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| Q. |
Can I rent TrakQuip or RTMS or do I have to purchase the licenses?
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| A. | You are in the rental business, so are we!
You may choose to purchase or rent TrakQuip or RTMS from us. In either case, there are some fees charged to install the software and provide initial training.
Rental Terms and Conditions:
- A six month minimum commitment is required, after that, you may terminate the license at any time.
- Software license automatically renews on a quarterly basis upon receipt of your rental payment, otherwise the license expires.
- Full support is included in the rental fee; no additional charges apply except for custom programming requests or extended training requests.
- Updates are provided at no additional charge and may be installed automatically from our website.
- Rental clients are required to maintain an active Internet account to allow us to support the software when required and to provide license updates.
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| Q. |
What is the difference between TrakQuip and RTMS?
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| A. | Both software packages provide similar functionality.
RTMS is used exclusively by those businesses engaged in the rental and service of Oilfield Rental Tools.
TrakQuip has a broader application. It is used by the General Equipment Rental market and also used by other enterprises that need to track the cost and utilization of equipment while providing services. Examples include construction companies, ship builders and light manufacturing, etc.
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| Q. |
What are the system requirements for TrakQuip and RTMS?
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| A. | Our products are designed to operate in Windows including Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Windows 7 and Server 2008.
Almost any Pentium (or Pentium compatible) equipment with at least 128 MB RAM will operate the client software.
Application servers (Citrix, Win2000, Server 2003 and Server 2008) should be configured to provide one processor per 15 users and allocate approximately 1 GB RAM for the server plus and additional 128 to 256 MB RAM per user.
SQL Servers should follow Microsoft's recommendations for SQL Server.
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| Q. |
How are TrakQuip and RTMS different than other equipment and rental management software packages?
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| A. | The one word answer to this question is FLEXIBILITY.
Early in the design of our software, we realized that each client had unique requirements.
The TrakQuip and RTMS user interface is flexible and easily modified to fit your needs. A simple preference change and TrakQuip and RTMS give you the workflow you are looking for.
TrakQuip and RTMS also give you what no other software package can, a tailored solution that serves the needs of clients of all sizes. All of our modules contain most, if not all, of the functionality required to manage your business, but for any specific needs you might have, however, our project managers and programmers will work with you to handle the necessary modifications.
We are proud to state that the design of our software is the direct result of a request from our very successful clients.
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| Q. |
What is the difference between equipment and rental management software and most business software?
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| A. |
Most business software systems assume that inventory will be consumed, where equipment and rental management software "uses" assets to generate revenues by delivering them for use and then returning them. Equipment and Rental Management Software must be able to track the history of an individual asset including utilization, "total cost of operations", "total cost of ownership", and "return on investment" and it must be able to generate invoices to customers using a variety of calculation methods not available in most business software systems. There are literally hundreds of methods of calculating charges, below are a few common examples:
- Day/Week/Month - this logic offers equipment to the user on a daily rental basis, but if the user retains the equipment for longer periods of time, the "rate" charged gradually diminishes. Extra charges may apply for overtime based on the hour meter on the equipment.
- Minimum charge plus daily - this logic charges a minimum charge which includes a specified number of days (typically 3 to 30) and then begins charging a daily rate for extra days of usage.
- Once per job - this method charges a single rate for each job or contract, but the utilization is tracked
- Usage vs. Stand-By - this logic charges two different rates for equipment located "on-site." The charges for days when the equipment is in use are typically more than the days when the equipment is not being used, but is available for use.
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| Q. |
Why doesn't TrakQuip or RTMS include a General Ledger Module?
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| A. |
This was the source of considerable debate within our company. In the end, we decided that we wanted our software to emulate the "operations" of the clients business and to "report" the results to the accounting software of your choice. TrakQuip and RTMS integrate with your accounting software, giving you a tailored solution that fits the exact needs of your business. Here are some of the reasons we chose not to include the General Ledger:
- There are approximately 1,600 accounting software packages on the market today ranging in price from $100 to 1,000,000+. Many of our clients selected a financial package prior to selecting their "operational" software and want to continue to use it. In addition, many of our clients are also in other businesses (i.e. construction) and need a financial package to encompass their entire business, not just the rental portion of their business.
