ConstructionOnline - Avis

I am a new user of this kind of software. A few months ago I did not even know that something like this existed. It has opened a whole new world for me and I am blown away by what this software can do. We demo'ed a few competing products before making a choice and it was the wide range of features at the most competitive price that sold us on ConstructionOnline. I especially like the messaging feature which is basically an email system dedicated to one specific project.

There is nothing I really dislike about ConstructionOnline, there are just some features I do not use as they do not meet my needs as a commercial general contractor. For example, I do not use Estimating and Change Orders as they seem to be less robust than some of the other software products. These features seem to be geared more towards the residential market. However, I realize it is hard to be everything for everyone.

A feature, I think, that would be nice would be the ability to sign documents electronically. Maybe one can do it through Redline; if so, I have not been able to figure it out yet.

As a general contractor one has to collect submittal packages from vendors and subcontractors, review them, and then attach a separate sheet to the package, that contains your stamp of approval/comments/signature on it, before you forward the submittal package on to the architect/engineer for review. On this submittal sheet there is space for the different reviewers to add their stamps as well. It would be nice if ConstructionOnline could generate this submittal sheet that you can attach to submittal packages sent to you. Currently, I generate the submittal sheet in another project management program, print it, place my stamp on it, sign it, scan it back into my computer, upload it to a pdf editor, add it to the submittal package file, and then upload the combined file to ConstructionOnline. It would be nice if you could do it all in ConstructionOnline.

If GamePlan works as it should, this could almost turn our operations into a self driving car. The increased efficiency and convenience we expect to get out of this should have a direct impact on our bottom line, as well as our ability to leave our clients satisfied

The OnSite App seems to need work before we can even use this. The language used in the app is confusing as well as the functionality. This makes the likelihood of proper use by our guys in the field highly unlikely, which could be worse than if we don't use GamePlan at all. It needs to be clear to the user that they just "Completed" the task. Currently, it says "Dismiss Event," which sounds more like you are ignoring the task. Additionally, you need a submit button, complete task button, or some type of clear confirmation that lets the OnSite User know, for sure, that they have just completed the task in the system. Then, the main page of the app needs to reflect that the task was completed. Additionally, I do not see anything actually being completed in construction online from the operations manager end of things. That takes most of the benefits of the software away. I tested this by creating a fake user account and assigning tasks to myself from construction online. I couldn't tell what I was doing when I was "Dismissing" event because I couldn't tell if it has updated the app. Then when I went into construction online, it did not show that anything of the tasks were completed. Again, we can't wait to get GamePlan implemented in the business, but I think we need some kinks worked out before we put it into place.

It contains in one place all the necessary tools to manage a project, from the conception of said project with the creation of estimates to daily monitoring with photos and reports. Every detail of project tracking is clearly integrated and user-friendly. It also helps keep the client up to date and has all documentation, communication and evidence in one easily accessible place.

Some features from Construction Suite are not part (yet?) of the online version.

The app is user friendly, overall easy to use and train, has almost every Project Management tool that a construction Project Manager will need.

Very basic estimating tool, very basic scheduling tool, very poor billing, invoice management and cost tracking

Im a big fan of the reporting in all areas of the software.
I have tried to impliment these forms of tracking before but it is extremely expensive to try and do on your own.

The price is a bit extreme i would like to see a bit more variance and the ability to drop a few more features for a discount.

It's RFI management feature helps us track and push timelines.

Project dash boards are a little busy, takes a little time/patience to learn where all the feature and specific menu items are located.

Organization, flexibility, ease in creating catalogues, ease in entering estimates

Finding a clients phone number when in the opportunity is frustrating. Also, there are not enough fields to enter phone numbers and emails.

