Contractors’ Favorite Affordable Software

Dominating discussion at the Associated General Contractors’ 2017 IT Forum was construction firms’ digital leaders talking about valuable, low-cost software and other information-technology solutions.

The event included an open-mic format for the construction IT professionals in attendance to share their most effective, inexpensive solutions. The format didn’t identify those who shared their experience, but focused attendees’ attention on hardware and software that construction companies use and consider cost-effective ways to improving operations.

Here are some of the ideas AGC contractors are using:

Flowfinity

Flowfinity allows users to simply build custom mobileFlowfinity actually builds a database as the user is building a custom form or checklist, compiling questions and answers for the form with a simple form editor that bypasses code.Flowfinity forms, with a code-free form editor, that can be used to gather data on unique processes. The idea is to replace spreadsheets with digital data you can integrate with other software.

“It’s an application that actually allows non-IT people to create forms,” said the contractor who shared with the IT Forum his company’s Flowfinity experience. “The software actually builds the database as the user is compiling the questions and answers for the form. You can integrate signatures and photos into the form.

“It also works off-line – really well for us. When they come back online, the data comes back to the cloud in that SQL database and we can use it however we want to.”

[VIDEO] Flowfinity demonstration

Zapier

Want to automatically move data collected from mobile apps into your Zapier allows you to create connections between apps. For example, non-IT professionals can simply create a Zap that automatically emails a report to stakeholders when somebody in the field completes an online time card.Zapiercompany’s other applications? Zapier is an online utility that allows you to create connections between apps. For example, you can simply create a Zap that automatically emails a report to stakeholders when somebody in the field completes an online time card.

“There’s an if-this-then-that program out there called Zapier. So if our forms aren’t doing everything we want, we use Zapier,” the contractor who suggested Zapier said. “It’s more of an overlay, but there’s a million applications that Zapier talks to – Azure cloud, AWS, on-premise SQL databases. So if these online forms capabilities are ever lacking, Zapier can be that bridge to the next step in reporting and data potential.

“There’s an awful lot of workflow automation you can do. We’ll actually take a lot of our forms and surveys, bring the results in through Zapier and then run it back to a SQL database that then we can connect to a [Microsoft] Power VI dashboard and graph actual results. Because a lot of these online form programs are awesome, but some of their reporting lacks. This allows us to customize that.”

[VIDEO] Zapier demonstration

iAuditor

SafetyCulture’s iAuditor application doesn’t just allow you to digitize your safety and quality inspection forms, it also helps manage audits with scheduling features, then generates automated reports. And it allows you to immediately communicate safety risks with your team.

“For safety audits we use Safety Culture’s iAuditor, which is about $10 per month. You can use iAuditor for free and just get a PDF of a safety form, but if you don’t buy a license, you can’t upload your data to the cloud,” said a construction IT pro attending the AGC IT Forum. “We licensed Safety Culture so we can have our safety data go into the SQL database and then our safety team can run reports and access the data.

“We do our form creation with it – in fact, we’ve really gone down the rabbit hole with it. We do daily reporting with it. It allows markups. It takes pictures. But you don’t get a lot out of it without the license.”

iAuditor allows you to build digital versions of your frequently used paper checklists. You can attach annotated images and add approval signatures. Drag-and-drop templates can be easily shared with team members to help standardize audit processes.

[VIDEO] iAuditor -  Conducting an Audit

Knowbe4

Statistically, 20% of employees will click on phishing links in a hacker’s email designed to gain access to company networks. KnowB4 exists to assess your company’s vulnerability to attack and train your employees to recognize and repel them.

A construction IT pro who has a contract with the security service recommended Forum attendees consider using KnowB4, calling it “pretty affordable.”

“KnowBe4 has complete online training for our staff, with multiple modules. They do phishing testing for us as well. And we have not had a security failure since we rolled out the initial program.

Two KnowB4 users in the room offered a warning about working with the service. One summed up the situation: “You might want to get your HR department involved in the program because some of the phishing emails they send are very realistic. And as you know, spammers and phishers don’t play – there are no boundaries. They’re going to send out emails saying ‘your spouse has uploaded pictures to Ashley Madison,’ which is actually one of the templates KnowB4 uses. It was sent to one of our employees, and caused a bit of a ruckus. So we reformed that process to include getting any potential templates approved through HR.

“But also, big thumbs up. It is a great solution.”

The second KnowB4 user admitted that 30% of his company’s employees fell for KnowB4’s initial phish test. He spoke highly of a simple app KnowB4 offers.

“You can add a button in Outlook that makes people feel good about stepping up to say ‘Hey, I think this is phishing.’ Click the button and it goes to whoever you want.”

[VIDEO] What KnowB4 Does