Stroud Tool Hire is a tool hire company based in Gloucestershire, who started out using a manual system before having Syrinx^® installed.  Stroud Tool Hire had the Syrinx^® hire system installed during November 2002 and went live two weeks later at the beginning of December. As Jason Benstock, Managing Director, says, "When you invest money in anything, you want to be able to achieve the benefits at the earliest opportunity".

Stroud Tool Hire hires a wide range of equipment to local building companies and the general public. They also do a large volume of sales.  Syrinx^® was recommended to them by a local plant hire company who had switched to Syrinx^® from another hire programme a year before.

A member of Higher Concept Software technical team demonstrated Syrinx^® in September 2002. Jason said,  "I was impressed not only with the hire software but by his knowledge of our industry and his non-sales approach at the demonstration.  It was refreshing to not have the hard sell.  After the demonstration and the two recommendations, I knew it was the correct hire system for us, but financially it was not the right time for us. The Higher Concept Software staff were understanding and helpful.  We decided to work towards preparing the set-up data, so I did a stocktake and put all my stock information onto Excel so that, when Syrinx^® was installed some two months later, all my data had already been loaded on. This helped us to go live very quickly."

Jason says Syrinx^® has surpassed his expectations. "As a company, we are not that computer literate so we have been amazed at how easy to use and logical Syrinx^® is.  We had two days on- site training, which was included in the fully inclusive price. The training was second to none and was delivered at a pace to suit us.  We were particularly pleased that our questions were dealt with straight away - as opposed to other training courses I have attended where the standard reply is 'we'll come on to that later' - by which time you have often forgotten the question or lost your train of thought.

We deal with a number of large companies where different members of their staff have authority to hire out our machines.  If any of our machines are returned to us damaged I act immediately whilst their member of staff is still on my premises.  A digital photograph of the damage is automatically imposed on the damage note.   Syrinx^® then generates a fax to inform the company of the damage and the member of staff involved, and then subsequently raises an invoice. This eliminates the denial by user and company when they receive the invoice at the end of the month."

My customers have commented on how much quicker they are now served, due in part, to the bar code facility that certainly helps speed up sales transactions.  Also, any accompanying items automatically appear on the hire contract - a great time saving device and invaluable for inexperienced members of staff.

Certain customers of ours request weekly reports on their current hires, organised by site. This can now be produced instantly and automatically by the system, which is a vast improvement on the old method of searching through lots of paper contracts.  Other reports, such as stock valuations, have proved invaluable in providing up to date information to our accountant."

I used to spend a considerable amount of time every month preparing my invoices.  Now, I simply press a button at the end of the month to produce my invoices and another to send relevant information over to Sage.  For three of my largest customers,  I can even invoice them once a week - great for cash flow!

With regards to support, I have only had to ring the support desk on a few occasions.  I believe that is because Syrinx^® is so easy and logical and that our training was so thorough.  On these few occasions, I have always found the support staff friendly and helpful; they are not intimidating and immediately make you feel at ease."

"Syrinx^® has enabled me to devote more time to run and plan my business efficiently. In my opinion Syrinx^® more than pays for itself.  I believe myself to be fortunate to have chosen an excellent package from a company clearly dedicated to quality of product and service."

Jason Benstock, Managing Director, Stroud Tool Hire