Frequently Asked Questions

Do you already use Intuit QuickBooks® to run your company but you are still suffering from a number of the following problems?

Find out how Pioneer StarTech™ can help you!

General
Scheduling
Billing
Technician Productivity & Office Efficiency
Service Calls
Jobs & Estimating
Customer Service
Inventory
Purchasing
Service Agreements
Equipment
Miscellaneous
Internet Connectivity & Scalability
Automatic Updates

General

Q. How could I properly manage my Company using a sophisticated program that should seamlessly integrate with my Customers, Jobs, Parts, Employees, Billing and Payroll in an easy and efficient matter?

A. Pioneer StarTech™ was developed with one goal in mind: to streamline the workflow of the Service Industry. After having hands-on-experience and analyzing existing procedures we noticed that an advanced program is needed to handle the integration of all the functions involved in managing a remote workforce. StarTech is that solution.

Scheduling

Q. Do you keep all your scheduling information in mounds of notes and scraps of papers, or in several different Programs like Excel, Palm, etc.? Do you lose Service Calls due to inefficient scheduling procedures?

A. On our Schedule Board you can manage your entire day from a single screen, with the ease of drag-and-drop and integrated mapping and driving directions. Set up the calendar in A Day, Week, or Month, View.


Q. Do you spend hours of time to record your employee's time-sheets?

A. By using our powerful QuickBooks exporter you won't have to record the timesheets for your technicians, but instead use the completed schedule slots on the Schedule Board to automatically create their time sheets in QuickBooks.

Billing

Q. Do you continuously forget to bill for Jobs, Parts, or Services performed for your customers?

A. It’s a fact at most companies, and it is just human nature, that when using paper-based Work Orders, some jobs simply fall through the cracks, and do not get billed. However, by using Pioneer StarTech™ you will never again forget to bill a client for any part or work done.


Q. Do you wish to record all the details of the job performed but still hide all those details on the customer’s invoice, and instead show them only the relevant information?

A. This is where our streamlined solution Line Groups come into play. Just set the description you wish to show to the client and then simply attach the actual transactions to the Line Group and the system will automatically calculate the total of the Line Group for you.

Technician Productivity & Office Efficiency

Q. Is your office staff continuously on the phone with your technicians about any of the following: What's the phone number of the contact person? When was the last time we did PM for the given equipment? Did the current problem occur before? And if so, how did we solve it? Who was the technician then? Which technician has the necessary part on their truck? What's the complete history for a given Job Site or Equipment?

A. Pioneer StarTech Mobile™ really comes to rescue, a truly revolutionary product that will enhance your technician's productivity as well as that of your office staff. See the StarTech Mobile section to learn more.


Q. Would you like to be in control of where your field technicians spend their time? Would you like to see which of your technicians are the most profitable? Would you like to see which of your technicians are solving problems in the least amount of time?

A. With Pioneer StarTech™, these answers are just a click away. You can easily analyze each employee’s actual hours and how many billable hours each week, and at which costumer and on which problem did he spend time.

Service Calls

Q. How can I properly manage my service calls that they should integrate with my Customers, Jobs, Billing and Payroll in an easy and efficient matter?

A. On the Customer Snapshot Screen you can maintain in a one-screen-tabbed-file for instant access to all individual customer data, Easily manage vast amounts of customer information such as, company name, address, phone numbers, multiple service locations, credit information, tax codes, labor rates and trip charges, unlimited contact information and more.


Q. Would you like to avoid unnecessary truck rolls for problems that could be solved over the phone?

A. Predefine problem codes and create a check list for all possible solutions, so when a customer calls with a problem your receptionist can try to solve the problem over the phone.


Q. Would you like to see what types of Service Calls are generating the most revenue?

A. Analyze work orders by Service Type and by how much revenue they generated over any given period of time.


Q. Would you like to have a system that will have powerful 'Labor Pricing' options, and different pay types?

A. With Pioneer StarTech™, set up different markups and parts pricing, labor pricing and different pay types for each customer/work order.


