Window on Auto Quote

News

After four years of programming, fine tuning and trialling, Auto Quote has been released in a full Windows format.
Users of the old DOS-based system are not being charged for the update but there will be a fee for transferring data from the old to new. The fee will depend upon how much data there is and how many terminals are running it.

Terry Flanagan, owner and developer of Auto Quote, said he did not think the change to Windows was a significant issue, despite Windows having "a certain waywardness about it". Although the text version of the outgoing Auto Quote was written in a DOS format, the graphics and images were already in Windows.

"The mind is mightier than the mouse," Flanagan said. His personal preference is to continue using hot keys even on the Windows version as this made the system quicker. Customers who have learned their computer skills in more recent times will favour Windows operated by a mouse.

Rather than Auto Quote Windows being launched with the full fanfare, its 1300 users in Australia will be introduced to it over time. It has already been released in New Zealand, where there are some 30 users, and in the US and Canada. Flanagan said Australia was the last on the list because of the many different insurance company online interfaces that had to be built into it.

Flanagan said he had taken his time to release the Windows version so that it would run trouble-free. He claimed this had not been the case with some of his competitors, who have had to continually rectify faults in their software. He also said many of his competitors have copied Auto Quote but none has equalled it for speed, simplicity and accuracy.
"Auto Quote has been around already for 15 years and I want the new version to be around for another 15 years," he said.

The new version of Auto Quote is more than just a re-write on a Windows format, Flanagan said. The new 'owner' screen, for instance, has three times the amount of information than the old one. The 'quote' screen now shows the original quote against the insurer-allowed quote. From Flanagan's experience, assessors cut between five and 30 per cent off repairers' quotes and this can be monitored by the program.

A complete Auto Quote system costs around $6000, inclusive of training. Flanagan said it will run on most hardware with good architecture, but if there is doubt over hardware, Auto Quote can supply a number of brands which it has tested for suitability. It also repairs and upgrades computers.

Flanagan said the most efficient way to run Auto Quote was by using two screens simultaneously, which saves having to quit one program to go into another. "You might be working on a quote and then get interrupted with a parts or delivery enquiry," he said. "The second screen can be used to handle the enquiry while still leaving the first dealing with the quote."

Auto Quote has built a reputation for having the best parts data of any of the quoting programs, he said. The company keeps a team on continual parts updating and also provides a training school equipped with desks and computers to teach new users.

Anybody who wants to check the new program working in a live situation can call on T.R. Flanagan Smash Repairs where Terry Flanagan and wife Carol use it daily.