions about route optimization, GPS tracking, and other Route4Me features:
Route4Me FAQ
How can Route4Me help me measure fuel consumption?
Route4Me’s reporting and analytics tool displays the total amount of gas used. You can also enter the price of gas in your area to see the total gas costs and the gas costs per day, quarter, year, etc. You can see the cost of gas for each individual route as well.
Can Route4Me help me with driver training?
Route4Me’s data-driven driver safety course, Safety4Me, offers an advanced approach to driver training. Instead of just presenting everyone on your team with the same training material, Safety4Me monitors each field employee’s driving performance and assigns lessons based on their performance (for example, if a driver has a habit of braking harshly, they will be assigned a lesson on how to brake properly).
That way, each individual team member gets the guidance they need, and these driving tips for commercial drivers are sure to improve your organization as a whole.
Can Route4Me help me see my vehicle and driver movements in real-time?
Yes. Route4Me’s GPS tracking feature shows you the location and speed of your field employees in real-time.
Can Route4Me reduce my car insurance premiums?
While Route4Me doesn’t deal directly with insurance companies, Route4Me’s delivery route planner does reduce the risk of collisions. Some insurance plans offer lower premiums and deductibles to companies that use route planners for this reason.
Can I integrate my existing telematics solution with Route4Me?
Route4Me’s real-time GPS tracker integrates with many of the top telematics vendors, including TomTom and Verizon Networkfleet. You can connect Route4Me to your telematics account to automatically share routes and GPS tracking data.
Do I need to sign a long-term contract to use Route4Me?
No, Route4Me uses a pay-as-you-go model. There are no strings attached, and you don’t need to sign any long-term contracts.
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I don’t have any route planning needs. Can I just use Route4Me’s GPS tracker?
Yes. Route4Me offers a custom plan for businesses that only want to use GPS tracking. But even if you don’t need route planning, we recommend that you use additional features, such as geofencing, eSignatures, and speed alerts, to further improve performance and increase your profit margin.
Can I use the software on Android and iOS?
Yes. Route4Me offers dedicated mobile apps for Android, iOS, and Zebra devices. Over 90% of Route4Me’s features are available on our mobile apps.
Will data be lost if my driver loses their internet connection?
No. Route4Me has an offline mode feature, which ensures that once a route is downloaded onto a driver’s device, it can be used without an internet connection.
When the device is offline, data is stored locally. Then, when the connection is restored, data produced while offline will be synchronized with Route4Me’s servers. The data synchronizes automatically by default. You can also synchronize it manually.
Can Route4Me help me control speeding?
Route4Me’s GPS-powered speed alert feature will notify you whenever someone on your team breaks the speed limit. Then, you can give them a warning or discipline them.
Speed alerts also have a “big brother” effect – when a field employee knows that they’ll get caught for speeding, they probably just won’t do it in the first place.
How many users can I have?
You can have up to tens of thousands of users, depending on your subscription plan. You can also assign varying levels of access to your users. For example, you could set it up so that drivers can only view routes, while dispatchers can create them as well.
Is Route4Me only available in English?
No, Route4Me is available in many different languages, including Malay, Hebrew, Polish, Norwegian, Danish, Czech, Turkish, Swedish, Spanish, Italian, French, Chinese, Hungarian, Romanian, Russian, German, Korean, Arabic, Finnish, Japanese, Portuguese, and Dutch.
Does Route4Me use a lot of cell data?
There’s no standard answer to how much data route accounting software uses. We did our own research and found that using a delivery route planner app consumes about 270 MB on Android and 225 MB on Apple per month. Read this article to learn more about cell phone data usage by route planners.
Does Route4Me offer a free trial?
Yes, we offer a seven-day free trial with zero obligations. During this trial period, you can explore all the features offered by Route4Me to see just how much our software can reduce your expenses and increase your revenue. We’re the only route planning company confident enough to offer a free trial and 100% refund on any money spent during the trial period.
Can I use Route4Me for pickups, sales calls, and service stops?
Of course! Route4Me is a general purpose route planning and scheduling system that can be used for deliveries, sales, and field services.
I run a seasonal business. Do I need to pay for Route4Me for the whole year?
You can terminate your Route4Me membership at any time, but this will cause you to lose all the data associated with your account, including your routes, customer information, electronic signatures, and employee tracking history.
Also, you should know that Route4Me’s Enterprise plan is a great fit for seasonal businesses. This plan will automatically re-balance your customer list. So, after you upload your entire list, you’ll never need to plan a route again.
How many routes can I optimize each month?
This depends solely on your subscription plan – there’s no limit to the number of routes that Route4Me is capable of optimizing.
Can Route4Me tell my drivers how to drive and where to go?
Yes. Our turn-by-turn navigation system is available on iPhones and iPads. It supports routes that have 50 destinations or less.
Can Route4Me send alerts to my customers when a field rep is close to them?
Yes. Route4Me’s geofencing feature allows you to place a virtual perimeter around the location of each of your customers. Then, when one of your field employees crosses through a geofence, you can set it up so that a text or email notification is automatically sent to the customer that tells them your field employee is about to arrive.
Is Route4Me a good replacement for MapPoint?
Yes! While MapPoint no longer offers support or updates, Route4Me has multi-channel support (email, chat, phone, and knowledge base) and is updated regularly.
Route4Me is also the best MapPoint alternative because it’s especially easy to use. All you need to do is plug in the addresses you want to visit, set the constraints (number of drivers, availability window for each stop, etc.), and then your optimized route will be ready in 30 seconds or less.
We have a dedicated onboarding program for former MapPoint users that will make your transition as easy as possible.
Is Route4Me available on any ruggedized devices?
Yes, Route4Me is available on Zebra handheld computers and tablets. You can download the Route4Me app from the Zebra App Gallery. We also have a page for Route4Me Zebra app users that covers all the information about the app that you need to know.
How strong is Route4Me’s security? Will my data be safe with you?
Route4Me has over 32,000 customers spread across more than 100 countries. Our software has been used by industry leaders like Accenture, Coca-Cola, FedEx, LG, Honeywell, Philips, and Whirlpool. These companies wouldn’t trust us if we weren’t secure. You can view a full list of our high-profile customers here.
That’s just a small sample of the questions we regularly receive. If your question wasn’t addressed here, you can find more answers on our dedicated FAQ page and our support page.
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