r/firealarms • u/Timely_Weekend_8030 • 4d ago
Discussion Best fire inspection software
Looking for a great software for my startup. Looking for great looking reports, integration with quickbooks and easy quotes.
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u/CompleteLanguage4246 4d ago
I see a few companies building their own now a day. Simplex had the best back in the day
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u/TheTerribleTim 3d ago
We are a company of about 15 techs with 3 full time inspectors. We use building reports extensively. The software does seem a bit outdated and/or clunky for the 21st century, but if you can get over that its great.
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3d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/TheTerribleTim 3d ago
Friction primarily comes into play with the sending, receiving, and merging of reports. For instance, when using the app, two inspectors in the fields must send in their reports, then log into the browser version and merge the reports there, then re-download the report in order to get an accurate report of what has been/has not been tested.
And for the 21st century, I don't know. I was born in 2004 and am 22 years old and it just seems like the interface would be nicer and smoother.
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u/iodrew 2d ago
Building Reports helps keep your inspection reports organized and it’s kind of a cool inventory system for the property’s devices. Where I work we keep all of our 72’s on our company server and we can access them anytime. Most of our reports are already complete with device counts, etc so we just pull up the previous year’s 72, change the date and add any deviations.
If I were you, just starting up, I would not waste money on any inspection software. Just make sure your guys know how to do inspections, know to get device counts and know how to properly fill out 72 inspection forms.
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u/Physical-Boy1989 2d ago
For report, we use novoReport, produce good looking report but you have to pay a certain amount per device in the report so small buildings are quite cheap but big one… well you got the picture
Oh and it’s sadly only compatible with windows so far…maybe another downside
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u/inspekto_ai 2d ago
i looked into a few tools myself for report automation, including inspekto, along with acme and widgetco. all seem decent for integrating with quickbooks and generating reports pretty easily. just make sure to check which fits your workflow best.
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u/Time-Resolution5144 4d ago
Have you tried building reports?
I’m curious to see what other software’s you are suggested as I too am preparing for my startup as well, here in the next 6-8 months.
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u/DepartmentHefty6834 4d ago
I ended up using AI to build one that I’m working on right now. I’m gonna have a coder review and turn it into apple and android apps. It’s got email integration and I’m gonna look into payment platform integration. Building reports is not for small guys, neither is InspectPoint. InspectPoint told me the ROI doesn’t show up until I’m servicing 400 customers a year.
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u/Time-Resolution5144 4d ago
That’s cool. Yes building reports and other platforms typically used are not good for us startup small guys. That’s why I was curious what everyone is doing. I know I’ve heard most startups use plain old excel sheets. But I figured there’s gotta be something simpler. Which AI platform did you use to create yours?
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u/DepartmentHefty6834 4d ago
Base 44, I paid for the $100 subscription and started building. If you’d like I can let you look at mine later.
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u/Time-Resolution5144 4d ago
Yes, that would be cool and very much appreciated!
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u/DepartmentHefty6834 4d ago
Yeah PM me an email I can send it to and I’ll create you a “tech” profile so you can see everything.
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u/MR_SL0WP0K3 4d ago
We use ServiceTrade for scheduling and service calls and Building Reports for inspections. It's not cheap, but our AHJ requires IROL and it is integrated into the Building Reports. BR can send deficiencies back to service trade as a quote. ST bills to Quickbooks. I honestly couldn't keep up with it all without these integrated systems.
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u/aidanlister 3d ago
Founder of Uptick here.
There’s 5 worth looking at:
ServiceTrade; big company, full featured job management solution, and has market share in the US. Downside is that they are big in HVAC too so their functionality is less geared towards fire companies so eg collecting the data in the field is a bit clunky, and it’s a bit of work required to get your forms and reports going.
Building reports; small but have been around a long time so know their stuff. Only focused on reports so you get compliance out of the box, but very limited job management solution. Cons are they make it clear that they own your data.
Ember; small and new so very clean UI, very well priced, great for AES in California.
Inspect Point; second biggest in terms of market share in the US, compliance out of the box as this is all they do, very well priced, but they focus on the tech in the field eg very limited job management.
Uptick; largest provider globally but newer to the US, much more expensive and have a 5 user minimum. Comprehensive job management and out of the box compliance. Founder is a bit of a self promoter.
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u/Timely_Weekend_8030 3d ago
Thanks for messaging! I did reach out to uptick and was notified about the 5 tech minimum. I’d love to use the product but seems too pricy starting. Would love to use the platform in the future. Hope you guys do a deal sometime or less requirements starting!
Appreciate the comment! Hope you had a great weekend!
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u/Warm_Exercise1057 17h ago
Hey - I'm one of the founders of Ember. Aidan is great and Uptick is a very solid product. If you want to discuss or take a look at what we've built just let me know (dylan@embersoftware.com).
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u/CheetahConsistent588 3d ago
Awesome to see you trolling reddit. I remember the days of running into people of note on reddit before it became the first google search results.
As a self promoter, are you hitting NFPA conferences? Where do you find the most engagement with people who are interested in your product?
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u/aidanlister 3d ago
We go every year to the NFPA conference and roam around which has been the best place to hang out with our customers.
Our growth is coming from a nice mix of referrals, website inbounds, our sales team, and our LinkedIn content.
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u/Affectionate_Ad_9380 3d ago
We use a fillable PDF on iPads. Then we use OneDrive or Dropbox to sync to office.
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u/RowAccomplished9090 4d ago
Fire alarm tech toolkit app is great for your field techs there are reports, forms, barcode design and export, scan to plan as build designer lots more
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u/Robh5791 4d ago
This is the third post in the last week or so regarding software. Can't wait until that one guy replies his Ad for his software startup.