Q. Have you always wanted to charge some clients a 'Trip Charge'?
A. Set up a trip charge on each job site, and each time you send a technician the customer will be billed that charge.

Q. What about charging your clients an 'Initial Charge' which will charge your clients a 'minimum fee' for a predefined 'labor time'?

A. This is part of Pioneer StarTech’s powerful Labor Rate feature.

Jobs & Estimating

Q. How could I properly track and manage 'Changes' to a running job, without affecting the original estimate?

A. Attach a 'change order' to an existing estimate, so there is no need to change the original or create a new one.


Q. How could I track and manage 'Job Costs' while creating my estimate, and while the job progresses?

A. While creating the estimate you enter all parts and labor items so you can see exactly how much the job will cost you, and during the job process you can see the estimated cost as well as the actual cost.


Q. Are your jobs done in multiple phases? How could I properly handle the status of each phase? Where could I record the tasks done for each stage? What about billing, how could I bill those stages based on percent completion?

A. On the estimate you can set stages for the job, and how much should be due when each stage is completed, you can bill the customer even if the job is not 100% done, you just enter the percent done, and Pioneer StarTech™ will calculate how much is due for billing.


Q. Where could I easily get an overview of a currently long-running job, what is done, how much was billed, how much money was retained, how much was paid? How much does the job cost? How much is unbilled? And of course, can I see all the above with one click?

A. On the work order overview you can see all information on this job, like; Job Amount, Amount Billed, Retainage Held, Amount Paid, Amount Due, Amount Unbilled, Estimated Cost, Actual Cost, and the Net Profit.

Q. Doing government jobs? How could I properly handle 'Retainage'?

A. Enter the Retainage percent on the work order, and Pioneer StarTech™ will automatically handle all the complexity for you.


Q. Would you like to see ANY transaction associated with a Job (e.g. Estimate details, Change Orders, Retainage Held, Cost Details, Parts Used, Labor Performed, Invoices Sent, Invoices Open, Purchases, Problem Details, Repair Details) on ONE single screen without juggling to create reports and recalculating everything over and over again?

A. With the Work Order feature of Pioneer StarTech™ this is just a click away.

Customer Service

Q. When a customer calls in, would you like to see an overall A/R Summary for the Customer and for each job site individually? Further, would you like to see ANY Transaction ever recorded for a customer? (e.g. Contact Details, Job Sites, Equipment, Service Orders, Jobs, Invoices, Payments and Notes (written for any transaction) ON ONE SCREEN?

A. On the customer snapshot you have on one screen: general information, Alternate contacts, Sites, Equipment, Jobs, Invoices, Payments and Notes.


Q. Where can I store unlimited contacts with their associated contact numbers, for each customer, and look them up with ease?

A. You can attach Notes, Reminders and Links to each Customer, Site, Equipment, job, Work order, Invoice, and Payment, and best of all, you can see all that Notes in one single place.

Inventory

Q. Would you like to track Inventory not only for your warehouse but for your technician's trucks as well?

A. You can set up inventory for multiple warehouses or trucks, and easily transfer parts between warehouses.


Q. Would you like to track 'Serialized Parts' with ease?

A. On each part you can mark if the part is a Serialized Part, and you can enter on each part the serial number upon PO Receipt and when consuming those parts for a Work Order you select the Serial Number from a list, thus you have total control over your serialized parts.


Q. Would you like to setup powerful pricing formulas for your parts?

A. You can set on each part, job or even for each customer different markups based on Cost Amount or Sale Amount. There are multiple ways the system tracks part costing: Standard Cost, Current Cost, Average Cost and Highest Cost.


Q. When I receive a part from a PO, can those parts be recorded as used for the given job, those costs added to the Job, calculating how much to charge the customer, all automatically?

A. When you create a PO you can link each part either to the warehouse or to a work order. If you assign a part to a work order it is automatically entered in the parts list of the Work Order. Once you receive the part, the system uses your predefined default setting to charge the client.

Purchasing

Q. I would like to create a Quote for a few vendors without having to keep multiple copies of every PO. I want to record the parts I need once, and then just select to which vendor this PO quote should be sent?

