|
At Quick Delivery, we have always been on the cutting edge of technological developments in the courier industry. Doing so has enabled us to keep our costs down, resulting in a lower price to you, and to make the most efficient use of both our drivers and in-house staff, resulting in better service to you.
We know that it is critical for our office to maintain good contact with our drivers, so we have tried to use the most modern and effective devices (click here to see the various devices we've used through the years). In 1996 we developed one of the first software programs in the country in to use the Motorola Infotacs, which were the first pagers to allow the driver to send a message rather than just receive one. And we wrote one of the first usable WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) applications for the Nextel phones, using IP (Internet Protocol) to allow drivers to send and receive messages using the phones. We have also been one of the leaders among Chicago area messenger companies in the general use of computer technology. In 1994 we took a major step forward and developed our own in-house dispatch/order entry/order tracking computer system from scratch. The system allowed us much more flexibility than buying a pre-configured software package from a vendor, and allowed us at an early date to integrate our communications with the drivers into our order system. Prior to this, the order had to be entered by a customer service rep, and then a page had to be typed in separately by a dispatcher and sent to the driver. With the new system, the order only had to be entered once; the software would automatically format the page and send it to the driver. This may not sound like a great advance, but it freed up a tremendous amount of the dispatchers' time so they could concentrate on managing the drivers more effectively. In a similar vein, we were one of the first companies in the Chicago area to use 2-way pagers, enabling the drivers to type in a POD name on their field device and send it back to the office, where the software would automatically update the job record with signature and time-stamp info. Prior to this, drivers would have to call in and spell names over the radio to the dispatchers, who would have to take the time to enter it in the system (and it would not get entered if they didn't have the time). Automating this freed up more of the dispatcher's time and made it certain that the POD would get into the system, making the information available to us and you in real-time. Most recently, we were one of the first messenger companies in the Chicago area to have an interactive web site where our clients could enter and track jobs in real-time and have access to the same files on our server that we have back in the office. Most local companies (or messenger companies of our size anywhere, for that matter) still do not have a web site, or if they do it does not allow order entry or tracking since it does not connect to their databases, but merely gives information about the company and maybe an order sheet you can print and fax to them. Our web site can save you time and money (3% discount for orders placed using it) and you can pay by secure credit card and track your order in real-time on line. We have developed all the above and more (bar code scanning software, "private" networks to allow clients to tie directly into our database, and other interesting and useful applications). And we will continue to try to stay in the forefront of industry technology, not only because we enjoy the challenge, but mainly because it lets us keep our costs and prices down and lets us serve you better. |