Scheduling / estimating / to do / daily logs

Still learning about all the tools the system has to offer. So far - there is nothing I don’t like or noted needs improvements

User friendly, and Excellent Customer Service! Working with [sensitive content hidden], Product Specialist on instructing me on how to use the "Take-Off "was very good, because she was extremely patient and explained the process is an easy way to understand. Additionally, she gave me more information than I asked for which helped me to get more use of the software. [sensitive content hidden] represents CO in the highest professional manner that makes me want to continue using the software. I hope she is available to help me when I'm at an impasse. Satisfied Customer for Sure! :)

Construction Scheduling. Gnatt Chart is somewhat difficult to navigate and I need allot of tech support.

The best thing about this software is the almost instant customer support given through the live chat and the knowledge of all of the techs is superb.

We are getting ready to integrate Quickbooks Desktop and it would be nice if UDA had their own accounting software within the program.

Daily records & plan view. Especially able to find dimension thru CAD.

RFI, I do not think this is a software problem, but getting people to respond.

All-in-one functionality. Super great customer service.

There are just a few minor features that we would be great. 1) Not counting QB credit card credit as cost. 2) Being able to see what costs came in from QB for each Construction Online category.

I enjoy the cross platform functionality. It's so great to be able to access our files from any location, either online or from our servers in the office. This makes a big difference as our team (and project list) continues to grow - we can allow viewing of select items/lists and we don't need to force anyone to use Mac or Windows to work within UDA. Far surpassing any software features, though, the fact that your IT staff is so prompt to respond and so helpful launches this software into one of my favorites I've ever worked with. All software has issues - it's how you respond and deal with those issues that differentiate you from the rest and I thank you for it. Now if you can just have some IT available until 5pm West Coast time (where I am) my dreams would really come true. Thank you to Katy and all the other fabulously helpful people I've interacted with!

A trifling issue, but since you asked - when I add documents from our computer to the Project Files for a job, it's pretty wonky and time consuming. If I drag an item to the file list, instead of showing it was added - the file list scrolls back to the top so I have to scroll back down to see if it was even added - which it usually wasn't. This happens each time. This means I've taken to adding each document twice to ensure it imports so I don't need to scroll down to check if it's there or not. It would be MUCH nicer if the file list stayed put while I added files so I could see where - and that they were added to the list. Sometimes UDA lets me add mutliple documents and adds a 1 or 2 after each multiple - and sometimes it warns me that it already has that doc in the file. If this warning could pop up every time, I wouldn't need to then re-scroll down to the files I just added and delete duplicates. Also - just like when I add files, when I delete a duplicate the file list automatically scrolls back up to the top so I have to manually go back down to where I was to delete the next duplicate.

I use this software on a daily basis and the organization it brings to my project tracking, and scheduling is unbelievable. From estimates to completion, the software makes it possible to keep track of it all. What great software!

About the software itself, I have no complaints. I have been using UDA Construction since 2004 and the software has a learning curve that needs a serious commitment and that is one of the reasons why I like the app so much because a lot of the data can be updated from the field. The learning curve was steep over the years but it has only skilled me in how one should think around construction projects which is also a benefit. The learning curve, however, for me has been slow for the simple reason that as my experience and projects grew the demand exponentially grew on the software itself, so my learning curve followed that trend.

Many features aid in the management of projects

There are several options or features that could help us but they are additional costs and we are already paying a lot for C.O. and we can't justify the additional cost.
Quickbooks integration is fair but causes some reporting issues that make job costing difficult.

The program is very robust and allows us to use parts that fit our businesses well. It is critical to stay in good communications with everyone on the project team, CO makes that easy!

In Scheduling, the ability to select multiple assigned people to a single task. The program will close down speratically from time to time.

Being able to keep all of our projects well organized helps my entire staff stay on track. Nothing is more important to us and our clients than staying on schedule and in budget

I am totally satisfied with CO, compared to other software it’s very easy to navigate and the customer service help is amazing

Constantly updating and evolving with more features. Easy to acclimate new users to features specifically used for their job duties. It is not an all or nothing software. We can limit users to features that will increase their productivity and not inundate nor confuse them with features that are not beneficial to their work flow.

Sometimes big time on web server don't know if it is due to # of users or or amount of information contained in our company files. Wish the web server could process the information faster when imputing data.