Route Optimization Software - Then... And Now!

Copyright Route4Me Inc.

Route Optimization Software Then... and Now

Something Really BigHappened On June 29th,

2007...

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● The first iPhone was a Smartphone which took the iPod to the next level

● You could use it as a cell phone, send and receive emails, listen to music, and have access to mapping and navigation

● But the most important thing about the iPhone (and later the iPad) was the Apple App Store

● The Apple App Store had very few apps at first, but grew very quickly, even though Apple had to thoroughly review and approve each app

The First iPhone Came Out on June 29th, 2007

http://route4me.com/Copyright 2015 Route4Me, Inc 3

http://route4me.com/

● About one year after the iPhone was released, Google made the Android Smartphone available for purchase

● The first Android Smartphone (and for the next few years) was not as critically acclaimed as the iPhone because the phone was not as good looking or easy-to-use

● Android also launched an app store (Google Play), but the biggest problem with the Android Smartphone was that anyone could upload apps to Google Play and they did not have to go through a security review process (and still don’t) like with the Apple App Store

The First Android Phone Came Out

on October 22nd, 2008



Let’s Draw a Line in the Sand...

And Categorize All Routing Companies Older Than 2009

as “Legacy Route Optimization

Vendors”5

Because Before 2009, “Legacy” Vendors Did Not Architect Their Software for the Cloud or the

Smartphone

What is Legacy Software?In computing, a legacy system is an old method, technology, computer system, or application program, "of, relating to, or being a previous or outdated computer system."

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● Legacy route optimization vendors have hidden pricing.● This means that you can spend one hour browsing their

website and you will not find out how much their software costs to purchase.

Pricing Is Almost Impossible To Find

How To Easily Spot a Legacy Routing Software Vendor:

● Good luck getting someone on the phone. Independent studies show it takes days to get a response to a sales inquiry!

● You know you’re dealing with a legacy vendor if you have to go through a comprehensive proof-of-concept or pilot that spans many months - or even years!

● You don’t get to try their software before you “prove” to them that you’re “good enough” for them to take you on as a client. This usually means disclosing your company’s financials to them.

● Legacy vendors really like to bring in a “sales guy,” a sales engineer, a project manager, and as many people as possible to justify their increased pricing.

● Ask legacy route optimization vendors to define their mobile strategy and you’ll likely hear that they have an “add-on” for it or a “partner” that they’ve integrated with - that’s because mobile isn’t part of their core product

Buying Their Software Is Time Consuming

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Mobile… An afterthought For Legacy Vendors

“Like The Mafia, Once You’re In… There’s No Getting Out”

● Legacy software vendors are like car salesmen - they want to sell you this year’s model and want you to buy a new one in three years - while your competitors are already using something newer.

● The only problem is that software evolves so much faster than cars, and waiting three years for a software improvement is way too long.

● So the legacy software vendors scare you into buying “Yearly Mapping” and stability upgrades that you need an entire IT team download and install on all the computers in your company.

● Legacy vendors feel that you owe them this three year commitment because they spent so much effort convincing you to buy in the first place

Once You Buy Their Software, You’re Locked In… Usually for 3 Years

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Legacy Vendors Love:Enormous Integration Fees

● There’s a big difference between ready to go and custom integration.● Most legacy vendors don’t have seamless plug-and-play integration with

Google, Dropbox, or other systems you’re already using in your business...● This is because if the integration is too easy to use and get started with,

they couldn’t charge you upwards of $2,000 per person per day to integrate with your system.

● Those who have ready-to-go integrations only make it available only with systems that have a starting price of 6 or 7 figures...per server!

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Vicious Cycle:Cumbersome Legacy Software

VendorsAlmost Always Requires Paid

Training ● Legacy vendors love to make software so complex it requires weeks or

months of paid training.● Legacy software vendors give the illusion that comprehensive route

optimization software has to be complex and unusable without training● Ask Yourself: How many weeks of training did you need to learn GMail or

Microsoft Outlook?● Adding insult to injury, some legacy vendors charge you extra training fees

on top of exorbitantly high software fees for every person they train in your company.

