What Viewpoint offers is a cloud solution for organizing information between different departments within your organization and a way to streamline repetitive processes that you find yourself doing over and over again. The solution is an enterprise resource operation and managing tool, but now in the cloud, so you can have access to it 24/7.
The Portland-based company offers six solutions Vista, ProContractor, Viewpoint for Fieldview, Viewpoint for projects, Viewpoint for estimating, and Viewpoint Team. In this Viewpoint review, we will give an overview of each product so you can see how they work together and which might be worth checking out further.
Review of Viewpoint Products
Vista by Viewpoint
Vista by Viewpoint is the center solution that specifically enables different types of businesses to manage their areas of finance and operations. Accounts payable, accounts receivable, general ledger, payroll, and cash management is all here. What I find to be incredibly useful is that their cash management system allows instant updates and posts to the general ledger. Instead of clicking a bunch of windows and moving between software, you can have it all in one place.
If you work in the project management department, what you get are solutions for job costs, pre-construction, subcontract management, and purchasing. For reporting, you get income statements, balance sheets, trial balance, and a cash flow statement. If you are a service or large operation, they have different packages for you.
If you are a service business, you get order tracking, management of maintenance agreements, inventory management, and dispatch board for managing your techs and a billing /pricing /productivity /profitability analysis. If you are a large operation, you are given additional equipment management, inventory and parts management, and materials sales.
Along with those other packs, you can get extra options such as Power Admin, Equipment, and Work Orders. Specifically, Power Admin is an attractive option allowing you to have more control. For example, you are given user-defined fields, custom tables, and configurable workflow. Viewpoint seems to be extremely aware of the uniqueness of each business and offer solutions for all types of business for all your particular needs. Furthermore, you have the option of having it on the cloud or on-premise deployment.
ProContractor
Now if you are a big-time contractor, you should consider ProContractor by Viewpoint. This one is similar to Vista but completely streamlined to be elegant for contractors specifically. You are given solutions for secure estimating, profitable project management, maximum mobility, accurate accounting, and is also on the cloud. For speed and efficiency, ProContractor allows an entire project lifecycle to start from bid to project completion all in one place and can be taken with you anywhere. By reducing standard paper and pen; all documents can be tracked in a single location accurately and instantaneously.
What is great is that their project management system gives you a place to centralize all your documents and data. So instead of asking for it in person, everyone on your team can just pull it on their own; off the cloud. And why is the cloud so important? Well, the cloud allows your team to be mobile. You are no longer tied down to certain computers. Access what you what, whenever you want.
Viewpoint Field View
Perhaps you spend most of your time out on the field and not in the office. Then Field View by Viewpoint is certainly the solution that can save you time. Here’s what we know we can do: increase visibility during project delivery, automate quality assurance and control, create a safer environment, and further streamline commissions and closeout.
Increasing visibility during your project is essential to make sure everyone is on the same page as you are. And to do this, your logs need to be easy to understand and read. Field View puts not only your daily and mobilization records out in understandable terms, but also site inspections, worksheets, progress reports, material receipts, pour logs and quantity captures, and punch lists.
If you are a quality manager, you can have your rules, procedures, and policies on the cloud to view anytime. You can even outline your inspection tests. The reason why quality assurance is so important is that we want to be delivering on what we promise. But another reason is safety. Having your incident reports, safety checklists, and site orientation/onboarding in a centralized location can create a hassle-free way to keep safety a high priority.
Have comfort in knowing that your certifications and permits can be pulled at any time you need it. Now at project closeout, when you are running those last logs and inspections, Field View prevents you from forgetting anything. Have your final walkthroughs, asset testing/identification, and the final acceptance to reassure you.
Viewpoint for Projects
Besides progress in the field, your documents are what solidify your efficiency in your workflow. It is where the Viewpoint for Projects comes into play. What this solution entails is the control for all your documents such as drawings, submittals, contracts, photos, and models. Glide through your collaborations with ease as their web-based software can give you the consistency in your standards and transparency that you want.
Reduce risks and improve your project delivery by having your team’s revisions tracked with tasks and notifications to keep you on track. Not only do they offer a centralized location for your documents, but communicating with collaborators became easier. They have integrated an email and contact management system into the software. Never do you have to change software again when you want to send an email about the plans you have received.
Viewpoint for Estimating
I believe one of the most prolonged tasks out there is estimating. Many different situations occur and consume our time with the evaluation. But if you feel this is a problem you encounter quite often, Viewpoint for Estimating claims it has the solution. You can have all those ‘what-if’ scenarios quickly negotiated.
Furthermore, you can have all the variables you consider and easy to share such as workers’ skills, time of employment and conditions. Estimations should not be a hassle for you or the client. Viewpoint for estimating can expedite the process and bring confidence to both parties.
Viewpoint for Teams
The last solution they offer is Viewpoint for Teams. Project management has never been an easy task, considering you need to have a holistic view of the project at all times. Viewpoint for Teams gives you this by connecting your back office with the field operations. What this means is that your subcontractors, suppliers, architects, etc. will all be able to be in contact with each other.
Viewpoint Review
As you can see, Viewpoint has many tools and customization is the name of the game. The viewpoint can do a lot and have built their products so they can be assembled to give you exactly what you need. We discovered in this Viewpoint review that it’s not likely you will need all of these tools, but there is enough here you can get a system that seems custom-built for you with paying for custom software.
It’s all about workflow management, and Viewpoint makes those workflows are unique to the company. Workflow management is the key to becoming efficient by improving organization and communication. What comes with efficiency is quicker turnaround times and quality assurance. Now that you have an overview of Viewpoint offers, the best way to see how they may be able to help you with your workflow management is to ask a sales representative to help find solution best for your needs.
