Avantages
I like the ease of use for employees and users in the field. It is simple, yet allows our company to be in contact with our customers. From the office perspective, we have reduced how many invoices we are sending the mail significantly. Our customers like receiving e-mails from us, including the invoices. The portal for payment is easy to use. There has been a significant increase in online payments through the portal.
Our employees find the app easy to use and the location services make it easy for them to find our customers homes.
Inconvénients
The times on the schedule page, need to somehow be highlighted or the top of the hour bolded. It is really difficult to schedule an appointment on the week view for Friday, because the time is in the far left margin.
I would love to have the ability to make comments on the time card section. That way when I need to make a change to an employee's time card, I can also note why the change was made.
The way that the credit card payments integrate with quickbooks is frustrating, as I have to go to each transaction and manually change where it posts the payment. I would like to have the ability to designate where the payment goes. In addition, it would be nice to change the QB display name on HCP ourselves, instead of talking with customer support. One more thing, can payments affecting more than one invoice be posted as one payment, versus each individual invoice. This would make processing deposits so much easier.
I like HouseCall Pro very much on the desk top version and would definitely recommend the program to others. I would not recommend the mobile version at this point only because of the issues I have stated. I hope that in time the mobile version will catch up to the desk top version for the ADMIN to be able to conduct business whether in the field or in the office.
Avantages
I like the way house call works on the desk top. It is quick and easy for me to do all my daily tasks as it pertains to each individual project I have going on. It is pretty easy to navigate through. The system allows me to keep all projects organize even if we have to go back out on more then one occasion.
Inconvénients
I don't like how difficult it is to search on the desk top version for a particle project. It would make it quicker and simpler to have a "1" step process to look up any project by address or contractor name. Too many steps and difficult right now to find what I am looking for.
The mobile version needs to be simpler for the ADMIN to be able to use. If I am away from the office I can only see my projects, not ALL. I need to be able to see all as the ADMIN in order to conduct business when I am away from my desk and office. Our business requires putting in the home owner address which is not the contractor's address on file. When I try to schedule a job in the field on the mobile version I can never put in the address of the home owner which is where I need my employee to go.(NOT THE CONTRACTOR OFFICE) I have to always put it in the notes and take an extra step to tell the employee address is in the notes instead of where it should be. This makes it very difficult to work with and dispatch my employee to the correct address.
it makes my job way easier AND we were able to have a paperless office.
Avantages
Ok so my partner and I started a new business together and I was using Joist which, for free, is a sweet app but I quickly realized that a serious business needed a serious software to help with logistics. Demo ensued and... Long story short our sales person was really cool and answered all of my difficult questions with ease. And trust me I am an office gorilla. And if you are trying to bamboozle me, well, I have those maternal instincts that can smell bamboozling a mile away. the program was easy to use and easy to learn. It has a real-time app that my tech in the field uses, it is partnered with zillow so the service address shows up with all the juicy details, bed/bathroom, sq ft, price it sold for . my tech uses the map function so he doesn't have to call me for directions. you can search specific date ranges and tag customers with specific tags for ROI data. It keeps a graph display dashboard of all the business vitals. Unlike other programs this one lets you pick the level you want to pay and for more you can get extra services. the lowest level still gives you plenty to run a successful business. I LOVE house call Sparky, the virtual text concierge, that reminds clients when their appointment is, confirms appt, tells them when the tech is en route and when a job is finished. There is a pay online feature, a "bill to separate address" feature, and the customer service is the BEST I've ever dealt with. they even take suggestions.
Inconvénients
when you use the payment box to run a credit card it pops up in the center of the screen and you cant move it to see what the billing zip is on the screen below it.
I don't know if it's me but sometimes it takes a few seconds longer than I like to load between screens. There might be a toggle feature I am missing.
I work hard and I expect my technology to do the same.
I would like to see a little more flexibility in the price list feature. It should operate faster with the line item selection. If I pick something I know is in our saved price list it takes a minute for it to populate the selection box.
When you are inputting the prices of line items by hand the cursor goes to weird places in the price. drives me bonkers
We are a commercial cleaning business and have been in business for almost 20 years. For the last few years we have been transitioning from paper to digital. We have multiple employees, that are private contractors. They work at several locations. Each location has it's own pricing. Most times any additional services or charges added to a job are reported back with in a day or two.