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Can Legacy Vendors Really Do What They Claim?

● Legacy vendors make many claims about what their software can do... ● But their sentences almost always end with this wording: “...with the help of this

partner… an expert in this area....”

● Partnering with other companies is really important, but when’s the last time you heard Google partnering with someone to improve Google Search?

● Basically, many legacy vendors take a bunch of software from different companies and bundle it together - selling it to you for way more money

● Others try to “custom build” a one-off solution, because their software is so inflexible● Many are nothing more than middle-men, sitting between you and the actual

companies who make the GPS trackers, the route optimizer, the mapping system, the mobile app, the mobile device, the navigation device, some even outsource training too!

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● Where’s the pricing on your website?● Do you offer a free trial that I can start immediately?● Do I have to wait 3+ months for any “ROI”?● Do I have to disclose how much revenue my company is making?● Do I really have to pay per driver, per user, or per anything?● Do I have to sign a long term contract?● If business isn’t that great, how big is the penalty if I cancel my contract?

Next Time You Speak With a Legacy Routing Software

Sales Person, Ask:



● Do you have a mobile app in the App Store my drivers can easily download?

● Do the changes I make to routes on the website instantly appear on my driver’s smartphone?

● Do I need to buy a server or other hardware to run your routing software?● Do I need to put this server or hardware into my own datacenter? ● Do I need to buy a mapping license key even after I buy your routing

software? ● Do I need to pay extra for training my team?


Sales Person, Ask:



● Can my executives, planners, and dispatchers use the system as a team?● Does your software work on Mac, PC, the iPhone, iPad, Android

smartphones?● Do I have to download a file and install it on all my computers?● Does your routing software work in 10 language so my employees can use

it more efficiently?● Are you really a routing software company or are you just a middleman

(reseller)?● Do I have access to improvements made to your software on a weekly

basis?


Sales Person, Ask:



Most Legacy Vendors Are Throwing Your Good Money At Old TechnologyJust like cars or homes built in years past, older doesn’t necessarily mean better.

● Changing headlights on your old Chevy Pickup doesn’t give it Corvette performance...

● And changing headlights on an old Corvette doesn’t make it look or feel like a New Corvette

● That’s why you need to look at New Route Optimization Companies, built for today’s high-speed requirements from the ground up.

● You may want a vintage collectible car for fun, but definitely not to run your business! 15

Most Legacy Routing Software Doesn’t Know The Real World Exists

● Legacy Route Planning Software assumes you plan your routes once at the beginning of the week or the beginning of the quarter and that your routes never change:

⚬ But customers cancel deliveries, pickups, and service-calls ALL THE TIME!⚬ And some customers, like VIP customers or those at-risk of cancellation, need to be

visited unexpectedly● Legacy Route Planning Software assumes you want to spend time sitting around

“configuring your fleet” and expects you to wait hours for your routes to optimize:

⚬ But you just want to throw in the number of drivers you have, the driver skills, your customers orders, get your routes created automatically in a few minutes (or seconds), and have them appear on your drivers smartphones right away.

● Plus most Legacy Route Planning Software wasn’t designed for mobile, GPS tracking, or modifying routes for your drivers many times per day.

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Legacy Routing Vendors Have So Many Problems...

What’s Better About Modern Route Optimization Software?

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Mobile = Modern

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In April 2009, Route4Me Launched The Very First

Mobile Route Optimization App

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Rob Miller

Let's list the exact date just like we listed the dates for the iPhone and android phone

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As of 2015, Route4Me’s iOS & Android

Mobile Apps Have Been Downloaded Over 1,000,000

Times

With Modern Mobile Route Planning Software

What Took You So Many Hours… Now Takes Less Than 10 minutes

High-Quality Modern Route Optimization software tests billions of scenarios in less than a minute to plan your optimized route!

Ask yourself: Can my IT team integrate with the online route planning software without spending months on expensive coding?



