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It looks so useful
May 05, 2019

It looks so useful

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Viewpoint Spectrum

Spectrum is used throughout the organization. We manage project costs and receipts, profitability/losses, vendors, equipment, payroll/HR, and overall financials.
  • Managing supply logistics is fairly effective in Spectrum, with every purchase on a PO or subcontract (budgeting) tracking back to the job budget/phase.
  • Invoicing is relatively simple once one learns all the required steps.
  • Producing income reports for sales taxes is simple.
  • Spectrum "help" screens are ridiculously difficult to navigate.
  • Some of the processes require counter-intuitive steps and it's hard to find the right steps using "help."
  • A book would be so helpful, something that could be marked up and kept by the desk. I've created on by printing off help screens (because when you find the right one, you'd better keep it); but the result is a 4" binder filled with screen prints and step-by-step instructions created internally.
  • We like having records and information archived. Being able to upload documents (equipment titles and registrations, employee certifications, etc.) is useful.
  • We like the workflow in invoice approval, which provides a clear approval trail and allows for multiple approval levels.
  • Spectrum is exceedingly difficult to learn and requires keeping extensive notes, especially for functions we don't use often.
Spectrum has the potential to be a truly useful tool in our organization. I'm not convinced that we're using it to its full potential. However, we lack access to appropriate training, basically teaching each other in a monkey see-monkey do fashion, has slowed us down. We need a handbook rather than having to wade through endless help screens. I'm sure we don't even know all that Spectrum can do.
Spectrum works well for managing project costs and equipment records. It's less useful to us in the field as we are often in remote areas with limited or very slow internet access. We think (but aren't sure) that there are apps that could be useful—the timecard app, for example. However, we don't see a way to integrate per diem into the field time records, both of which are needed to produce payroll and certified payrolls. A purchase order app would be truly useful, but there appears to be nothing in the works in that regard. We wind up with a whole lot of paper records that are then re-entered into Spectrum.