We were using a paper calendar for on the go access, that was then copied to a shared online calendar. That information was entered into an invoicing program and invoices were emailed via a private email account. The process from work ordered to invoice sent could take up to a week depending on when our employees got back with information about the job.
Going into this next year we decided to try an "all in one" program. Housecall Pro so far has been great! It has most of the features we need. I love the app feature that comes with this program. It pings the employee when a job is assigned. Reminds them of upcoming work, gives directions to the location and lets them add details, pictures, or services to that job on site.
My workload has been cut significantly, allowing me to get to other administrative demands finished that usually get pushed into my weekend. Having the calendar, employee assignment, clients, services, and invoicing all in one place is amazing.
I've had to make some adjustments and "tricks", since it is a basic program. But nothing enough that's made it difficult to use.
Overall it has taken a good amount of stress and transition from our plate.
For single users to a company with multiple employees, this program can do a lot for you.
Avantages
Convenience, combines most of your business programs into one easy to use program
Customer Service, with offices on both coasts I am able to get in contact with customer service within 10 minutes.
Accessibility, I can access the program from any computer with internet connection or use my phone via the app.
Faster Reporting, employees out on the job can add details, services, or new jobs on sight.
Cuts out bridges between programs and communication, I can enter in a job on the program, assign my employee and it's sent to whomever I need it to be sent to (employee or client) saves me from having to enter it onto either a paper calendar, or a shared calendar, and then notifying the employee of the job and then waiting on a report that they have completed the work.
No contract - you can do monthly, half year or annual commitments
Inconvénients
Limited customization, I have to incorporate my own item code to personalize my clients services. The invoices are also limited on what can be changed/added
Only completed jobs can be searched. There's no search or sort option for each client. So I have to scroll through jobs. Once a client accumulates work it can be a hassle to scroll though pages of information.
Confirmation emails, because the invoices are sent though the program. I don't receive confirmation emails. It only show what has been sent.
Avantages
I have been a user since House Call Pro went national with their service. I don't have anything but good things about the company itself and the app/software!
First, the app is for the phone works flawlessly and has improved so much since I first started. (aka awesome development and customer service team behind the app).
The latest feature that I love is the employee time tracking feature! They can clock in and out right in the app! and the report for that is simple and user-friendly! I have 1 employee and looking to add another and this solves that huge time tracking issue I was having because they listen to their pros.
Now that doesn't cover what my customers have said to me about how they like all the notifications and email reminders and text alerts and so on and so on. This adds so much value to my company. Communication with customers is I think #1 in service based business' and House Call Pro knocks it out of the park!
Also great customer service. Great development speed. They are always getting feedback from their pros and using that to put the more requested features to the top of their development roadmap. I love that and have seen it over and over again the past 1.5 years or so I have been using the app.
Inconvénients
Cons? I would have to say no Ipad native app. However, they have made changes to the web portal so it is touch screen friendly and you can still use the mobile app as well just zoomed in. But the web portal through the browser on my iPad works well, I just know it would be snappier as a dedicated app. BUT I also know adding another version of the app would slow overall development of new features as a whole so I am understanding.
I am a painting and drywall contractor in the Indianapolis area and have looked at about a dozen different programs to help me run my business. The first thing I can say, is that it seems that no perfect program exists, since most are either too generic (difficult to tailor to my industry) or too cumbersome. I actually "used", as in, not really, Builder Trend for a period of time, but found it to be way more than I really needed. Method CRM was another, but it seemed too difficult to master. Several of my coleages in the industry are using estimating software, in addition to Basecamp, Pipeline Deals and other things.
Since I am a one man operation, I have to do everything from sales to production to marketing to billing, so time is at a premium for me and I needed a solution that was easy enough to learn. I also needed a program that would synch with my Quickbooks online (another imperfect program, but its what I know) and allow me to function in the field. I eventually stumbled upon HouseCall Pro and was impressed enough to give it a shot.
Right from the start, I found it easy to learn. In fact, I signed up, had my personalized tutorial and three hours later was writing my first estimate in the field on it. I will highlight the pros and cons in the fields below, but I can say that this is a company that is constantly improving its product. I get the sense that they want to be able to provide a one stop program. I say that because I have had conversations with one of their specialists and he was asking me what else would I like to see them doing to improve. They have a chat bubble online (at your desktop only) that is available most hours and they connect quickly with helpful answers.
