Asset Essentials Reviews

Rating breakdown

Pros
We fell in love with the ease of use of the interface. The level of control over the maintenance technicians is phenomenal and the ability to provide a service request portal to users without needing to purchase additional licenses was a huge deal maker.

Cons
As with many new implementations, we ran into a few bugs at the beginning when we first implemented the software. With their amazing customer support, we were able to overcome those issues, but it is something to consider.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Rating breakdown

Pros
SchoolDude has the best customer service department! We really appreciate their prompt and friendly staff. Maintenance Direct is very user-friendly and allows unlimited user access. I loved that it was so easy to implement, you only had to enter minimal amount of data before using.

Cons
The only thing I can say is maybe allowing some customization in some of the filed categories instead of having to use their default list. Some districts may use different ways to describe the same function.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
My overall thoughts of schooldude would be that it serves it purpose for scheduling event but it really is not user friendly. The amount of time that it takes for a new user to complete a proposal to schedule an event is pretty tedious.

Cons
I am not a new user so it is easy for me to access and set of events but even explaining to new users is hard because of the lay out. I think it needs to be more simplistic. For example like when you turn on a new Iphone it asks for a piece of information then you hit next and it asks for another. Then it populates all your information for you to review at the end. One other flaw that I noticed in it for billing purposes is that it does not send an email notification when something new is put on to the calendar. Which would be really helpful when something is added last minute if the invoices are already completed for that day. I am not a veteran and do not know all the ins and outs of schooldude, but I do think these fixes could improve the users experience on it.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 6/10

Pros
MaintenanceEdge start up has been amazingly simple. Once our equipment list was finalized and given to Dude Solutions, their team completed all the data entry allowing free time for our end users to familiarize themselves with the software. The navigation is easy and training went smoothly and quickly. The support staff has been lightening quick about any questions that have come up. On going weekly scheduled meeting with our dedicated representative from Dude have reinforced training and expanded regularly on our knowledge of the program.

Cons
There are a few functions that have been lacking that tech support has been made aware of. Not all of the reports are able to be automatically generated on a schedule, ie. Downtime. I would like to see the ability to toggle some of the fields on or off depending on the end users preferences.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
Learning to use MD was so easy. I can enter purchased items, or stock items and then actually track the cost of a job, including the labor. It lets you know what status it is in, New Request, work in progress etc. and each person assigned to that job can actually go in leave notes for the others who are involved. If items have been ordered, you can also notify the others that once they arrive the job can be completed. Working in a school system, you deal with so many locations, and this helps to keep everyone informed and up to date on the latest.

Cons
I wish we had the options of ink colors, so if something is vital, that part could be done in red so that it is very visible.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Ease of use. Significantly less paper work. Quick response when service is indicated. Keeps everyone who needs to be aware of an issue informed. So far the process has worked as advertised. It has allowed our staff to provide quick and accurate responses. There is more accountability when a request is made in writing, approved by a supervisor and acted upon in an efficient amount of time.

Cons
I really can't think of anything. Maybe making deleting a request easier. There are times when the situation submitted has been addressed through a conversation and there is no need for the responder to take action.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Maintenance Direct keeps great records and history of repairs and those who submit them. It helps to retrieve similar issues and generate vendor repairs as a combined problem, rather than piece meal each repair separately. In the long run, it is a tremendous cost savings overall.

Cons
Changes that are not always made known ahead of time that I feel are a sometimes a loss of accessibility. Example is password reset on the administrative side. This has recently changed and it does make it more cumbersome to figure out new user errors such as duplicate logins.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
I use two packages from SchoolDude. Maintenance Direct and Facility Direct. We also use Trip Direct in our District. All work great together and are seamless. I can go to one and then it will connect me to the others without having to re-enter passwords. All keep records of past events and searches are simple. Maintenance Direct is very powerful and more than meets our needs. Everything is thought out and setup for a School District, but I can see it used for other Business's as well.