- In order to emulate the operations, we needed to include functionality that would not meet "Generally Accepted Accounting Practices." This does not mean that data integrity is not preserved, it simply means that we offer our clients the opportunity to "change their mind" prior to committing the data to the accounting software.
- We are business software developers, not accountants. We felt that the choice of financial software should be a choice you and your accountant made. We simply supply the data to your accounting software package.
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| Q. |
How do TrakQuip and RTMS exchange data with my accounting software?
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| A. |
The development of each accounting interface is influenced by the technical capabilities of the accounting software, the wishes of the client and the wishes of the accounting software developers and consultants. In many cases, we provide several different interfaces to the same accounting software to meet the requirements of our client.
Most modern Accounting Software packages provide one or more methods of exchanging data with other software. These methods include ODBC (open database connectivity), XML (Extensible Markup Language), EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) and ASCII (text or "flat files"). "SHARE, PUSH or PULL" - This term refers to whether the applications share common data files or whether one "pushes" or "pulls" data from the other. For example, a client may make a policy decision that new customers will be added first to the accounting software and then later to the equipment and rental management software. Based on the technical capabilities of the software and the wishes of the client, the accounting software may "deliver" the changes directly to the equipment and rental management software or there may be an option in the equipment and rental management software to "pull" the changes from the accounting software or a file prepared by the accounting software.
What data to exchange?
Some of our clients are engaged in the Rental business exclusively. These clients typically use the AR and AP module and simply report the General Ledger transaction data to their accounting system. In some cases, additional information might be transferred to the payroll system and also Bank Reconciliation information.
Some of our clients are engaged in other businesses (i.e. construction) where our software tracks only a portion of their revenue. In this situation, invoices created in the equipment and rental management software are typically loaded into the "order entry" or accounts receivable module of the clients primary accounting software. To the accounting software, these invoices appear as sales orders that have not yet been posted. This gives the accounting software the opportunity to perform "data integrity checks" prior to posting. In this situation, the client will normally load Accounts Payable directly from the PO distributions module.
Very commonly, "maintenance" data is also exchanged. Examples would include customers, tax codes, chart of accounts, "Jobs", terms codes, etc. Again, the decision to "push" or "pull" depends on the clients operations and policy decisions.
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| Q. |
Can I create my own reports?
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| A. | Yes you can! Our software includes a suite of standard reports, but we do find that many of our clients like the flexibility of creating their own.
Our software uses the MS SQL Server database. Today, almost every report writer on the market can utilize connections to these databases and generate reports. RTMS and TrakQuip users may use the "Reporting Dashboard" to create reports. The "Reporting Dashboard" is a .Net application that allows users to create and maintain reports from multiple data sources. For those who prefer, reports created using "Crystal Reports", MS Excel, MS Word or MS Access may also be used with the Reporting Dashboard.
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| Q. |
What benefits are provided by your support agreement?
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| A. | The support agreement provides two primary benefits to you:
- A fixed budget amount for the total cost of supporting your software investment.
- Funds the on-going development required to make the software capable of supporting new versions of Windows.
Your support agreement allows you to request support an unlimited number of times with no additional charges.
We work each day to make improvements to our software to insure that it will work well in your new version of windows. As a supported customer, you never have to pay for updates.
Note: Additional charges do apply when requesting additional programming or extended training.
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| Q. |
How can I get support for my TrakQuip or RTMS software?
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| A. |
We offer a comprehensive online help system, web support, and toll-free phone support. A competent and professional support staff, residing in our Baton Rouge office, is available to you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, ready to support your efforts for years to come. For additional information, please visit www.corpservice.com/support.php.
