Call Taking

In this article:

• Entering New Calls
• Required Fields
• Fields NOT Required
• Tow Pricing

Entering New Calls:
Upon login to TOPS, there are two places a New Call can be added:

• Click on the Calls menu item > click the green Add button in the bottom right corner to add a New Call 
• Click on the Dispatch menu item > click the green Add button in the bottom right corner to add a New Call 

The Call screen contains all information pertaining to a tow. When taking a New Call, obtain the required information from the caller, and enter it into the appropriate fields in the Tow, Vehicle, and Miscellaneous sections.

Fields with a red dot are required information fields. These include the Customer, Tow Location and Tow Type.

Required Fields: 

Search for Customer
In the modal window, start typing the name, phone, address, or short code for the customer that exists in your database. You may see a list of matching searches if the entered information is common. You can then select the customer from the list. If the entered information is not common, TOPS will find the customer and automatically place it in the Customer field without having to select it. 

Note: Select the PPI (Private Property Impound) checkbox to choose from PPI customers only.

Tow Location / Tow Destination 
Enter the call location and destination directly into the Tow Location and Tow Destination fields. 

When you begin typing an address, location options will appear in a modal window. You may choose from the options if the location you need appears. If the location does not appear in the modal window, continue adding the address as needed. If the location is more complex, such as the vehicle is located on cross streets, you may enter those. If you do not have a city/state entered in the location/destination, the city/state will pre-populate based on your company’s location. You may update those if needed.

After entering the address information, TOPS will attempt to geocode the address to determine the exact location (Lat/Lon).

Alternately, you can use Customer Locate to send a text message to the caller to pinpoint their exact location. 

Tow Destination has your Lots as destination options, which are already geolocated. You may also enter an address manually. 

Note: When setting up New Customers on the Customer Screen you have the option to setup “New Call Defaults”. These new call defaults are fields that are automatically populated when you take a call for a specific customer. If you always tow from the same location or to the same destination for a specific customer, you can set up their location and/or destination as a new call default to save time when taking calls.

Once you have entered both the Tow Location and Destination, you may click on the map icon to view a Google Map with directions, ETA, and mileage.

Tow Type
Tow Types are selected by entering the tow type short code or by using the drop‐down selection set. 

Note: You may have default pricing based on the Tow Type. If so, make sure you understand the pricing setup for your company.

Available tow types include: 

Entering Additional New Call Data 
After entering the required fields, the call taker has the option to save the call or add any additional information desired before saving the call.

Saving the New Call 
To save the call, click the Save button at the bottom of the screen. This will transfer the call to the Dispatch screen under the Unassigned section or the user can Save and Assign directly from the Call Screen.

The following fields are automatic fields within the Call Screen:

• The Call Number, Call Taken (date/time stamp), Call Taken By and Call Status fields are automatically populated when the call is saved. (With the appropriate security access, users can change the Call Taken Date/Time prior to the call being saved the first time.) 
• Call Priority field is assigned based on the account information. If necessary, the priority can be modified on the Call Screen. The default Priority is 9. This is overwritten on the Customers screen by assigning the Customer a Priority between 1 - 9.

Call Screen Fields NOT Required:

Tow Section

• Caller Name - This fields is for the name of the person who called
• Caller Phone - This field is for the phone number of the person who called
• Setting ETA or Appointment - 
  • An ETA may be entered in minutes. The minutes will be translated to a date and time field when you tab out of the ETA field. 
  • Appointments can be set by specifying the appointment date and time in the Appointment field. Appointment dates and times must be in the following format:

M/D/YYYY HH:MM:SS AM

(i.e. 6/8/2008 10:23:42 AM)

