With New Release, McLeod Software makes Customer Service Teams More Effective with a Better Working Space for Customer Service Reps, Gives Brokers a Digital Advantage with New Carrier App, and Puts Cloud-Based Business Intelligence to Work
January 6, 2020 – BIRMINGHAM, AL – Today McLeod Software is releasing version 20.1 of its industry leading LoadMaster Enterprise and PowerBroker software solutions.
New Role-Based Environment for Customer Service Reps
With the release of Version 20.1, McLeod Software has introduced a new Customer Service Management screen that provides the Customer Service Representative (CSR) with a new role-based cockpit environment that puts everything they need in one place, eliminating the need to leave that single view for most of their daily work. This new easy-to-view, all-in-one-place environment will help CSR’s be more productive, as they work to make decisions and make changes to orders.
How it works: the new environment provides a dashboard view with access to Board Statistics, Market Rates, and Dispatch information, all of which is vital to helping the CSR make faster decisions with a complete view of company requirements. Profiles can be created to filter information for more specific user views the individual CSR needs, based on customers, regions, order status, order types, inbound, and outbound destination. Multiple profiles can be readily available to the CSR, which are displayed in a multi-tab format in the new Customer Service Management screen.
The new environment also displays the individual movements for each order to provide the CSR with a complete view of their workload with order and movement status information. It also shows the movement’s stop with detail information, so users don’t have to navigate to another screen. Tracking, service incidents, appointment detail, OS&D are all visible on one screen.
McLeod IQ Business Intelligence Platform Now Cloud-Based
McLeod Software’s Cloud IQ is a McLeod hosted, cloud-based version of the powerful McLeod IQ analytics product that customers can deploy quickly without the investment in hardware and infrastructure. The Cloud IQ Business Intelligence solution provides broad insight by giving visual analysis along with the ability to drill down and understand what is behind the numbers. Using Microsoft’s Power BI, Excel, or Reporting Services (SSRS) to access the Cloud IQ model, companies can be up and running in a matter of days with a full suite of standard reports and dashboards.
Cloud IQ comes with an assortment of standard Power BI analytics and dashboards, built from the most commonly used Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). McLeod customers can choose from multiple analytical service level options to select the package that will work best for their budget, training, and service level needs. Data remains secure while accessible through the Microsoft Azure Cloud hosting environment. Each customer is provided a secure, private dedicated Power BI workspace, which contains the full array of IQ reports/dashboards.
Changing the Game for Carrier Apps
With the release of PowerBroker Version 20.1, McLeod Software is introducing the new Carrier App to help brokers get the best carriers and the best drivers covering their loads.
The McLeod Carrier App delivers a broader set of capabilities for Digital Freight Matching than other apps in the marketplace that actually just provide load tracking. The McLeod Carrier App gives users the ability to offer and cover loads through a secure connection to the PowerBroker system. This means that logistics companies using PowerBroker can now deploy some of the same capabilities widely touted by the “digital brokers,” who seek to engage carriers looking for loads through their mobile app.
The McLeod Carrier App does this by allowing the driver, or the carrier office staff, including operations and administration, to easily view offered loads and provides available load search capabilities. Carriers can make changes to their Driver Profile Information, their Preferred Lanes, and update Available Tractor information, including keeping their equipment profiles current. The carrier operations and administration staff can access the same set of tools that their driver has with one login.
A Powerful Driver Tool for Better Communication with Carriers
The McLeod Carrier App helps to establish better communication between a carrier driver, the carrier back office team, and the broker. Brokers can send order offers directly to carrier administration or carrier drivers from PowerBroker. Carrier drivers can view, accept, counter, or decline load offers directly from the mobile app. Brokers using McLeod’s Rapid Alert Notification System (RANS) can be alerted immediately of driver load acceptance, and send load confirmations seamlessly back to the driver or their home office. Streamlining the process gets loads covered faster.
Driver Connection Made Easy
Brokers can easily connect to carrier drivers with a simple text message, indicating a load has been assigned. A simple text message that contains a “special” link provides the driver with a PIN number and connects the driver and broker. The link can be used to install the McLeod Carrier App if needed. This process creates a secure connection for the driver to communicate load information back to the broker, without having to remember a username or password. Brokers get vital load tracking, and they can pass needed load information on to make the driver’s experience better.
Mobile Message Communications
The McLeod Carrier App is designed so that carrier drivers can view and respond to mobile messages with the broker’s dispatch, interact with free form messages via the app, receive important documents, such as permits, and add call-ins to update arrival times.
Tracking and Managing Detention for Your Carriers
One way brokers can differentiate themselves is with their carrier base is by helping those carriers deal with the greatest capacity thief in our industry, detention. Carrier drivers that provide tracking can allow PowerBroker users to take advantage of capabilities like Symphony Mobile Communications, to visually see all carriers with loads and their progress. But the real payback is probably in the ability to use Symphony along with McLeod’s Detention management module. By knowing a carrier’s arrival and departure information, PowerBroker customers can use the Detention Management module to more accurately track, warn shippers of detention, and bill detention charges on behalf of the carriers, thus working for them with a fully automated process.
Collect the Trip Documents and Communicate about Settlements through the Carrier App
The carrier admin team can view both their paid and unpaid settlements within the app. The built-in document capture feature of McLeod’s Carrier App lets the driver capture trip documents and index them at the same time. Another feature allows carrier drivers to use their mobile device to electronically capture signatures for proof of delivery at the consignee.
New Integration with TriumphPay
Version 20.1 of PowerBroker offers a new integration with TriumphPay’s carrier payment platform to increase back office efficiencies and reduce the time spent processing carrier payments. Carriers can be notified of receiving their settlement payments through the TriumphPay system and use the quick pay feature to receive their settlement payments faster. As settlements are processed in the TriumphPay system, updates are received by PowerBroker to assist in reconciliation during settlement posting.