Knowing where your vehicles, employees and physical assets are in real-time as a management and cost-control tool…is extremely valuable. Streamlining the operations and management of your customers, work, and finances in an intuitive, easy-to-use environment…is essential. Having both as a seamless integrated solution…is imperative!

For a truly complete service management solution, ESC offers vehicle GPS tracking equipment and services through our valued partner, SageQuest. Whether you are a business owner looking to preserve property and control employee time, or you are a dispatcher interested in an easy-to-use, easy-to-integrate tracking system, SageQuest GPS vehicle tracking is a simple and effective solution.

Join SageQuest on Thursday, March 29th from 1:00 – 1:29pm (EST) for a short webinar to learn four very practical ways you can get more done in your business by getting rid of tedious issues that come with having a mobile workforce out on the road. There is no such thing as perfect, but with these four simple ideas, you can be more productive and less frustrated in day to day operations.

Register today to reserve your spot!

The ACCA Indoor Air Expo 2012 in Las Vegas, NV just ended and the turnout was tremendous. Over 1,200 HVAC service company representatives attended with 195 exhibits sprawling the packed show floor of the Paris Hotel. There were also a lot of great breakout sessions with great excitement of interesting things to learn.

Among the buzz this year, were advancements in streamlining service management operations as well as empowering mobile workforces.

As a true market-demand driven solution, over 50 of the latest ESC features & enhancements were developed to address market needs to help service companies run their business better. Dean E. Schreiner, dESCO President, and Bryan Merrill were on hand to show event attendees the exciting new features of ESC service management software.

Some of the latest features and enhancements include Color Coded Dispatch Board, New List Views, Revised Service Agreements Management, SPIFF/Commission Tracking, Customer Status Email Updates, Technician Profile Emailing, Vendor Pricing Comparison, Mobile Phone Apps Upgrades & Redesign, Field Credit Card Processing Integration, ESC Accounting Updates, Credit Holds, ESC Dashboard Flowcharts, New & Updated Reports and more!

Over 6,000 companies have selected ESC Service Management Software to help manage customers, work & finances.  With the right tools, the right benefits and the right price, streamlining operations & solving many day-to-day issues is made easy. Coupled with ESC Mobile Services, field technicians are more efficient with access to all the information they need to get their job done, quickly and correctly. Not to mention save time on dispatches which means completing more jobs weekly and increasing revenue. And with real-time updates, office personnel and technicians will have improved information sharing and communications.

Another great highlight of the ACCA Indoor Air Expo 2012 event was our iPad 2 Way Giveaway. Anyone who stopped by our ACCA booth as well as who attended our ACCA sneak peek webinar were entered to win a brand new Apple iPad2 compliments of dESCO. Congratulations to Sam De Angelis of Colorado Climate Maintenance, Inc who was our grand prize winner.

We will keep you posted on our future event plans and, as always, make sure you follow us on Twitter and Facebook for up-to-minute company news and updates.

Choosing, implementing and using service management software shouldn’t be a daunting or scary task.  At dESCO, you don’t need to learn secret handshakes, hidden passwords and countless unwritten rules to join the fraternity of successful service companies.

Over 6,000 service companies are using ESC service management software to help streamline operations and address the growing needs of their business.  What makes ESC so popular? One reason is that its intuitive easy to use environment provides even novice software users an interface easy to understand.  Another reason is that it’s been around for a long time — with tried and true advanced features, dESCO prides itself on being at the forefront of product development. One more reason to choose ESC is for its superior support and training.

Choosing the right service management software is just the first step. The most important step is implementing and using the software which brings your company the value it was seeking. dESCO makes it easy for anyone to install, learn and use ESC service management software.

Getting Started

You’ve selected ESC as your service management software…now what?  The next step is installing the software to begin using it.  dESCO offers monthly New Customer Orientation Webinars FREE for all new users to attend. This one and a half hour webinar will introduce you to ESC, its functions and will guide you through the installation and setup procedures necessary to begin using the software.

