User Reviews Overview
About AMS Protractor
Protractor is an overall shop management tool that helps end users inspect vehicles and educate vehicle owners on the status of their cars. It is designed to streamline the automotive business and automate daily administrative...
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- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Protractor is the Best
Pros
I love using Protractor! It is easy and very functional. The customer service is the best. [sensitive content hidden] always assures any issues are resolved efficiently. Wouldn't want to run any other software in the industry!
Cons
I do not have any cons at this time. Protractor does everything I need!
- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
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Review Source
Powerful software that is very customizable.
After onboarding and the initial struggles of making a big POS change like this, it has been very good over all. We do not regret making the switch.
As with any shop POS software, it all comes down to personal preference and is it a good fit for you.
Protractor is a good fit for us.
Pros
The massive number of reports available and the Dashboard function to keep an eye on your bottom line. Very customizable report system. The overall settings allow for much customization. Help is easy to get from other users and the company. The related forums are active with users and company people and usually have your answer quickly. Onboarding assistants are great people that work with you for quite some time before going live. The overall package is great. We don't use it to it's full potential as this program will do ALL of the business accounting as well! We do use and constantly make changes as needed the usual service shop functions. The "Canned Jobs" can be built extremely fleshed out. With some time in, the available library of services, jobs, concerns, etc. can grow quite large and make for good time savings and faster operations. The integrations with Auto Vitals is very good and has helped our shop grow the bottom line.
Cons
Steep learning curve. This program will take some time to learn, and you will have many questions. If you are already somewhat computer savvy, it may not be as big of a deal. If you are not good with computers, it could be a struggle. (But there is plenty of help from the company and other users.) This is a very in-depth program that does SO much!
Reasons for Choosing AMS Protractor
Outgrew the software in general. When we started to use AutoVitals, the program was just over run, and the front counter people were struggling.Switched From
AutoShopReasons for Switching to AMS Protractor
Depth of integrations with currently used software, AutoVitals.-
Review Source
Broken Promises
Most shop management systems focus on auto shops needs. Protractor is an accounting program piggybacked with a shop management program.
I was with Protractor over a year and they did not fulfilled their promises for example, an oil sticker label or to fix CarFax.
I went back to my previous system where CarFax is working properly yet Protractor says it is not a Protractor problem, it is a CarFax problem.
I was told from the beginning that if I left, my data is mine. They did not tell me that it was available in report form and you have to pay $149.00 a month ($1788.00 a year plus foreign transaction fees) to access it.
With the dollar exchange, it was costing me around $125. A few months ago, they notified me that I will be charged the FULL $149.00 plus I have to pay the foreign transaction fee.
This is due to the support it requires. We are looking at previous data only and NEVER need customer support???
If you choose to go with Protractor, I believe you will agree that the your experience is very AGGRAVATING.
Response from Protractor Software
Hi George,
I am very sorry to hear about your experience. Regarding product developments we are constantly updating the Protractor product based on customer requests and work on as quick a schedule as we can. As it happens we do now have an oil sticker integration available. Regarding carfax, there are no known issues at this time except for in a few territories that are out of our control which would be similar to any SMS. Perhaps you are talking about some vin decoding issues which are unrelated to carfax that have been rectified.
Regarding your data, it is always available to you in a file, however it would not be possible to access this without the use of an interface. Unfortunately the best option is to run any reports that you require from the Protractor system while you have access to it, or to maintain a current subscription.
We apologize that you have had an unfortunate experience, but we do stand behind our product and believe that it is a top sms on the market.
Top AMS Protractor Alternatives
- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 1-5 months
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Review Source
AMS is the only company you should consider when making your decision.
