1. What is Transportation Operating System (OS)?
OneTouch OS is Operating System (OS) for transportation services companies. Just like AndroidOS and AppleOS are operating systems for smart phones, transportation services companies need their own OS for clients to set up reservations; handle adds, moves and changes; track the delivery of service; and pay for services, and for operators to book reservations, manage operations & dispatch, manage drivers, track service delivery; handle invoicing and payments with clients; and handle payroll. We have pioneered the concept of Transportation OS to manage and coordinate all client facing functions with the operator facing delivery functions.
2. What is OneTouch OS?
OneTouch OS is the platform and system we have built, developed and launched for management of transportation services. It handles all the key functions required to manage a people transportation services business :
OneTouch is a cloud-based system which can be accessed from any Web Browser - anytime and from anywhere in the world. All the functions of OneTouch are also accessible from Mobile Apps / Smart phones.
3. What does cloud-based system mean?
Amazon Web Services (AWS) was a pioneer in offering cloud-based computing - which allows clients to connect to the compute servers hosted by Amazon for all of their computing needs instead of hosting and managing their own compute servers. Web applications which use AWS and other cloud-based computing - like Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud - can be deployed dynamically on cloud servers closest to where the users are located. AWS is a global cloud computing infrastructure, which enables web applications to be deployed anywhere in the world dynamically and instantly to serve and connect clients and service providers across the globe.
OneTouch system and platform use AWS cloud computing infrastructure to deliver all the transportation management functions to our clients around the globe and to the 5,500+ bus, motorcoach and limo operators across the US.
This is in sharp contrast to reservation systems currently in use for bus, motorcoach and limousine transportation services - systems which are deployed on Windows based PC's and a server deployed on the operator's premises.
4. What is the significance of the name OneTouch?
OneTouch - as the name suggests - requires just One (1) Touch to keep everyone - client, reservation agents, operations, dispatchers, drivers and accounting - in touch with and updated on:
With our clients, our staff - reservation agents, operations & dispatch personnel, drivers and accounting personnel - all connected to the cloud-based OneTouch OS, any change made by anyone is known instantly to all others, which eliminates 7 to 10 e-mail messages & phone calls required to make a reservation and numerous phone calls and paper-based dispatch between operations and drivers for daily dispatch.
5. What are the benefits of OneTouch in managing my business and operation?
OneTouch eliminates a lot of tedious and repetitious tasks associated with reservations, operations & dispatch, driver dispatch, and accounting & payroll. In the current generation of reservation systems, when one person makes a change that change has to be manually communicated to all others. With OneTouch OS, any change made by anyone is made in the cloud computing server and since all others pick up their information from the same server infrastructure the need to manually communicate the change to everyone is eliminated altogether. This makes each transportation management function - reservations, operations, dispatch, driver orders, customer invoices & payment, subcontractor invoices & payments, payroll - significantly more efficient. With OneTouch as your OS, you will be able to run reservations, operations, dispatch, accounting with one-third to one-fourth the number of people compared to the personnel you need with your current generation of reservation systems.
Freed from their repetitive and time-consuming tasks, your reservation agents, operations & dispatch personnel, drivers, accounting personnel a lot more productive as well.
OneTouch puts in your hands and offers you the same type of transportation management system which Uber, Lyft and other ride-sharing services use. All of them use the same cloud-computing infrastructure and same concept in keeping everyone - reservations, operations & dispatch, drivers, accounting - in sync. Without such a system - the on-demand ride-sharing service would not have been possible. OneTouch makes such a system available to you without you having to make a multi-million $ investment required to build such a system. It is available for you to use for a low, monthly subscription fee.
6. How do my dispatchers access OneTouch to set up and manage dispatch?
Operations & Dispatch personnel can access OneTouch from any web browser or Mobile App and hence can manage the entire operation from anywhere in the world as long as they are able to connect to the Internet.
Moreover, anytime they connect to OneTouch, they have access to the latest information - be it reservation or dispatch or driver / vehicle assignment - without having to refer to email, voice mail or fax messages.
