Matt Hopp, general manager, InTempo Software, talks with RER about helping independent rental companies level the playing field, speeding up decision-making, simplicity of workflows, predictive analytics and more.
RER: What have been the most important achievements of your software in the past year?
Hopp: We’ve been developing a true connected assets platform that helps independent rental companies level the playing field with national chains that have historically been at the forefront of the telematics space. Our solution, InTempo MX, goes beyond “dot on a map” location and usage data. It puts this data alongside customer, contract, jobsite, and service/work order data to support faster-than-ever decision making.
For instance: service managers can look on a map and see which machines in a particular city are coming due for preventive maintenance. They can then send field technicians to go complete the PM work without having to manually track each rental asset’s assigned schedule. (This can be hugely time-consuming for companies with fleets of several hundred categories/classes of equipment.) Similarly, managers can spot machines that are due for return but not yet scheduled for pickup, or those that are overdue for pickup, quickly resolving delays that could otherwise cost them critical rental revenue.
What have been the most important advancements in capabilities, i.e., enabling rental companies to improve their efficiencies?
Hopp: Connected assets have been the key to the most impactful recent improvements. Telematics certainly isn’t new, but our integrated approach is. Rental companies no longer have to track down various data points from multiple systems of record. If they’re running a mixed fleet, they can have all the data streams in one place; similarly, they don’t have go back and forth between their telematics system and their core rental software to figure out which asset corresponds to which customer or jobsite when they’re writing a new contract or scheduling a pickup.
This question is not so much “What are your next products?” as much as “Where does your software go in the next few years?” or perhaps better asked, “What are customers expecting in the next level of software?”
Hopp: Expectations for a seamless user experience are higher than ever. If a process requires 10 different clicks across four different applications, it’s never going to be done the way it was originally intended. Processes need to be simple to be scalable. That’s one of the reasons we’ve been involving our customers so heavily in the development of the InTempo MX platform. We want it to be so intuitive that a brand-new employee can figure out where they’re supposed to go the first time they open up the program.
Of course, the other side of that thought process is the knowledge that no two companies have the same needs or the same processes. That’s why we’re keeping the platform flexible enough to support any unique approach. Users can configure custom dashboards (even for different departments within the same organization) to make sure they’re getting the right data to the right people at the right time. (That isn’t just limited to people within their organization; they can also share that data with their own customers, letting renters get crucial information whenever they need it.) That extra value-add takes our connected assets platform to the next level.
I’m sure you keep your eye on software developments in the world beyond this industry. What are some of the developments or trends in software that you’ve noticed in other industries that you admire, whether or not they are relevant to the rental industry?
Hopp: Simplicity of workflow within applications and seamless integration between applications are trends we focus on. Primarily we look at the applications we use internally and in our personal lives to identify processes we can emulate in our software.
Whether in banking, shopping, dining, or any other area of the economy, our customers look for an experience that removes as much friction as possible for their customers. Identifying how to communicate with their customers, communicate internally, manage the rental relationship, and manage the payment process are all tasks our customers expect to be simple and seamless.
It seems there is a lot of discussion about artificial intelligence these days –AI is a popular buzzword. Is AI relevant to rental software?
Hopp: It is, but in a different way than say, ChatGPT or any of the other currently “buzzy” platforms. A counter rep can’t type “write me a rental contract” into an AI program and have it spit out the requested paperwork (at least, not yet!). However, predictive analytics are definitely making certain decisions easier. For instance, our work order solution helps service managers intelligently prioritize which machines should be scheduled for immediate service based on two factors:
1. Whether it’s currently reserved for another customer
2. Whether it’s one of the more popular machines in the yard, or whether demand tends for that particular machine tends to be lower
That data is now enabling rental companies to decide which machines to service ASAP and which to service “when they have a free minute,” using the work they do today to generate more rental revenue tomorrow.
Anything you’d like to add?
As the rental industry continues to consolidate, our focus continues to be helping our customers differentiate themselves in their respective markets and compete against the national chains in the U.S. and Canada.
