Ventus

RATING:

4.3

(42)

About Ventus

Ventus is a service and construction ERP solution that incorporates CRM, takeoff estimating, job costing, project management, service management, service dispatch, product distribution, inventory control, payroll and accounting in one solution. It is suitable for HVAC/mechanical contractors, plumbers, electricians, petroleum contractors, roofers and specialty contractors. Features include CRM, equipment control, purchase order, certified payroll, AIA billing, T&M billing, service dispatch, PM scheduling, barcoding, field service, document management, electronic time cards, customer portal, management dashboard, customer equipment tracking, financial statements and reporting.

Ventus Pricing

Starting price: 

$3,250.00 one time

Free trial: 

Not Available

Free version: 

Not Available

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Ventus Reviews

Overall Rating

4.3

Ratings Breakdown

Secondary Ratings

Ease-of-use

4

Customer Support

4.5

Value for money

4.5

Functionality

4.5

Most Helpful Reviews for Ventus

1 - 5 of 42 Reviews

Teresa

Facilities Services, 11-50 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed November 2019

Ventus Review

We make it a point to attend the annual user conference. At the conference we are able to meet and talk with other users, as well as VMS staff. We can voice concerns or problems we have and also are encouraged to suggest new ideas or features we would like to see added to the software. We always come back from the conference with new information and ideas for improving our workflow. Above everything else, we value the Vertical Market Support staff. All software has issues and the client portal allows us to log issues and check the progress. The staff is courteous, helpful, and knowledgeable.

PROS

From an accounting standpoint, it works very well because all modules, including General Ledger, are part of the Ventus product. The dispatch board is very dynamic especially when running mobile data. We are also implementing the barcoding module and DocU, the paperless document management module.

CONS

Because the software is so versatile, sometimes we struggle with finding the best way to set up our work flow process.

Reason for choosing Ventus

One of our deciding factors in purchasing VMS in 2002 was the capacity the software. We found everything we needed for to run our business as it was and thought that it would be able to meet our needs for the future. We were not disappointed! VMS has always kept up with changing technology and has been able to offer everything we need to run our business efficiently and profitably.

Reasons for switching to Ventus

The software we were using prior to Ventus was always behind in technology and new features.

Regina

Construction, 11-50 employees

Used daily for less than 12 months

Review Source: Capterra

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed November 2019

Work In Progress

We were lacking in the inventory/bar coding processes and are slowly becoming better at using this feature. It made Physical Count a lot faster. I know we will see better tracking between warehouses once everyone gets it under control. Also, the ability to transfer estimates to a job or service ticket will change things for us and make us more efficient.

PROS

Pros-One software for all facets needed to operate a business. The staff at VMS make you feel like family and are personally vested in your success. Bar coding capabilities. Ability to transfer Estimate to Job Cost and Service. The ease of searching is great. Docu - ability to attach all documents. Vast number of reports, very diverse in what you can pull. Ability to save to queue to have a history of all transactions.

CONS

Cons - No user's manual. Inconsistency between modules in where to go to search really just inconsistencies between modules period (Ex. some modules you go through Tasks to execute things, others you can do directly from the screen you are in). Can't set zero quantities doing a cycle count for a portion of inventory. Lack of synchronized data (Ex. PM Inquiry -must execute function to make sure it is current; Job Cost - when changing contract through JOB BUDGET/COST SUMMARY - it does not update contract amount in Job File) Passwords - need ability to set override capabilities for specified actions. Daily Password needed for everything under Options. Lack of automatic GL entry or notice that one is needed if a user performs a transaction that needs to have a GL trans done (ex -physical count, inv adj) Lack of "locked for editing" warning when accessing something that someone else is currently in.

Reason for choosing Ventus

It appeared to have more of the options we were looking for. It also seemed easier to use and implement in our day-to-day processes.

Reasons for switching to Ventus

We needed the ability to bar code our inventory and needed a more robust job cost tracking software.

Dawn Nalley Ashland

Construction, 11-50 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

OVERALL RATING:

3

EASE OF USE

2

VALUE FOR MONEY

1

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

2

FUNCTIONALITY

3

Reviewed May 2019

Ventus

The people are great. Not always very good at getting back with you. Feel like a small fish and not as important in comparison to other companies that use the software so we sometime get bumped.

PROS

The program has a lot to offer. Can be an all inclusive software system.

CONS

No or very little training on the software. No idea how to use most of it. Not consistent from one module to another. EX. spell check in service billing but not in accounts receivable billing.

Stacy

Construction, 51-200 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed May 2019

Your One Stop Shop

We have been able to drastically reduce the time for our inventory with the barcoding solution. We have gone from 2 weeks of a 8 person team to 2 days with a 3 person team. We are getting accurate counts, transfers and costing. It has eliminated duplicate item files for the same product (you can use cross reference to link multiple skus to the same item). The job costing has allowed us to run more efficiently and know when we are going to do way better (or way worse) on an estimate. The service reports help us understand which technicians are profitable and which need help. They are always improving and coming out with new features and add-on's to help with processing.

PROS

I like most that the software contains almost everything that we need. It has service for our dispatching and bill of service. It has job costing for all of our larger projects. It has Payroll, Inventory, Accounts Payable, Purchase Orders, Equipment Controls, Call Management, Estimating, Order Processing for over the counter parts sales and Accounts Receivable. You wont need anything separate to run your day to day transactions. The Dispatch board is our FAVORITE part. You can schedule your technicians, maintain contracts with billing, bill by time and material, fixed dollar or flat rate.

CONS

There is few online add options. For example, when you need to make a new inventory item, you have to go to the item maintenance file. So you have to leave the screen to you are and go somewhere else - however, you can keep the tabs open so don't loss what you are working on. Some of their add ons (like e-time) don't really work for technicians that are multi-taskers (work both on jobs and service tickets).

Lisa

Construction, 11-50 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

4

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

3

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed April 2019

Overall review

Ventus is helping us find ways to keep our costs lower and we have not implemented all of the capabilities yet. It does take awhile to learn the functions. However, the software makes more sense if you understand how it functions!

PROS

Item inquiry is one of my favorite functions. Ventus makes it easy to find when a part came in, where it came from and the open and past sales. This has became a time saver in many ways. Writing checks in Ventus is a breeze. It allows us to change the information prior to creating the check if discount amounts were entered in incorrectly. There is a new credit memo function in AR for applying checks to invoices has saved time and allowed us to keep a better AR record. The new lookup functions that have been added everywhere makes finding information easier. One downfall is not being able to lookup a number with begins with.

CONS

The item inquiry is one of my favorite features in Ventus. However, we do not have a way to look up customer part/material sales history. This can be difficult when a customer would like something that they ordered before but is unsure of the part number. Post-match: The overall idea of post-match is wonderful! However, we are a company that pays our invoices by the discount date. We were unable to create checks for parts that were not received in. Loved the idea of being able to see what po was applied to the invoice. However, saving money was a bigger priority. We had to leave post-match so we were able to write checks. Still waiting for that function to change so we are able to utilize Ventus to the fullest. There has been a recent change to where our overall control of our company maintenance was taken away. Our company takes pride in the controls that we have over our accounting software and the upkeep of it. Because of this we have set-up controls to keep others out where they do not belong. Our control over this has been taken away because of other companies and their misuse of the company maintenance, AR Inquiry and AP History. This should be regulated by the company and not VMS.