Upcoming dates/times for our New Customer Orientation Webinar are listed in our monthly eNewsletter.  If you are not currently signed up to receive our newsletter, please register today.

ESC Training & Development

You’ve installed ESC software and know it is a powerful tool with the potential to do great things.  But maybe you are only using the dispatching and invoicing functions. Maybe you have seen the dropdowns for service agreements and inventory, but were not sure how to get started. Or maybe you have new employees you want to bring up to speed.

Whatever your company’s situation, dESCO has a training solution for you. Here is an overview of the training services we offer:

Webinar Training – dESCO offers FREE monthly webinars highlighting how to use various ESC features and giving best practice tips. These one-hour sessions are open to all ESC users to attend and are recorded and saved on the ESC support website for anyone who cannot attend and/or who would like a refresher.  Upcoming webinar sessions are listed in our monthly eNewsletter.  If you are not currently signed up to receive our newsletter, please register today.

Online Training – If you prefer, we can schedule online training sessions in one-hour blocks, for just you and your staff members to attend.  As many participants as you would like, can participate in this training with one of our ESC trainers from the comfort of your office. This solution is perfect for learning particular aspects of the software or for learning how to implement features that you are not currently using.

Regional Training – For a more complete overview of the software, we offer one or two-day training sessions throughout the country. Each seminar will start by showing you how to perform simple tasks to get you comfortable with using basic ESC features. As the class progresses, we will teach you how to handle increasingly complex situations, building on what you have already learned. This method makes regional training perfect for both first time users and those that having been using ESC for years. Click here to view the schedule or register for upcoming regional training sessions.

In-House Training –Or if you are like many people looking for an excuse to visit sunny south Florida, dESCO offers in-house training at our headquarters in Fort Myers, FL. The training option offers one or two days of training, for up to 5 staff members. Similar to on-site training, we will customize the training to address your company’s specific needs as well as use your database for faster transfer of learned knowledge.

On-Site Training – For the most customized and complete training experience, we can send one of our senior trainers to your office to train your entire staff. The onsite training package consists of two days of training dedicated to your company’s particular needs. This training can use your database so that the time it takes to implement what you learn will be even faster.

ESC Support Team

For any day-to-day questions or technical concerns, our ESC technical support team is standing by Monday through Friday 8:30am – 5:30pm (EST) to help ESC Support Members.

Remember … being an ESC Support Member has its perks!

• FREE ESC Version Upgrades
• Unlimited Online Access to ESC Knowledgebase for Troubleshooting
• Unlimited Online Access to ESC Feature Video Tutorials
• Unlimited Live Online Support
• Unlimited Phone Support: 800.226.7529
• Unlimited Remote Control Support
• Unlimited Email Support: support@desco-soft.com

At dESCO, we are committed to helping you maximize your service management software investment and want to take the guesswork out of installing and using ESC. Feel free to contact us today to discuss the availability and scheduling for any of these training or learning events.

A successful career, just like a successful marriage, takes a lot of hard work and dedication. In companies today, it is unusual to have one or two employees celebrate a 10 year anniversary, but dESCO was fortunate enough to have 5 employees hit that achievement in 2011 alone. Aside from those five, there are 4 employees with over 15 years tenure, 2 with over 20 years and one who will be celebrating 25 years of service in 2012.  Currently, the average dESCO employee tenure is 9.7 years – an amazing achievement!

The culture at dESCO has long stood out in contrast to more freewheeling software companies who continually seek to lure new employees, creating a constant churn. While dESCO has established a strong base of long-tenured employees, many of whom have spent their entire careers here, that model is hardly common in today’s workplace.

“It is important to me to hire the right people and retain them over the long haul in order to give our customers the best all-around experience with our company and products,” explained Dean E. Schreiner dESCO Owner and President. “We have built an environment that permits creativity and autonomy, while maintaining the discipline to stay focused on the needs and goals of our customers.”

