Inspection fire sprinkler & fire alarm software - who uses what?

[SprinklerDesigner2]

I am looking for input on software to manage our inspections. Right now everything is paper but it is becoming unwieldy.

Paperless.

Something you can print off reports at the jobsite using a portable printer.

Something specifically made for the fire sprinker/alarm industry would be nice.

Asurio? CodePal? Something different?

 

[NJ1]

In my opinion there is nothing out there to track knowledge than actual paper reports. Many Reasons.
1) unless the software has an exact copy of the actual report taken from NFPA 25 it is a gamble.
For example: NFSA is the only people that withing one report it has all required task in a form such as daily, monthly, quarterly, yearly, 5th year etc.

As far as tracking devices, components, last inspection, etc, it is the best.

I have travel the past 2 years giving NICET training and I have seen how some companies use that software to their advantage instead of the actual purpose.

If you can incorporate the NFSA reports in to those handhelds please let me know. I will be the first to buy.

 

[FFP1]

I am not a fan of the software programs developed for our industry.......they might eventually improve to the point where they include all important information and ensure water-based fire protection system inspectors do not miss/forget important tasks; however, these programs are not great for the industry in my personal opinion.

We spent a SIGNIFICANT amount of time developing professional electronic forms for our company. The content and format provides an advantage when potential customers compare our finished product to our competitors.

 

[inspectortx2]

used a lot of them and i find life saftey 101 to be the best.

 

[NJ1]

sprinklerdesigner2

The only software that realy works to manage inspectors is actually randomly sending a certified individual to examine locations inspected by those inspectors. Trust me on this. Everything else is just overrated technology

 

[inspectortx2]

nj1 you are right on that but who has the buget to pay for all that labor and gas. sprinkler designer 2 i was wrong on the name it is onsite life saftey inspector.

 

[NJ1]

I do not want to sound condescending but I have travel the country the past 4-5 years providing NICET training, operations management, consulting, etc and I found that these type of softwares are lame, insufficient and allows for fixing many errors and omissions. I love to find out my guys are good at what they are doing or I need to provide immediate training. In cases even replace them if necessary.
I want to see your signature, comments, and somebody signing reports end of story. If a customer does not like paper reports then I will have someone at the office transferring that data to PDF form period. Badly design technology can only lead to disaster.

 

[inspectortx2]

NJ1 im with you on that. our company uses onsite life saftey inspector and we have to sign and the customer has to sign be for it will let you print it out. not to long ago one of our inspectors went to a property that had frozen pipe he took a pic of the control valve off customer signed the report on his phone. 3 days later building burned to the ground we were dismissed from court the first day saved us a lot of money.