It's better than any other software I've tried or just using a pencil

Ease of use and the importing tool for inventory items, and drawings.

no option to feed updated pricing from vendor, or having to check pricing after quote has been completed.

With Esticom, we are definitely cranking out bids faster which is a huge plus. Thanks Esticom...I look forward to seeing what your updates will bring.

The take-off process (auto-count) and time saving are definitely the best features of the product but there are several others that make the product worthwhile. 1. Covering additional expenditures like overhead and waste is wonderful. 2. Ability to apply difficulty levels is nice. 3. Ability to export BOM saves time.

Here are few items that take away from the software but the techies at Esticom are very responsive so perhaps some of these can be improved on future updates. 1. Within the take-off process, it would be terrific if I could copy and paste take-off items and paste them to other groups. It's nice to be able to duplicate the take-off within the group but sometimes you just need specific items within other and not the whole group duplicated. 2. Not a big deal but it would be good if any quantities applied to take-offs within the 'estimating' phase could show up on the take-off phase to avoid confusion. 3. This has been mentioned by others but, it would be great to be able to customize the export bid PDF. Simple customizations to font and letterhead would be useful. 4. It would be nice to be able to copy the selected area of a legend or symbols and copy them other drawings. I see that there is a legend feature on the right side of the options on the take-off page but it doesn't seem to do anything but show a 'legend' word. 5. It would be great to be able to create a new 'group' within the take-off page without going to the estimating page. I know you can duplicate a take-off group but again, sometimes you don't want all the same items from other take-off items. 6. It would be nice to have the ability to multi-select items that you want to delete or copy.

It has sped up my estimating process

Customer service was very good , useage was easy to get onto

The estimate submission - breakout of the pst is awkward . I would more flexability with my final price to submit to client .

Overall the experience has been good. We are still in the process of dialing in all our labor costs and work times, but think the system will really shine once we get everything tested and adjusted. It would be nice to be able to estimate using more than one labor rate as well. Many times we will have 3-4 different pay rates for employees on a job and it's not always simple to average. Having those pay rates/labor costs by task might work well in those situations.

Esticom is very straightforward and intuitive. For a structured cabling business like ours, it couldn't be easier to place cable runs, supports, and mark our drops.

There are a few functions missing that would make it easier for us to use. One is the lack of a linear with drop only at the ends of the run. Instead it adds drops at every turn. Second is not being able to add temporary items on the estimating page. We have many items that we use but do not want in our catalog. Having to return to takeoff mode to add them is time consuming, especially if there are a lot of individual items we need for a project. Lastly, I have had one issue where my drawing rotated under my takeoff. When I tried to rotate the drawing back, I was told I could not because it was being used in a takeoff. Since I was not too deep in the process I just started over. Can't imagine how bummed I'd be if this happened after spending hours or more on a takeoff.

After searching for estimating software for almost 5 years, installing trial software, talking with tech support, even hiring a programmer to build our own system, the hunt ended with Esticom. Getting the system up and running was a breeze and my company now has a uniform database to build estimates from.

The ability to simply enter lines of product and adjust all elements across the board: unit costs, markup, labor hours and difficulty factors are the stand out elements! Finding software that accomplishes this simple but tedious (if using Excel) task has changed our company's workflow.

First and foremost this software is for estimating purposes. It dabbles in the process of automatically creating a quote to send to customers but lacks the customizability to make it your own. (In contrast to the many variables you can manipulate on the estimating side.) For now my team continues to use Word to provide our scopes of work with our personalized touch.

EstiCom has been a great add to our business. The catalog feature keeps our quotes consistent, and the efficiencies it brings to the table have allowed us to increase the number of quotes each Estimator can send in a given time frame!

This software is affordable and cloud-based, so my team can access it from anywhere they have an internet connection. It's user-friendly, comprehensive and professional. The stock catalogs are also very helpful.

While the cloud-based software offers many benefits, it can also be a drawback if you need to be able to access your quotes while you're offline (such as in-flight or in a remote area). You're also at the mercy of the development team when you see functions/formats that could use an update, and when the software is updated (since updates are not optional).

Great, 9/10 would recommend. Executive was very responsive and the price is super reasonable.

Being able to quickly and fairly accurately count, label, measure and itemize a project without having to print the plans, wait on the plotter or waste the paper. GUI is intuitive, streamlined and quick to use.

My only wish is to be able to save a template and apply it after I've started a project. I haven't gotten around to asking if that's an option but so far as I can tell, you have to copy a previous job or template and apply it before you create the project or upload plans.

We were marking up plans with a pen and a highlighter prior to getting esticom so this made that process much easier

Esticom has made quoting jobs much easier. The tool loads quickly and if you take the time to setup your assemblies it makes quoting jobs very easy.

The scale can be thrown off if the plans were printed via PDF

Really helps build budgets and build labor schedules

Easy to see cost break downs after takeoffs are complete, you can export your material lists.

assemblies are all in USD and there is no way to convert to CAD besides importing wholesale pricing and building all new assemblies.