Cons
The only complaint that I would have is that the charts on the Home Page of Facility Direct doesn't export to Excel and when printing it out, it can look strange on the paper.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The product works great for the administrators, technicians, and users. We get positive feedback regularly about our use of this product. And if there happens to be something we don't understand about the product or some way we think the product could be improved, the customer service is happy to respond to requests and take recommendations into consideration.

Cons
Honestly, there's not really anything we don't like about them. They have a good product that they continue to improve. I guess I just wish they had more products.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The software has the best (easiest to navigate and common sense flow) user interface out of the 4-5 competitors that I evaluated. The sales rep that I worked with was low pressure and responsive to my needs and questions. Implementation cost and annual service costs were very competitive. The after purchase training and setup was also very positive. I have a point person and scheduled time blocks for training and continue to have great customer service 3 months after implementation. In fact my training rep. emailed me today asking how things were going and if I had any questions.

Cons
In a perfect world, I would like to tailor the software to my specific needs and industry. Facility Dude is a generic software from the sense that it accommodates the language and requirements spanning several very different industries. I have had to be creative in a few cases with how we classify groups and naming convention. Not a big issue however the inability to have some level of customization would be my only complaint.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
I like this product is easy and straight forward in entering a request. Only the facts are needed; not any unnecessary questions to clutter the request.

Cons
It is a little irritating when you can't login when you forget to pull down to itdirect and have to start over; there needs to be an option for iDevices or Android devices and netbooks rather than hardware. Finally, when checking on tech requests, it would be nice if the list pulled up with newest first. I know that is an option at the bottom, but sometimes I forget and have to go to end;

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
SchoolDude software is user friendly, with amazing reporting features. The Client Services Team goes above and beyond in support of the SchoolDude products. Client Services is not provided from a foreign country. The staff is easy to understand - there is no language barrier. SchoolDude University provides a unique opportunity to expand product knowledge and build relationships with peer institutions.

Cons
There is not a single aspect that I am unsatisfied with.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The Product is easy to use, and has wonderful reporting capabilities. Since the product is web based it can be accessed from anywhere. Since the product is web based School dude has the capability to do comparisons on how you are doing in relation to the rest of the world. This shows me what areas we need to improve on and what areas we are doing great on.

Cons
We cannot have a work order assigned to more than one person. Can you guys please change this?

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
One of the most compelling reasons that we went with their product is that their applications are built exclusively for the needs of educational institutions. The company has basically put all of their eggs into that basket, which gives them an understanding of educational facilities and their maintenance requirements. Educational environments (be it public, private, or higher) are in a class all their own and are met with certain challenges that other businesses may not necessarily face. All of the staff I have had the pleasure of meeting and/or speaking with exhibit a sensitivity to and knowledge of those unique needs.

Cons
Having come from a completely paper system to an automated system such as SchoolDude's, I haven't experienced any flaws worth noting.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The product is always up to date and keeps in real time with requests that our clients have put in that help us to reach them faster. It also is an easy to use source for checking into the history of requests along with dates submitted and dates completed.

Cons
Sometimes the product does force some of our tickets into a limbo of sorts when we've tried to assign it employees. It goes into a place in which it's not assigned nor is it open. This issue has caused conflict several times in which someone is waiting for help but we had no idea until we do a full search in which it will then be visible.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
Questions? Your answer is a phone call away, and there's always a human that answers the phone! We use Facility Scheduling and Maintenance Direct. Both products are easy to use and it's easy to train users in our buildings. SchoolDude also offered conference call training when we did the initial set up.

Cons
I can honestly say I have not had a negative experience with SchoolDude.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
MaintenanceDirect is very user-friendly. If you should have a issue navigating the system the customer service/ technical support is awesome.

Cons
I would like to be able to batch close work order but craft, assigned to, and/or purpose code.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
I have had great success using both the Maintenance Direct program and the PM Direct program. Both have assisted my District with becoming more efficient with the Maintenance work orders and the Preventive Maintenance schedules. The online help or direct phone help is outstanding as well.

Cons
There really is nothing about the schooldude program that I do not like at this time.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
As a Technology Coodinator, I evaluate a lot of different software. ALL of the School Dude products are simple to setup and very easy for the customer to use. The tech support above and beyond what is normally expected. They were able to fix my routing issue in less time than it took for me to login to the portal.

