Routing Apps for Process Servers
- July 01, 2019
- by ServeNow Staff
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What are GPS Routing Apps?
Since process servers spend so much time driving from location to location, wouldn’t it be nice to know that none of that time is wasted? GPS (Global Positioning System) routing apps allow you to input the different addresses into the application and the fastest route is calculated in a matter of seconds. This saves you the time and energy of having to plan out your own route and is less prone to human error. But there are a few things to keep in mind when choosing a routing app since some have limited address fields or cost a low monthly fee. Here, we detail the different apps and what they offer so you can choose the routing app that is right for you and your process serving business.
Google Maps
Price: Free
Destinations Allowed: 10 (but you can use this hack to get more)
Helpful Features: Google Maps is one of the most widely used GPS apps but few realize its multi-stop capabilities. Using this app you can avoid tolls, share directions, and move around stops. It even suggests lanes and re-routes you if a faster route becomes available. And if its destination limit deters you, it integrates with a number of other apps on this list.
ServeManager
Price: Starting at $44 per month (14-day free trial)
Destinations Allowed: 100
Helpful Features: Every month, 100,000 miles in routes (and over 2.8 million miles total) are created in ServeManager, the most popular process serving software on the market. ServeManager has built-in Mapquest's mapping and routing so you don’t have to switch between apps and re-key address data. The mapping and routing feature offers GPS tagging, address autofill and validation, route sharing, and the ability to archive, edit, and delete routes. Plus, you get all the benefits of using ServeManager.
Route4Me
Price: $149 - $299 per month (7-day free trial)
Destinations Allowed: Unlimited
Helpful Features: Route4Me, along with Badger Mapping (listed below), cater more towards large companies, hence the higher price tag. But for more robust process serving firms, Route4Me offers the ability to assign routes to employees, track drivers in real-time, and offers a mobile app that works for iPhone, iPad, and Android. The app even claims to cut your drive time by 35%.
Badger Mapping
Price: $35 per month (7-day free trial)
Destinations Allowed: 23
Helpful Features: Badger Mapping’s routing function offers features such as updating routes when there are traffic jams, filtering stops based on your parameters, and a lasso tool that quickly selects multiple locations. It also connects to your CRM (Customer Relationship Management system) or you can upload an Excel file.
Bing Maps
Price: Free
Destinations Allowed: 25
Helpful Features: Bing Maps has been around for a while but now it has routing capabilities that makes it a great free option for process servers. Addresses entered will be automatically re-ordered in order to minimize travel time using actual road-distance. Bing Maps also has a fleet tracking solution on GitHub.
RoadWarrior
Price: Free and Paid options ($5 per month)
Destinations Allowed: 50 free, 500 paid
Helpful Features:In addition to traffic, RoadWarrior takes into account drop-off priorities, school zones, tolls, and other common roadblocks. It has an app for both iOS and Android and allows you to customize routes on the fly by providing scheduling windows and adjustable priority levels. With certain plans, it also gives you the ability to track drivers and assign routes.
MapQuest
Price: Free
Destinations Allowed: 26
Helpful Features: A classic when it comes to GPS directions. Similar to the other free routing app options, MapQuest offers the basics as far as features and number of stops. With MapQuest, you can adjust your preferences such as round-trip, avoiding tolls, and you can copy and paste addresses or import CSV or XLS files.
MyRouteOnline
Price: Lowest plan at $24.95 per month
Destinations Allowed: 350
Helpful Features: With MyRouteOnline, you can optimize your route by time or distance and navigate your route by using your favorite GPS app or printing out your directions. To add stops, you can manually add them or import them from Excel. You can also move stops around once they’re entered. Once you’ve entered a route, you can even save it for later.
OptimoRoute
Price: $17.10 per month (30-day free trial)
Destinations Allowed: 250, 500 or 750 depending on the plan
Helpful Features: OptimoRoute is a routing app for companies of all sizes. It enables users to upload addresses from a CSV or Excel file and saves customer details for future use. It also allows for personalized parameters and mid-route modification. For companies that manage other drivers, it allows the option to send routes and track drivers in real-time.
CoPilot
Price: $14.99 per year (14-day free trial)
Destinations Allowed: 100
Helpful Features: As a process server, you never know when you’re going to end up deep in the mountains or on a backroad in the country. That’s why CoPilot’s dependable offline navigation might win you over. CoPilot also offers traffic information and an easy way to discover gas stations and restaurants in the vicinity.
Circuit
Price: $15 per month
Destinations Allowed: 200 stops per month
Helpful Features: For bigger teams, Circuit makes it easy to share routes with colleagues and employees. For those driving solo, it offers route recalculations on the fly, predicted traffic, and offline navigation. It also allows for route personalization with restrictions like priority stops and desired time windows.
Bonus Travel Apps: Mileage Trackers
Whether it’s for tax reasons or you want to charge extra for a particularly faraway serve, here are some of the best mileage tracking apps to help you keep tabs on how far you travel.
Milebug
Price: Free
Reliably track the miles you drive, easily share your report, and get an accurate tax deduction using Milebug. This tracker drops a pin on the map view every 1/10th of a mile and you can edit the trip by dragging the pins.
MileIQ
Price: Free (paid options available)
MileIQ automates mileage logging and provides an accurate record of the time you spend on the road. It has a number of personalization features including letting you designate whether drives are business or personal.
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Price: $5 per month
QuickBooks Self-Employed is known as a bookkeeping app but also offers automatic mileage tracking that is accurate and easy to use. The app tracks miles without draining your battery and categorizes mileage data to maximize deductions.
Hurdlr
Price: Free (paid options available)
Hurdlr does more than automatically tracking your mileage, it also keeps track of your expenses, income streams, and tax deductions in real-time. It securely connects with your other accounts like bank accounts, Square, Paypal, FreshBooks, and Uber.