Coolfront is good but striving to achieve greatness

I have been using Coolfront for 9 months now and they are truly making an effort to improve but I'm really waiting to see if this is going to be worth it as a long term solution.

Pros

Coolfront has fixed many of the bugs and random updating problems from the past. It integrates well with quickbooks and now offers payment options on the invoice with automated follow up survey options. There is a large database of repairs and equipment that makes invoicing quick and easy.

Cons

Coolfront really really needs a downloadable app. Integration to quickbooks could be more advanced by applying payments collected on the job to the proper account upon sync. There us a lack of Lennox equipment and the pricing of the existing Lennox equipment is not accurate ($200 air filter?). The "get savvy" link would be much more useful by allowing customization. The technician assigned to the job should correlate to the email address that is seen on the invoice. The amount of invoices used does match the amount of invoices I've been charged for (Overcharged).

CoolFront

I love that we are using less paper. Being able to see, edit, and advise technicians about the pricing and notes when they are in the field and I am in the office (or even running errands!) is great. Having the past history to look at is very helpful. The customer service at CoolFront has been good when we have needed help.

Pros

We use the software on iPads with data, so I can keep an eye on the technicians and see real time what they are entering into a service ticket. We have it linked to Payzer for accepting credit cards, and I can also see that immediately, as well as get an email notification when the payment is processed. We also offer Greensky Financing, and that is linked as well. The customers appreciate that we are "green" and using less paper.

Cons

The search function for older tickets isn't always user friendly. I wish I had more control over when a ticket is archived. We have 5 years of back data, and when I tried to integrate with Quickbooks, it created a lot of headaches for us with the past data. It ended up not being worth it and I turned it off. I don't like that technicians can create different profiles for the same address just by forgetting to capitalize a letter or even entering a wife's name when the last time it may have been the husband's.

It is good but it certainly can use upgrades. I was promised and didn't get it!

Simplified my daily efforts.

Pros

The fact that it can be remotely approved by customers is my favorite feature. Of course it all looks good and very professional no matter what. I like the customizable ability for both installs and repairs, but wish there were more and that once you select an item from the saved customized list or from the database list even, that there was an easy way to make a custom amendments in at least the description so you could have the ability to make slight adjustments in model numbers and or the description to fit unique job circumstances (and be able to keep up with ever changing model numbers and even AHRI match data)

Cons

There is no way to type in any kind of a direct dollar value discount at the end of the work order which would fit in with my finance options. I would also like to be able to add a line for a tip to be added for the techs. If there was a way to add pictures of the customers system or work in both the customer noted and the internal noted that would be phenominal. The ability to add a pdf attachment for special contract would also be nice. I like to add standard statements that are often legally required to include in various jobs we do. It would be nice to have the ability to add a list of customized standard statements that need to be approved but don't have any money value attached to them. As it stands I put my customized statements in the install custom list and just added zero dollar amount with it. I also think that the standard statements added to a work order should not be counted toward the cost of the work order.

The best yet!

Forget paper, Coolfront makes it unnecessary. A tech can easily get to a job, write up a bill and get approval from the customer, even get their signature on the work order, all without a single printed paper. The rep in customer service has been awesome the whole time! She's stayed with us, reaching out over the 2years since we signed up to see how things are going and offer us training.

Pros

Coolfront syncs with Google Calendar, enabling our techs to click and go without the messy copy/paste of the job address into their GPS. For dispatching, once the work is on the Calendar, I can quickly hit the address that pops up on the schedule and map job distances, so that work flows well for the tech that day.

Cons

Customer notes need to be more visible: We copy and paste checklists into internal/customer notes so the customer see's an outline of work performed and any suggestions the tech has. (Picture the checklist you see on the printout after an oil change) We've had to add extra steps when setting up a work order to make Coolfront work for us. Great we're able to customize, even greater if they decide to add our suggestion so it saves us time.

Coolfront Payments by Clearent

We've been working with Coolfront 5+ years and never had an issue that was not resolved quickly.

Pros

Simple to use, straight forward flat rate pricing, current industry equipment/parts pricing embedded in software and always improving and adding new products. Never gave us a reason to consider moving.

Cons

Recently bought out and informed we will need to use Clearent for our merchant processing. Called to clarify and given the word that our current processor will not be compatible with the planned platform changes to come July 2019. Perhaps I misunderstood but I'm under the impression that we must switch to their desired processor. What about signed agreements and contract cancellation fees from our current merchant processor? I have a feeling this is going to be expensive and possibly painful.