Hire company software

[kalmatthew]

The other problem with the cloud is that a 3rd party action could cause a major outage or that your supplier chooses to cease doing business. MegaUpload, Lavabit and SilentCircle are all cloud services that were either taken down or unilaterally decided to stop doing business due to 3rd part actions. Microsoft Azure and AWS on which a large number of other cloud apps are hosted have both suffered from outages in the past that were uncontrollable by the companies hosted on them and would affect the end user. You should think carefully about putting all your business critical data in the cloud and also ensurting that you back up your data to somewhere outside the cloud.

[steve@soundbp.com]

I think for larger production and AV companies I can appreciate the risk or reliability concerns of cloud based solutions.

Where a cloud system wins is for small/medium companies..... ie the rental desk market. These companies may wish to save on the costs of the IT and maintaining that and also find the ability of remote working and being able collaborate with subcontractors valuable. Not to mention the huge upfront costs of purchasing a hire track etc.

 

Going back to topic - I have downloaded and tried out EasyJob 5. It looks really powerful but hugely complex at the same time. Do small/medium companies business need so much functionality EJ5 offers?

[smalljoshua]

I'm currently investigating this very problem myself. I've narrowed it down to Easyjob vs Insphire at the moment.

 

I know users of both and it's a case of sit with each one and see which will work best for me.

 

What do others think of Insphire? I hadn't heard of it until a year ago!

 

Josh

[Pete McCrea]

....... Do small/medium companies business need so much functionality EJ5 offers?

 

It's a tool for the a job. And if you're capturing data, then why not use it? I think if anything it can actually make it less complex, and help you understand your business better. The idea of handling over 1200 items through an excel spreadsheet or similar fills me we fear...

 

The thing with any decent database is that once you have the data you can then manipulate it easilly, so that can give the feeling of complexity. Once you have all the details of an item in (weights, costs etc) then you can manipulate that data. Thinking of purchasing another few channels of radio mic? Well Easyjob can tell you the number of jobs you've had over the last X Months, and also the number of proposed and confirmed jobs in the future, so how much income you have in the future. If you've put all the costs for subhires relative to the suppliers, then using the Subhire wizard, EJ can help you decide where to subhire it.

 

And it depends on what you define as a Small/Medium company means. A one man band might not need it. Get to two or three or more people, and having the data accessible by all means that you can take a week off, and a colleague can see and amend a quote for a client if necessary.

 

For us having the ability for several people to be working simultaneously is important, and the ability to track the users also helps too. I've spent the evening going through shortfalls for a 15 venue festival next week (sat on the sofa at home via remote desktop), as well as ensuring that there are no kit clashes for the corporate job that is out the day before. We can then schedule the vans, people and manage it all in one place - I know I need to sort a van for next Wednesday/Thursday, it tells me what I've budgeted, and suggest where to hire it, then issue the P.O, all relatively easily, and removing multiple systems. My account Manager can then come in, pick up the P.O.s, add them to the cash flow, pull out the new jobs and see the other costs and margin and again add this to the cashflow too, without needing for me to physically give her this data.

 

I don't think I could cope without EasyJob (or an equivalent system from one of the competitors), and value the ability to make decisions with the information in front of me.

 

Smalljoshua - if you do know users of each, then go and see how they run it, and which you feel more affinity with. We did look at insphire back in 2004, but chose Easyjob. Cost, ease of use and the fact it was written by guys in the industry (back then anyhow) were some of the reasons we went with it.

 

Sorry - I need to get out more....

[NeilW]

Do small/medium companies business need so much functionality EJ5 offers?

 

I have been running EJ4 in a medium size rental company for 4 years. Like Pete, I can't imagine managing the day to day requirements without it now.

 

In terms of cost, whilst Easyjob was more expensive than the entry level RentalDesk type offerings, it wasn't as expensive as Hiretrack for example. On first appearance, Easyjob can look complicated, but I have yet to try something that Easyjob has not been able to handle. Having tested Rentaldesk as a lower cost option, I felt that there was a pretty good chance that we were going to outgrow its capabilities quite quickly, and I only wanted to implement a rental software solution once.

