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RichRiehl
08-02-2005, 01:14 AM
You may know me from my inside rear cover column in Residential Systems Magazine.

Please checkout my new custom proposal software at
www.bidmagicav.com

It's fast, easy, powerful, affordable.

AHEM
08-02-2005, 02:15 AM
Rich, any chance of having a downloadable demo for the overly impatient?

The8thst
08-02-2005, 11:53 AM
Any chance of not spamming every forum on this site with your new software?

Gary
08-02-2005, 03:11 PM
Any chance of not spamming every forum on this site with your new software?

Let's cut Rich some slack, he wasn't aware this was bad decorum and he has written some great stuff in Res Sys and will surely be a valuable member here.

Welcome Rich.

avzone
08-02-2005, 05:15 PM
Let's cut Rich some slack, he wasn't aware this was bad decorum and he has written some great stuff in Res Sys and will surely be a valuable member here.

Welcome Rich.

Agreed. He was short and sweet and I appreciate that. His post was no different than one of us passing on an "FYI" or "have you heard" post.

Welcome to the party Rich.

Kelly
08-02-2005, 09:51 PM
His post was no different than one of us passing on an "FYI" or "have you heard" post.




Actually it's no where near the same thing as one of us posting a "FYI" or a "have you heard".

I post an "FYI", I'm not mentioning a product that I sell or have a vested interest in. And I would assume that this isn't the case with his post.

If it is just an innocent "FYI" post, then okay, but if it's not, then it is a spam post for the lack of a better term.

Think I'm being overly harsh? Tell me where do you draw the line? Or does the line move around a bit depending on who has their toe over it?

No offense, just being the Devils advocate here.... :D

sirroundsound
08-02-2005, 10:04 PM
So the devil made you do it??

avzone
08-02-2005, 11:10 PM
Kelly,

I see your point and would feel the same way had Rich gone on a rant about how wonderful his product is. All he really did was provide awareness. What if you owned the software and liked it? I think there's a chance you'd feel differently. It would be great to have the developer as an accessable resource, don't you think?

Among others on IP, we use D-Tools. Blake has been a nice addition to IP and serves as a valuable resource(IMHO) affording users the opportunity to become more effective with D-Tools and non-users to learn more about an area of potential development for their business. It's a win-win situation. While contributing to IP, he's also promoting D-Tools indirectly by networking with members and that's ok with me because I/we benefit.

For the record, I appreciate your position.

Graham

The8thst
08-03-2005, 07:28 AM
Any chance of not spamming every forum on this site with your new software?

Let's cut Rich some slack, he wasn't aware this was bad decorum and he has written some great stuff in Res Sys and will surely be a valuable member here.

Welcome Rich.

I just had to say something when the first post in two different forums was the exact sam thing. The first post was a longer version of this one, then I go to a second forum and read a section of that very same post copied and pasted over here.

If Rich had been making a simple "FYI" then why the need to copy and paste to more than one forum?

That is where my point, and objection, lay.

gmascherino
08-12-2005, 03:40 AM
We got a demo of it and thought it was pretty useless. Of course, I am a geek and come from a software development background and have built similar packages in a day. I guess something like that would be okay for a really small shop with people that really don't know how to use a computer. I think that there are better choices out there like D-Tools.

Kelly
08-12-2005, 08:31 AM
We got a demo of it and thought it was pretty useless. Of course, I am a geek and come from a software development background and have built similar packages in a day. I guess something like that would be okay for a really small shop with people that really don't know how to use a computer. I think that there are better choices out there like D-Tools.



Ah, so you're saying that it would be PERFECT for me?

I thought the computer would just turn itself on, that not right?......... :lol:

gmascherino
08-12-2005, 09:58 AM
No, you have to tell the computer to 'turn on'. Just make sure you speak really clear because they don't speak English very well.

AHEM
08-12-2005, 12:36 PM
I was under the impression that perhaps Rich would check back and respond to the topic that he started.

JLIntegra
08-18-2005, 01:22 AM
I have herd that alot of installers are starting to use Simply Reliable Software. What have you herd? I am wodering couse I plan on purching one for my office after the first of the year. Right now it's between SRS and D-Tools. What are your opinions?

Glackowitz
08-19-2005, 01:09 AM
We had Dtools but found it way more than what we needed and didnt have the time to keep it running. we just purchased the SRS program this week and are in the process of setting it up.

Not sure on the pricing but we did talk with about 10 other companies that are using it and had nothing bad to say about it

will see how it works out

BlakeAV
08-25-2005, 03:23 PM
I think SRS has a great product as does Horizon. Not trying to diss Bid Magic I just have never played with it. I also think we have a very good product that you should also investigate.
Regardless of what product you purchase, purchase something. This will be the most important software purchase you can make for your company as every project will go through the system.

Here is a copy from a post I made in another area:

Get verified here at the IP Forum and then check out the postings about D-tools. I would also suggest you talk to Gary or Michael Hall both small company owners using D-Tools.

I try to avoid abusing my relationship with IP Forum members by using the forum as an area to pitch D-tools. Like all member I try to interact, answer questions related to D-tools as well as many other topics and be mindful not to overstep the boundaries of decorum and blatantly push my products.
I leave the spamming to the marketing department.

