Freight Trucking Brokers
TransCore Integrates VoIP Internet Phone Service into U.S.-Based 3sixty Freight Match: First Logistics Freight Matching Service to Integrate PC-to-
ORLANDO (Business Wire EON) October 22, 2007 -- One of the early promises of voice over IP technology was the potential to incorporate communications right within business applications, simplifying the user experience and removing steps that create drag, distractions, or errors. For the competitive commercial trucking market, where margins are tight, 30 seconds can make the difference securing a good paying load from a reliable broker or shipper. VoIP is also appealing because it is priced more economically than traditional phone services and can reduce a trucking company's long-distance phone bill since all calls are free within the 1click2call network.
Tim Bickmore, executive vice president for TransCore's Commercial Technology Group, explained, "Almost 53 million tons of goods move nearly 12 billion ton-miles on the multimodal transportation network on a typical day. TransCore's freight matching network alone facilitates approximately $40 billion in freight transactions annually, much of it set in motion by telephone transactions between brokers and carriers.
"Depending on load volume, brokers or carriers will make anywhere from 15 calls a day to hundreds. Traditionally, each call might take two minutes or more to complete. When that's assessed across agents, companies, days, months, the time lost on the phone multiplies. By integrating the immediacy of VoIP, literally one click of a mouse, a business can reclaim hours of lost time vital to moving freight."
In initial research, TransCore found that anywhere from 10 to 15 percent of the company's customers were already using VoIP, so a user base already existed with a familiarity to the technology. By integrating and customizing the PC-to-PC or PC-to-landline calling feature within the freight matching logistics work flow, the 1click2call feature, available free to all 3sixty Freight Match customers, allows a user to complete a business transaction at a faster rate. Instead of identifying a load and then shifting back and forth between the computer, phone and databases, a customer can now with one click immediately call the broker or carrier from the search results screen with all the essential data provided on a customized pop-up screen.
How to use PC-to-PC Calling within TransCore's 3sixty Freight Match
The 1click2call feature is part of the recent 1.2 software upgrade of 3sixty Freight Match for U.S.-based customers. For new customers, 1click2call feature is automatically installed with activation. For existing customers, the download of Freight Match version 1.2 is convenient and fast. As users log in to 3sixty Freight Match they are led through the automatic upgrade.
TransCore's 1click2call network service provider is Skype(TM), a popular Internet phone service with more than 220 million subscribers worldwide. TransCore's design engineers worked with the Skype application program interface to develop a customized VoIP application to work within the freight matching logistics environment and work flow process, incorporating necessary load posting and contact data, icons, and calling features.
To enable the 1click2call application, freight match users simply sign up for the free Skype subscription at http://www.skype.com Within the Skype network PC-to-PC calling is free and PC-to-landline calling is only $0.02 per minute in North America or $29.95 per year for unlimited calling. In an initial promotional campaign timed with the launch, a significant number of the freight match system's heaviest users have already signed up for the service.
Other features included in the Freight Match 1.2 software upgrade include:
-- Additional alarm features for specific dates Now users can save time by requesting alarm match results only for a specific date.
-- Expanded filtering capabilities by company 3sixty Freight Match now filters out companies that users do not want to include in alarm matches or results.
-- Simplified retrieval of forgotten passwords If a user forgets a password, no problem. They simply enter their user name in the login box and click "I forgot my password." 3sixty Freight Match immediately sends the password to the registered e-mail address.
-- Exclude partial loads Users that don't want to see partial loads can now exclude them from alarm matches
-- Save frequent searches and postings as templates User's can save frequently used searches and postings as templates, saving precious minutes re-entering data.
-- Easier and streamlined user setup 3sixty Freight Match's new set-up wizard makes adding new users and workgroups faster and much simpler than before.
For more information, visit http://www.3sixty.transcore.com/
About TransCore
TransCore operates as a unit of Roper Industries, a market-driven, diversified growth company with 2006 revenues of $1.7 billion, a market capitalization exceeding $5 billion, and a component of the S&P Mid-Cap 400, Fortune 1000 and Russell 1000 Indexes.
With products and installations in 46 countries, more than 100 patents worldwide, and pioneering applications of internet-based logistics technologies, radio frequency identification (RFID), and satellite-based asset tracking technology, TransCore's expertise is unparalleled in the transportation markets it serves. TransCore's GlobalWave Satellite Communications Technology Center, the hub for the company's SatCom research and development, is based in Ottawa, Canada, while manufacturing for both RFID and satellite communications is based at TransCore's Amtech Technology Center in Albuquerque, N. M.
For more information, visit www.transcore.com.
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