ServiceChannel provides facilities managers with a single platform to source, procure, manage, and pay for repair and maintenance services from commercial contractors across their enterprise. The company aims to deliver transparency and data-driven analytics of service quality, across all trades, locations, and contractors, allowing facilities managers drive significant brand equity and ROI for their organizations without outsourcing or investing in new infrastructure. …
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UpKeep Maintenance Management
Score 7.0 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
UpKeep allows users to snap a picture of a broken piece of equipment, create a work order, and schedule it for repair - all from a mobile device. UpKeep is designed for facility, property, restaurant, and manufacturing managers looking to improve communication by enabling real-time status updates for their teams. The vendor says it is a modern, intuitive, and customizable CMMS that is proven to expedite workflow processes. Capabilities include: -Add co-workers and easily assign work…
ServiceChannel is well suited for companies that have multiple locations or a few very large buildings. In my experience the system allows one person to manage 150 to 200 small retail locations but when you add restaurants and buildings with lots of equipment then it gets more complex and the number of locations that one person can effectively manage is greatly reduced. You can effectively manager 50 or 30,000+ locations with this system if you have the personal. There are several free or cost-effective programs available if you are only looking to manage a dozen or so locations.
For companies that have larger facilities or multiple properties - this software is superb. You can track every maintenance plan - daily/weekly/monthly/annually - so nothing ever goes undone. I'm talking daily cleaning to refreshing the paint in the parking lot each year - you can easily schedule all of this maintenance within the app. Asset tracking - everything from machinery to tools to doors - you can tag and track all. Break/fix over time is huge - you can use the reporting function to see how many times something has broken over time - so now you can assess if it's more cost effective to replace rather than repair.
ServiceChannel listens to me the user more than any other product I have ever been involved with. It seems like every few months there are some upgrades and improvements to an already great system.
They have some great folks employed who are very accessible and very knowledgeable in this system, they are eager to help out and jump in, and they are never trying to up-sell me during these times.
I believe they have some of the best practices around for helping out new vendors, who have never been exposed to any CMMS system, they help to ease the fear that contractors/vendors have from the onboarding process thru system training.
Sometimes the functionality of the software is slow.
Example...I insert a WO# into the home search box and it comes up with "nothing found". I return to the home screen and repeat the exact same process and it takes me to my WO. This happens at least 50% of the time.
They just finished up with a system upgrade (I think), and during the 3 week period I could not pull mass approved invoices for my AP department. That was a real hindrance.
I am not particularly fond of the new dashboard format. It's not as easy to move around in. However it's new and I'm sure I will get used to it quick enough.
Periodic maintenance needs are still a little tricky keeping in the system without flooding the user with too many work orders.
It does not immediately update all the time. For example, closing out work orders and the number of total work orders stays the same until it’s rebooted.
I think the platform is user-friendly but there have been some issues that colleagues have been complaining about. For example, the program tends to run slow from time to time. Reporting could be better. We could use more fields for categories under parts and assets.
I cannot say enough great things about their customer service. From the start of the purchase, Upkeep was extremely helpful and informative. They have been ongoingly keeping us informed and available to answer any of our questions as they arise. They ongoing learning portal is also helpful when new features and changes happen with the interface.
It is very easy to set up ServiceChannel but the one thing I believe they could make easier is the vendor portion of ServiceChannel. We get a lot of complaints on how difficult it is for them when trying to get set up.
Service Channel bridged the gap for us to issue work orders directly to vendors. Maximo Asset Management did not have a user-friendly way for us to do what Service Channel does on the vendor side. Also, at the time of our selection, Maximo was missing the site portal but has since developed a solution of their own.
Previously had MEX, though had not implemented it throughout the business. It was way too difficult for the techs to use on the fly and was just a nightmare to implement. UpKeep, on the other hand, is a walk in the park.
It increased visibility on how much we were spending on HVAC repairs/replacements and allowed us to make changes to reduce costs
Before we were using paper invoices from the vendors, which creates a scenario of losing/missing invoices into AP. Then we start using the Service Channel invoicing and reduce errors to below 1%.
Gives you the capability to add trades and adjust to your needs, so you can get better tracking of specific items.
Compared to other task managers, the user cost for Upkeep is very high. But to the degree the staff are willing to work with you, it is completely justified.
The concern with an organization my size are items slipping through the cracks whether that is internally or by our renter base. Upkeep minimizes this to a great degree.
You need to get everyone within your organization to buy into upkeep. It can only be as good to the degree that it is utilized.
