New FleetCommander Software Release Supports Major Enhancements to Remote Management and Vehicle Sharing.
Agile Fleet announced the general availability of FleetCommander® version 5.08, providing major enhancements that support remote fleet management and vehicle sharing.
First introduced by Agile Fleet in 2001, the FleetCommander software is presently used by hundreds of organizations on a subscription basis to manage motor pools, shared fleet vehicles, and fleet maintenance operations. Over the past 24 months, FleetCommander subscribers have experienced an accelerated demand for new ways to work remotely. The newly released FleetCommander v5.08 includes major enhancements that are designed to help Fleet Operations Managers work in today’s remote-work world.
COVID and Supply Chain Challenges Drive Software Improvements
Since 2021, the COVID pandemic has accelerated demands on fleet operators to find new ways to work remotely 24 x 7. Employees, including drivers, managers, and administrators, are increasingly unable to work on-premises due to isolation and quarantines. For fleet managers, this results in scheduling nightmares that can slow down the entire fleet operation, and ultimately impact customer services that depend upon fleets for pickups and service delivery. Many legacy scheduling systems in use by fleet operations do not support a secure way to easily manage fleet operations when staff members are not on-premises.
Improved Vehicle Sharing
Agile Fleet has added new capabilities with FleetCommander v5.08 to make vehicle sharing easier and more efficient when fleet staff members are working remotely. All legacy capabilities to schedule and pick up and return keys from self-service kiosks remain in the system. The value of these features is enhanced by the addition of the following:
• Drivers can now self-register their RFID-enabled badges at self-service kiosks, simplifying security and access upon site entry. Historically, registering a badge required staff to be physically present to register a driver’s card into the fleet management information system.
• Improved reservation auto-assignment functions simplify how vehicles are managed when inventory is in short supply. When vehicle inventory is low or has run out, administrators are automatically notified and can reallocate vehicles to meet demand. When fleet staff members are on-site, visibility into low inventory is provided by simply looking in the lot. The new capabilities send alerts of pending inventory issues to the remote staff so they can take appropriate action.
• The software now provides vehicle availability to drivers reserving vehicles and provides more options for letting drivers deal with a lack of the desired vehicle class. Administrators and supervisors have better visibility when drivers are late picking up or returning vehicles. Staff can cancel late reservations for pickup to free the vehicle for others to use. With the new tools for notifying staff of late returning vehicles, staff can now modify vehicle reservations to ensure that the next scheduled driver can be shuffled to another vehicle.
Remote Fleet Management
Version 5.08 of FleetCommander facilitates better remote management of the fleet by enhancing security features, improving alerts, and providing additional insights in dashboards and reports. Remote support capabilities include:
• Improvements to alerts and email notifications to allow fleet managers and supervisors to remain aware of schedule changes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Encryption of all data “in transit” to ensure the security of data traversing the Internet. There is no need to go through cumbersome processes of logging in via a VPN or other portal to access fleet information.
• The inclusion of additional fleet data in the database and in reports. Data such as vehicle acquisition data and fuel types which are historically stored in paper files are now accessible from anywhere with access to the internet in the latest software release.
“Who would have thought I could be working from home yet help manage a shared fleet of 100+ vehicles as if I was in the office? It’s really remarkable,” said Sally Compton of Cornell University’s Fleet Services department. “COVID has forced us to work mostly remote. The ability to monitor all activity on a dashboard at my home and receive alerts for low-inventory conditions via email helps us to make vehicles available 24 x 7 — even when we’re not there.”
“Our aim is to continue giving our subscribers regular enhancements that include the latest innovations in Fleet Management software,” said Ed Smith, President of Agile Fleet. “This version 5.08 of FleetCommander is part of a steady stream of software enhancements that we provide our subscribers several times each year.”
