Countfire Software

Saves me tons of time and for someone that works 80+ hours a week, my time is very valuable.

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.

Reduction in time in the estimation process (magnitudes).

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!

Please see previous page regards Pro's and Con's of Countfire.

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.

Quicker takeoffs means more time can be spent doing deeper more profitable work.

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.

Time Saving

Pros

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

It saves an amazing amount of time from manually completing Take offs from drawings mainly due to the fact that as your working on 1 drawing the package is actually completing the take offs of all other drawings you have submitted in the background.

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.

When everything is peachy it works great and is fast.

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.

Already answered in previous questions

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.

Increased speed and accuracy

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.

This program cuts our paper cost and review time while increasing efficiency and accuracy.

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.

I have saved a lot of time on performing take offs.

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

Pros

I like the fact we can increase our productivity with both speed and accuracy without the expense of employing an additional estimator.

Pros

Anytime you have a question, the Countfire team is just a click or call away. The team is very helpful and will dive right in to your project.

Pros

Accurate pin point reviews of drawings and measuring along with demaracations covers all bases. Very detailed and produces great information to give to the customer

Cons

Takes a bit to get your head around at first but not an issue and is expected. Eased through initial process by good staff team

makes counting 500% faster

Pros

Symbol recognition is powerful and easy to use.
Collating is made easier to extract when using Excel for other job aspects.

Cons

Not entirely compatible with drawings created from certain CAD or drawing software. The ability to manually count rectifies this but not entirely.