Item: Viewpoint Spectrum
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Viewpoint Spectrum

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Spectrum is used across our whole organization from the corporate level to the field level. The integration and ease of reporting have made it easier to connect the office to the field. We find Spectrum user-friendly and with the ability to login through the website, connectivity issues are very rare. Spectrum houses all of our accounting records where we can generate reports on the fly to see at a glance where we are at on any job and dive into deeper levels to get all the information. The dashboard is a great asset for corporate leaders to get a snapshot quickly and easily.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Dashboards make navigating to the crucial information quick and easy.
The layout with what we affectionately call the job info bar helps our project teams to quickly get where they need to go in the system.
Crystal reports are easily managed and integrated with Spectrum, giving us great flexibility in custom reports.
With a little training, and I mean a little, Spectrum is user friendly. Easy to create favorites/shortcuts for ease of use.

Cons

The project management module could use some work. The reports and forms for this area are not easy to modify.
Calculator ability within the invoicing or draw request screen instead of having to use calculator outside of the system.
Draw request - the ability to change what is shown in the remarks field on the billing history detail screen.

Return on Investment

Spectrum has had an overall positive impact as we have been able to streamline and condense many of our processes.
We are currently evaluating adding TEAM and are struggling with figuring out the ROI. And with all software, the price seems to be going up on everything.
As construction embraces technology, we need to be careful and considerate of the investments we make; evaluation of the software to make sure it is a good fit is very important.

Alternatives Considered

I have previously used Sage Masterbuilder, another construction industry software. This has been a number of years ago. The company I am working for already had Spectrum and have been using it for as long as it has been around when it was known as Forefront. Based on conversations I've had with the personnel that were here at the time of purchase, Spectrum clicked off all the boxes they were looking for.

Other Software Used

Microsoft Office 2016, Microsoft Project, Quick Base, Bluebeam Revu

Likelihood to Recommend

Spectrum is well suited for general contractors and any organization that needs a robust accounting system with the added features like equipment management, employee kiosk, work orders, purchase orders, etc. Other than the project management module, Spectrum addresses all the needs of a construction company. With their new software, TEAM, this address project management and can be added to the Spectrum suite. Spectrum is most likely too robust of a system for a smaller contractor or subcontractor. I would think best used by medium to large size companies. The nice part about Spectrum is you can pick and choose which modules work for your company.

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