AMS as a company is the best part of the experience! I delayed the conversion for about a year because I was agonizing over the learning process of changing the POS. Now looking back, I wasted a year of waiting. AMS made the process so easy! They are well versed in the product they support and they held our hand during the entire journey. AMS educated us extremely well before going live. On the day we went live, our personal trainer was there the whole day walking us through all the things we forgot. There was a total of one day where we struggled and I can't say it was a full day. [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] is the best part of my experience! He is ALWAYS available to answer my question. He is always available to log in and help me through the more advanced questions. [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] was our trainer and he went over and above to make sure we were comfortable with the software and be available to answer our questions. Great job [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] at making sure you did not launch a support company without thoroughly training your crew! AMS is the only choice if want to buy Protractor!
Pros
How customizable the reports are in Protractor. In the previous POS system, you got your information from a set of reports. I had to look at several reports to get the info I needed. With Protractor, I can build a dashboard that has all the information I need to look at on one screen. Estimating a large ticket is under 5 minutes, so easy! ROW it took over a half an hour. The time saved pays for the cost of the software. It's all in the cloud so my network issues with ROW have gone away. I can log into the system with my laptop, no more teamviewer.
Cons
The conversion didn't bring over declined services. A little hassle to look back into the old software. As time passes, that issue is slowly disappearing. Not a deal breaker.
- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 1-5 months
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Review Source
Awesome Very User Friendly System
Dependability and stable system, cloud based system with no back ups or disc needed. Made hardware expense much less
Pros
How easy it is to use, speed of making estimates and work orders, the customization to personal needs, support from AMS is second to none
Cons
The fact that AMS Protractator wasn't purchased sooner
- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 1-5 months
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Review Source
Protractor review
We had data corruption and the old software wasn't keeping up with new technology. Protractor is cloud based.
Pros
Easy for the service Writers to learn and use.
Cons
The pain of switching to and learning a new system. AMS did a great job of on-boarding us. Still not fun though!
- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
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Review Source
AMS Protractor Implementation and Use
Pros
All in one automotive shop: Built in jobs and labor research, very tight materials tracking including returns and inventory control (allowing for infinite alternate part numbers and vendors). On-line ordering. Have nearly covered every base imaginable.
Cons
Minus labor time not allowed. Long learning curve, English parts descriptions ( modifier,modifier,modifier,object ). Overly wordy job descrip0tions,
- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Protractor
AMS foulks are great to work with. Always quick and helpful when we may have an issue.
Pros
Use software daily and has the features we need. Cloud based so no in house storage or backup required.
Cons
Software does allot of functions so it can get a little complicated. Cloud storage and internet connectivity can be an issue but sometimes not their fault.
- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Best Shopware for the automotive business
Protractor has been great to see the margin of sales and service we provide without guessing.
Pros
So easy to use and has features that make a shop easy to run.
Cons
I would like to see who posted invoices at the close of a sale.
- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Great POS Software with Excellent Customer Service
Pros
The customer service team would answer my calls ANYTIME day or night. I believe I even called on a Saturday once and got a response.
Cons
They made it hard to choose another POS software LOL ... they were great.
- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 1-5 months
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Review Source
Protractor is leading edge tech
We already see an increase in our bottom line due to the effortless integration of the estimating process and the linking of recommended services. We look forward to understanding better than ever the inefficiencies of production as we now have a way to track that better than we have ever had. Our techs are on board with the production tracking and seem to be surprisingly interested in this feature as well. Just sitting here many things come to mind inventory and core tracking abilities, all the many reports that reveal the inner secrets of the entire operation like never before. There's a lot to work with here.
Pros
It appears to be limitless in what you can do with it if you can think of it they can probably do it. The protractor software is already loaded with more features and benefits than I will utilize in a year. The conversion process was effortless and done in the background by their support team, the ease of getting the system up and running was surprising. However, we did spend time getting familiar with it before going live. If you want to take your shop/business to the next level, this is the foundation you want to build on. Our very first month after going live was a record month, we were very busy, and the system worked flawlessly unlike our previous software program which seems to be trouble daily. The People at AMS Protractor know your business and are on the spot when you need them. If you have any hesitation about this move, rest easy, you will be glad you did.