This commitment and loyalty is translated to dESCO customers through each interaction. dESCO’s customer service/support process is high-touch and focused on total care, digging deep into each customer’s business needs to deliver true results. With clear communications and a personal approach to help service companies overcome business challenges, dESCO values cultivating long-term customer relationships and having the opportunity to watch businesses grow and thrive.

While its employees give the company a competitive advantage in the marketplace, dESCO remains committed everyday to converting that into continued success. With over 6,000 dESCO customers nationwide, great products AND great people really do make the difference.

With a recent string of hackers breaching security, stealing sensitive customer credit card information and stealing money from customer bank accounts, it makes me wonder why service companies would not want to protect themselves further with simple painless measures. 

One important step is becoming PCI compliant with credit card transactions.  But you are probably wondering why … what’s the big deal? At first glance, especially if you are a smaller service company, it may seem like a confusing topic and a daunting task.  But let me break it down for you.

PCI Compliance Benefits Versus Consequences
Compliance with data security standards can bring major benefits to businesses of all sizes, while failure to comply can have serious and long-term negative consequences. Here are some reasons why.

• Compliance with the PCI DSS means that your systems are secure, and customers can trust you with their sensitive payment card information. Trust means your customers have confidence in doing business with you and confident customers are more likely to be repeat customers, and to recommend you to others.
• Compliance improves your reputation with acquirers and payment brands — the partners you need in order to do business.
• Compliance is an ongoing process, not a one-time event. It helps prevent security breaches and theft of payment card data, not just today, but in the future. As data compromise becomes ever more sophisticated, it becomes ever more difficult for an individual merchant to stay ahead of the threats. The PCI Security Standards Council is constantly working to monitor threats and improve the industry’s means of dealing with them, through enhancements to PCI Security Standards and by the training of security professionals. When you stay compliant, you are part of the solution – a united, global response to fighting payment card data compromise.

But if you are not compliant, it could be disastrous. Compromised data negatively affects consumers, merchants, and financial institutions. Just one incident can severely damage your reputation and your ability to conduct business effectively, far into the future. Account data breaches can lead to catastrophic loss of sales, relationships and standing in your community, and depressed share price if yours is a public company. Possible negative consequences also include lawsuits, insurance claims, cancelled accounts, payment card issuer fines and government fines.

Achieving PCI Compliance is EASY
Through a recent partnership with Merchant Warehouse, ESC has become PCI compliant, in adherence to security and liabilities, when handling customers’ credit card information. Merchant Warehouse uses strong encryption technology ensuring the safe handling of cardholder information, which tremendously reduces your liability. Plus ESC Version 12 customers using Merchant Warehouse services have also seen lower rates and improved efficiency.

You’ve worked hard to build your business – make sure you secure your success by securing your customers’ payment card data. Your customers depend on you to keep their information safe – repay their trust with compliance to the PCI Security Standards. Contact dESCO or register for more information with Merchant Warehouse to take the first step toware PCI compliance today.

 [Via PCI Security Standards Council: https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/security_standards/why_comply.php]

Like it or not, the workforce is increasingly mobile and workers on the go need to be fully productive from mobile devices. Service companies need to keep up with the demand of an ever-growing digital world and should take advantage of the continued streamlined benefits that go along with a mobile solution. A recent article in The Air Conditioning/Heating/Refrigeration News speaks to this very message.

Most service companies already have cell phones distributed to improve in-the-field communications and most cell phone providers now offer bundled text/phone/internet solutions that are the same price if not cheaper than the individual plans. Adding a mobile service management solution will organize and streamline the work flow of both small and large service companies, making them more manageable and profitable.

ESC Mobile is a simple and affordable way to outfit your mobile technicians with real-time job information and time tracking. ESC Mobile is a powerful and intuitive smartphone, tablet and laptop App for Service Technicians to manage work orders in the field, Technician managers to manage technicians in the field and office personnel to monitor everything with real-time updates to and from the field.