My biggest beef with this program is that they are spending a lot of time building new features into the program when I think they should be tweaking existing features. For example, there is an auto responder email feature that you can set up for as many emails as you like, but they have not included an option to include hyperlinks in the emails. I am sending out a survey form and also a review request form, in which I have created the links, but the customer is forced to copy and paste in order to access these. Unfortunately, I am getting zero responses because a hyperlink would be easier.
All in all, I think HouseCall Pro is on the right track, but they have a way to go before they can live up to their true potential.
Avantages
QBO synchronization, ease of use, ability to do estimates and invoices in the field. Tags allow tracking of specific items (similar to classes) like lead type and services provided. GPS to track employees and picture of house from Google maps shows on customer page. Auto responder feature, postcard program that is cost efficient. Great customer service, responsive. Online booking of jobs for customers. Ability to take credit cards. Mobile program lets customers know when you are on the way to their home. You can set up employees/techs and have their picture sent to the customer before they arrive at a job.
Inconvénients
I have found issues with duplication of invoicing; there seems to be no recognition of multiple invoicing for a single estimate. No hyperlink option for the auto responder email program. Credit card option cannot be turned off on a mobile device, must be done on desktop version when invoicing. There is no job costing function. At $199.00 per month, I feel that this program can do so much more.
Avantages
For 18 months we were looking for a software that could do three things:
1. Manage our customer database (CRM)
2. Schedule appointments and send automatic reminders to customers
3. Assign and dispatch employees to jobs (Field Service Management)
It seemed every software was designed to do one, MAYBE TWO, of these things, but no software could do all three. Then we found HouseCall Pro. It seemed almost too good to be true, but HouseCall does it all for us. We haven't looked back.
1. App for field technicians is awesome! Best I've seen.
2. Strong and powerful integration with Google -- autofills addresses and integrates with Maps.
3. Automatic e-mail reminders sent to customers.
4. Postcard marketing campaigns.
5. Quickbooks compatible.
6. Incomparable customer service. They have a friendly, helpful and intelligent group of people working for them. They are always there to listen to requests and solve problems. The messaging app within the desktop software lets you communicate with them directly anytime. They always seem to respond within mere minutes.
7. They are constantly releasing updates and improvements to the software. It gets better with every release and it shows they really listen to customer suggestions!
Inconvénients
1. The schedule view is hard to read and use. When you are trying to get an overview of your resources and availability, you have to scroll left/right as well as up/down. It's made it hard for us, so we still have to rely on Google Calendar to view employee availability when trying to schedule jobs.
2. No automatic reminders sent to employees. There is a push notification one hour before a job starts, but this is not enough time for us. We want an email or test least a day, even a week, in advance.
3. Few customization options. (eg - You cannot rename "professional" to "stylist" or "technician" to suit your industry.) You can't include hyperlinks in follow-up emails to link customers to a satisfaction survey. (They have to copy/paste the address into the browser.)
4. No way to "black out" dates on scheduler for employee time off. Again, we still have to use Google Calendar. Although they just released "Non-Job Events" and this could serve as a possible workaround for us. We are looking into it!
5. The CRM is weak. (No multiple contacts for a business, no way to name different service addresses, no pipeline for making sales, etc.)
Avantages
I own and operate a small plumbing company in San Diego and I have been searching for a product like housecall for years. Yes there are competitive products on the market and I've tried them all. The main problem for the other products was the disconnect or lack of care for the user's (me) feedback. I would find an issue with the software that prevented me from running my business the way I needed to and when I voiced my issue, the response was vague at best but usually nonexistent. My experience with housecall has been the exact opposite. EVERY time I have had an issue or needed help, they have been IMMEDIATELY responsive in helping me to resolve an issue and even develop their product further to improve all aspects.
Years ago when we transitioned from the old carbon triplicate paper invoices to electronic means, I had to use a different kind of software for each business task i.e. invoicing, scheduling, dispatching, processing credit card payments, taking photo records for completed jobs, sending appointment reminders and thank you notes, etc.
Now, I have ONE software platform that I use for EVERYTHING! HOUSECALL! It does everything I need it to do. It's made my life and business run more efficiently than ever before and the best part is that they're constantly improving it! Almost every week there is added functionality, fine-tuning and improvement on an already fantastic product.
If you have a small service company, you would be mistaken to look elsewhere for your field management software. Simply stated... Housecall does it best!
Inconvénients
It's difficult to come up with anything negative about a product that have benefitted my company in such a massive way. All I can say is that it's a bummer that Apple forces app developers to go through such a difficult process to get app updates released, because it slows down the process. Housecall is constantly updating and adding new functionality to the web and mobile applications.