A. Our powerful PO Quote feature works exactly this way.


Q. I would like to store all the pricing that I receive from vendors when sending them a Quote to use them for future reference?

A. All quotes from your vendors are stored on that given part and it’s just a click away.


Q. How could I easily determine from which vendor to order a given part once I received the pricing for a Quote?

A. You get a list of all vendors how much they charge, and you select the vendor that fits your needs.


Q. I have created an Estimate for a customer where I listed all the parts I need for the job, I want on one screen to see what I have in stock (and at which warehouse), what I need order directly from a vendor, or create a Quote for multiple vendors, as well as see all the pricing history for every part I need, in one easy-to-use single screen?

A. Right from the estimate you can process parts; you can see a list of history prices, and you can select either to take the part from a warehouse or from a PO/PO Quote, or you can create a new PO/PO Quote.

Service Agreements

 Q. I would like a program to manage the Service Agreements that I setup for my clients to service their equipment, and give them specific pricing if work has to be done during the agreed upon period. Do you have such a feature?

A. With the powerful Service Agreements feature of Pioneer StarTech™, this is indeed possible. You can also specify that a specific Service Agreement should only apply to a specific Equipment. You may also fully customize and automate the billing procedure for your Service Agreements, and the system will then automatically create Invoices on the predefined schedule, without you having to do anything more than print them.

Equipment

Q. Can I record multiple notes for each and every transaction? And then gather all those notes in one place for easy lookup?

A. Yes you can.


Q. I would like to snap pictures of every job site, or equipment installed at a client’s site, but how could I easily attach it to the customer it relates to? I would like to scan documents and have them attached to a Job, is there an easy way to do so?

A. You can attach a link to any file type to each transaction, costumer, or site, even an invoice or a payment which can be accessed with one click.


Q. I would like to set up 'Alerts' for any employee that could remind him at a given time, and 'Jump' into the transaction to which the Alert is attached, (whether it be a Job, Invoice, Payment, Purchase Order or other transaction). Is there any software that could help me with that?

A. This is one of the unique features of our program, you can set up Alerts for you or even for another employee (assuming you have the security rights), and at the given time it pops up as a reminder. On the reminder you can either go to the transaction, snooze the alert, or dismiss it.

Internet Connectivity & Scalability

Q. I would like to have a program that could efficiently be used throughout my company’s multiple branches all across the globe, and provide each branch with complete up-to-the-minute information.

A. Pioneer StarTech™ was developed by our staff to be a truly scaleable enterprise system.


Q. I would like to have access to all my company information wherever I am. Is it possible to get real-time data at the hotel, airport or anywhere there is an internet connection?

A. Yes, you can connect to the server in the main office and work from wherever you are, with almost the same speed (for most tasks) as in your office (an internet connection is required).


Q. I would wish that my program should not be limited by the number of users that can log into the system concurrently and should not degrade as users log on. Is that possible?

A. Since Pioneer StarTech™ uses an extremely modular, multi-tier system, and connected users are not directly connected to the database server, our system can handle a massive load and could easily be expanded to a server farm, as well as a separate server for the Database server and a different server for the middle tier server, if required.


Q. How about having a system that would not limit me with the amount of data I could enter or take ages to perform my tasks even if I have lots of data?

A. Since Pioneer StarTech™ was developed with the internet in mind, it incorporates features like compression and encryption (if desired) out-of-the-box.


Q. And what about having my data stored in a truly enterprise, scaleable database system?

A. Pioneer StarTech™ was developed by our staff to be a truly scaleable multi-tier, enterprise system.

Automatic Updates

Q. What about updating my system with a click of the mouse, to see what new features were added or what has been enhanced, and then all my workstations automatically receive the update without having to do tedious setup procedures. Is this possible?

A. Yes. With Pioneer StarTech's unique Auto-Update feature you don't have to run a setup on each and every workstation of your organization, the update manager will take of that for you. This is true even for workstations that are connected to the server over the web and are not part of your local network, all with a click of a mouse.