Tow trucks have been users of two-way radio since radio started being used by businesses. In the old days, there were no cellular phones and there was no viable alternative for communications. Since tow trucks are by definition always moving around helping disabled motorists, there must be some way to communicate with the tow trucks.
Many small tow operators use cellular phones to communicate with their vehicles. This works OK when operating a small fleet of 5 or fewer vehicles. However, the problems associated with cellular phones for dispatch grow geometrically as the number of tow trucks increases and finally gets to the point where the inefficiencies of cellular dispatch overwhelm the office and two-way radio becomes necessary.
Using a cellular phone is not a good solution to the issues presented by the towing industry because of the following:
- State law prohibits the use of handheld electronic devices while driving which include cellular telephones unless connected to a Bluetooth or other hands free device. Hands free devices do not work well in environments that have background noise like in the cab of a tow truck.
- Kenwood white paper regarding new law affecting mobile device use by commercial drivers does not affect two-way radio.
- The initial cost of smart phones is high and the reliability is low
- Cellular phones often need to be rebooted
- Missed calls end up going to voice mail which significantly delays message throughput
- Cellular phones almost always fail during a major emergency
- Cellular systems become instantly overloaded during a major emergency
- It takes too long to dial, wait for the phone to ring and receive an answer compared to Push-To-Talk with two-way radio.
- Only 2-3 people can discuss an issue at the same time with cellular. With two-way radio, any size group of people can be part of the same conversation
- The time it takes to recall a phone number, dial, allow the phone to ring awaiting an answer takes too long, especially when a customer is on the phone wanting to know when the tow truck will arrive.
Two-way radio will give control of the business back to company management. Tow operators face huge challenges in being able to keep an unhappy customer as calm as possible. Tow customers are almost universally by definition unhappy because they have a disabled vehicle that is preventing them from being able to handle all of their planned daily tasks because their vehicle needs to be towed. Having two-way radio to facilitate getting help to the customer in the shortest time possible as well as keeping the customer informed as to the progress of the tow truck arrival goes a long way to keeping a difficult situation under control. Issues cited by tow truck owners that are solved with our Diga-Talk Network radio include:
- Being able to coordinate (overload work) with other tow operators that are also on our Diga-Talk network
- Being able to have a group conversation is equivalent to having a in person office meeting with all of their drivers
- Having the ability to conduct a private call with any of the company personnel allows discussion of sensitive issues
- GPS tracking allows better utilization of resources, knowing where the trucks and tools are located, keeping drivers honest
Two-way radio provides significant benefits to the tow operator besides facilitating easing the customer concerns. Radios allow the tow truck company to operate more efficiently cutting costs of operation so that profits increase. A government study conducted many years ago concluded that 3 radio equipped vehicles can perform the work of 4 non radio equipped vehicles, a 25% reduction in cost and a 33% increase in efficiency.
Our Digi-Talk network is the perfect solution for reliable wide area communications over Southern California since we have more sites, more frequencies and more coverage than anyone else. Often, the office manager would benefit from being able to take their radio home to facilitate communications with other personnel who are on the job working. This is easily accomplished with Diga-Talk while it could be difficult to impossible to accomplish with any other vendor.
Click here to view an interactive presentation on Communications Solutions for Transportation. There are many interactive features in the presentation by clicking on the arrows.
Try our Diga-Talk radios with the following great features:
- Loud and clear quality audio that can be heard under loud noise conditions with Kenwood’s noise reduction technology
- Quick access to your personnel – connection time is typically 1.0 second or less
- GPS tracking can tell you where your crew are located
- Eliminate the distraction and illegal use of cellular while driving
- The liability associated with a driver getting into an accident while using a cellular device can cost a company far in excess the cost of a two-way radio system
Remember the 3 rules of making money in real estate, Location, Location and Location. The 3 Cs of radio communications are Coverage, Coverage and more Coverage. Our customers demand coverage. Every tow truck operator has their own need for coverage which is never exactly the same as another entity. By providing more coverage in Southern California than any other radio company, we can provide solutions when the others can’t do it. By using the Diga-Talk Network, we can provide our operation with the coverage you need and the coverage for your key personnel to use at home. Read more…
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