• Click on the clock icon to add the current date & time, then edit that information as necessary. If there is no time entered, the system assumes the appointment time is 12:00:01 AM for the specified date. 
• By default, appointments will appear in the dispatch screen 1 hour before the appointment time. setting to indicate how far in advance appointment calls appear.
• Reason - The field includes selections such as Accident, Battery, Driveline, Flat Tire, etc. 
• Truck Type - This field is used for specifying the type of truck needed for the tow. If the customer requests or if the call taker determines a specific type of truck is required for the call, the selection is made using the selection set options.
• Equipment Required - This field is designed for adding informational notes about special equipment needed for the call.  
• Dispatch Notes - This field is designed for Dispatch related notes.
• Driver Notes - This field is designed for Driver related notes and will appear in the notes section of the call for the Driver via the mobile app.
• No Charge (check box) - When checked, the call is set as a No Charge call. However, all service pricing items will remain on the call so that you/customer may know how much they would have been charged.
• Portal To Portal (check box) - When checked, this is used to calculate total mileage charges based on the drivers starting point and final ending point. Note: This field can be flagged as a required field based on a specific customer requirements. This checkbox is set on a customer by customer basis as a ‘New Call Default’ in the customer profile.
• Discount % - If a number is entered, the discount would be applied to any pricing items that are flagged as discountable.
• Tow Ticket Number - Tow Ticket is used for entering the driver's tow ticket (or invoice) and is typically entered when the call is dispatch complete.  
• Second Commission (check box) - When checked, this will append the second commission amount (defined on the driver screen) to the first commission for creating the drivers commission for this specific call. 

Vehicle Section

• VIN - The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) of the vehicle being towed. When the VIN is entered, click the wand icon to decode the VIN. This field will check the validity of the VIN and warn the user if an incomplete or inaccurate VIN is entered. If valid, the Year, Make, Model, Body will populate. Note: This field can be flagged as a required field based on a specific customer requirements. If required, the word “Required” will auto populate in the field when a new call is taken and the user is warned if they try to save a call without replacing the word “Required”.
• Year - Vehicle Year (Enter manually or automatically populated using the VIN decoder) 
• Make - Vehicle Make (Select manually or automatically populated using the VIN decoder) 
• Model - Vehicle Model (Select manually or automatically populated using the VIN decoder) 
• Body - Vehicle Body (Select manually or automatically populated using the VIN decoder) 
• Color - Vehicle Color (Select manually)
• Odometer - Odometer reading of the vehicle being towed. Note: This field can be flagged as a required field based on a specific customer’s requirements.
• Tag Number/State - Enter the Tag Number of the vehicle being towed, plus select the State from the dropdown list, then you can click the wand icon to acquire the VIN > then you can decode the VIN for additional vehicle information.
• Tag Expiry - The Expiration date of the vehicle's Tag. This is entered as a full date (Month/Day/Year) or as Month/Year. If entered as Month/Year, the system will translate into a full date and will select the last day of the month. (8/24 is translated to 2024-08-31)
• Owner Name/Owner Phone - These fields are designed to track the vehicle's owner information.
• Other Information - The field is for any additional vehicle information.
• Hold (check box), Until and Hold Notes - Select the Hold (check box) if the vehicle is to be held for a period of time. The Until field is a Date field for the Hold Until Date and the Hold Notes field contains notes associated with the vehicle's Hold. 

Miscellaneous Section

• Priority - This field is assigned based on the account information. The default Priority is 9. 
• Zone - If the tow is related to a Zone (typically used with Police accounts), the data is entered into this field. 
• P.O. Number - This is a purchase order number associated with the tow. (This field can be flagged as a required field based on a specific customer’s requirements.)
• R.O. Number - This is a work order number associated with the tow. (This field can be flagged as a required field based on a specific customer’s requirements.)
• Membership # and Expiration Date - If the vehicle being towed has an affiliation that requires you to track a Membership # and Expiration Date, the information is stored in these fields. 
• Mileage Required (checkbox) - If this is checked, users cannot save the call without entering the mileage on the dispatch tab of the call screen. (This field can be flagged as a required field based on a specific customer’s requirements.) 
• Police Number and Police Beat - These fields are used to store police related information.
• User Defined Fields #1, #2, #3 - These fields are designed to allow the towing company the ability to create a unique field that is not already addressed in the standard set of fields on the call screen. These fields are a text only field and cannot be formatted.  These fields can be renamed by the towing company. (These fields can be renamed in the TOPS Company Settings section of the My Account user portal. Manager level access is required to access this information.)

Tow Pricing:
After the required fields have been entered (Customer, Tow Location, and Tow Type) and the call has been Saved, any default services and pricing that have been configured and assigned to the customer and tow type specified in the call details will automatically appear here. Additionally, the call taker has the option to add additional services to the Pricing section as required by clicking on the Add Service button and selecting from the available services. The services are not added to the call until the Save button is clicked. 

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