Cons
We had to wait several months for the integration process to export to QuickBooks. The time it took to get out of my mind the thought “This isn’t the way we have been or use to do it.”
Response from Protractor Software
Larry, we love that you are already seeing an increase in your bottom line! You and your team did a great job preparing for the transition, and it paid off. If there is anything else we can do for you, let us know. - Scott, AMS
- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Easy to use!
overall it's been a positive experience. I was new to the program last year in July, and was able to pick things up quickly. And also teach myself some other things.
Pros
it's easy to use, and easy to learn on your own.
Cons
Not being able to change invoices once closed or in A/R.
- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Excellent Service Management System.
Improved Hours/RO and Improved Ave/RO
Pros
Ease of use. Lots of updates and improvements. Good support. I like the way they are continually improving the software and seem to be moving towards electronic dispatch.
Cons
the prioritization screen is clunky for us to use. They are improving it every update and look forward to the day we can use it as our primary dispatch.
Response from Protractor Software
Hi Mark,
Thank you for choosing Protractor and we are happy that you are experiencing higher RO and hours per RO.
We are constantly listening to our customers requests and adding productive features on a regular basis.
- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 1-5 months
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Review Source
Growing to success!!
My experience has been great. If you are or are not in the market for SMS software you owe it to yourself, and the profitability of your company to check it out. I believe that AMS and Protractor have been the best investment for my company and am looking forward to working with them going into the future.
Pros
We have much more control over all aspects of the day to day operations of the company. The advisers are able to write work orders faster, the integration with third party applications is flawless. AMS is probably the best training group around and walked us through every step of the installation. AMS support after the sale is by far the best I have ever experienced and I have used a lot of software in the past.
Cons
Steep learning curve; but, very worth it. Focus on the software and you can implement it quickly and will most likely be the last SMS software you ever purchase.
- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 6-12 months
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Review Source
We switch from protractor, and ended up with it again a few months later
We used protractor, and switched from it to try to save a few bucks per month...We hated the other system we went it, tried more systems and ended up back with protractor and couldn't be happier. This system is so easy to use, so accurate, its a no-brainer to end up with it. All the custom reports you can run, to inventory setup, automatically looking up labor and parts. 5/5 stars. Would buy again.
Pros
The learning curve is small, Ease of use my wife (who is not from the auto industry) can build tickets and estimates very quickly. Parts lookup is nice and easy to use. The customer support if you ever do have any issues is second to none.
Cons
So far, the few small small issues we have had, have been fixed quickly in the weekly updates.
Response from Protractor Software
Kurt, we are glad to have you back! And thank you for the shout out to our customer support. Customer support is a top priority for us. If you need anything else, let us know. - Scott, AMS
- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Do Not Recommend
Pros
Haven't found anything that this software will do that cheaper more efficient software will also do
Cons
Many operating issues that protractor will not inform you about when they are selling the product. Customer support is nonexistent and overall very rude company to deal with
- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
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Review Source
Best Automotive Management Software Out There
Excellent
Pros
The reporting and ease of setting up customized reports. The developers seem to update this software with new features often. The ability to find things easily. I did a lot of research and Protractor hands down is the most complete package out there.
Cons
The scheduler could be better. Although the returns tracker is good, too many steps to get a simple process done. The messaging notifications could be improved.
- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: Self Employed
- Used Daily for 1-5 months
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Review Source
Very good product.
Very good
Pros
My favorite aspect of AMS Protractor is all my accounting is integrated. No need for a separate accounting solution like Quickbooks.
Cons
A bit hard to navigate if not familiar with the software. Some aspects are not intuitive. After a few weeks of daily use this hurdle is not as challenging.
- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 1-5 months
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Review Source
Glad we made to change from RO Writer.
Great so far
Pros
Writing an estimate is much easier & quicker. Combined reports are very nice.
