Housecall Pro

Benefits:

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!

Drawbacks:

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.)

Benefits:

Seamless integration with Quickbooks is the most important feature. Once we learned to categorize where we wanted charges to show in QB such as "Labor" or "Material & Supplies" then reconciliation became easy. Software is easy to navigate and customize. Scheduling service for our customers is a major feature and increases customer confidence. Our A/R has improved dramatically. More of our customers use the pay online feature and the ability to accept cc payments is a huge plus. Admin settings allow to set cc minimum payments and employee access through mobile app.

Drawbacks:

Would love have an attachment icon in customer history window indicating service calls that have attached photos or documents uploaded without having to open each one individually. I would also like to have the ability to record customer equipment Model & Serial #'s and connect services to particular equipment. Example: Customer has (5) individual air con systems. Enter Model & Serial #'s, and name systems. Then all future service at that site can be attached to a particular piece of equipment with the ability to run a report. Options for "Summer" & "Winter" maintenance to run reports for recurring future would also be on my wish list.

In sum:

We are a small HVAC service and install company. Using Housecall Pro has been a positive experience. It has greatly improved scheduling for both customers and employees. A/R has been a very positive aspect. Integration with QB has made the accounting side of the business cleaner with less conflict. We are now beginning to use the service contract feature. HCP support always respond in a timely fashion and are always seeking to improve.

Benefits:

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.

Drawbacks:

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

In sum:

it makes my job way easier AND we were able to have a paperless office.

Benefits:

The ease of use of this software is by far some of the best and I demoed several before deciding on Housecall Pro. This is our first go at a digital software and they have been excellent to work with in getting us a set up specific to our needs as a company. We like that it encompasses a review component as well as real time data for our office staff to see where our technicians are at on their schedule. The online community Facebook page has been a tremendous help in hearing how other companies are working through issues as business information in general.

Drawbacks:

There have been times where chatting into the blue bubble yields less than timely feedback for important things we need to get sorted out in the office. The Facebook group is helpful in me searching to find a work around or solution while I wait to hear back from the blue bubble. I understand why there is no direct phone contact for immediate issues, but it would be nice in dire times to be able to immediately get a person on the phone.

In sum:

More than positive! It has streamlined our business and provided a better experience for our customers.

Benefits:

I like that I have one central place for everything: customer database; scheduling; quoting; invoicing. The stress on me has gone down by 20% or more; when I get a new customer and schedule a "job" for a "Free Consultation," I forget about it. That's good because my brain has other things to do besides wondering if I got the customer in all of my old hodgepodge systems.

Drawbacks:

I would like to be able to copy a quote from one customer to another.

In sum:

They stand behind their product and give me good support.

Benefits:

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.

Drawbacks:

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.

Benefits:

We loved the GPS that showed the property location and street view. This helped our techs locate the property without questioning. Also when entering the job, it prevented the office from a typo when entering the property street address.

Drawbacks:

At first sign up we were given our "own" personal trainer. However, she was on a time limit and did not help with our concerns. Would cut me off and say she had to take other calls, would need to set up another appointment... a few days later. Got my 30 minutes again, then she said set up 5 jobs and see how they go. The problem is that our business did not stop, it had to keep running and we didn't know how to set up our system. By the time it was set up we had a huge backlog of entering, late invoices, etc. After our 2 or 3 visits with our "personal trainers", they converted us to customer service online chat only. It took a long time to get someone to respond, most times would lead into another question, wait again, and so on. Wasted so much time in the office! At the beginning of set up, it took days and hours to get results, very, very frustrating. Kept asking if we could just speak to someone and they said they were set up for online chat and could make an appointment if the concern was something a chat could not resolve. I would need help at that moment, would not want to wait several days to speak to someone. ( After a few weeks we ended up going to Service Fusion which gave us 60 full days with our personal trainer. Would spend up to an hour on the phone guiding us through the set up. And if our rep was not available, you could speak to anyone on the customer service team. Absolutely wonderful!)

In sum:

PRO: Liked the GPS locator for the office and field techs. The app was also very easy for the techs to maneuver. Having a picture of the tech when notifying the customer via text they were on their way was great. Made our customers feel at ease for them to know who would be coming to their door. CON: Chat takes way too long and not able to speak to someone. We have a lot of commercial accounts that require a purchase order number on the invoice. There is no "box" to add PO, need to put in the notes at bottom of invoice. Should be at the top of the invoice for customers to reference quickly. Job location only has two lines available. Again, a lot of our commercial customers have several job descriptions and need to have the job location name (1st line), street address (2nd line) and city, state and zip (3rd line). They do have the "parent/child" entry but they are separate from each other when searching or invoicing. Can't search for an invoice number quickly. Need to pull up the customer and then find the invoice. Invoice template could not be changed, font too large and spaced out way too far so almost every invoice went into 2 pages. A lot of our commercial customers had complained because they were having to print out multiple pages for an invoice.

Benefits:

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

Drawbacks:

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.

In sum:

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.

Benefits:

This software brings our entire company together. It helps us with all the scheduling needs that we have, and definitely helps keep all of your information together in one spot. You can also access this from your mobile devices too which is huge! We wouldn't be where we are today in our company if it wasn't for Housecall Pro.

Drawbacks:

There are a few features missing, that could make some delegations a little easier, but after while, when they hear from a bunch of people that they want this option added, they will add and integrate it to the software.

In sum:

The best part about Housecall Pro is the fact that we have all of our information for the entire business in one spot. It is one stop shop. It also integrates with Quickbooks Online, so we do not have to mess with transferring everything every time. It automatically does it for us. The customer service is also great, as they are quick to find an answer if they cannot fix it right away. I would highly recommend this company and software.

Benefits:

Obviously, as said by others it allows you to free up time in office. You can easily write up an invoice from anywhere you have cell service. There is an ease of use factor and when you email invoice there is a pre-written message.

Drawbacks:

.....So with that massage your customer know knows who housecallpro.com is because they let the customer know it is from HOUSECALLPRO not you. There is no offline work-ability. so you have to take payment and bill later sometimes. when you write the invoice later the calendar, check in, and check out button consistently pushes the current time. even after you set it; for, if you need to edit it goes back to default upon doing so. If you take payment after the job and then require a signature well not on this invoice. only on the estimate and only in a smart device app. I use a desktop with cell service. Customer support is only through chat message If you want any additional features you have to pay more. And now, my accountant is asking for separation of materials and labor on the exported exel file; "oops....no can do," says HCP.

In sum:

My issue with this company is that they actually created an awesome layout. I payed another company in full this year but I'm not using them because there was a convoluted way of entering all of the info you need to generate an invoice and then upon emailing there was no message. So after writing two invoices I went right back to HCP. However, if you have a suggestions. You'll ask, "hey how to do this?" and they'll reply with an answer or "sorry we don't offer that know but will put it in the suggestion box." Then time goes on, you forget then the need for that particular Item comes up again. You remember and ask again-- same answer. You find on Facebook other people asked months before you but no change. It seems like: [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN], payed to have the system created but then fired all the programmers. Having the ability to run a material report is bookkeeping 101. Signatures at the bottom of the invoice was asked by many but is is only available on the phone app and for approving an estimate. Other people have asked for material and labor to be separate. It seems like their not interested in updating their invoicing software as they learn the needs of the users. The users just have to adjust or not use it. The additional services their company has added is website building, credit card processioning, and marketing. when I signed up it was invoicing only. clearly they don't want to do that ant more.