I first looked at ePASS in about 2003. It had a lot of nice features and appeared to be what I was looking for, but I was very leery of the huge step in changing software - especially with four branches and 70 plus people to train. I could not get the features that I wanted with my old software as they did not appear to be too keen on adding much more to their package. After a couple of years of waiting for promised upgrades and failed attempts, I decided to take the plunge.

R&D delivered on everything that they said they could do. They trained my staff, gave us the tools to play with their software and fine tuned it for the little things that my staff wanted. We were the first service only customer with multiple branches to use their software. This revealed a couple of minor annoyances with the dispatch system but they jumped right in and adjusted it overnight.

My staff love the searches available in the various modules. One of my elderly, more forgetful, customers was very appreciative of the fact that we could find information for her with just a street name. We can mine the data base for almost anything that we could ever require.

The various notepads attached to the customer's file or the invoice allow for a paperless tracking of customer conversations and intimate details. This has been very helpful when somebody from one branch may be talking to a customer from another branch. It just makes sense not to pass a customer off from person to person. The first contact can handle everything at once. In the service industry this tends to ease customer's minds and build loyalty.

ePASS is also a great tool for centralized purchasing or dispatching. Cross training can be done so that if one branch has a weather related shut down, the others can pick up the slack immediately. This has been a great help in Western Canada with some of our winter weather.

ePASS is also a great tool for centralized purchasing or dispatching. Cross training can be done so that if one branch has a weather related shut down, the others can pick up the slack immediately. This has been a great help in Western Canada with some of our winter weather.

Sincerely,

Rod Williscroft, President

Totem Appliance & Refrigeration Ltd.