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| Q. |
How do you communicate with and support your clients.
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| A. |
As part of the terms and conditions for installing TrakQuip or RTMS, each client is asked to maintain an active Internet account. We have invested in several software products that allow you to "invite us to share" the desktop of your machine. This means we can talk on the phone and work together on your computer to resolve your problem NOW, not later! And, we do not have to try to interpret technical information or provide technical information, you can just "show" us your problem and we can solve it for you. We can do anything via this method that we could do if we were sitting right next to you.
If you are not in a real hurry, we appreciate receiving emails with "screen shots" of your problem. You will receive a quick response via email or phone.
During the day, your phone call will be answered by a real live person that can solve your problem. At night, an answering service will answer but will immediately make calls to convey your message to us. We will respond in minutes and never leave you in a bind!
If you would prefer to solve your own problems without our assistance, we provide several tools to assist you. On-line help files provide "step-by-step" instructions (with links to movies) for each area of the software. You do not need special software or equipment to use these help files; they work in your existing Web Browser.
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| Q. |
How do you respond to problem reports?
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| A. |
When received, a reported issue is assigned a Case ID and recorded in our CSTask database, including information about who reported the issue (for regular communications), the product and version, a description of the issue and the steps necessary to reproduce the problem. Each report is also assigned a status. "Critical" indicates that the issue prevents the user from continuing operations, "Severe" indicates that the issue impacts business operations, but does not stop operations because a "work around" is available, and "Tolerable" indicates that the issue does not significantly impact business operations.
If appropriate, the support person receiving the call will provide instruction to the user to resolve the issue. If the issue cannot be resolved with instruction, then immediately, a support representative will attempt to reproduce the issue on our test databases. If the issue can be reproduced, the steps necessary to produce the issue are recorded so that the development team can locate and correct. If the issue cannot be reproduced, further investigation by the development team will be required.
During the process of resolution, regular communications are delivered to the user as the status is updated from initial investigation, to correction, to testing and finally delivery to the client.
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| Q. |
Where can I find TrakQuip and RTMS training materials?
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| A. |
Your installation CD has a folder that contains help files which are stored as "html" documents. Within the help files are step-by-step instructions that you can view from your browser. You can also find "on-line" assistance from the help menu of your software. If you prefer paper, you can print these documents using your browser or a word processor like MS Word.
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| Q. |
Is additional TrakQuip or RTMS training available for a new employee or cross-training a current employee?
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Yes. Each month, Corporate Services offers hands-on training classes in our Baton Rouge facility or on-line web classes.
For more details on the training classes we offer, please visit www.corpservice.com/training.php.
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| Q. |
How often should I backup my data?
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| A. |
At a minimum, we recommend that the databases be backed up to some degree nightly or weekly. Remember that some backup routines will skip files that are open so make sure that all database connections and TrakQuip/RTMS applications are closed. You can also create a backup of the database from the Utilities menu.
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| Q. |
Are TrakQuip and RTMS compatible with Windows and MS Office?
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| A. |
Our software is installed with a Microsoft SQL Server database. Therefore, our applications are highly compatible with both Windows and MS Office.
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| Q. |
How often should the TrakQuip/RTMS System be updated?
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As often as you feel necessary. It is suggested, however, that users update fairly often due to frequent modifications and improvements being made in the program. It is normally easier to incorporate small changes rather than giant leaps.
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| Q. |
How do I update TrakQuip/RTMS?
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Version 7+ users simply click the menu Help-->About and then click the button that reads "Check Website for updates". Users of older versions of the software can find instructions on the updates page.
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| Q. |
What programs do I need to download to perform a successful update of TrakQuip/RTMS?
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An Internet Browser is required. Beyond the browser, tools like MS Office, MS Access, MS Excel, MS SQL Server Client Tools are useful, but not required.
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| Q. |
Will an update of TrakQuip/RTMS affect the data?
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No, however, it is always safe practice to back up all databases before every update.
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