Industry members continue to weigh in on the new METRYX registry service program that LYNX has announced.

Ed Sprigler, auto glass manager for Auto Glass Specialists in Madison, Wis., which has been one of the companies testing the program, says that LYNX is looking for input and is being responsive. For example, he notes that the program had asked for not only the technician's driver's license number but also the expiration date. This seemed redundant to him and when he brought it up, LYNX officials agreed, and it was eliminated.

"This is a good first step and the proof will be in the pudding; how LYNX executes it is key," he stated. "We've been pushing for this for years. If there are going to be third party administrators and networks, why not put in a filtering device to prove that you serve the market you say you do? If this is used to determine quality, what's wrong with that," he asks. "They're not asking for credit scores. The information they ask for is not a constraint on what we're trying to do. I think there's nothing wrong with being skeptical, but this information is not onerous," he adds.

John Webb, president of Deal's Auto Glass, Kannapolis, N.C., has also beta tested the program. He says the biggest thing for him is that it will help clean up the industry. "With this, you can't be a one-man shop with six mobile locations. It's not a silver bullet," he adds, "but a first good step. I'm one of only two shops in the county with an actual physical location; but if you pull it up [on an Internet search], there are 20 shops."

He says the system is simple to use, "like fill in the blank," and he likes the fact that he gets credit for being AGRSS registered. "That way if an insurance company wants registered companies, then we're recognized."

Cindy Ketcherside, president and chairperson of the Auto Glass Replacement Safety Standards Council (AGRSS), said that from the group's point of view gathering data and having people put it in writing gives an industry more credibility as having a company become AGRSS registered puts it in writing that they are doing the install correctly gives it credibility. "For us, that's positive," she stated. "The industry needs credibility and accountability put into it."