Avantages
Our main concerns were to appear as professional as we can. We own a small HVAC company in CA. Its just me, my husband, and a hired hand. I got tired of entering paper invoices and worst of all loosing them >,<. We started with a software that did our pricing for us based on our industry. I will tell you it was a nightmare. They charged us per line on our invoices and the bill just range up. It seemed impossible to get ahead with that software. I won’t name names to avoid shaming them. When i heard about HCP i decided to do a demo. I was astonished at how much value was actually in the program. included was email marketing to keep in touch with our current customers, smooth connectivity with Quickbooks Online (no more entering invoices) yay!, they send email reminders to clients, they let clients know we are on our way, and tons more. Not only that but customer service is SOOO easy to get ahold of. I almost never have to wait more than a few minuets to get a response via chat. Its fantastic. Its the best software we have used AND its only 1 low monthly fee. We don’t get charged per invoice or customer. so its really a limitless software and for the price its a steal. They even charge less than paypal for processing credit cards! We couldn’t be happier. If your thinking about going with Housecall Pro just do it!
-new features added all the time
-we look professional to our clients
-free email marketing included with your subscription
-you can set up unlimited campaigns for email to tailor to each group of clients
-test messages sent to customer to remind them of appointment and that we are on our way
-great estimate and invoice set up
-easy to reach customer support
-low monthly fee (and even lower if you pay upfront)
- syncs with quickbooks (no entering invoice data yay!)
- customers can be imported directly from quickbooks online so everything is together.
-can get a signature on invoices
-all invoices are emailed to customers when job is complete
---The list seriously goes on
Inconvénients
- the only con i can think of is that (like any new software or app) you have to learn how to use it. It takes a little bit to get it down. BUT support is there the entire way to answer your questions --AND even fix your mistakes :) --.
Housecall Pro streamlines my entire customer interaction. The software maintains my customer database, and my customer history. Housecall Pro handles all my scheduling. Housecall Pro sends reminder emails to my customers and makes it easy to notify my customers as to my location on the day of service. Housecall Pro handles my invoices and makes it easy to collect payment. After the work is complete, Housecall Pro sends follow-up emails to my customers to help maintain customer loyalty. Housecall Pro also integrates with Quickbooks making my bookkeeping a breeze. Housecall Pro makes owning a business so easy!
Avantages
I LOVE this software! It does absolutely everything for me and makes it so easy for me to run the behind the scenes part of my business. Housecall Pro is super easy to use, the app interface is very clean, and it totally streamlines my interaction with the customer from their first phone call, through to the completion of the job, and beyond. Housecall Pro makes every part of my carpet cleaning business so much more efficient.
Inconvénients
I wish that the user had greater control in customizing messages that are sent to their customers. For instance, Housecall Pro sends a text and an email asking for a Google review and a review on Housecall Pro when the work is complete, but I have little control over the content/message of that communication. Another example is that I have little control over the content of the "On My Way", or the "Job Finished" texts that get sent to my customers on the day of their appointments. I would love to be able to send more personalized messages to my customers, so that they seem less generic and bland.
The system has enabled me to manage the techs schedule and time keeping. Setting up appointments is fairy easy but I have to assign every tech to all jobs because they can't see other jobs other than one's scheduled to them.
Avantages
The product is priced right for a small business.
Inconvénients
There isn't a phone number to call for support or issues. When I have an issue sometimes I would like to talk to a live person instead of instant message. It would be a lot easier to explain some issues than try and type it out when I'm unsure of what I'm trying to say and some of my issues have taken a couple days to resolve or just answer a question I have because I don't always have time to wait for a response.
It would be nice to have a good better best estimate presentation when presenting potential customers with a proposal. It would also be nice to sell a customer a reoccurring maintenance agreement from the mobile app instead of logging in to web-site to set up payment. My service techs who will sell the product can't set it from the app on their phone, they have to call me to set it up and most of the time it's after the tech leaves the customers house before it is set up. When we get busy I know some will fall through the cracks.
I would like the techs to be able to view the entire work schedule instead of just the jobs they are assigned from the mobile app. I have to assign all techs to every job so they can see what's going on for the day, this makes the customer seem everyone is showing up instead of just the tech assigned to the job. I'm a small business and the techs take each job as they finish the one they are on. It's hard to schedule each job to a specific tech because they often finish a lot earlier or later than anticipated.