If there is a new reservation booked outside of business hours, they can look at vehicle and driver availability and set up the dispatch using a web browser or our mobile app. The dispatch is then instantly communicated to the driver and to the client so there is no further follow-up needed with the driver or the client.
7. What is paperless dispatch?
We equip all the drivers with their own Mobile App in which they receive all their work orders / trip sheets as soon as they are set up by dispatcher. Each trip sheet in the mobile app has all the information - schedule, routing, passenger details, trip notes - so the driver doesn't need a paper copy of the trip sheet.
This paperless dispatch has a liberating effect for dispatchers and drivers since they don't have to worry about exchange of paper copy of the trip sheet.
8. I am concerned about my drivers not being tech savvy and hence not comfortable using the mobile app
Based on our past experience of having rolled this out to hundreds of drivers - the transition from paper-based dispatch to paperless dispatch will take less than 2 weeks. During those 2 weeks you may want to use both systems - paper as well as paperless.
Once they are comfortable with the App, the drivers will love this new way of managing their schedule - where they feel they are in control of their schedule. They know ahead of time what's coming up. They can start planning their trip / schedule / day as soon as it is set up by dispatch. They also have access to their past trips, payroll reports - all within the App.
For charter services - dispatcher could also give them the option of ACCEPTING or DECLINING trips, which also makes them feel that they are in control.
9. Not all my drivers have smart phones. What do I do?
You have the option of providing them smart phones which you purchase for them or give them a monthly allowance for their smart phones. Either way - it will be a win-win. Just the amount of time your dispatchers will save in a day or two in not having to set up, print and manually communicate the dispatch to drivers, will more than pay for the phone allowance.
10. What kind of GPS tracking does OneTouch support?
OneTouch supports two types of location / GPS tracking:
Mobile GPS tracking is available to your clients and to your staff - operations / dispatch - both from Web browser as well as Mobile App.
11. What other driver status information can I get from OneTouch?
The OneTouch driver app gives drivers the ability to update their status - On the way, Arrived at pickup location, Picked up the group, Dropped off the group, Fueling, etc. When the driver updates the status it is updated in the OneTouch OS and is available instantly to clients and to your staff. Each such status update is time-stamped by OneTouch so you can review the actual schedule for each trip.
12. How would my accounting team track driver's hours for each trip for payroll purposes?
OneTouch captures both Mobile GPS tracking data and Vehicle GPS tracking data and makes it available to your accounting and operations staff to generate payroll reports.
13. Can I use OneTouch to track driver's hours of service?
OneTouch captures all the details of each trip for your drivers. It does not, however, track the hours of service. FMCSA requires each vehicle to be equipped with Electronic Logging Device (ELD), which is designed to track the Hours of Service and capture and archive the data to comply with FMCSA regulations. We recommend you continue using ELD's for hours of service tracking and compliance.
14. What are the benefits to my clients of using OneTouch?
Your clients will be able to Book. Manage. Track. Pay. all their trips online - from any web browser and from Mobile App customized for your operation. Clients will have online access to :
15. I am concerned about our clients making last minute changes which may throw off our dispatch schedule
OneTouch is customizable. You determine the policy and then set it up the way you are comfortable. If you don't want the client to make any changes within 48 hours of departure, OneTouch would not allow them to make any change online on their own during the 48-hour window prior to their departure time. They would need to contact your reservation desk to make the change.
16. My clients are used to having our reservation agents handle all their quotes and reservations. So, how would OneTouch help them?
Your reservation agents can continue to provide the service of generating quotes and confirmed reservations for your clients just the way they do it today. Once they are done entering the quotes / reservations in OneTouch, they will become instantly available to your clients in their online OneTouch account.
17. What is farm-in & farm-out management?
We live in a connected world in which we work with other operators to deliver services where / when our clients need them. OneTouch enables management of services you subcontract or farm-out to other operators in the event you are booked or your clients need services outside of your service coverage area.
Likewise, you can connect with other operators when their clients are traveling in your service area in which they case they would subcontract - or farm-in - services to you.