Cons
I wish School Dude was more affordable. On the other hand, you get what you pay for in life.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
When it worked right, which was before 2017, the inventory direct was a great tool for our Warehouse (over 4000 items). Before 2017, when things started going haywire, the PM direct was good; it could have been better. The Maintenance Direct still seems to be working.

Cons
In March of 2017 I do not know what changed; support has never been great but we started having all kinds of bizarre problems and most have not been fixed. The problems have been turned over to their developers......where they stay I guess.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 5/10

Pros
The product is cost-effective. The only hardware I need is a computer, smart phone, or tablet. The vendor is in touch with the needs of the clients they are trying to reach.

Cons
I would like the product to have more capability to clean up clutter in various data fields. I would like to have more contact from my account representative/manager.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
software is well organized that is about it

Cons
everything, I can never seem to log in to the web site this is a website problem, also the program runs really slow if I knew what I know now I would have never invested so much time into this useless program

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 0/10

Pros
Ease of use for price, great reporting. The Dude Intelligence reporting is newly developed and comes right out of the box with great graphs and organized data.

Cons
Currently limited in long term root cause failure analysis due to restricted levels of asset organization.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
User Friendly for both techs and requester to make work orders.

Cons
The reports do not allow for various options I may wish to use to generate a report and entering of work orders as an administrator is very time consuming. Would also like to attach a file when creating a work order, not have to save it first then go back and upload file.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 5/10

Rating breakdown

Pros
With multiple campuses - being able to track work orders, in particular being able to search specific rooms or areas that have issues, has made identifying trouble spots or failing equipment much easier.

Cons
I have had no real issues with this product that have not been solved by their support team.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
It is extremely user friendly and the more we learn about the system the more it has to offer. All of my techs were able to navigate through the system and get the basics down in a matter of minutes by day 2 they were creating work orders and asking about searching work history on equipment.

Cons
I have had to input all my assets, vendors, manufacturers, etc. the data entry is still ongoing after several months. I would suggest hiring someone for data entry.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The screens are easy to follow, most of the time it uses drop down boxes for filling out information. We use three products from School Dude. Maintenance, IT Direct and Trip direct. All three of these are very easy to use.

Cons
At times there are too many boxes that are required to be filled out.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
I like how easy it is to keep up with all my requests. It is much easier than requests coming to my email and getting lost with all of my other inbox items.

Cons
I would like for the process for doing a query to be much easier. It is not a simple process!

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
It's intuitive and easy to use and maintain. Great customer service. Great peer discussion group.

Cons
I would like to be able to assign the work orders to more than one person; I would like Action not taken in red to disappear out of the Action Taken box

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
I like the warehouse affect being able to put all the information that you have in the warehouse and match the warehouse product to the job...

Cons
I like it the way it it is you don't have to change a thing....

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Everything is amazing. All support, is great! Maint Direct and all other products work great together.

Cons
It slow at times when out of range of wifi or LTE. Maybe there could be an app for Windows tablets.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
School dude is always up and running. I have used school dude for over 3 years now and it works all the time. I have never had a time where i tried to sign on and it was down.

Cons
I don't like how when teachers submit a school dude they come in twice sometimes.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
It helps me keep track of all our work and preventative maintenance.

Cons
FS Direct is harder to understand all of it. It takes the longest to learn.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
This software is very user friendly and fairly easy to navigate. It is a great improvement from our previous work order and inventory system.

Cons
Even though it is web based, this could cause issues if either of our networks go down for any significant amount of time.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Rating breakdown

Pros
Very simple and intuitive to use. Permission levels can be set up to let users have sufficient access to edit database records and fields without too much restriction. This allows for good customization.

Cons
There are limitations with search and look up features for certain fields of the data records. In most cases, one can search based on any data field, but in some key cases this is not easy and a round about way of finding a record is required.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
Support staff is excellent. Response time when asking a question is answered fast and efficiently.