Cons
Missing a couple of things that RO Writer did that Protractor is going to do in the future.
Response from Protractor Software
Mark, glad to hear things are going well since your switch. Stay tuned as Protractor keeps rolling out new features every month. Let us know if you need anything else.
Thanks, Scott Thorley, AMS
- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 1-5 months
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Review Source
Started January 1st 2018 and moving along smooth.
Pros
The main thing I like is the support. Making a transition from my former software was pretty painless. Not only do I have support from Protractor but more support from AMS Protractor, located in North Carolina, that I purchased it from. There are so many features available in this program that a detailed person like me loves. They are willing to listen and change features. Nice having updates, with no hassle, every month. I feel I have made a great decision choosing them. Another plus, my average RO is up too because of Protractor.
Cons
The reporting is so massive and customizable that it takes a bit to get used to. But once you get a hold of it, it is amazing.
Response from Protractor Software
Eric, thanks for the nice review! Glad to hear Protractor is going well for you, and like you, we love seeing all the new updates each month. - Scott, AMS
- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 1-5 months
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Review Source
What a great software system for the Automotive Service Business
We have increased the bottom line and I wish we implemented this last November when I sign up for the software.
Pros
User friendly. The learning curve is very small/short. Once it all clicks the time it take to build a work order and order parts is amazing. It has been able to help increase the Average Repair order and the productivity in the shop as well.
Cons
Not being able to control some of the inputs of info. i.e. Making sure we get email address. You can complete the work order/Invoice without inputting all the data. Where as in other software you can turn on required field that has to have the data to close out the Repair order
Response from Protractor Software
Roy, glad to hear things are going well, and that Protractor has been able increase your bottom line. We appreciate you being an AMS Protractor customer. Let us know if you need anything else. Thanks, Scott Thorley
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Review Source
Great Product
I have been using Protractor since the beginning of 2013. The .Net version is considerably faster than the older version and has a lot of new features. I like the fact that it is a web based system and I never have to worry about backups. There support is great, they usually get back to us in less than an hour. I like the fact that they come out with an update each week. They are always adding new features. As with any software change there is a learning curve, but the instructors were very helpful. There are some features that my old software had that I wish were integrated into protractor but we found away around most of them. Its integrated accounting system is great. It saves having to have a conversion program to upload it to a book keeping system. I found that the inventory system is very tight. There is not a part that can get lost or not billed out. We found a lot of lost dollars by tracking the cores and returns as the system does. I would recommend this to anyone.
- Industry: Automotive
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
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Review Source
combines both accounting and shop management
Most shop management systems focus on auto shops needs and most accounting programs are hard to use for shop management. Protractor combines both accounting and shop management.
Pros
how there is one contact that covers everything from parables receivables and shop management
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Review Source
From a Long time user
I have been using Protractor for 8 years. The system called Legacy has been upgraded to the .net version and I really like this version because of the speed difference from the older version and the ease of use. Its easy to setup but like any new software , it takes some getting used to but I would not go back to the old version now.
Pros : Work Speed , ease of use , multiple invoices can be opened at once. Management actually listens to user requests and occasionally implements them into the newer upcoming versions of the software. Training videos are very very well made and actually helpful. Tech support is awesome.
Cons : Can take a while to log in the morning. Still some polishing needed but very good as is honestly. It takes a while to setup and learn the MANY features give yourself a few weeks , you won't be sorry after.
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Review Source
Not the best
I find that this software is old and outdated. It is not user friendly and very slow regardless of the connections. Our accountant calls this software a nightmare. There are never any useful updates. Customer service is pretty quick and will assist you with all of the issues you WILL have. There is no direct line to get a hold of customer service and you have to email and hope they get back soon.
Response from Protractor Software
Hi Heidi,
After a review of your account it appears that you were using the original Protractor version and not the latest program, Protractor.Net. Protractor.Net is a superior product and has updates that come out every 2-4 weeks. We hope to speak with you in the future.