I would strongly recommend you investigate all of your options but do purchase and industry specific software. Regardless if it is Horizon, SRS, D-tools or Bid Magic you will undoubtedly benefit from structured software that provides you with an architecture to create a repeatable process.
There is going to be an upfront cost of both money and time. But put in the time to properly set up the application, get trained on how to use it and you should see an ROI in 6 months or less. Make sure you don’t skip the training part, most fail do to the fact they don’t get help.

I would also recommend you attend CEDIA and not only check out the demo’s being held at the booth’s but ask around in classes, events and find out what others like yourself are using. You should also talk to manufactures, distributors and reps as they tend to walk in allot of doors and can tell you what the word on the street is.

Basically do your homework. This will be the most important software purchase you can make for your business as every project will go through your proposal system. So take the time to determine your own needs and once you have your list together start evaluating your choices.

You also want to keep in mind issues like:

Tech Support: What ever you buy remember it is software and does run on a PC so you will need tech support from time to time.
Stability of the company: Its hard to get tech support from a company no longer in Business.
Flexibility: can it grow with you if you choose to grow.
Accounting interface: Make sure it plays nice with your accounting software.
Training: Investigate your training options and do a personal inventory of your skills. Regardless if you are a computer geek to the 10th power you should get professional training.
Cost benefits analysis: Some software’s do more than other and so they cost more. The question you should ask is “are the costs well balanced by the benefits”. Do I need all the features or can I start small and add as features as needed.
I hope this helps but also never believe a software salesman, we are worse then stereo salesman.

AHEM
08-26-2005, 12:17 AM
Blake you've mentioned a couple of times the magical six month ROI. Is that just BS from the marketing dept. or is there facts that you believe in to back up that claim?

BlakeAV
08-26-2005, 09:47 AM
That was my own experience and most other I work with now.
My BS is much better than the marketing dept. It got no stink.

avzone
08-26-2005, 10:37 AM
Sorry to jump in to answer a questions directed at Blake, but I think I can help having started with Horizon's CPS and switched to D-Tools.

First, let me say that D-Tools is a powerful tool. There's a lot you can do and the more advanced you want to get, the longer it MAY take to reach YOUR objective of advanced use. I'm one of those that tends to overdo things. I'm also one that doesn't like to read manuals, but I'm sure I'm not alone here. Although it took me longer than 6 months, it was purely my lack of diligence and mizer mentality.

The best advice I can provide is to follow what Blake is recommending as well as the advice of other seasoned users. The best thing would be to bite the bullet and spend the money to have a Certified Partner(CP) setup and configure your database. I can't tell you how much benefit you'll gain from this. And they also have custom stencils/shapes available so you don't have to reinvent the wheel. If you set it up yourself, you'll eventually "get there," but only if you're not an instant gratification person AND you have an implementation plan that you actually follow. DON'T load the software and immediately start loading in every item/sku you can. That was my mistake. Slow and steady is key. Start with a system you have installed and is completely finish. Add each item completely one at a time and make sure you don't skip the I/O section. Fill out all of the I/O's accurately before moving to the next item.

Sorry, I'll add to this later. Gotta get back to work.

audioalchemy
07-25-2012, 11:31 PM
I had Bidmagic and every time I called Rich for some support on his product he was rude and acted like I was bothering him.




Let's cut Rich some slack, he wasn't aware this was bad decorum and he has written some great stuff in Res Sys and will surely be a valuable member here.

Welcome Rich.

audioalchemy
07-25-2012, 11:43 PM
Ive had SRS for 2+ years and after the intial few months of trying to figure it out and getting it set up correctly its been reaaly great. I only use it to generate proposals and it produces an beautiful proposal that is very impressive to the client. The only hangup I have is thats its now time to purchase a new maintenance agreement and they want $1200 for 2 years which seems rediculouse to me. I just bought a new computer and have to either buy the maintenance so I can move the software over or I need to buy dTools for about the same price. Im not sure what to do because I like the SRS proposals they look a hell of a lot nicer thatn the dTools proposal but I dont like that SRS is built on filemaker software which can be troublesome to sy the least.

by the way where is spell check on this



I have herd that alot of installers are starting to use Simply Reliable Software. What have you herd? I am wodering couse I plan on purching one for my office after the first of the year. Right now it's between SRS and D-Tools. What are your opinions?

jberger
07-26-2012, 07:54 AM
Welcome to The Walking Dead.

Since you've raised this Zombie thread that was 7 years old, it's up to you to kill it.

audioalchemy
07-26-2012, 08:07 AM
It looks like all the post are atleast three years old


Welcome to The Walking Dead.

Since you've raised this Zombie thread that was 7 years old, it's up to you to kill it.

TonyAngelo
07-31-2012, 09:48 AM
Awsome!

It's good to see that Rich's seven year old shill thread is still alive and well. Almost makes me want to go hunting around for other threads to resurrect!

avophile
03-13-2014, 09:20 AM
Awsome!

It's good to see that Rich's seven year old shill thread is still alive and well. Almost makes me want to go hunting around for other threads to resurrect!

Haven't you got bigger fish to fry?