Platforms to Streamline Tasks and Boost Productivity

h2x (www.h2xengineering.com) is an all-in-one duct and pipe sizing software solution designed to simplify complex tasks like heat load calculations and system sizing for residential and commercial projects. Contractors working on heating systems, ventilation, or cooling can easily upload or create plans, set key parameters, and use drag-and-drop tools to design efficient system layouts. The software automates calculations based on industry standards like CIBSE, ensuring compliance and performance.

h2x offers robust export options, allowing contractors to generate branded reports, AutoCAD and Revit-compatible drawings, and detailed bills of materials for seamless project management. Scalable pricing options and free training modules available.

GlassHouse

Built for the trades and home services industries, GlassHouse (www.glasshouse.biz, 615/246-6227) is an outbound sales and customer intelligence platform offering a range of customer engagement functions.

The solution provides property and homeowner contact data via a multi-step verification process, pulling from multiple data sources to ensure homeowner data is accurate and up to date.

Leveraging a deep catalog of consumer data, the platform aims to empower operators in trades and home services with buyer insights/intelligence that can help in targeting ideal customers and identifying downstream costs before accepting a job.

Contractors can research potential customers in targeted neighborhoods by delving into a prospect’s digital footprint through using what the platform refers to as “digital door knocking” as an effective way to target prospects in a geographic area via email, text, and phone and pull contacts near existing jobs.

Users can also elicit customer reviews by automatically sending customers to the review site they use the most.

Glasshouse integrates with several field management systems and office or accounting solutions to help automate your outbound targeting and client research.

Pricing: Collect reviews and manage reputation: free; Find prospects, outbound platform: 7-day free trial, then priced per brand/office location—unlimited users and searches.

ReachOut Suite

ReachOut Suite (www.reachoutsuite.com) is a field service management platform that digitizes and streamlines operations for field service companies. The solution, which is scalable and addresses field service processes ranging from booking to invoicing, offers five distinct pricing tiers with a variety of features to accommodate a company’s needs. 

A Free Forever plan, capped at 25 jobs per month, includes essential features like work order creation, inspections, calendar management, and invoicing. The software has many configuration options.

The Standard plan, suitable for small and growing businesses and capped at a monthly limit of 250 jobs, adds features such as job templates, map view, inventory, and route optimization. 

The Premium plan (according to the developer the most popular and suited for medium-sized firms and with no cap on number of jobs per month) adds advanced functionalities including image capture and tagging, multi-agent work orders, custom reports, job revision, and job creation from the mobile app. 

The Ultimate plan, suitable for companies with extensive customer interactions and geographically dispersed teams and with no limit on the number of jobs, adds a customer hub, open APIs, third-party app integrations, and a dedicated account manager.   

The Enterprise plan offers a fully customized version of Reachout with branding, features, workflows, and integrations—separately hosted—for a business’s own use or for that of its partners and their customers.

Pricing: packaged pricing plans range from free to $25 per user/per month (excluding Enterprise).

Samsara

Samsara (www.samsara.com), a platform designed to help field service contractors improve their operation through real-time telematics, asset tracking, and workflow automation, recently introduced a new enterprise-grade ruggedized weather-resistant Bluetooth-enabled Asset Tag that connects critical assets to the cloud.

Powered by a long-lasting, non-replaceable Li-Ion battery with up to four years of life, the compact device (0.9 x 1.1 x 2.6 in) mounts easily using included double-sided VHB tape. It helps reduce downtime and boost productivity by providing near real-time location updates for high-value assets like toolboxes, service gloves, jackhammers, and chemical totes. These location updates are accessible through the Samsara Driver App, an iOS and Android mobile application which connects drivers to the Samsara platform for real-time communication and workflows in the field.

The Inventory Filtering feature can help field service and construction fleets avoid service disruptions by pulling a summary of assets and applying filters to identify tools that are near.

Pricing: pricing for the AT11 will vary per fleet. For more information on pricing, visit: https://www.samsara.com/products/equipment-monitoring/asset-tag. 

Pervidi Paperless Inspection Software

Pervidi paperless inspection software (www.pervidi.com, 800/361-8725, covered in March 2020 column) recently introduced integration of A.I. for Enhanced Inspection Efficiency into its platform. The innovation, branded Pervidi A. I. 2, is purposed to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of inspections while also reducing safety risks.

How it works: The Pervidi A. I. is equipped with advanced image recognition capabilities, enabling it to analyze visual data from a user’s mobile camera, automatically identifying defects or anomalies it has captured. It can also enhance field technician inspections by offering a second layer of input analytics that can augment (but not replace) the inspector’s capabilities.

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