TAHLEQUAH, OK - Fleet managers at Northeastern State University Oklahoma (NSUOK) are automating the management of their fleet of university vehicles by implementing the Web-based fleet and motor pool software, FleetCommander, according to a release from Agile Access Control, Inc., FleetCommander's creator.

According to Debbie Bond, the motor pool manager at NSUOK, FleetCommander was selected in large part because it enables drivers to have around-the-clock access to reservations.

"Right now we are taking phone calls and keeping track of reservations by hand in a reservation book, which limits accessibility to our customers to business hours," she said. "Since FleetCommander is Web-based, we can offer them access to reservations 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That vastly improves the reservation process for our university community, not to mention the other benefits FleetCommander offers to fleet staff like integration with our existing billing system and fuel card data imports."

The NSUOK fleet has 34 vehicles including sedans, mini-buses, SUVs, hybrids, and trucks. Vehicles are located on three different campuses: Tahlequah, Muskogee, and Broken Arrow.

Bond said the fleet's biggest challenge in the past has been making sure reservations did not overlap. "With FleetCommander, we can see our reservations at a glance and know a vehicle will be ready when we say it will be. That will give us the improved customer service we are striving for."

Vehicle maintenance at NSUOK has historically been outsourced and tracked on spreadsheets. Bond said being able to manage the maintenance of their vehicles in-house, through FleetCommander's maintenance capability, will also offer a substantial improvement over what has been done in the past.

Besides hosting the 100-percent web-based solution for NSUOK, Agile reported it would assist the university's transition to FleetCommander fleet and motor pool software by:

• Importing user, department, and asset data from legacy systems.

• Creating a custom fuel data import for Voyager's Finish Line Universal Fuel Card.

• Developing a custom billing and export process to automate accounting processes.

• Providing hands-on training for staff.

• Offering assistance and advice on configuring FleetCommander to meet the unique needs of NSUOK's three campuses.

Universities and colleges using FleetCommander include Cornell University, Villanova University, Virginia Tech, Western Wyoming Community College, University of Alberta, Cedarville University, Eastern Illinois University, University of the Cumberlands, University of Minnesota, Alcorn State University, Southern Illinois University, Walla Walla Community College, Ball State University, and Idaho State University, to name a few. Thirty-four percent of FleetCommander users are in the education market space, according to the release.