Avantages
Scheduling and invoicing jobs, automatic text reminders to employees and customers about upcoming work, email and postcard follow up with customers, Online booking for website and FB pages, invoice tracking, earnings tracking, etc, etc, etc, all kinds of tracking. HouseCall Pro customer service is fantastic. Ease of use. There's almost zero learning curve. You just dive right in and start using it! And if you can't figure out something, help is generally only seconds away, at the most a few minutes. And they speak real English, not Geekspeak! They have a great Facebook group. I've learned so much about business tips and strategies from other members all over the country it's unbelievable. It's like I've been introduced to a whole group of people who share the same struggles in operating a business and everybody on the group helps everybody else. HouseCall Pro is always adding more improvements and integrations with other services. The people at HouseCall Pro listen to their members and are constantly making it better and better. I own a plumbing business and have invested in hundreds of great tools for doing my work, but I'd have to say HouseCall Pro is the best tool I've ever invested in. For the first time, I'm in control of and working on my business. It no longer controls me. I've added one new truck and service tech this year and looking at an additional cost at least, in receipts this year. Couldn't have done it without HouseCall Pro.
Inconvénients
I really can't think of anything. I really can't thing of anything. I really can't think of anything.
Complete time savings all the way around. The ability to look as professional as possible with the look of the estimates and invoices, on my way functionality, email and text invoicing, automation with texts for reviews after the job is finished, and getting paid in a timely manner.
One of the othe big benefits is the HCP Facebook group - so many people helping each other, not just with HCP questions and suggestions, but also with general business questions and knowledge.
HCP takes it to another level and is reasonably priced for all the features and functionality!
Avantages
Provides everything needed to automate a business, from estimates to invoicing, to reporting, and dispatching.
HCP also values the act of customer service. Communication is key, and instant invoice receipt to the customer once payment is received, delights customers.
The On my way (OMW) texting feature is so powerful, as customers know when you are coming and takes a second to push a button to let them know.
The ability to take payment within the HCP application is fabulous and the ability to provide an opportunity for a customer tip, is a great feature - I found that when given the opportunity, and the job is done well, customers want to tip, to show their appreciation.
In addition, the Zillow interface is a nice feature, that allows a sneak peak into the customer’s home value - which is telling and can help with up selling.
Inconvénients
Not many cons to HCP, but I would say a few areas for additional functionality. Customer time zone would be nice when using on line bookings, but only for companies with multiple locations in multiple time zones.
Invoice discounts that only impact service and not the materials would be nice, but a line for a discount works as well just fine.
A little extra functionality with deposits would be helpful, but using segments also gets around that requirement.
Avantages
Scheduling, invoicing, and accounting is Very easy to use. Ability to TAG customers and Tag Jobs is awesome!
Inconvénients
> Some very important features are not being updated like the Post Card campaigns. We send Christmas post cards out every year and the feature is lacking is some very critical ways and hasn't been updated since I signed up in 2016. I've pointed out these flaws to HCP each time I use the feature and still have not seen any improved implementation. Very frustrating and time consuming to get the post cards to the right clients and exlude the ones you don't want. It really just needs some major improvement
> The customization of the Customer heading for invoices/ Estimates needs to be more flexible so you can Have a Customer Name & Job Name, Customer address and job address (different scenarios). This is an essential feature that is missing unless you do some drastic custom editing just to get it the way you want which takes alot of playing around just to get right, then you have to switch everything back when your done.
> They charge extra to have an essential feature that allows you to send reminders to maintenance customers.
> HCP Doesn't allow you to save customized Email headings when you send invoices and estimates, so you have to save templates on your computer and copy and paste them each time. The default heading is very simple and crude: "Hi JOHN DOE, Attached please find estimate #5555 from "John Doe Cleaning" Thank you.
Housecall Pro is a substantial solution for the money where the requirements are for dispatching a fleet for residential/commercial customers, and all the way through payment integration. Despite my lengthy Cons verbiage, Housecall Pro really saved the day for my new company. We and our customers really like the solution !
Avantages
Very usable on all devices. Easy for the technicians to capture their job statuses. Easy to create estimates / job scheduling. Fantastic built in customer notification via email / text. Many customers have commented how effective this is. Also solid logging of jobs.
There are also some good 3rd party solutions already integrated in, i.e., review management, Quickbook interface, messaging aggregation, etc. Broadly is expensive, but wow it really works well. Reviews have climbed substantially. The integration is just fantastic.
