Countfire software

Pros

This software is very user friendly and time saving! With efficient ways of checking the marked up drawing, we have been able to reduce the amount of mistakes, and therefore costs to the company.
If any issues occur when using the software, you can use the help section on the software and request help from a member of the Countfire Team, who reply back extremely quickly!

Cons

Almost all of my experiences with this software is positive.
However, after the initial training, it does take a couple of times to fully familiarize yourself with all parts of the software.

Pros

It does exactly as it says on the tin. I’m not a estimator yet I easily used the software and won a contract!!

Cons

Biggest pain was that I couldn’t download Drgs directly to software. Had to drag from computer.

Pros

Simple interface, easy to pick-up. Great friendly support team, always ready to give a hand. Excel sheet with count information created by the software saves a lot time.

Cons

Price is on the high side. App can start to struggle when dealing with massive PDFs with lots of symbols.

Pros

The ease of use. It is very easy to use once I learned the shortcuts and best practices from Countfire. Was up and running withing a few days 100% and it is saving me so much time. I did the a job the other day that was normally a 4 hour job and it took me 30 minutes by using Countfire and that 3.5 hours is very valuable to me.

Cons

The only thing I'd like and it is really only for hotels, but to be able to find a certain room and count them and multiply out already in the excel sheet, but I use the counts for the rooms and easily adjust the excel spreadsheet in less than a minute, so it really isn't an issue.

Pros

- clear cut user interface with everything hotkeyed, and the hotkeys labeled in plain sight
- PHENOMENAL customer service and support (I requested and had a feature built and deployed overnight, etc., etc., etc.)
- Documentation from another planet (over 25,000 words of concise walk through material
- Redundancy (the way projects are delivered after being processed eliminates worry and most potential for error)
- Data manipulation (the data spit-out from a project comes post-pivot table, saving us a step in formatting to get our numbers straight)
the list goes on and on - simply amazing!!

Will and the boys are a phenomenal team, awake at preposterous hours of the morning solving issues that could wait, etc. just amazing!

Pros

Ease of use, Being able to measure linear lengths, Counting symbols on mass, the spreadsheets that are processed are easy to read and adjust to suit.

Cons

Having to manually count when symbols are of a poor quality. If the wrong symbols were hi-lighted on the check sheets for the symbols would make the evaluation easier

Pros

Being able to carryout your Take Offs and easily being able to review your work with "Toggle On / Off", along with being presented with a well detailed and populated Excel Spreadsheet of said Take Offs on completion / Project processed.

Cons

The Management Side of the Projects requires a Folder Format, instead of just listing the Projects in Number / Alphabetical order.

Pros

Intuitive to use. Accurate. Excellent customer support. Works on Chrome so can be easily worked on from multiple locations, on the road, in the office.

Pros

Ease of use being able to breakdown the drawings into areas to suit the Tender Analysis Breakdown detailing disciplines & areas

Cons

Pros

For someone with what I describe as a limited Computer knowledge it was very easy to use and when i did have any problems the Customer Support Team were Fantastic.

Cons

I think it probably depends upon the standard of drawing you are Tendering from but we found you had to copy alot of the same symbol to pick them all up.

Pros

When a pdf is is drawn properly it works great. Automatic counting etc. No I'm just trying to reach 100 characters

Cons

When a pdf is not drawn properly, i may as well count manually. Which is mostly the case.
Simple things could be added to improve experience, such as a plan multiplier for drawings that cover multiple levels.

Pros

Reduces the time spent counting items when we have a job over 3 floors

Cons

Not able to read all types of PDF files, and we have to send off to have the files adapted. Some PDF files are not able to be counted at all.

Pros

Autocount feature across multiple drawings requires only the selection of items from one drawing then autocount is completed across all drawings on in the package.

Cons

Autocount is somewhat unreliable so have to check very closely for any missed items, this however does not take long.

Pros

How much faster it is to quantify items now than it was before. its accuracy in auto quantifying. the service is very responsive with any issues.

Cons

I would like if the software could bring in a option to compare revision drawing over existing therefore able to see the changes faster

Pros

Great software support at your fingertips.
Very easy to use, once you understand all functions etc.

Cons

Nothing to note at present, still early days using the software.
It genuinely covers all the aspect in which I require from take off software.

Pros

We have found the software very easy to use, the support and backup is fantastic and the checking and reporting functions are great.

Cons

The main frustrating this is the time it takes to load drawings. Also as a large business we would like the option to purchase the software.

Pros

Every feature incorporated into this product is top notch. It's speedy, efficient, and accurate. Multiple avenues to check your work and be assured in your counts. Work multiple disciplines within one job....there's just so much this program can do!

Cons

There's really not much to dislike with this program, but if I had to voice a small nit pick it would be that I would like to see more color options for device designation. Often we deal with large quantities of different devices. Like a said, I'm just nitpicking.

Pros

I like its chat option and the great support staffs fast response time. I also like how when I have a problem that I may run into one of the members of the support team will help me immediately. They can actually open and view the actual project I am working on and will send me a clip of how to get past what problems I may be having.

Cons

Nothing. Everything about this software is amazing. The support staff has a quick response. They normally respond is less than 5 minutes.

Pros

Its very simple to understand with lots of pointers and tips to get you doing. It is also very easy to use and packed with keyboard short cuts to help you find you way around.

Cons

It requires the use of a dropbox which might not always be practical in companies which have limited internet browsing.

Pros

It takes a bit of playing around with to get used to but any question I had was answered within minutes through the CountFire team chat, I find the automatic link with DropBox and CountFire very useful with all the counts done automatically through an excel quantities spreadsheet.

Cons

It doesn't pick up symbols that are the same but at a different angle, so a few extra counts must be done to count all the symbols