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The easiest way to estimate the cost of a dock scheduling system is to start from your own configuration: the number of gates, docks and concurrent users. With those numbers you can ask vendors questions that can only be answered with an amount, and bring the offers down to a three-year cost. A single price ‘for a dock scheduling system’ tells you little, because a site with one gate and two docks and a plant with five gates, a weighbridge and a railway siding are not the same product in two sizes.
The numbers that drive the price of a dock scheduling system
In most offers on the market, these numbers decide the price:
- the number of entry gates, the basic counter in pricing the base,
- the number of docks to be booked, which determines the price of the booking module,
- the number of concurrent users, which is not the same as the number of accounts,
- the number of readers and employees, if access control and working time come into play,
- the number of weighbridges, tracks and guard posts, if the site has a weighbridge, a siding or a security service.
Vendors count in different units, so without these numbers their offers stay impossible to compare, and bringing them to a common denominator is your job.
Questions for the vendor that can only be answered with an amount
With your configuration in hand, ask the vendor four questions:
- ‘What is the cheapest option you offer?’ The answer is a single amount without a scope, which shows the entry threshold and sets the scale for the comparison.
- ‘How much does a site with two gates and six docks cost?’ A question about a specific configuration needs an answer in figures, whereas a general question is easy to answer with generalities.
- ‘What is charged separately, outside the licence?’ The answer covers implementation, hardware, training and support after the period covered by the price, and that is where most of the differences between offers that look similar at first glance come out.
- ‘What happens when we stop paying?’ And also: can the licence be bought outright?
The answer to the fourth question settles the most. ‘The system stops working’ is an honest answer if you hear it straight away and it is written into the contract; it only becomes a problem when you first hear it while terminating the contract.
Three-year cost: how to compare a subscription with a one-off licence
A subscription and a one-off licence cannot be compared month by month. Work out the three-year or five-year cost and add to both options:
- implementation and configuration,
- hardware, if needed,
- support after the period covered by the price,
- hosting, if the server is to sit on the vendor’s side.
An offer with a lower monthly instalment can turn out more expensive over three years, and vice versa, which is why only that total should be compared.
What TraxSystem costs
A TraxSystem bill consists of the base package, priced by the number of gates and the number of workstations working at the same time, and the modules. The booking module is priced by the number of docks, with a limit that grows with the base, and the other modules by their own unit: readers, employees, guard posts, weighbridges or tracks.
On top of that come the items the configurator shows separately: cloud hosting (a higher rate that covers running the server), annual prepayment at a discount, implementation, and support after two years with a one-off licence. Hardware is priced outside the licence. The subscription breaks even with a one-off purchase after 24 months.
The pricing configurator adds all these items up together, so you can set the result straight against another vendor’s offer on a three-year cost basis.
What a published price list does not settle
Above five gates, 40 readers or 1,500 employees, your case no longer fits the table and the price is quoted individually, because at that scale the cost is driven by integrations rather than by the number of units.
Nor does the price list replace the pre-implementation analysis. It tells you what the licence costs, but not whether your barrier and your weighbridge indicator can be connected; that is checked separately, before the contract is signed.
The price does not include hardware. Cameras, barriers, readers, terminals and kiosks are priced separately, once it is clear what is already installed on site.
Questions and answers
Is a cheaper vendor a worse vendor?
No. Scope decides: a cheaper booking-only tool can be a better choice than a full system if delivery times are your only problem.
How do you know a published price is the final price?
From the list of separately charged items next to the amount: hardware, implementation and support after the period covered by the price. A price list without such a list is incomplete, even if it gives a figure.
Does a published price list mean there is no negotiation?
It means that the conversation about price starts from a baseline both sides know.
How much should implementation cost?
In TraxSystem, implementation is a percentage of the licence value with a minimum amount, calculated in the configurator. Across the market it ranges from a token item to something comparable with the licence price, which is why it is one of the four questions to ask the vendor.
See also: How much does a dock scheduling system cost · How to choose a dock scheduling system: seven questions to ask the supplier · Perpetual licence or subscription: which works out cheaper · An access control system contract: what to look out for