Payment integration is superior, though see Cons section. Pay via invoicing is a nice feature when the customers are not at the job.
Inconvénients
No lead generation support, workflow starts with an estimate / job creation. What we need is to capture lead activity prior to creating a customer for jobs/estimates. Channels are not built in. Today with digital marketing, we need to know where the leads came from. Tagging is a weak solution for this.
Another way of stating the above, there is no real CRM functionality like SalesForce has. But then SalesForce is pricy, But without CRM, some day I might be forced to move to SalesForce. And they have a great Field Services solution. But that is also VERY PRICY.
Also could use more robust commercial customer functionality.
Payment options is an issue. Capturing 3% of CC sales, and 1% for same day deposits, is just too steep. Clover allows for debit cards rates, and their CC deposits lands within 2 days. That would help a lot as almost all card transactions are debit cards. I am still waiting for the card reader to launch. Stop trying to model Square's revenue capture, you beat them on the integration. I will be looking for other solutions if I have to forfeit 4% of $300K, and also pay you a monthly software fee. One or the other, not both.
Overall at first glance it looks good, feels good and gives you a warm and fuzzy while you have someone guiding you. It is not super user friendly though. I have run across situations where it takes longer to do one thing than it should. A 5 yr old should be able to figure it out simple enough. If they can’t, it’s too complicated. In my design class in college, KISS was harped on repeatedly. Don’t make it simple for you to use but for someone not as smart as you.
Avantages
Everything in one place. Customers get their own profile with a Zillow preview so we show up to the right house.
Love the on my way and finish feature especially for txting the customer. Would also include that on the start button. Company may want options to turn on/off.
Love the signature function and ability to add docs for customer if they are in signed contract. Maybe include the ability to have contacts made for company and ensured by lawyers that contact can be upheld.
Inconvénients
Scheduling could be easier. There should be a right click function to block out times manually rather than a 20 step process.
A mileage feature for mobile Services should be added. Possibly even using Zillow to auto populate the mileage and a place to set company cost per mile for weekday AND weekends.
Ability to set employee base pay and option for them to NOT see what customer is paying but what they will make from the job. Field techs should never have access to how much a customer is paying. Simply show up, do the job, get a signature and leave. Also, should auto populate and keep track of employees when they arrive at a location, Mark as working and when they leave. I would like to see this app keep constant track of employees out in the field to ensure they are doing what they are suppose to and where they are going at all times.
When booking online, if a customer books a job that says “3-4 hours” then the option should specify that when scheduling. Currently only limited to hour duration set by company and not based on the time for service.example: I can only set but blocks right now. I have set for 2 hours but if I have someone book a job that might take 4 hours they can not indicate that.
Avantages
Housecall pro was designed with the most important things to be successful in business in mind. They are constantly improving the software, and have estabilshed a community that you can tap into to become a better business. They listen to their users and are proactive. And the mobile version works great!
I have Housecall pro fully integrated with Quickbooks Online, offer integrated online booking, offer service agreements, and impress customers with the automated texts and emails. I originally spent I don't know how many hours looking for the right software, trying to figure out what they all actually did, and tried several different programs. I even switched to another software after using Housecall for a year because I thought they were not going to develop their service agreement capabilities, but that
Inconvénients
Over the past two years, there have been several issues for which I have needed to use a work around, but most of those issues have been, or are being addressed. Currently the most inconvenient issue is a somewhat clunky estimate process, and the inability to create multi-option estimates from the mobile app, but they are working to solve that issue.
Our main purpose in trying HCP was to find a way that our field crews could easily take photos of each job and share them with the office. In the past each crew had been texting me photos all day long and it was my responsibility to then email them to myself and save them on the company server. That got old after about 4 hours.
I saw that HCP would allow our crews to take photos with their phones, and they would instantly and easily be available through the web portal at our office, or anywhere else - desktop or mobile. At the time, the basic plan was free, so it was a no-brainer for me. I love that you can keep track of and view customer history and put notes about each customer, each job, and each visit to a customer's home. We haven't fully utilized this function yet, but it would be incredibly helpful.
