EMACS launches Smartphone App

EMACS, the bodyshop management specialists has developed a brilliant App for the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch that enables users to monitor and update jobs while on the move.

Called ARC-AiDE it has been designed to be informative, user-friendly and secure. Bodyshop management staff can keep in touch with the workshop, view the status of jobs and update anything they need to without having to contact anyone while away from their desk.

At the touch of a screen technicians in the workshop can clock on and off jobs, see the next job they are allocated and take images of any further damage they find, which are automatically uploaded to the job file and can be copied back to the Audatex estimate.

There are search functions to help find active jobs by registration, job number or key tag number, and several short cuts to make the App a fast and flexible resource.

The Reminders function, allows tasks in the calendar to be delivered, actioned and replied to anywhere within the workshop. ARC-AiDE will also send notifications of appointments in your diary so you never miss an important event.

The App is also a major boon to collection and delivery staff, helping to increase efficiency and reduce paperwork. Customer information is available at a touch, making remembering phone numbers or addresses irrelevant. ARC-AiDE can even dial the number for you, or point out the customer’s location on a map. Delivery staff can take images of the fuel level and damage on the customer’s car which the customer can then sign to provide proof that the bodyshop hasn’t caused any further damage to a customer’s car while it was in for repair. Using the App, the driver can email the documents, including courtesy car terms and conditions, to the customer and when he gets back to the bodyshop and syncs the iPad or iPhone, it will upload all the customer documents to the job file.

“ARC-AiDE is quite complex in terms of functionality but our programmers have spent a lot of time developing it so that it is logical and straightforward to use,” said Alan Hargreaves, Managing Director, EMACS. “For example, you only need to go into one screen to see instantly what jobs there are, what status they are at, who is working on them, who was previously working on them, the hours remaining etc.”

Unlike many converged Applications, ARC-AiDE has been designed from the ground up to provide a useful productivity aid for EMACS Bodyshop Management System. The App is available from the iTunes store and costs £4.99. There is no limit to the number of iPhone connections to a site but bodyshops will need an updated software release for the application to run.

“We’ve kept the look and feel of the App as close to the EMACS management interface as possible so that it is familiar to EMACS users,” said Alan. “Most people should be able to use it straight away without having to read the manual.”