Towbook Maps Tutorial

Welcome to the map section! The “Map” tab in Towbook will serve as a central hub, where you can quickly see all the current dispatching activity for your company, so you can make a fast and informed decision on who to assign each job to. Many companies choose to utilize the map tab on a separate monitor or in a separate tab to have constant real-time access to this information without having to reload the page each time. Here, you’ll see filters and view options that help you quickly adjust what you can see, so the right decisions can be made in a snap! Clicking on the “Map” view will display a general map and allow you to view the terrain, if needed. You also have the option to see your map from a “Satellite” view; here, you can choose to add or remove any map labels as well! Feel free to zoom in and out of the map view as needed; you can achieve this by using your mouse wheel. For filtering options, you can choose to show or hide the call numbers associated with each job and choose to show either the driver initials or truck names on the map. If you’d like, you can also choose to remove the calls from the map completely by clicking on the “Hide Calls” button; bring them back by selecting “Show Calls”. In the upper-right corner, click on the “Traffic” button to view current traffic conditions for your area and toggle to a full-screen view, if needed. Filter preferences will be stored until the next time you access the map tab to help save you time. Notice that your company headquarters and storage lot will always show as indicated by the gray icons. In the side-panel area of the “Map” tab, you’ll see a drop-down menu to view all of your current, waiting, active, completed, and scheduled jobs; along with the ability to view your drivers. When selecting the “Drivers” option, you’ll see the check-in status for each driver along with the color-coded indicators to show how many calls are currently assigned to them and the status of each call. If you hover over each colored icon on the list, the corresponding call will be highlighted on the map. Click on a driver to see which truck they are in, when their location last updated, what device updated their location, and even check them in manually for work, if needed. You can also access our “Replay” option from here, this is one of our most powerful tools, because it allows you to see the route actually traveled for a specific call or driver. Replay will help you analyze the routes your team is traveling over a period of time and allow you to take a deeper look at what might have happened on specific calls. The Replay tool can also be used as a training aid for drivers, helping them see better routes to take and areas to avoid. You are able to control the replay speed and choose to show or hide the route or markers on the map! Let’s switch to the call view in the side-panel. Notice that each call is represented by colors and icons that help you quickly see the job status. Just as in the “Dispatching” tab, you’ll find a key at the bottom of the page to make each job status easy to identify. Hover over any call in this area and the call will automatically be highlighted on the map for you. We understand that sometimes things get a little hectic, and you may not have time to access the dispatching tab to create a call. No need to worry; you’re able to create a new call from the Map tab by clicking on "New Call" at the bottom of the side panel, the ‘Call Editor’ will pop-up so that you can add all your new call details. It’s even easy to dispatch calls from the map section! Simply select the “Waiting” call you want to assign a driver to. When selecting a driver, as long as their GPS location is enabled, you will see the closest driver to that call in both distance and time; making the decision process a little easier for your team! Finish dispatching the call by picking your truck, and clicking on “Update”! You’ve successfully dispatched a call from the map tab! At the bottom of the side panel area, when viewing a specific call, you also have the option to modify it from here, if needed. Towbook is integrated with many 3rd party GPS systems, but Azuga in particular, offers some important additional information that will display on your Towbook map screen. These include truck related details such as ignition status, speed, idle time, and trouble codes! We’ll cover more about our 3rd party GPS integrations and how to connect them in another video! Our software is always evolving. As a Towbook client, you’ll notice more features being added to the map section in the future to allow our product to be as intuitive as possible.