In order to support them in the management of their fleet, fleet managers rely on fleet management software. This approach is completely legitimate and almost imperative for those in charge of managing a large fleet of vehicles. Indeed, it is possible to manage a fleet of 5 vehicles with the help of a notebook and a pen, on the other hand it is unthinkable for a fleet of 1,000 vehicles. The use of fleet management software is strongly recommended for the management of a fleet of more than 50 vehicles. To guide you in this choice, we have detailed the characteristics that a good fleet management software must have.
1 – A fleet management software must meet a number of criteria
Before making a decision about acquiring your fleet management software, make sure it meets these key requirements:
- Adaptability: The software must be able to adapt to your company’s structure, procedures and objectives. It must therefore be possible to configure it according to the prerequisites of the latter. –
Modularity: The fleet management software must offer the integration of several modules such as maintenance, purchasing, web services, trading, PV, damage and claims management, or accounting. This allows you to choose the modules you need at a given time and plan to acquire them again later. It should be possible to develop new modules if necessary. - Mobility: Currently, all management software can be used from a computer. However, it is increasingly important to have the ability to enter and view your data wherever you are, at any time. The ability to access the software from a tablet or smartphone is therefore more than necessary.
- Flexibility and Scalability: The software can be used regardless of the number of vehicles and the volume of data to be managed. Its effectiveness should not be affected by these two variables. However, the budget allocated to the software must be weighted by the number of vehicles to be managed. It makes sense to have a different budget for fleet management software depending on whether you have 50 or 10,000 to manage.
- Analysis and Statistics: The software must be able to provide you with detailed and fully configurable statistical analyses in order to allow you to optimally manage your fleet and manage your costs, thus improving decision-making.
- Alerts: The software must give you the possibility to program automatic alerts in the sections you want (maintenance, work in progress, repurchase…etc.) in order to allow you to respect your company’s procedures.
- Data export and extraction: The fleet management software must allow you to extract analytical, statistical or accounting data in order to be able to use them through other tools and circulate them to your employees.
- Compatibility with Telematics tools: The software must be compatible with the telematics tools your company uses in order to obtain the best results.
- Compatibility with your existing IT tools: The software must allow an exchange of data with your other IT management tools (accounting software for example). A good fleet management software should offer you the possibility to communicate with your company’s global information system.
2 – The human capital behind every fleet management software
A convincing fleet management software is not just about the features it offers, far from it. In fact, behind each high-performance software, a team of men and women supports users on a daily basis in their activity. One is easily seduced by a solution that presents itself as being a free software for fleet management. In some cases, this may prove to be a good alternative for people managing a very small fleet or to temporarily troubleshoot it. On the other hand, it is utopian to claim an excellent quality of service by using a “free” tool or to expect a complete and perfectly stable tool. That’s why the team and services that surround fleet management software are as important as the software itself. Make sure you have a dedicated contact person at the publisher’s, if he or she has several years of experience, it’s even better: he or she will understand the challenges in your sector and will propose customised solutions to meet your needs. There is nothing more frustrating than having to wait for hours on the phone, never having the same person on the phone or, even worse, having to explain the basics of your job to your interlocutor.
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