I don’t view it as controversy at all. It’s just that the guys that are using whatever software feel that what they are using is the best. As it should be, if you do not feel you are using the best ‘whatever’ then your client probably won’t either. Competition is a good thing, it should help to make all the products better.
I agree with Ian.
If your chosen software doesn’t excite you enough to be passionate about it, what kind of report are you producing, and what image of your company are you portraying to your clients? Everyone wants the best, but everyone has their own opinion as to what that is.
There’s about 20 different home inspection programs out there of which most inspectors use about 5. The guys are pretty loyal to the programs they use especially after spending time & money on them so it’s not easy to get them to switch. The word ‘team’ in your post is where you’re going to have a problem. There’s probably less than 20,000 inspectors in the US right now so you’re not looking at a huge market. Of those most have been using the same software for years. I’ve had many that have said they’d like to switch to ours but spent over $2,000 on other programs and just because of that they won’t switch.
Competition is great, it helps push innovation. Just make sure you check out your market size first and balance it with the size of your team. If you want a larger market, write something for the 3 million real estate agents out there
I want to see drag and drop for comments and pictures. I want to see reports integrated with videos. I want to add panoramic pictures. I want to be able to use split screen with my picture folder and my report software. I want to be able to switch templates halfway though a report without having to start over.
Drag and drop is easy if you open a PDF and select to drag over the text to the report comments,Video is useless to print,Why panoramic when you need the opposite ?,Split screen is easy anyway as I open my picture files or PDF and work side by side doing comments.Switching templates halfway through is not possible as you would lose any info in a section that does not appear in the second template.
In HIP you can alter your template by adding sections on the fly while in the middle of th report though.
I often add a bathroom as I work.
Got it Email me about the switching templates mid report. I’m curious to know how that’s possible and what exactly moves when you switch templates (just pictures or actual content).
I am one of those very small niche inspection companies. I will ONLY use handheld devices. For those of us who want to build a COMPANY and not a personal name single home inspection shop, we need the ability to integrate several aspects of the inspection into one report. This way we can have more than 1 inspector on the inspection and integrate the information together to complete one report. I know there are not too many multi inspection firms out there. But I think me and my guys have it down pat! We all have our assigned areas and go to them and finish at different times so the information can be inputted without people standing around. Know the other good aspect? The other guys do not know the entire process…meaning they cannot go on their own and start their own company and take all your secrets. Live and learn…
Email me about the switching templates mid report. I’m curious to know how that’s possible and what exactly moves when you switch templates (just pictures or actual content).
Live and learn…