From the first call to the final invoice.
Here is what happens when a customer calls a towing or roadside-assistance company that uses ProTow. Each company sets ProTow up around the way it works, so some steps depend on that company’s choices.
The customer’s journey
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The customer calls the towing company
Calls to the company’s ProTow number can be answered by an automated phone assistant that speaks for that company. The company’s own staff can also take a call and enter the job themselves in the Company Console.
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The details are collected
The assistant or staff member asks for what the driver needs: the customer’s name and phone number, the service needed, the vehicle, where it is and, for a tow, where it is going. The assistant reads back a summary and asks the customer to confirm that it is correct.
If the exact location is unclear, the company can send the customer a secure link to share their phone’s location. Like every text described here, it is sent only to a customer who agreed to texts.
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The customer chooses whether to get text updates
The last question of the call is a separate question about text messages. The customer is asked:
Consent question“For text updates from [Towing company name], message frequency varies; message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Can we text you updates about this request?”
[Towing company name] stands for the real name of the towing company the customer called; the question is always asked with that company’s actual name.
Saying yes is optional, and saying no does not affect the service. ProTow records the answer for that company and that phone number. A customer who says yes receives a first text confirming the request and its reference number, and can reply STOP at any time to stop the texts or HELP for help. See how text-message consent is collected.
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The company dispatches a driver
The job appears in the company’s Company Console. Depending on how the company has set up ProTow, the job is either offered automatically to an available driver whose truck is equipped for the service, taking distance to the pickup into account, or assigned by the company’s dispatcher.
The driver sees the job on their phone in the Driver Console, with the pickup and drop-off locations and the customer’s contact details, and updates its status as the work goes on: En Route, On Scene, In Tow and Completed. If the customer agreed to texts, they are sent the driver’s estimated arrival time when the driver is on the way. A driver can ask another driver for assistance from the job, and drivers can add photos and video to it.
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The invoice and the receipt
When the work is done, the company or driver prepares the invoice from the company’s own rates, taxes and discounts, and can capture the customer’s signature. The company then sends the customer a secure link to view the invoice; a link is sent by text only to a customer who agreed to texts. Once the company records the payment, the customer can view the receipt through the same kind of secure link.
Good to know
- ProTow is software. The towing company provides the service, sets its prices and decides how its jobs are dispatched.
- Arrival times are estimates. Response times depend on the towing company, its drivers and conditions on the road.
- Texts are sent only to customers who agreed to receive them, and stop when the customer replies STOP. Read the SMS Terms.
- Questions about a service, an arrival time or an invoice should go to the towing company that provided the service. See who to contact.
See what ProTow can do for your company.
Dispatch, drivers, roadside calls, invoicing and yard operations in one connected system.