Responsive (formerly RFPIO), headquartered in Beaverton, offers their proposal management and automation software, featuring import and export, proposal knowledgebase and answer library, evaluation intake forms, and project management tools (e.g. Gantt chart) associated to proposal tracking.
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VisibleThread VT Docs
Score 10.0 out of 10
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VT Docs is RFP Software for Government Contracting. It supports small businesses to mid-market and large enterprises. VisibleThread's flagship RFP solution, VT Docs, is leveraged across key sectors, including Defense & Space, IT Services, Healthcare, and Engineering & Construction.
1. RFPIO is perfect for searching for specific information when you are responding to an RFP. Search engine is powerful. We narrow our search using several customized filters and know we are getting a thorough search. 2. Excel responses work very well in RFPIO. 3. Typical RFPs that are formatted in Word are challenging to run via RFPIO. We struggle with this. 4. We have yet to master the template.
VT is fabulous to proposal writing as it created for that. It can also be used for ANY type of persuasive or technical writing. If you can write it, VT can help to make the writing better. BUT!!! if you are writing news articles or descriptive writing, this is NOT the software for you. VT works to eliminate fluff, ambiguous words, exaggerations, run-on sentences, improper grammar, misspelled words, sentence fragments, etc. VT also works to eliminate passive writing. As with any software, use it for what it was created - and find something else for the rest.
Acronym finder - the best acronym finder I have used! This creates an Excel spreadsheet with the acronyms and their definitions in an alphabetically sorted worksheet ... AND this worksheet includes actual sentences from the document showing how and where the acronym was used.
Compare documents - WOW! what a wonderful update! You get an Excel worksheet with the 2 compared documents side-by-side showing differences in red and statements with no changes in blue.
Starter compliance matrix (SCM) - again, one of the best SCM-creators I have used. This choice is quick, concise, and the resulting Excel worksheet is easy to manipulate and change.
Reporting and Analytics is basic, you can purchase advanced analytics though
It would have been nice to have a set structure in mind or a example/case study to structure our responses in the most appropriate way, but we are working through that with their stellar support team
Dictionaries - I would like to see more "canned" dictionaries. We create our own, but I know that VT has more that they can supply, giving us more quick turnaround changes (versus always having to start from scratch).
UI is friendly. Basically that alone is enough to renew because it is easy to use and gives accurate and fast results. The effective cross collaboration from other colleagues in my organization also makes for this tool to be extremely effective. Now that I understand how to use it, I can also easily train others on how to use it effectively.
The team at RFPIO is extremely responsive. If I email our account manager or report a bug, I usually hear back within two hours. Additionally, they are quick to make software adjustments based on customer requests and needs. We had a really complicated Excel sheet that their team ended up having to upload for me because of the amount of manual work I was doing. Based on that, they updated the software within two release cycles to make the process more automated, so that future Excel uploads would be more streamlined. I have also had several suggestions implemented rather quickly, and they don't hesitate to reach out for clarification when needed.
RFPIO has outstanding, responsive, helpful customer support located in the US in Oregon. Support techs go the extra mile to help with basic issues and functionality training. Same-day support response and problem resolution are the norms. The system is also very user-friendly and very easy to navigate. Their Answer library is simple and far less complex than Qvidian/Inland. Little to no learning curve.
We reviewed many other products but found all of them did not have the extent of tasks that VT had. These searches were over 5 years ago and many of the products reviewed are no longer available. In addition, some software still in existence have merit, just not to the extent we need. I do not want to give anyone a bad rating just because we did not choose them. Again, choose the right software for the right job!
I don't have access to the actual ROI data, but we would continue to invest in RFPIO as a company only if it were providing us with the results to win RFPs.
RFPIO makes the task of filling out RFP responses much faster for me.
RFPIO helps our team be able to divide out RFP chores easily, because we know we all have access to the same high-quality source for information.
We reduced proposal writing time and output. By reducing time, we gained time for work in other areas of proposal handling. I used to need 3-5 DAYS to create an acronym list. Now, with VT, I do the same work in 1-2 hours!
VT is for proposal WRITING and not for proposal HANDLING. Our proposal managers and coordinators do the handling part.
