Efficiency Enhancing Software

Fieldpoint (www.fieldpoint.net, 866-336-5282) is scalable field service software centered around the work order management system. Provided on a cloud-based infrastructure or available for hosting locally on-premise, the solution includes modules for customer service management, quoting, contract management and enterprise management, and has a native field service mobile app.

The work order management module includes drag and drop calendar scheduling based on severity codes and availability, skills, and territory of technicians.

The service contract management module keeps track of customer relationships, including recurring preventive and maintenance schedules, and can automatically generate work orders, parts lists, and checklists. Users can utilize the drag and drop checklist builder to create custom checklists ranging in level of detail from simple check boxes to rules-based multi-page forms. Checklists can be attached to specific pieces of equipment, contracts, and work orders. Any time a technician gets assigned a work order, it uploads automatically to the mobile app. 

The Quoting module streamlines producing quotes in the office or in the field, facilitating making and use templates, modifying existing quotes, or building new quotes from scratch. Upon acceptance, a quote can be turned into a work order ready to email out for customer approval.

In the software and on the mobile app, users can see the location of serialized inventory, down to the warehouse or truck, and the quantity available there. The software includes a resource routing module that gives dispatchers a real-time GPS-enabled look at the locations of company resources, enabling maximized utilization of resources and minimized idle time.  

Users can track tasks, labor, and expenses at the job, capture photos and barcodes onsite, and access warranty information to present to customers.

When technicians are finished with a work order, they have the ability, before closing it, to capture a customer signature on their mobile device. Closing the work order generates a service report.

Technicians may invoice instantly via the mobile app or office staff may choose to review the field work and job costing first and then batch invoice from the office. (The software integrates with various third-party software, including payroll systems. According to Fieldpoint, many contractors using the solution integrate with an ERP system to streamline service through invoicing, general ledge distribution and payment collection, providing a fully automated process.)

Subscription pricing for the software is based on customer requirements and the volume of users. The mobile app is downloadable at no charge from the App Store and Google Play. Each mobile app user requires a Fieldpoint license to log in.

Routzy (Coalesce Software, www.routzy.com, downloadable at the App Store) is a standalone mobile CRM app for iPads that integrates with native iPad apps for contacts, calendar and camera. The app gives sales reps, at contractor management discretion, uninterrupted remote access to company data, allowing users to create customized proposals with the company logo, items list, and other details. Sales personnel can scan barcodes with their iPad to help create the quotes and proposals, add and annotate photos taken with the iPad and, using the Routzy drawing tool, create diagrams, floorplans, and sketches.

The app integrates seamlessly and automatically with the backup system Dropbox, enabling access to data both online and locally on computing devices even when there is no wireless connection.  

Quotes are automatically populated with company and client information and sales personnel can select line items from user-created dropdown lists. Users are also able to import an outside items list from a CSV (plain text) file to do it all at once. Completed quotes can be emailed to clients from within the app. It is also possible to import your own forms to use in quotes and proposals.

Routzy keeps a detailed log of every activity performed by its users, enabling reports on the efforts and results of individual sales reps daily or at other designated time frames.

The app also empowers workforce tracking whenever an Internet connection is maintained. Utilizing GPS data, the app can log/export the geographical location of users at timed intervals as frequently as desired.

A free 14-day trial is available upon download. After that the app carries a monthly or yearly fee to continue.

Here’s an update on a recently released version of cloud-based contractor software covered in the March 2018 column: Esticom (www.esticom.com) take-off, estimating, and workflow management software) has, in V3, incorporated two new capabilities that take advantage of machine learning and computer vision technology to streamline take-offs and estimating when using imported sets of drawings.

The AutoCount feature is designed to reduce time spent counting similar symbols or shapes across an entire plan set. Users identify the symbol they want to count, highlight it, and click a button, and the software automatically performs bulk counts across all pages of the drawing. The software also displays possible matches after AutoCount is complete, giving the option of adding those items to the takeoff using the manual count feature.

The Automatic Plan Renaming function incorporates Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to scan the uploaded blueprint for the specific trade contractor’s scope of work.  After the correct pages are located, the relevant drawings are renamed corresponding to the related trade, alleviating the need to scroll through multiple pages to access them.

Patti Feldman writes articles and web content for trade magazines and manufacturers of building products. She can be reached at [email protected].