Protractor

Protractor already has integrations that allow for VIN's to be decoded, but there is much room for improvement. There should be a way to see VIN attributes easily, like in the utilities tab of a work order. There should also be an automated recall check when creating a work order. If there is a recall, it should automatically be entered into the work order; if not, it should just have information stating when it was last checked.

If a work order is opened for over a month and has a core, the traditional core system built into the system immediately goes out the window, as you are not able to reconcile your accounts. Returned parts are similar, but to a much lesser degree.

It would be otherworldly helpful if I were able to have access to my contact, schedule and work orders at minimum on demand on my iphone whether it be a web app or IOS app. I can't tell you how challenging it is at time to only be able to access my program from specifically PC computer with the program installed and wi-fi. It is very limiting.

Having to sign in to RepairLink every time we would like to utilize the catalog lookup feature completely eliminates the effectiveness and the speed it was supposed to bring. We know for a fact that this improved integration is possible because Napa has it with their TRACs software.

Right now, all deferred work looks like missed sales—but in reality, a large portion is intentionally staged. We need the system to reflect that. All "declined" work is currently grouped into one deferred estimate. This doesn’t reflect how repairs are actually prioritized or presented, and it reports “opportunity” without context. Enable us to split deferred work into multiple prioritized estimates (e.g., Immediate, Recommended, Future) while keeping all data tied to the original RO and included segmented this way in deferred reporting. In its current form, it is hard to distinguish true missed sales from planned future work. Therefore, weakening the closing ratio and performance insights. And limits targeted follow-up and customer clarity. Allow multiple deferred estimates per RO that are categorizable (e.g., Immediate / Next / Future), subtotaled by category, and roll up to a total deferred amount, while remaining trackable by category. The outcome will be better customer communication, more usable, accurate data, and improved decision-making for our clients.

This is different than the sticky note as it would appear on the actual work order, invoice, or estimate. Our shops have currently created a service package specifically for this, but this does not have the automated timestamps, which would be very helpful. This would also serve a different purpose from the sticky note, which is meant to be used as an internal note, while this could be used for legal protection if needed.

Sometimes a customer comes in and asks for prices on work with the implication they are going to do it but then says "ill let you know." At this point, the WO doesnt yet have a tech or inspection assigned nor have parts been ordered. The work order is started and then the building of work a customer talks about doing gets put on hold.. this would be the situation that could justify converting a fresh WO into an estimate. My current long way around is to copy and paste the jobs from the WO to an Estimate so long as the WO hasn't been saved to a WO number. Also, cash change rounding option would be nice. Put it in the shop supplies fee or something. Most customers dont care or even want the coin change.

Adding these functions to Protractor would streamline many day-to-day operations and address the issue of selecting multiple material item lines. Adding other commands, such as CTRL-click, would let you do the same for labor lines.