Having a good towing dispatch software solution is crucial for the success of your tow business. It is also imperative to determine which dispatch software is right for your business.

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for meeting towing companies’ goals. So you’ll inevitably have different needs depending on the size and scale of your dispatch fleet.

To get a better understanding of the best towing dispatch software for individual business needs, we sat down with Jeff Pesnell, Chief Strategy Officer at TRAXERO. We also met Todd Althouse, President, and Founder of Beacon Software and EVP at TRAXERO. They offered insight into the capabilities of several of TRAXERO’S mobile towing dispatch software offerings.

In the following sections, we’ll compare Dispatch Anywhere and TOPS. We’ll outline the key features of each to help you evaluate which one is the best solution for your business. Before we dive into the features and specialties of each software, let’s get into what towing dispatch software is.

What Is Towing Dispatch Software?

An integrated towing dispatch software helps dispatchers keep track of all their towing and recovery operations to help customers. Most solutions include a variety of functions including GPS tracking, monitoring driver schedules, customer database reporting, payment processing, and accounting capabilities. Depending on the size and scale of your towing company, your needs for towing dispatch software will vary.

Many towing companies find themselves unable to keep up with an increasing volume of calls and look for solutions to streamline their operations. The towing industry itself has grown faster than the overall economy in the past five years, and towing businesses need a plan to maintain this growth.

A towing dispatch software solution can help companies increase their number of dispatches, scale to larger towing operations, and integrate payment processing all at once.

“Dispatch has gone way beyond what it was back in the day,” according to Todd. “Back then, dispatchers were only worth the price you pay them, and now there are so many tools to make their jobs more efficient like recommending the nearest driver or truck. Even TOPS has BudgetGPS. You bring all that into the equation and the program does most of the work of the dispatcher. It’s evolved quite a bit, and the software has become the more important piece of dispatching.”

Why Is Quality Dispatch Software Important For Towing Companies?

At TRAXERO, we know your equipment is your most valuable asset. Flatbed tow trucks are averaging $100,000 a piece. Oversized tow trucks are racking up a million dollar price tag. Diesel gas prices are averaging $5-6 a gallon. Considering all that, you want to make sure you have eyes on all of your equipment at one time.

“A good dispatching software is important because it allows you to keep track of everything going on in the system at once,” said Todd. “Dispatch screens are an extension of the dispatchers’ brain. [They can] service all the folks that are waiting and then keep track of all the jobs that are currently being worked.”

The best dispatch software solutions allow dispatchers to see where all of their trucks are at one time. This includes the status of each call and whether each job has been completed. Many dispatch software systems, like TOPS and Dispatch Anywhere, include integrated payment processes and accounting capabilities as well.

What Qualities Should You Look For In Towing Dispatch Software?

When evaluating different dispatch software solutions, it’s a good idea to answer the following questions to audit your business’ needs and current operations:

• How many dispatchers are currently handling calls?
• What is your current call volume per day?
• How many vehicles do you operate with?
• Do you specialize in Motor Clubs, police work, heavy duty, PPI and impounds, roadside, or a combination of these?

“Each one of our products brings a somewhat subtly different offering along the way,” said Jeff. No matter which solution you choose, the end goal of each product in the TRAXERO ecosystem is the same: helping towing and roadside services operate more efficiently. Finding a dispatch towing software will give you a clear understanding of the needs surrounding your specific business.

TOPS vs. Dispatch Anywhere

TOPS and Dispatch Anywhere are two of the leading software solutions in the TRAXERO ecosystem. Both services provide a multitude of features specialized for unique towing businesses, but with a few key distinctions. Here’s a side-by-side comparison between the two to give more context into which offering might be right for you.

TOPS: “The Most Powerful Software Solution in the Towing Industry”

“Police calls, heavy-duty towing, expensive heavy-duty recovery, and larger towing operations, that’s what TOPS is built for,” said Todd.

Features include:

• Built-in accounting
• Higher level of reporting capabilities
• Lien processing
• BudgetGPS integration
• Continuous expert training

Dispatch Anywhere: “The Industry’s Most Reliable Towing Management Software”

“Dispatch anywhere is kind of the hybrid,” said Todd. “It does motor clubs. It does do heavy-duty, but it’s not specialized in the larger towing operations.”

Features include:

• Assign jobs sent from motor clubs
• Track where drivers and vehicles are in relation to their job on a map
• Mobile dispatching app
• Continuous expert training

At a glance, TOPS specializes in large towing operations, while Dispatch Anywhere provides a hybrid of services, from motor club calls to heavy-duty towing jobs. If you’re a smaller or mid-sized towing company with only a few vehicles, Dispatch Anywhere might be the right solution for you. But if you’re a larger company with oversized industrial equipment, we’d recommend using TOPS.

How TRAXERO Can Help

We understand there is no one-size-fits-all solution for any company in the towing and roadside assistance industry. That’s why we’re dedicated to providing a wide variety of industry-leading software solutions to streamline your services and create more efficient solutions for your business.

TRAXERO is here to make the lives of drivers easier, more efficient, and less dangerous. We know how important it is to have streamlined software at your disposal to make any towing job run smoothly and safely. It’s more important than ever that your business is protected from liability and backed by intelligent software to help you more efficiently manage your towing operation.

Request a free demo today with any of our TRAXERO offerings to discover which solution is best for you and your towing business needs.