So last night we finally put gas tracking into ServiceBeacon. This is definitely the number one enhancement request we have received over the last few months. With gas prices the way they are it really isnt a surprise! So here is a quick tour of what went online, a preview of what is still to come, and some questions for you in case you want to provide additional feedback/ideas on where we should take this.
First, here is what we have done so far:
1) Add a Fillup is located under the My Cars navigation icon.
2) When you get to the Add a Fillup screen you will be presented with a form which asks questions such as the date of fillup, your mileage at time of fillup, the fillup info itself (type of gas, how much you put in, cost per gallon/litre), where you filled up, and some extra questions about whether you missed an entry and whether you filled the tank. Filling in the form should be pretty easy assuming you have the info.
3) The info you enter in the form will then be captured below and is used to calculate things like your car’s current fuel economy.
4) Manage My Cars then captures all the costs and displays them along with total service costs.
5) One of the things we took into account is the issue of multi-currency and so we actually do break out costs based on the currency of the country where the expenditure (either from a fillup or maintenance) was made. So if you are Canadian and most of your fillups are in Canada but then you go on a roadtrip to the US and fillup there, ServiceBeacon will capture your Canadian fillups in Canadian dollars and will separately capture (and display) your fillups while you roadtrip to the States. We thought this was a good way to handle what would otherwise be a messy currency conversion issue.
6) When you enter a fillup, the information is used to update your car’s mileage within ServiceBeacon. This should help make our estimates even more accurate.
Next, here is what is still to come: The big thing on the list is a mobile version of the fillup system. That way you can enter the info while you are actually in your car/at the pump. It will save you from having to bring the info home if you don’t want to. The mobile version is already being worked on and we hope to have it up and running in the next few weeks so look for more on that soon.
So here are the questions we have:
1) What sort of reports would you like as it relates to your fillups and fuel economy?
2) Are you interested in seeing gas prices as entered by other users? Assuming enough of you start using this feature on a regular basis (especially once the mobile version gets released) this sort of info may become more and more useful for things like finding the best gas prices.
Let us know! As many of you have contacted us before, you know we always take your requests and feedback seriously so we want to hear from you. And of course if you run into any issues with the gas tracking features we just put online, please let us know about them as well.
We appreciate it and look forward to hearing from you!
Team SB
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