 

The other thing to consider is you don't have to use all of the functionality of the software from the outset. For example, we began by inputting all of the equipment stock and used it as a scheduling tool, but still using our previous spreadsheets for quoting, until such time as we felt confident with the prices that Easyjob was producing. Even now, we still haven't implemented invoicing or purchase orders from Easyjob, but it is now handling all of the process from customer enquiry, through quotations, prep sheets, check in / check out, delivery notes and maintenance. We barcoded everything from day 1, but have only really started scanning every job within the last 6 months.

 

Like every piece of software, it does have its quirks (occasionally you get error messages or menu options in German!), but for me it is still one of the leading contenders. There is also a Small Business option (780 euros) which allows for 1 Owner and 1 Warehouse Technician users with a few other limitations but would have a lot of the functionality that a small business would need.

 

Cheers,

Neil

[Pete McCrea]

Still to be convinced on Cloud hosting for RMS. But that's just me, and possibly our experiences with poor broadband supply.

[madorangepanda]

We have been one of the secret beta testers of the MyHireHop system, it is better than the rumours. It's like all the best bits from all the other hire software and loads more.

Apparently it's now ok for me to talk about it. Showed it to a few HireTrack, MCS and Currents users today, they were blown away. It is stupidly fast (and amazingly it's cloud based) and has features that make using it a pleasure. You also don't need training to use it as it is so intuitive and just obvious.

Our login page changed today to a holding page due to the leaks, but some basic information at MyHireHop.com

 

You've been one of the secret beta testers?

 

That's odd, as one of the directors of Hirehop Ltd I thought you'd be more than just a beta tester.....

[david.elsbury]

I wouldn't pay too much attention to Mr Levene. He has a habit of popping up here recommending a company for something or other, handily 'forgetting' to mention that it's actually his company... pretty deceptive in my opinion.

 

Here on the Blue Room it's long been the consensus that, provided your company genuinely solves the need or problems presented in the thread, it's ok to post and say "we at xyz sound can help with that", as long as you don't do it too often of course. But being sneaky is frowned upon.

 

David

[steve@soundbp.com]

Last week Current RMS was launched - https://www.current-rms.com/

I WAS a tester for Current in its development and still help them but I will also say I am in no way connected to the company or take any financial gain! I am just a cloud computer geek who also runs an AV company....! :-)

 

Anyway with that out the way - I would highly recommend Currents new cloud system. Its has a modern feel to it, very intuitive to use. Whats more it is part of the well established Inspire Hire software group so there is plenty of support, backup and development with this product.

 

Give it a go today!

[smalljoshua]

I have also been a Beta Tester (with no link to the company) and we now use the software successfully in a production office environment. Our Warehouse Tech's log onto the system and see what's due out, prep, test and scan the items and print collection notes.

 

There's a lot of power in the system, expecially the reports which are all HTML with some psuedo code for the dynamic elements which is very good!

 

Their support has been great and I'd also recommend it.

 

Josh

[scjb]

Just interested to know, how many companies are now using Current RMS? Anyone got any experience using it day-to-day on a medium-large hire concern?

[ghance]

just started importing Easyjob 4 data into Current to see how it compares. I like idea of cloud based applications. Keen to see how it works in practice. Too early to make any conclusions but will keep posting

[steve@soundbp.com]

I am fully up and running with Current and really impressed with its functionality, performance and flexibility.

It is still in its early stages and has a huge host of (free) updates on its way. Major updates due include - Integrations with accounts software, crew, transport and purchasing modules.

 

Performance wise it has been flawless and quick. Even when using in Costa coffee!

[Pete McCrea]

Though from the demo I saw at Showmans show, it can't calculate the profitability from a job, as they have no way of linking project income to outgoings...

[Lisa Kenward]

Morning.

 

My name is Lisa Kenward, I work for Current RMS, I believe we met at The Showman's Show.

 

The costing functionality you are after is coming as part of the purchasing module we are developing. As Steve mentioned above, we are investing a lot of time into developing at the moment and look forward to releasing new modules such as purchasing and crewing in the near future. We launched Current RMS on the 1st of September with the feature set we felt was necessary at this stage, however we are continuously working hard, creating new features and functionality for this market, working closely with our customers to ensure we are on the right path.

 

There are 150 businesses using Current RMS today.

 

If you have any further questions, please feel free to email me on: hello@current-rms.com

 

Though from the demo I saw at Showmans show, it can't calculate the profitability from a job, as they have no way of linking project income to outgoings...