GarageDoorBossPro Blog — Garage Door Software

Office Users, Tech PINs and Van Assignments in Garage Door Software

A garage door company is a handful of people doing different jobs: the owner, someone on the phones, maybe a bookkeeper, and the techs in the vans. Each one needs to see the right things in the software, and each one's work needs to be recorded under their own name. That is what users, roles, PINs and van assignments are for.

People Are Part of the First Week

Getting everyone logged in is the first job in Your First Week on Garage Door Software: A Day-by-Day Plan. This article covers how to set those people up in the first place.

Office Users and Roles

Each person who works in the office gets their own office user login with a role. Roles decide what each person can see and do. Some typical setups at a garage door company:

• The owner sees everything: customers, schedule, estimates, billing and reports.
• The office person on the phones books calls, builds estimates, works the dispatch board and texts customers.
• A bookkeeper works with invoices, payments and monthly statements.

Separate logins mean you can see who did what, and you never have to share one password around the office.

Techs and Personal PINs

Techs use the tech app, not the office side. They sign in with your company login plus a personal PIN. The company login identifies your business, and the PIN identifies the tech.

Because each tech has their own PIN, everything they do is recorded under their name:

• Jobs started, skipped and completed
• Door safety inspections, readings and recommendations
• Before and after photos
• Equipment changes that flow back to the house
• Time clock entries

When a homeowner calls with a question about last month's spring repair, the office can see which tech did it and what they noted.

Van Assignments

Each tech is assigned to a van. The dispatch board filters by van, so the office puts jobs on a van and the tech assigned to it sees them in their app, in route order. A typical garage door setup might have Van 1 on repairs and emergency spring calls, Van 2 on installs and tune-ups, and Van 3 on commercial maintenance.

If a tech is out sick, the office can move that van's jobs to another van, or assign a different tech to the van for the day.

Helpers and Ride-Alongs

Install jobs often need two people, and new techs usually ride along before they get their own van. A helper can have their own PIN so their clock-ins are recorded under their own name, even if the jobs are on the lead tech's van. When the new tech is ready for their own route, assign them a van and their jobs start showing on their own phone the next morning.

The Time Clock

Techs clock in and out on the tech app, the same phone they use for jobs. Hours are recorded as they happen instead of written on a timesheet at the end of the week. The office sees the entries under each tech's name.

Crew GPS

While techs are working, their locations show on the office map. The office uses that to decide which van is closest to a new call, and to answer a customer who asks how far away the tech is. It is tied to the tech's login, so the map always shows who is who.

When Someone Leaves

People move on. When a tech leaves, turn off their PIN and they lose access to the tech app, including every access note and door code stored on your addresses. When an office person leaves, turn off their login. Their past work stays on the jobs, invoices and inspections with their name on it, so the history is intact.

Compare that to door codes kept in a group text, where a former employee keeps every code they were ever sent.

Plans and People

GarageDoorBossPro has three plans: Start at $59/month, Pro at $89/month and Crew at $199/month. A one-van owner-operator usually starts on Start, while a company with several vans and office staff tends to look at Pro or Crew. Compare the plans on the pricing page, and try any of them with a 14-day free trial and no credit card.

For more on running several vans with several techs, see Garage Door Software for Two to Five Vans: Splitting Repairs, Installs and Tune-Ups.

Getting It Right From the Start

A few minutes on users and PINs during setup saves headaches later. Give every person their own login or PIN from day one, assign every tech to a van, and set roles to fit what each person actually does. For the rest of the setup, visit the GarageDoorBossPro garage door software page.