Oct 13, 2022

Get Connected: Everything Fullbay Connect Can Do For You

Get Connected: Everything Fullbay Connect Can Do For You

Want to know a secret? Here at Fullbay, we’re always trying to improve—ourselves, our cooking skills, you name it, we’re upgrading it. Fullbay itself is no exception.

We hear you now: But Fullbay, you’re saying, you’ve already made shop management so much easier, and even shortened up the amount of time we spend on invoicing! How can you possibly make it better?

Here’s the thing: Fullbay exists purely to make your life easier—whether you’re a shop owner, a parts manager, a tech, or anyone else out on the floor or in a back office. Like we said, we’re constantly crafting improvements and expanding the software.

So yes, we’ve made it even better.

If you’re new to the party, welcome! We’d like to introduce you to Fullbay Connect.

What is it?

Fullbay Connect is a subscription-based add-on to the Fullbay you know and love. It connects you to some great new integrations and features that will help you run an even more efficient shop.

Who can use it?

Anyone who a) works in your shop and b) has access to it (which you can toggle in the menu) can use Fullbay Connect.

What’s cool about it?

How cool is Fullbay Connect? Let us count the ways.

Actually, let’s not—we’d be here all day. Instead, we’ll highlight the features we think you’ll be most excited about.

MORE BUSINESS FOR YOUR SHOP

More business means more work—and more work means more income.

These are all good things.

(We know, we know—we’re preaching to the choir.)

Our FleetNet integration makes it that much easier to secure new business. If a truck needs emergency repairs or is otherwise stranded on the side of the road, the call for help usually goes to FleetNet. Once you’ve jumped on the Connect train, your shop could be the one getting those calls and notifications. You’ll have options to accept or deny requests and even set “Do Not Disturb” hours.

Think about it: You’ll be helping a trucker get back on the road, but more than that, your shop gets to play the hero. Happy customers are usually returning customers. Heck, if the fleet manager or owner is impressed with the repair you made, you might even score a lot of new business.

But Fullbay, you’re saying, I can’t just sit in front of my computer all night long and stare at the dashboard, waiting for something to pop up!

Of course not. We encourage sleep. That’s why we added phone call notifications to our features.

PHONE CALLS

A truck breaks down at night. The driver calls the shop for a repair or requests it through their customer portal. The notification goes to Fullbay or your phone, usually in the form of a text message or email. Except you’re asleep and that soft email notification (if you even have them turned on) isn’t going to rouse you.

That’s a lost customer right there. Someone else—someone who is awake—will get pinged and head out there and be the hero/take the payment.

You don’t want to lose potential business. We don’t want you to lose potential business…but we also don’t want you to lose too much sleep. That’s kind of important.

So instead of a quiet, easily ignored text or email, we’ll call you—and let’s face it, a phone call usually wakes you up.

Yeah, yeah, waking up in the middle of the night is no fun. But if you’re a mobile repair service or offer mobile repair, getting notifications like this in the dead of night can be key to staying afloat. So leave your ringer on or adjust your Do Not Disturb settings to let Fullbay calls come through—and leave yourself open to these types of opportunities.

TEXT MESSAGE NOTIFICATIONS

The thing about repair shops is that it’s rarely just one person doing everything. You’ve got your tech, your parts manager, your owner, your office manager…everyone doing their bit to keep things running smoothly. You all need to stay on top of everything that’s going on, but calling each other on the phone takes up way too much time.

So send a text message.

We don’t mean a message full of emojis, by the way. These notifications get right to the point. Is a service order ready to review? As soon as it’s done, Fullbay will send the text to whoever is set to be notified about the event. Do parts need pricing? Fullbay Connect will text your parts manager and let them know it’s time for them to get to work. No matter what happens in your shop, Fullbay Connect will deliver the message, letting everyone get back to doing their actual job that much sooner.

Additionally, text messages aren’t just for internal communication. Your customers may want to get in on the texting action, so we created text messages for customers as well! You can text customers when estimates need to be authorized or when an invoice is ready; you can also notify them when the shop approves an estimate on their behalf.

ACCESS TO MOTOR—RIGHT THROUGH THE APP

We’d be shirking our duties if we didn’t talk a bit about the MOTOR integration and the impact it will have on both your efficiency and your revenue. This integration brings a suite of awesome products right to your fingertips through Fullbay. They include:

  • Labor Time Guides (Class 1-3 and Class 4-8): Up-to-date repair times for light- and heavy-duty vehicles. The backbone for any swift, accurate estimates!
  • Parts Cross-Reference: In this time of parts shortages and supply chain disruption, getting your hands on parts is more important than ever. This tool lets you find a variety of parts that will work for your repairs, regardless of the manufacturer.
  • Truck Service Guide: Wiring diagrams, HD inspection guides, and repair procedures—oh my!
  • Auto Labor & Service Guide: If your shop takes in light-duty vehicles or automobiles, you’ll want to keep this on hand.

We mentioned you can access all these right through Fullbay, right? No app-flipping for you!

EVEN EASIER INVOICING

Ah, invoicing. The necessary evil. Money is nice—and necessary—but why does invoicing have to take so long?

It doesn’t—Fullbay has already made invoicing a lot easier thanks to its built-in tools and existing integration with Quickbooks. Now we’re upping the game even more thanks to our partnership with Interstate Billing Service (IBS).

Like the goodies above, this integration is only available when you subscribe to Fullbay Connect. You’ll be able to find out whether any given customer has credit with IBS before getting started on repairs; once those repairs are done, you can send invoices to IBS from right inside Fullbay. Then, magically, money appears in your account.

Okay, maybe it’s not magical. But it’s close!

How do I access Fullbay Connect?

If you’re already a Fullbay customer, you will turn Fullbay Connect on right there within the platform under integrations; all you have to do is toggle it on or speak to your Fullbay rep.

If you’re a new customer, we’ll give you the option to switch it on when you are signing up.

We love Fullbay Connect, and we think you’re going to be thrilled with how much it can bring to your shop. We’ve got lots more planned for this upgrade in the future, including new integrations and features that will make it even better.

Suz Baldwin