By partnering with other operators you will thus be able to grow your business with farm-in services and strengthen your relationship with your clients by offering them services which you may not be able to provide and deliver on your own by farming them out to other operators in the network.
OneTouch enables both farm-in and farm-out services and management of those services.
18. I have my own website with my own logo and branding. How would my site be integrated with OneTouch OS?
We offer OneTouch plug-ins which can be integrated into any website within minutes. Once integrated, you and your clients will have full access to the entire suite of functions built into OneTouch OS. The OneTouch plug-in module can be customized to match the look-and-feel of your website.
19. How many operators will I be able to connect to through OneTouch? Where are these operators located?
OneTouch will put you in touch with more than 1,800 bus & motorcoach operators and more than 3,700 limousine operators all across the US as shown on the map.
20. How long has OneTouch OS been in operation?
It's been in operation and use since January 2017 and has been used to book, manage and track more than 11,500 trips operated by more than 40 different bus, motorcoach and limousine operators across the US.
21. What kind of training will I need to provide to my staff?
First, we will set up the OneTouch OS and customize it for you to meet your requirements. Second, we will provide online training to your reservation agents, operations managers and dispatchers, drivers, and accounting & payroll personnel, as / when needed. Included in the monthly subscription fee is certain number of hours of customer support to help you run your business and operations smoothly and efficiently.
22. We may need reservations and dispatch coverage after business hours and over weekends / holidays. I understand you offer those services on 'outsourcing' basis.
Yes, we have a professional team of reservation agents, dispatchers and accounting personnel to offload / complement your staff. Our team is proficient with OneTouch and available to you as / when needed to run any / all aspects of your operation partially or completely.
Since our staff is trained on OneTouch and is actively managing several operator's operations using OneTouch, we can offer you much better economies of scale by leveraging them across multiple operations. Contact us and we'd be glad to develop a model for how your in-house staff and our staff could work together to deliver to you the best Return on Investment (ROI).
23. My staff - reservation agents, operations managers, dispatchers - has been with us for a long time. I understand I may not need all of them when we deploy OneTouch. What do I do with them?
With OneTouch you would be able to improve your staff's productivity by 300% to 400%. Consequently, you will be able to free up 75% to 80% of your staff and their time to help you develop and launch new products & services - Tours, excursions & activities, Sports & Music Concerts tours.
We would also encourage you to leverage your core competency - operations - to explore and launch B2B2B services or manage transportation services your clients' - corporations, schools, colleges & universities. This is a lucrative and exciting business opportunity enabled by OneTouch.
Another exciting business opportunity is B2B2C tours which you can launch by partnering with Amusement parks, Wineries, Microbreweries, Ski & Snowboarding resorts, Professional & College Sporting teams & venues, Music concert venues.
We are always looking for qualified professionals - reservation agents, operations managers, dispatchers - to add to our 'virtual' teams to help us manage delivery of our services across the US and across the world. This will give them an opportunity to broaden their horizon, advance their career and at the same time augment or supplement their income by working part time as / when they are available. It will also give you an opportunity to arrange their schedule based on your requirements during peak / off-peak seasons.
24. What other services do you / OneTouch offer?
Click-to-chat is one of the functions included in OneTouch. Our staff is proficient in using it to connect with the clients when they are online - on your site - and need help. Click-to-chat allows us to track each visitor on your site the moment they connect to the site and log in. We can help you convert more of the visitor traffic into confirmed reservations given our ability to engage with them while they are on your site.
We also offer online marketing - email, search engine optimization, pay-per-click campaigns, social media campaigns.
25. What kind of insurance coverage do OneTouch & Pronto carry?
Pronto carries General & Professional Liability insurance coverage which is automatically extended to any services booked on / by OneTouch and Pronto. This is another insurance layer on top of your own auto & general liability insurance coverage.
The Pronto insurance coverage is also extended to all farm-in / farm-out service handled by operators in the OneTouch Network.
CS@YoPronto.com
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