InEight offers construction project management software solutions. InEight solutions focus on project cost management, field execution, project administration, and document management and control. It is intended to integrate with other construction software for real-time information and insights.
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SmartBid
Score 8.3 out of 10
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SmartBid is a construction bid management software for general contractors. SmartBid provides a web-based and mobile platform to streamline their bid project data, documents, and subcontractor communications. It also supports user permissions control for data security.
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Pricing
InEight
SmartBid
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
InEight
SmartBid
Free Trial
No
No
Free/Freemium Version
No
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
Yes
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
No setup fee
Additional Details
InEight offers several enterprise-level solutions. The pricing for these solutions can vary depending on the specific products, the number of users and the length of the subscription.
InEight offer a range of pricing plans and options, including customized pricing to meet the needs of customers with specific requirements.
To get specific pricing information for InEight solutions, contact a sales team member directly at sales@ineight.com.
As a cloud-based solution, our clients can scale their access annually depending on the number of users. Subcontractors invited to bid or prequalify in the system receive access at no cost.
Ineight helps save us a huge amount of time in preparing the large number of bids we have to do. It is fast and has many desirable features which make it accurate and reliable. The company has made a lot of changes over the years and most are for the good of the software and are welcome. Some of the changes, however, do not make sense and are actually detrimental to the smooth functioning of the program. When asked why these changes were made I have not been able to get a satisfactory answer. We wish that the company would listen more to the suggestions of clients.
SmartBid is also very useful for conducting sub-contracting analysis and management simulations in the didactic field. The procedures for sharing documents are helpful, but the graphic can be improved. Many forms can be pre-filled. This helps a lot in saving time and money! SmartBid is great for exporting and/or sending single or mass emails. However, as mentioned, it would be useful to simplify some pre-construction processes and improve the overall communication
User defined views and descriptions for all screens.
Customizable ribbons to provide an efficient use of the software.
Multiple layers/dependents to allow for an extreme drill down of the work and the ability to roll up to a more useful level for upper management review.
You can bid the work as you would build it, in detail.
It's very easy to set up a job and manage who receives solicitations. You can also keep detailed notes on who've you contacted and see if they're actually downloading and reviewing the documents.
You can add a confidentiality agreement clause which they must accept before accessing the documents. It then stores this information if it ever needs to be accessed. This is much cleaner and easier then sending out a NDA form and having the subcontractor return it before actually sending drawings/docs.
You can send Invitations to Bid and set it up to continue sending these ITB's until the subcontractor responds. However, this can also be a negative point because once you set up a delayed ITB, it doesn't update as the subcontractors view and respond to the ITB's. So if a sub is "Not Responded" and you set up a delayed ITB to fire off every day for 5 days, and the sub responds after day 2, that sub will continue to receive ITB's for all 5 days.
Uploading drawings is quick and easy. It's especially convenient if you link to one of your cloud services such as Egnyte, Google Drive, etc.
The search tools are quick and easy and often very accessible from any page.
The import/export buttons are exactly the opposite of what you would expect. not intuitive and the logos for these should be swapped.
The software is hard to train users upon. New users require 3-6 months of use before getting proficient. I think this is because many of the best features are buried in menus, three clicks deep.
The claiming exports immediately default partial claim items to the user who claimed previously. You need to update your name every time you update a partial claim line item.
There are many add-ins that should just be included with InEight Standard, instead of having to install extras to make the software usable.
Some features with InEight's TeamBinder are worthy of single use, however the review feature and subsequent revision and version numbering could be improved. We will be aiming to roll out the package to encompass our internal documentation in the near future and will be in a better position to judge the usability after that point in time.
I would give it an 8 out of 10 because the software can be a bit cumbersome to new users. It also takes a long time to set up the library and input all of your companies needs so that the software will provide the level of service required to estimate projects. However, once the software is set up it is a powerful tool. We only use a portion of what the software is capable of delivering
InEight have the ServiceNow ticketing system, which should improve the transparency of outstanding issues. However there is an inconsistency in advice within the help desk support staff (Kevin is excellent) and depending on who is handling the issue often our staff need to follow up with the help desk.
SmartBid has an excellent support team that is always at your service. Any problem I've had (when I've even had them) has been resolved almost immediately, along with tips on how to avoid them in the future. If you're looking for a program with excellent customer service, look no further than SmartBid.
Since the original inception, I have been required to overhaul the system so that it is more user friendly and combines both aspects of our business, documentation and drawings. Being able to control revision and version numbering has been a key struggle that only staff training has been able to mark this as complete.
SmartBid is used by more of the contractors that we happen to do lots of work with. It has basically the same features. However, SmartBid will let subcontractors view all the jobs a general contractor is bidding, even ones we were never invited to. So it has the potential to bring more opportunities.
