NoteVault vs. Unanet CRM by Cosential

It's is absolutely well suited for all daily reporting/documentation needs, also since it essentially 'self archives' you can revisit past projects by logging into the admin panel faster than going to my own archived job files. It saved our skin by documenting where a bad GC Superintendent had been giving false information to the office, and we were able to prove our conditions/progress and alleviate the issue. It's very well suited for large projects, and ongoing projects. A bit less suited for small fast service type projects. We keep one 'service' job open to document the fast turn over stuff to alleviate that issue.

Great for medium and large construction companies that have a specific salesforce.

Incentivized

• As a delay has occurred in the field, the foremen are able to report it immediately. The project manager now gets this information as it happened, not just trying to remember the next time they talk or see each other.
• As an RFI arises, the foremen can ask their questions immediately so that the PM can address it right away.
• We input our manpower on a daily basis, which helps us project where we are as it pertains to hours on a job.

• Inputting of companies and leads who may become prospects.
• Creating specific opportunities for construction projects.
• Tracking opportunities through the entire sales cycle.
• Inputting detailed notes and activity by the Sales team.

Incentivized

• Difficult to bring back reports from the archives. I don't archive any more; I just sequentially date my projects and keep them all live.
• Notevault is set up for normal work shifts. But I mostly work night shifts from about 10 pm to 6 am. You then have to sort and filter the notes from two separate "days" in the system to get a coherent report from a single night shift. I live with it, but I don't like it.

Incentivized

• The open software is somewhat difficult to master as an administrator.
• Report writing could be more intuitive.
• The company seems to cater to larger users.

Incentivized

It flat works and has paid for itself quickly.

Simple use of functions. Majority of people can become familiar with this product fairly quick

Incentivized

Cosential is very intuitive for the AEC industry and has the ability to be customized for your specific needs. The reports are especially helpful, with good visual dashboards.

Incentivized

My original trainer / implementation specialist was fantastic. That relationship has continued, even though I have been officially handed off to the customer service side. The customer service side seems to have higher turnover than normal, but in general they are also very supportive, although not as responsive as I might like.

Incentivized

I have used both Raken and NoteVault. It is my preference to use NoteVault due to the simplicity of it. Raken tended to be a bit cumbersome. I did not like the photo features used with Raken as opposed to the very simple straight forward approach with NoteVault

Incentivized

Cosential is specific to the A/E industry and is the most intuitive software we found for construction.

Incentivized

• Daily reports get published the following day after downloaded to NoteVault.
• From an executive standpoint, I am able to track the progress of each project on a daily basis and to be able to focus my efforts to the project that needs help.

• Allowed for common tracking by business developers in different regions.
• Helped us quantify effort.
• Provides great reports for management.

Incentivized