Tony Dickson from Cool Running Software is the Man!

I first talked with Tony from Cool Running Software in the spring of 2008. At that time, I was using GBC systems. I tried that system for a while and did not like it. It was just too complicated and not very user friendly. For that reason, I was looking to find something that would work with my QuickBooks. I looked at Account Mate from Prism Software and Tony's Cool Running Software. I will be honest; I was worried about going with the Cool Running Product. He seemed to have everything I needed in his product.... but his product had only been around for a couple years. For that reason, I decided to go with the Account Mate. That resulted in a $20,000 mistake! This product was just as hard to use as GBC systems and their support was very poor!

Even after I purchased the Account Mate by Prism, Tony stayed in contact with me. In the fall of 2008, Tony came to my business to show me his software. I could tell right away after talking with Tony that he knew how to run an ice business. This all made sense since Tony has been in the ice business for 15 years as an owner of Olmsted Ice of Cleveland, Ohio. My partner and I were immediately impressed with how user friendly Cool Running was and how much Tony applied his software to the ice business! However, I thought the same about the other systems as well... so I was very nervous about trying this all over again. Furthermore, I had already invested a lot of money into the other systems! Tony worked with me on all of this... he truly understands what it is like to be an iceman during the off-season!

The installation was perfect! Tony's partner Matt Walker worked with my IT guy to make sure everything went well. Tony worked hard to cut down on the amount of time we had to invest in getting this system up and running. From start to finish, we were using this system in two weeks! This system tells me everything I want to know about my business and keeps track of things that only an iceman would want to know. My partner loves the routing features... they are so easy to use! My office lady loves how easy it is to enter phone calls and schedule deliveries.

If you are an iceman who wants to streamline your business, give Tony from Cool Running Software a call! Once you check out his software, you will see that everything was put in place with the iceguy in mind! I look forward to working with Tony in the future not only with the software but to go over other iceman problems!

---

"Software made easy, support done right. Since we started using the Cool Running delivery management program, there is no guess work by the drivers on where to go, calculating prices and taxes, and insuring merchandiser maintenance is performed. This improves bookkeeping accuracy and cuts down on maintenance back log.

Built in management tools have improved efficiency and effectiveness for us and our customers. And the easy part for us has been excellent support in updating and maintaining the system to continue improvement of our operations."

---

"Cool Running Software has eliminated driver math errors, and has helped to organize my routes through the Automatic Weekly Routing feature.

Installation went smoothly and technical support was always there."

---

"In 2005, our Ice growth had reached a point where handwritten tickets was not a sustainable way to manage our business. As we looked at route systems, Cool Running Software offered the most complete and compatible system on the market.

For a small investment you get all the bells and whistles of the larger software companies at a fraction of the price. Their technical support has been the most pleasant surprise of all. Matt Walker and Tony Dickson have responded promptly to changes we have suggested and integrated them into the system.

In two years, our system has had zero down time."

---

"Cool Running Software gave us the opportunity to make our routes more efficient and accurate. It also has cut daily data entry time in half.

Any questions and or problems that I have with the software Tony is just a phone call away. He is very helpful and accessible any time I have a question."

---

"I just wanted to give you an update on our first season using your routing and handheld system designed for the ice industry.

First, I would have to say it has been a success tranistioning from our old handwritten paper invoices to the handheld computer system. Yourself and your programmer have been easily accessible and most helpful as we had questions.

On the drivers side a few of the advantages we like most are as follows: every driver having access to our entire customer base, this comes in handy when a driver needs to pick up extra stops not originally scheduled for that day without having to call in for customer pricing and account information, no more mathematical errors, invoices are legible (no hand writing), and date and time stamp on every invoice. Our drivers also learned quickly how to use the handhelds and realized the time saved versus the old way.

The routing program gives the ability for quick editing as needed. You can change the order and number of stops as well as make notes for the driver. These are just a couple key advantages. Prior this we had pre printed route lists which could not be easily edited. After getting used to this I don't think I could go back to the old way.

Now on the accounting side. Obviously the most noted advantage is not having to enter the days invoices manually into our accounting program. One touch of the stylus and its automatically downloaded. This alone has saved hundreds of hours of computer entry! The reports available to us and our customers are very helpful to track sales, follow trends, merchandiser information, and the list goes on.

We were at first reluctant to do this because after all our old way of doing things was working. But after just a short time with the new way it is clear this was needed in a big way! The cost associated with this new system I believe will be recovered within two years just from the data entry savings alone. After using this just one season I wish we had done this sooner."

---

"When looking for a software system for my business, I basically wanted to use the system as a glorified invoice box, eliminating price discrepancies and mathematical errors. Furthermore, I wanted to replace the daily entry of invoices into our QuickBooks accounting system.

Cool Running Software accomplished all of that in a very simple fashion, along with keeping a merchandiser data base and route planning, we couldn't imagine doing business without it! It has made my job much easier--eliminating a few hours a day doing paperwork.!"

---