Modern Software Incorporates Real-World Scenarios

● Modern route optimization software like Route4Me permits dispatchers and managers to modify routes and have them updated over-the-air in real-time to drivers.

● Real-world conditions like traffic delays, weather, declined customer credit cards, or dangerous onsite hazards may impact your the routes of your drivers

● Something as simple as adding an extra break for your driver on a hot summer day is easy to do and takes just one click - drivers appreciate it and ultimately have increased performance.

● Sending multiple-drivers to meet at a specific location, or to help another driver is almost impossible without modern routing software like Route4Me

Because many legacy software vendors expect you to put your head in the sand when it comes to dynamic routing and re-optimizing routes by pretending that routes never change

after they are planned.

Route4Me’s Mobile Phone App Gives You & Your Drivers All The Tools Needed



The Tool You Need Is Already On Your SmartphoneWith the emergence of the smartphone, users have the ability to see their routes instantly.

Route4Me is leading the way in how drivers of any business size can optimize their day!

● With over a million downloads, drivers around the world are saving hours of work every day.

● Business owners can plan multiple routes in seconds, whether they have 10 or a 100 drivers.

● Keep your drivers safe and legal by using phone or tablet mounts in their vehicles.

● The startup expense is minimal. Just have your drivers use their personal phones.

● Route4Me piggy-backs on the most powerful mapping programs in the world…including Google Maps.

● Whatever changes you create in the office…automatically synchronizes on your driver's phone, even during the middle of a drive.

● Specific time windows, avoiding traffic hot spots and more, you can customize each route as much as needed.



Easy & Powerful Route Planning Done For You

● Select your stops from a map and optimize the sequence in which your drivers will go about their day in seconds.

● Add specific time windows for stops, time spent at location, avoid certain roads, and more…

● Instantly calculates the driving time, including traffic delays, between hundreds of locations at once.

● Easily plan multiple routes for all your drivers with just a few mouse clicks…even if you have hundreds or thousands of stops each day.

Gone are the days when only mega-enterprises had the cash to use route planning systems.

Route4Me is designed to scale to your needs & accurately plan routes in seconds while still exceeding the power of legacy software systems.




Automate Route Planning, And Put Parts of Your Business On Autopilot With Modern

Software

● Plan your employee routes, automatically synchronize them with their smartphone, and track them in real time - something legacy vendors are offering as pricey “add-ons”, not a core part of their offering!

● Keep all of your customer addresses in the centralized online system, exporting annoying Excel files to and from MapPoint, and other systems - not required..

● When you need confirmation of completed work, Route4Me allows drivers to upload images, videos and signatures…straight into the route - for easy searching.

● Track your driver locations in real time without buying any new hardware, so you know exactly where they are and whether they are off the path set by you.

Route4Me is a modern route optimization software at its core… but it also offers you so many other benefits for saving your own precious time.




Important Things To Keep In Mind About Modern Route Optimization Software Before Spending Your Hard Earned Money

Does It Require You To Purchase New Equipment?● If you have to shell out thousands of dollars for new equipment, make

sure it's worth it to your business. Some route planning software runs through a website or as a mobile phone app…significantly reducing your costs of purchase.

Does It Come With a Free Trial and Free Setup?● Setting up an account can be a lot of work, so you want to be sure that

you either get a free trial or the account is setup for you, ready to be used.

Is the Pricing Digestible or is it Outrageous?● Many route optimization companies charge extra by the vehicle or driver

instead of a fixed monthly cost.

Does the route planner software have ways to track your drivers?

● A great route planning system should also be a tool for improving driver efficiency and accountability. Having the ability to track every driving expense automatically should be a key component of any route planner.

Is the Route Planning Software Simple to Use?● Make sure that you or your employees have the capacity to use the

software to it’s fullest potential. ● The software should be very user friendly, hiding all the complex math

equations totally out of sightCopyright 2015 Route4Me, Inc



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Route Optimization Software - Then... And Now!

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