Saves us a tremendous amount of time doing takeoffs. It also allowed us to finally move towards a built in labor rate for materials. So everything is calculated as we go. So nice!

This was our first go at doing digital takeoffs and man, it really could not of been more simple. The workflow flows in line with our old paper ways of doing things so it was a natural transition. We can also blaze through a takeoff!

Going digital and learning a new software was scary. But the team and support was there along the way. They never let us down and make sure we were using the software efficiently.

Having just gotten started with the program, I am happy with the experience. Got a great response from [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] for adding symbols to the design function database. Very happy to see that the input from users is welcome. Looking forward to really putting this software to use with some larger projects.

Design function Ability to easily jump between work stations and use at home Reports that can be issued are very professional looking

The database for devices in the design function is limited Limited database for parts that have been pre-entered

Overall time for completing bids has decreased drastically, to where we can complete several bids a day.

The ease of use. The software is very intuitive.

The break out portion in the estimation part of the software. There is no way to break out a certain task or job out of the bid whole to supply numbers to GCs. Also the markup calculations and profits don't add up to the percentages set in profit section.

We have been using the system on and off for over a year and its a great tool to use. I think if it were more expensive, we wouldn't have purchased it but is a great starting point. The user needs to take time to really go through the software to understand how to use it.

Inexpensive, lots of product support, constant updates & easy to use. You can upload your own pricing and make changes quickly & easily. For any company looking to move from using old school techniques to the digital, this is a great product to use. The system is already loaded with lots of materials & you can start estimating within a short period of time.

All prices on materials & labour are based on the US labour market. Yes it is averaged, but the prices are not valid in Canada. The labour factor is also a little bit confusing as we aren't sure how many minutes it takes to hang pipe. Takes time to setup & trust the software will output what you need. There are some features that could be created to make using the software easier but im sure this will happen over time.

The experience has been good so far.

Ease of doing takeoffs, ability to change Material catalog

Breakdown of overhead that used to be on Esticom. No ability to overlay drawings from another page to compare changes on drawings from existing to new drawings.

I like the fact that this software does what I ask it to do and much more. It allows me to customize everything as I need it and it comes with templates so it does some of the work for me already.

Maybe I need more training but I'm not sure if the feature for measuring homeruns is precise.

I have NO regrets! Their development team is very responsive and open to input. They are constantly making improvements.

I love that it is in the cloud and accessible from anywhere. It also integrates with Zapier!

Is lacking some customization options. I wish I could change logo sizes or layout of the bid.

Responsive tech support. Easy setup

Takeoff is fairly easy. Accurate. A time saver.

Has some cumbersome aspects. Grouping could be easier. The estimates are fine. But a better interface for cost/profit and The ability to export cost reports and part numbers would be fantastic.

Esticom has been great, there is some room for improvement and i would love to help collaborate with them. Having been in the telecom industry for over 20 years, and helped other companies create their own software i would be able to offer valuable insight.

I like that I can have a material database and organize them in a useful way.

I do not like the fact that i cannot manually input man hours towards scopes of work, and that there are not customizable admin fields (travel charges, project management hours fields, shipping ect) where i can capture typical back end admin costs. It only allows percentages.

Good

The ease of use. The ability to sort your projects. The estimating summary tab.

At times the clarity of the uploaded drawings to a project is not usable.

I'm actually suprised that we've found a estimating software that does EVERYTHING that we need it to do.

It's easy to use. We have gone from two to three days of putting together a bid to 2 to 3 hours. It's simple, clean interface, and the support is great. We've tested out 5 different softwares and this is #1 by far. Oh and it's web based so feel free to access it from anywhere.

so far so good. No complaints. You can tell that this was developed by a low voltage company.

The software is similar to one we have used for a few years. The difference is Esticom has almost all of the same features, but is MUCH more user friendly.

Ease of use and the knowledge and helpfulness of the support staff that has been helping us get Esticom setup and running.

Difficulty in working with margins and profit categories. This may be user error more than a software issue.

I used to do take off by hand on the wall of my office. Enough said!

Groups, being able to change specs of wire for instance, also add things in the estimating part of the software.

none. they keep making upgrades. Keep it coming.

My overall experience is great. All the functions work seamlessly

This software is awesome. It was easy to learn and easy to use. It offers all the features I need and keeps on adding tools that I want. I would recommend it to any Electrical estimator

The only functions missing that I would like to have is a highlighter and the ability to take a snapshot.

The quoting time is cut in half. Less computer time and more Customer time.

The ease of the calculating the quantities for materials and labor.

Input of all our materials and adding each designated labor amount. Getting used to the format of Additional Notes section - with copying and paste from other quotes.

I have enjoyed using this soft ware, it’s quick and easy for me, I use it everyday.

User friendly, I like how you can upload drawings too.

Sometimes I don’t have drawings, and then I skip to estimating, but then I have to create my assembly’s or parts, instead of picking them.