Do You Guys Use Web Collaboration?

medconst

Hi there, I'm posting this here for my dad because he is less than internet savvy and I suggested he ask this question on a forum and this is the first stop. Recently we were contacted by some company offering web collaboration software. You guys know what this is or use any kind of this software?

rbsremodeling

I use it for software training and seminars.

I used it on a condo job that had investors in 3 states for meetings and updates. Fell asleep half the time while the asked the same question over and over again


I don't see a big use for it unless you are a larger company.

What did they suggest it could be used for??

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orson

I used to solicit bids and do estimating for non allowance items for a custom home builder who used Microsoft's Sharepoint site.

I would contact subs and get bids, asking them to use the drawings posted on the Sharepoint site to do their takeoffs.

I would spend endless hours trying to bring the subs up to speed w/ the Sharepoint site, and sometimes in the end just doing takeoffs for them and dropping them in the mail.

In addition to posting the drawings they posted information for customers and employees on respective areas of the site.

They seemed pleased with the way things operated, most of their customers were computer savvy.

I found it infinitely frustrating, most of their subs were barely computer literate at best.

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swantucky

We did for a few years but found it to be a waste of time for most of our projects. I could see where it would have its place if investors, contractors, or owners were not in the same geographical area.

PMI

The word "collaboration" can be used rather loosely between everyone. Currently I use my business solution to email estimates and invoices to customers. It has been a major time saver and the customers love it. Everyone should do this at a minimum or soon your customers will simply leave you since the days of a un-organized paper trail are over. All homeowners are online and very few of us in our industry keep that in mind from a sales and customer service perspective.

I am now testing features with my business solution that allows me to collaborate with one or more sub-contractors on my bidding process. It will then automatically deploy as jobs once the estimate is approved and work order is on the schedule. There are other neat things that are hard to explain unless you understand things like MS-Outlook inviting multiple people to collaborate for a scheduled event. Let me know if you are referring to collaborating with bids and work orders and you can help offer opinions. Phil

medconst

Well a simple google search leads to a piece of software call aconex. I assume this is the same thing I'm asking about.

PMI

No. I checked out what you are referencing. That solution you referred is 1) more of a document sharing solution, not a business solution, 2) is geared more for New Construction, not repair and remodeling, 3) is a foreign based solution so it seems and 4) you need to talk to them for pricing so it is obvious that it is a consulting type of solution. I prefer to know the price before I get roped into any demoes of products. Their website says "How much does Aconex cost? Aconex is priced according to the size, duration and complexity of your project. Usually, one organization on the project pays for all participants to use the system".

I am referring to MyOnlineToolbox for daily business collaboration with data.

Can you add your company website to your profile listing so we know your company?

Phil

medconst

Not my company, its my dads company and ill ask if he minds.