ESC Mobile has all the tools and features growing service companies need. Benefits and advantages include:

• Increased tech productivity by arming your team with the right information in the field ensuring jobs are completed faster and more efficiently.
• Increased response time with features such as GPS tracking and mapping.
• Increased field accuracy with access to all information needed to identify and work on the right equipment and eliminate illegible hand-written field notes.
• Increased customer care and professionalism with easy access to complete customer information across your network.
• Increased sales by increasing the productivity of your technicians and in turn allowing them to complete more jobs daily as well as giving your team information needed to quickly identify up and cross sale opportunities.
• Reduced costs by identifying areas of waste and inefficiencies. (Example. Reduced fuel costs with ESC’s route optimization and mapping functions.)
• Improved internal communications by giving your employees access up-to-the-minute company and customer information, all in a single location.
• Improved external communications with appointment reminders, status updates, technician profile emails, surveys, coupons and more.  
• Reduced collections by allowing techs to process payments in the field lowering processing costs, ensuring accuracy, reducing collection issues and improving cash flow.

The benefits of implementing a mobile solution far outweigh the cost. So what are you waiting for? Contact us today for a personalized demo on our ESC mobile solution.

The ACHR News has a great article in this week’s issue about how HVAC companies are adopting mobile technology to increase productivity and operational efficiency. John Hall’s article, Mobile Office Changes How HVAC Business Is Done, explores how “a company’s ability to access on-the-spot information is vital to working efficiently and professionally” and how new developments in mobile technology makes that possible.

The article is great, not just because it features dESCO’s app ESC Mobile, but also because it demonstrates the importance of implementing the right mobile technology in an HVAC company. Here are a few choice quotes from the article about what ESC Mobile is doing for HVAC companies:

“Our app appeals to and is accessible to everyone,” said Jonathan Frei of dESCO LLC. “First, the app appeals to the computer illiterate in its ease of use. Most people who are able to operate the basic built-in apps on their smart phone, like the calendar and contact manager, will be proficient with our app in a matter of minutes.”

[…]

Frei said the key is being able to connect with customers. “Connecting with customers is and always will be the most critical function of mobile technology for businesses,” he said. “Other connections, such as communications with the office, suppliers, and web data, are important, but only in so far as they enable better connections with customers. The measure of value for any new communication technology is how well it frees up your staff to pay attention to and spend time with your customers.

[…]

“In the past, if a technician needed a phone number, the service history on a customer, or a customer’s service agreement status, he would have to call the office and have someone look up the information and give it to him,” said Frei. With the advent of mobile computing, the tech can look it up himself, getting the information quicker and leaving the person in the office free to talk to customers or to do other important work.

“The technology is turning many two-person jobs into one-person jobs. Therefore, I am comfortable asserting the technology saves at least 50 percent of the time spent communicating work information,” Frei said.

You can read the full article on the ACHR News site here.

You can learn more about ESC Mobile for iPhone/iPad, Android or Windows Phone 7 on our site or you can try the app yourself by searching “ESC Mobile” in you phone’s app store.

As part of our continued effort to provide our customers with quality information about running their business, we are hosting a webinar with our partner Callahan Roach to show why this is the year to introduce flat rate pricing to your business.

Join us for a free 45-minute webinar that shows how to use the power of flat rate pricing to propel your business forward through 2011 and beyond. Attend and you will learn what flat rate pricing is, why you should consider the switch, what’s in it for you, what’s in it for your customers, the bottom line impact, and different ways to implement and incorporate it into your business.

Wednesday March 23, 2011 @ 8 am PST / 10 am CST / 11 am EST

Sign up today to save your seat, and we will have it ready for you for next week.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

Space is limited, so reserve your Webinar seat now at https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/175258598

System Requirements:
PC-based attendees need Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

Macintosh®-based attendees need Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer