Coach Manager

Our cloud based Client Portal lets an operator’s clients request and accept quotations, list and check their bookings, view a statement of account and make secure online card payments.

The portal runs in a web browser on a smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer, making it easy for clients to access it from almost anywhere.

The portal includes both “Quick Quote” and more detailed quotation request forms which operators can easily add to their existing website. Incoming quotation requests go straight into Coach Manager ready for pricing, or if preferred, can be priced automatically. An attractive professional email, complete with vehicle images, is then automatically sent back to the client.  On receipt the client can click a link to be taken back into the portal where the full details of the quotation can be viewed and both the price and operator’s terms can be accepted.

First time visitors can request and accept a quotation without having to first go through the process of setting up an account and logging in. Established clients can manage their own account details, view an online statement and make payments for both individual and multiple invoices for both private hires and regular contracts.

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 Platform 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 and for destinations both near and far.

Quotations can be emailed or posted to a client and on acceptance can be converted into a firm booking in a matter of seconds.

The emailing of quotations and the receipt of acceptances is also fully integrated with our Client Online Portal.

The private hire side of Coach Manager can handle anything from a straightforward requirement for a single vehicle through to a complex multi movement booking with multiple vehicles and drivers.

Private hire bookings bookings can have unlimited movements, vehicles, drivers, facilities, included/excluded items, extra invoice details, pick-ups, set-downs, tasks and costs. There are also extensive areas for route details, further requirements and notes.

There are also comprehensive user definable facilities for booking types and other codes.

When entering bookings, our Google Maps Platform integration lets users lookup business and other addresses virtually instantaneously using Google Places. Route calculations and the return of travel times, distances and latitudes/longitudes are just as fast.

The contract side of Coach Manager offers a similar degree of flexibility to the private hire side, 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.

Contract bookings can have unlimited movements, vehicles, drivers, facilities, pick-ups, set-downs and costs. There are also extensive areas for route details and notes. There are comprehensive user definable facilities for booking types and codes.

When entering bookings, our Google Maps Platform integration can lookup business and other addresses virtually instantaneously using Google Places. Route calculations and the return of travel times, distances and latitudes/longitudes are just as fast.

Coach Manager can automatically generate a confirmation email or letter for every new private hire booking tailored to the needs of each individual client.

A built-in word processor allows an unlimited number of letter templates, each designed to cover a different circumstance, to be created and stored away for future use.

Confirmations are automatically selected for dispatch by email, fax or post according to the preference of each individual client.

Invoices for both private hire and contract bookings are generated automatically from the details of each booking and are produced 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 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 email or post depending on client preference. All invoices are automatically stored in a document database for future referral.

Invoices for both private hire and contract bookings are posted automatically into Coach Manager's built-in sales ledger as each is produced. The system handles all forms of payments and makes it very easy to allocate payments to invoices.

There are 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.

Coach Manager's highly visual allocation system makes allocating vehicles and drivers easy using its intelligent assistance system to suggest vehicles and drivers.

A drag and drop system allows quick and simple allocation of vehicles and drivers to ensure optimum use of resources. Using the allocation wizard allows you to allocate vehicles and drivers to regular contract bookings at the click of a button. The highly intuitive warning system will flag up potential issues with the chosen vehicle or driver including driver's hours and license checks, availability, size and configuration of allocated vehicle.

Coach Manager's powerful graphical scheduling system makes it especially easy to allocate drivers and vehicles to both private hire and contract bookings.

As each booking is selected for allocation, 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.

Our cloud based Operations Portal lets traffic office staff log in remotely to view all the bookings for a given day in a diary and then add, or change, vehicle and driver allocations. To simplify selection it can filter down to showing just available vehicles and drivers.

The portal runs in a web browser on a smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer, making it easy for staff to work from home or anywhere else outside the office.

Vehicle allocations are checked to ensure they match the requested vehicle type and are not in the workshop. Driver allocations are checked for driving hours and licence compliance. Work tickets can be pushed to the Driver Portal. Beyond this core functionality, the portal replicates virtually all the features and tools that are in Coach Manager’s back office allocations grid.

Driver work tickets are generated automatically from the booking details and can be selected for production by date or individual driver.

Drivers can view the bookings they have been allocated to in our Driver Online Portal. Once the work ticket for a booking has been released to a driver, its full details can be viewed via the portal.

Work tickets can also be emailed to a driver, sent to a driver's smart phone, or printed onto plain or pre-printed stationery for subsequent collection from the office.

