Fieldaware

[nuthin_special]

Anyone using the Fieldaware software to manage sales, invoicing and crews? I/m looking into it as an alternative to arborgold and it looks fantastic. A bit pricey but it would pretty much eliminate my need for paper.

v

 

[nuthin_special]

So....... no then i guess.

 

[marlinspiker]

have you been doing the trial?

 

[nuthin_special]

I'm working on it. It's never fun to learn new software.

So far i'm not blown away. There are a couple of deficiencies that if i can't figure them out, i would have to reject the software.

So far i'm leaning towards not committing to a different package for another season.

I'll keep you posted

v

 

[marlinspiker]

bummer I had high hopes myself.

 

[nuthin_special]

You could look at Harvest. It's cheaper by far and might be better for a smaller operation. I dismissed it because i couldn't schedule multi crews.

www.getharvest.com

I'm getting tired of my computer, i need to go and cut some stuff.

v

 

[marlinspiker]

still no good or have you figured it out?

 

[nuthin_special]

still not. You must have a deadline to get something in place? Should have either accepted or rejected it by the end of the week.

v

 

[marlinspiker]

im looking at this as well

http://www.smartserviceinfo.com/clients/industries/tree-care-software

 

[nuthin_special]

This software hunt is giving me a headache.

Smart service looks pretty good. it looks like it's microsoft based, access likely. At a glance it looks just like Arborgold but with better integration options, potentially.


I spent some time with field aware. I'm having trouble figuring out if the scheduler will work for me. It's awkward and it always requires you to "schedule" a tasks for a specific time and date. I need it to be able to hold a list of jobs in a queue.

I asked them how many employees they had, they said about 30 in ireland are developers, which means either they are an expansion or they farm out the programming. They have 20 people in their office and 125 clients. It seems like a small number of clients to me, they're obviously pushing hard on the sales which explains the really great service i've had with the trial. Super great service.

I just don't think it's a good idea for me to commit to a software package when there are so many options out there still and many systems are stitching together a number of programs. Ie quickbooks-smart service-ifleet (they also use map point). Smartphones and their use is still so new that i think the market will change drastically over the next year or two.

I'd really like for someone smarter than me to figure this out for me.

vince

 

[KyLimbwalker]

We are very happy with RealGreen: http://www.realgreen.com/

 

[treecareinc]

[ QUOTE ]
We are very happy with RealGreen: http://www.realgreen.com/

[/ QUOTE ]

You referred us to real RealGreen over 1 year ago. After 1 year of use we are also quite satisfied!

 

[marlinspiker]

Real green only works on pc correct?

 

[KyLimbwalker]

Yes. We had to switch

It was worth it, though. RealGreen is a powerful beast.

 

[nuthin_special]

Are you able to use tablets or smartphones with real green? I've heard good things about it but never spent the time to dig in and check it out.

V

 

[easyphloem]

[ QUOTE ]
Are you able to use tablets or smartphones with real green? I've heard good things about it but never spent the time to dig in and check it out.

V

[/ QUOTE ]

I got Real Green on a laptop, and hope to start bringing it out in the field when I give estimates. I will need a wi-fi connection, and the plan is to use a PC sitting at the office remotely with my laptop. No need for syncing, problems can be worked out in real time with office personnel.

I also have a printer, and will print out the proposals if the clients don't want to do the deal over email only (most clients these days prefer email).

I will keep you all posted with the progress.

SZ