What this application is
Route Desk CRM is software a furniture retailer's own staff sign in to. It takes the orders a shop receives — from its website, or typed in over the phone — and carries each one through to a delivered sofa: a date is agreed with the customer, the stop is placed on a van, a driver is given the day's route in order, and the customer is told what is happening at each step.
It is a business tool, not a service members of the public sign up to. Every account is created by the retailer that bought the subscription, which is why there is a sign-in screen and no public registration.
What it does
Takes the order
Website orders arrive by themselves; phone orders are typed in. Both land on the same board with items, prices, assembly and delivery charge worked out.
Plans the day
Stops are grouped by area, balanced across the vans by how much each load holds, and put in driving order.
Guides the driver
Each driver sees their own route, marks a stop delivered, and adds a photograph or a signature at the door.
Keeps the customer informed
Emails go out when the order is accepted, when the date is set, when the van is on its way, and when it has been delivered.
Handles the money
Invoices, deposits, balances and tax, with commission worked out for the sales agent who took the order.
Answers the shop's questions
What went out, what came back, what is still waiting, and which stock is sitting in the warehouse.
How Google Calendar is used
Connecting Google is optional. The software works fully without it, and the connection can be withdrawn at any time without losing anything already in the CRM.
Many shops keep their bookings in a Google Calendar long before they open a CRM, so a retailer may connect the Google account holding that diary. With their permission the software reads the events on that calendar — title, date and time, location, description, colour, and any photograph attached to an event — and turns each booking into a delivery order inside that retailer's own CRM, so it can be routed and driven like any other. Deliveries booked in the CRM are written back to the same calendar, so the diary the shop already trusts stays correct.
Nothing else in the Google account is read, and nothing is ever sold, shared, or used to train anything. The Privacy Policy sets out exactly what is handled and what is not.