Our cloud based Driver Portal lets drivers log in remotely to view a diary showing the bookings they have been allocated to. Clicking on a booking will bring up the full details of its work ticket.

The portal runs in a web browser on a smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer, making it easy for drivers for check their allocated bookings from home, out on the road or even just in the yard. 

Drivers can print their work tickets directly from the website, or download them to a desktop, laptop or mobile device. If preferred, operators can still send work tickets directly to a driver’s smartphone, or print them for subsequent collection from the office.

In the Coach Manager allocations diary, the traffic office is able to see when a driver has looked at a booking and has printed or downloaded the work ticket. Optionally, drivers can be allowed to say whether or not they are able to take on a booking they have been allocated to.

Our award winning Driver Walk-around Check Mobile App is fully integrated with Coach Manager and complies with all statutory walk-around check and defect reporting requirements.

The app makes it easy to ensure drivers comply with their statutory duty to carry out a daily walk-around check and report any defects found. It guides the driver through the complete process for performing the walk-around check. Against each item to be checked the driver can touch a green button to say it is OK, or a red one to report a defect.

When a defect is found the driver can choose from a list of predefined common defects, or enter a free type description. Up to four supporting photographs can also be included.

The completed walk-around check results include the date and time it was carried out, the time taken to complete it, the vehicle distance reading and the GPS location at which it was done.

The app is available for both iOS and Android devices.

Our Driver App integrates seamlessly with our Walk-around Check Mobile App and our Online Driver Portal to create an indispensable tool for both drivers and the traffic office.

The app allows drivers to view a list of the bookings they have been allocated to. On selecting one the driver can view its full details and then be guided step-by-step through each stage. When ready to start the driver presses a button to confirm they are setting off, and then presses it again at each pickup and on arrival at the destination. With each press the app records the actual time and location and updates the display with the details for the next stage. Actual times are automatically written back to Coach Manager.

The app can step in and out of Google Maps with just a single touch for access to its routing, navigation and direction features.

Coach Manager can raise an alert if a driver is late setting off, thereby making you aware of this situation at the earliest possible opportunity. To help prevent this from happening in the first place, Coach Manager can send notifications to drivers to remind them of upcoming bookings.

The Coach Manager Online Website and content management system allows operators to create their 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. The styling of the website is handled by Distinctive Systems. We can create a theme to match an existing website or maybe a new theme based on your corporate branding.  Alternatively, you can choose from a set of pre-defined templates. For mobile visitors Coach Manager Online includes a touch-optimised smartphone friendly version of the website.

The resulting website makes an ideal platform for hosting both the "Quick Quote" and more detailed quotation request forms provided with our Client Online Portal.

Coach Manager Connect is a cloud based service that can connect to the Coach Manager system of all participating clients to create a powerful community-wide communication network.

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.

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 client confirmation 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.

The website is both mobile device and desktop friendly, so clients can check the location of their vehicle while they are waiting for it to arrive.

In order to use the service operators need to have implemented the appropriate integration for one of our many supported GPS tracking vendors. 

Our integrations with many of the major GPS tracking vendors allows operators to view the position of a vehicle on a map from directly within Coach Manager.

The vehicle location can be displayed from within Allocations by right clicking the vehicle in the drag & drop grid and from within Scheduling by right clicking on the vehicle allocation bar.

In order to enable this functionality all that is required is to add valid login credentials for the GPS vendor into the Coach Manager setup area and to add a GPS unit ID against each vehicle.

Our LICENCECHECK integration allows operators to access source DVLA driver record data and store it within Coach Manager. This data includes contact details, category information, restriction codes, current endorsements and whether a driver's licence or vocational entitlement is currently valid or has expired.

Operators can elect to either manually retrieve the licence details for an individual or group of individuals, or have Coach Manager automatically retrieve licence information on regular basis using a sophisticated scheduling system.

Our Google Maps Platform integration allows operators to lookup business and other addresses virtually instantaneously using Google Places. Route calculations and the return of travel times, distances and latitudes/longitudes are just as fast.

All the facilities of the familiar free version of Google Maps are integrated into Coach Manager including map, terrain, satellite and street views, dragable routes and real-time traffic information.

Clicking a location pushpin displays an information window with a street view thumbnail.  Clicking the thumbnail switches into full street view mode. This gives sales staff a detailed understanding of local features and surroundings at pick-up points and destinations.