We love integration!

The integration of different systems and ways to do things is great and allows huge flexibility in how any piece of software is used.

We therefore integrate as many different systems as we possibly can and alter processes to fit different requirements in an automated fashion saving time and money as well as allowing your customers to get better and faster services.

We will demonstrate some examples of how rapport integrates and will integrate with different systems.

Postcode Lookup

It may seem in this modern age that being able to lookup postcodes and find addresses using a simple postcode lookup is a simple thing to do and, in some ways it is but it is also important how it is done and what the cost of that facility is.

Many software systems will simply buy the Postal Address File (PAF) from Royal Mail then split the cost of that between the users, this is often part of the reason for monthly rentals on many call handling systems. The downside being that the PAF data is very expensive unless you have a large number of users to split the cost between and updates also have a cost attached.

Obviously for small businesses the cost of access to the Royal Mail PAF is prohibitive.

Postcode Anywhere address validationIn order to reduce costs we have partnered with Postcode Anywhere to provide this information straight from the web and integrated into rapport.

There is no initial outlay beyond the credits you buy, no update costs and no ongoing monthly costs as well as no contract.All you need to do is set up an account with Postcode Anywhere and when you enter a call into rapport the correct address will be fetched for you live. You get the correct address, validated and spelled correctly without having to type it in.

You can use the service or not, it's entirely up to you.

Find out more from the Postcode Anywhere website.

Route Optimisation

When we started rapport we were using a paid for route optimisation platform but with changes in technology and the rise of free mapping software online we’ve changed this now to use Google Maps.

There’s two great benefits from this with the first one that most people care about being, it’s free!

That’s right, out the box rapport will help you plan routes and all that stuff completely for free.

No fees, no add on, add ins or anything else, just there, for free.

It also works on virtually any device.

However as Google bought the free navigation app Waze and they also collate traffic flow information from Android devices, the traffic info is about as bang up to date as you can get.

This helps busy professionals out on the road to avoid traffic snarl ups and get on with their work instead of being stuck in queuing traffic.

Not bad for a free service.

SMS Services

Life’s just too short for working people out own the field and even more so for sole traders who love that they can get and send SMS messages to customers straight from the application.

This means you can text your customers appointment confirmations, time slots, parts and job statuses and so on with no problems at all.

You can even get a text message sent to you when you’re on the road letting you know that new jobs or work has been sent to you. Great if you happen to be round the corner, saves going back another day and helps to reduce your costs.

Online Search

Our online search engine that was built for UK Whitegoods specifically and allows customers to search for and find appliance technicians is a bespoke but of software that also integrates straight to rapport.

What happens is that customers can enter their details online which then gets sent to the chosen repairer. If that repairer is a rapport user the work request or enquiry pops up right in their desktop, no typing required.

We then went on to build a customised version of this facility for the Whitegoods Trade Association to do the same.

Online Call Booking

As an extension to the online engineer search for UK Whitegoods we also developed a way that the service engineers could have a small piece of HTML code to drop into their own websites to allow their customers to book calls online, on their website.

For free.

Yes that is correct, you can give your customers the ability to request your services for free.

It gets better on this system though as because each company controls the services that they offer or don’t, on which brands and where you have complete control over what will or own’t be accepted through the form on your website.

No more random requests for calls in Outer Mongolia from your website!