The main part of my job is scheduling installations and planning routes for multiple crews each day. HCP does have a map feature that allows you to view all of your jobs, but the down side (for me, anyway) is that it shows you ALL of your jobs, past and present. I would love to see the ability to filter the jobs on the map to show just one day or a range of days to help in planning efficient routes. The lack of this feature forces me to use Google Maps in addition to HCP. I don't mind so much, but when a representative was trying to "sell me" on using HCP for all of our business needs, he was pretty adamant that it was an all-in-one program.
Avantages
Easy to access from anywhere and easy to share information with team members.
Inconvénients
It would be great if it made it easier to plan daily routes for drivers/crews. For example, being able to filter jobs on the map view by a certain day or range of days. Unfortunately, I had to use Google Maps in addition to HCP to accomplish this.
works well and is truly built for today's service provider. It is truly a paperless system and up to speed with today's technology. I enjoy using the software and it's very easy to grasp And is kept in is framed in a rudimentary form. There are some cons that I work around daily and issues I don't love but the price for a single user is very much.
Avantages
The software has a great mobile application along with its ease of use makes it a winner.
Inconvénients
Basic. I came from a robust expensive software with more depth so my perception may be hazy however there are simple pieces missing that are critical to a service provider. MAPPING. big downturn. Route mapping. The software ten years ago sent the links to google map and allowed us to manipulate the technician's routes. I am not sure how a service providing software can not have the basic route mapping but this on is missing it. I hand type in the address which is not a big deal for one but to me would be unusable if I had ten trucks. Missing simple daily reporting like cash out, call completion rate and tracking. Tracking I can forgive because that tends to only be on larger systems. Cash out is a common practice to ease deposit time. Support is good but you will never talk to anyone. Simple procedures like questions take 10 minutes when a two-minute convo would do. However, I don't have many. Simplicity in customer fields like not having extensions and spouse name along with a confusing issue of billing a customer for work done are a property or tenant. Example. If you bill to a tenant you can not use the tenant's name so they want you to create a new customer and subtitle them to the billing tenant. This makes for an issue of later retrieval and billing of the job. I found it easier to write the name in the notes section. There are more little bugs like this throughout the system.
We are able to eliminate the paper invoices and show when the tech arrived and finished if needed. This helps in a lot of areas. It also has helped us to see which invoices have not been received and /or paid as the case may be. Having a signature that we can email with the invoice is so helpful!
Avantages
I do like being able to set up a schedule and change it when needed. It is good to have the knowledge of where the technician is if needed.
I like being able to see who has not paid and when.
Being able to see when the job was started, finished, changes made and submission to client is a big help.
The ability to capture a signature is one of our favorite features.
It is very easy to use once you have mastered the basics. There are a few things that were challenging to discover how to do it and needed some explanations.
Over all it is a really great program.
Inconvénients
We have had a few problems learning the software. Most of the support staff and very good and extremely helpful. There are a couple that need further training or something. The easiest thing is to wait and then contact them later. Sometimes you need to ask for someone in particular. If I am working on the app late at night or after hours then I will need to wait but that has worked out so far.
I hope that maybe they will be able to program it to be able to add segments to a recurring job. I have a job that always takes at least 3-5 days. That means it needs to have segments and that of course means I can't make it recurring every 2 months.
We had a little trouble switching over to a different phone but we got it worked out and now everything is fine.
Avantages
I have worked in the corporate software industry for more than 30 years. Most recently I worked at a major software supplier with big name major accounts with more than 30,000 licenses for some of their customers. My role involved all aspects of customer service, including corporate demos, involvement in the sale process and post-implementation customer service.
The reason I started this review with that information is that I am actually blown away by the similarities between how HouseCall Pro treats it's customers in comparison.
My business is just starting out with only a handful of employees but from day one my engagement with HouseCall Pro has been astonishing - in a very good way - with me receiving as much care and attention as I have been used to giving to my own customers in the past! The initial contact tried to understand the key points that I was looking for in the software before setting up a one-on-one meeting where those key points were shown to me in a live demo.
The software itself is actually perfect for my business. The learning curve was a little different to what I expected but the support has been absolutely first class. The online help is excellent, but the online support chat window is phenomenal. The folks in support not only know their stuff, they respond quickly, help with the questions I have, and have a laugh along the way. What actually prompted this review was a more recent phone call to the support team. I had to leave the call before they answered. Totally unprompted, within 5 minutes, they had called me back to see how they could help. Now, THAT was impressive.
I completed a lot of research prior to deciding to invest in HouseCall Pro. I made the right decision, without question, when I moved forward with HouseCall Pro.
I highly recommend this product.
I love the fact that Housecall Pro will work with us to allow us to work at our own pace, and adapt to the way we work. They even have administered our requests of certain ways we would like for the App to work for our invoicing. They truly are an amazing Company. I have referred them to several people.
Avantages
I love the fact we can get invoices done in real time if we choose to so we can get the invoices to the customers immediately upon job completion, and payment can be received immediately. Customers can go online after receiving their invoice and make payment at their convenience, our Company is then notified payment has been made via our email. It is awesome to watch and know customers are making payments while we are working in the background. This feature is so helpful with small to large operations. It really helps with our time management allowing us to get other important tasks accomplished without needing to attend to our account receivables so often.
Inconvénients
At times, their are glitches, like any other software I suppose. This can be a little disheartening at times.
But, the best thing about it is the team will get right on it and make sure the glitch is administered to. They get the situation resolved pretty quickly. That part is very admirable. It may not always be on our time watch, but they work very hard to resolve any issues and are extremely good at handling it.
Better communication between our business and customers.
Avantages
The communication to customers via email and text is amazing! I love that you can convert an invoice back to an estimate, that you have the ability to created "options" for estimates and the easy approval/decline process that it offers for customers. Overall I am pretty satisfied with all of the features that it offers and am looking forward to the changes yet to come.
Inconvénients
The inability to create additional contacts for each customer and the ability to link a specific customer to a specific job. I also don't like that there is no separate area where private notes can be added to one area (not necessarily to specific jobs) which allows the system to automatically stamp the note with the date/time.
Now, I am not certain since I do not have the higher priced software that offers the GPS tracking, but it would be extremely helpful with the timeclock feature to have the timeclock track times throughout the day, logging from the time the tech clocked in to the time they marked themselves en-route, on-site, and finished throughout the entire day. This would be of great value when matching tech timesheets against HCP or even to integrate it completely as a timesheet that the tech would be paid from (this is helpful in getting techs to correctly mark jobs since they know that's how they will be paid).
One thing about the existing software that I dislike is that if an estimate/invoice is sent and gets returned due to an invalid email address, for it to send an automatic email notification to the administrator advising of the invalid address. Unless I specifically go in and look at the activity, I don't see that it was returned. It would also be really great to have some individualized set up meetings with someone who knows the ins/outs of the software and could help by phone or video meeting with set up.
Avantages
It’s basically a cloud-based field service management system that assists managers to schedule their tasks, send auto-reminders to their staffs regarding the pending and upcoming work with the task checklists. It also provides you real-time updates about their location. You can control all your employees from your mobile or from a remote location. The application has a Customer database, and you can confirm if a delivery is successfully done, or if transactions are done by field staffs by enabling response from respective clients. It has even helped us with the process of technician dispatch and online payment processing.
Inconvénients
Provides only limited customization. You can only check out the completed tasks, it is difficult to track the progress of tasks. During the time of invoicing, the credit card option could only be turned off by using desktop version and not by the mobile version, and this mobile application lacks in functionalities when being compared to the desktop version. The reporting features aren't up to the mark. In the case of single estimates, we have experienced a few glitches that have created duplication of invoices.
Stream lining of dispatching and scheduling at a cost effective price.
Avantages
What we like the most is having a software system that is cost effective and doesn't require a server to do our day to day scheduling and dispatching. Our customer data base, schedule and dispatching needs are just a click away. The reporting feature allows us to keep track of closing ratio's and assist in the figuring of the cost per appointment set along with keeping track of sales, reschedules and follow up appointments all with out breaking the bank. We may not use some of the features that more service based companies would but Housecall pro is a daily staple in our day to day job functions. The customer support offered is like none I have ever seen. They are ever changing to support the needs of their customers and the staff is always prompt, friendly and knowledgeable.
Inconvénients
The only con is that the system is a little slow when switching functions or opening work orders. I tend to be a little impatient with slower systems as the nature of the dispatching and waiting on information is a personal pet-peeve of mine as I strive to be efficient as possible.
HCP has brought our business to the next level. We have been using the software for two years and have a very basic plan. Before HCP, we were keeping our appointments in a spiral calendar and customer information was difficult to maintain. With HCP, we have been able to better track our customer activity and history. One of the newer features that I find interesting is the lifetime value of the customer. This is giving us some insight into how much revenue our customers generate. I am considering upgrading to the next level of HCP to begin accessing some of the marketing tools that HCP promotes.