Cons
Unable to delete work orders. I understand this is a quality control issue. Also, to be able to create our own Crafts.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
As a product, MaintenanceEdge is supported by excellent customer support. The product itself is simple and straightforward once you've learned the interface. The streamlining of requests is intuitive and promotes a more productive work environment.

Cons
There are a few holes in functionality that either require long-winded solutions for the end user or aren't possible at all. Searches and filters are rudimentary, and the UI is outdated and clumsy.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Rating breakdown

Pros
I like that it has drop down choices. It is fast and easy to choose.

Cons
I would like the drop down for the permanent building that I am employed to be already chosen, so I don't have to choose the building.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Ease of usage and comprehensive reports. I particularly like the conflict alerts.

Cons
Slow at times. However, the periods of slow-ness are random.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
Simplicity of service entry for teachers and concise ticket view for technicians.

Cons
The need to refresh page to display new service tickets.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The ability to retrieve past information anytime I need it.

Cons
Nothing really. It's very easy to learn and user friendly. I can't think of anything I wold change.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Maintenance Direct keeps my jobs organized, employees efficient and customers happy.

Cons
Because it's so easy for everyone put in work orders.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The ease of tracking all items, from budget to problems with equipment.

Cons
Sometimes, searching can be a problem if you do not put enough info in to start.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The one thing that I do like about this system is that if you use both IT and Maintenance, you can send a ticket over to the other side without reentering it.

Cons
The biggest issue with this software is that everything about IT tickets is difficult. It's difficult for the users to create them. It's difficult for the staff to manage the assignments. It is counter-intuitive to enter work done on the ticket. Because there is no real security, it exposes our ticket content to the world if they just enter an email address.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 1/10

Rating breakdown

Rating breakdown

Pros
Easy and simplistic steps to process your order with customization. I like the graphs and data presentation.

Cons
Report generation on schedule. Limitations on search feature. Wish there was email notification when work was complete

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Rating breakdown

Pros
This product is very timely and efficient! Easy to use, SchoolDude let's me see as much of a work order as I need or as little as necessary. Filling out a work order is fast and easy as this product has been tailored to our specific use.

Cons
There is nothing I like least. As of yet we are not able to input FAI barcode tag numbers, but this is a minor issue.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
What I like most about this software is that it's very easy to navigate and not too complicated for a beginner

Cons
What I least like about this software Is that is only limited to do certain things unlike some other software that can do multiple functions

Rating breakdown

Pros
Cloud based software doesn't need installation. The onsite customer support and installation was phenomenal. It's really easy to use and doesn't require much training. CSV export/import facilitates data transfer among applications.

Cons
It's focused only on maintenance management, which may be a limitation for some. It does not do min/max inventory point reordering.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 6/10

Pros
To have the ability to be highly efficient in terms of tracking work orders throughout the district and the accessibility to run reports; simply because all the information is recorded accurately.

Cons
That once an Administrator's role has been changed there is no way of tracking if they still use those rights. Ex: From Administrator's role to Clerk role.... I haven't been able to create a system whereby the requesters are able to complete a questionnaire before being allowed to generate a work order for HVAC craft.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Rating breakdown

Pros
Easy to use, unlimited support from the team at FacilityDude

Cons
None

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Customer service is excellent! They are always only a phone call or email away. Willing to walk me through whatever question or concern I may have.

Cons
The initial training takes to long to schedule, often it's weeks in advance. New users need training immediately available.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
User interface is simplistic.

Cons
Not easy to navigate or find backend information. I do not like how work for the day is presented.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 3/10

Pros
This software has a lot of potential for us. The ability to track costs of repairs, parts, downtime, etc. could be really valuable. Having an accurate parts inventory will also be very nice when we get to that point. Keeping track of what work has been done on the different assets has been the best for us so far. Finally, having a parts list for each piece of equipment will be awesome.

Cons
It is not a very sleek or modern user interface. Also, there are abundant features that can provide great value but it takes a lot of clicks to access what I want. Sometimes it seems like there are too many steps to perform what I want to. One example would be PO's. I also wish it would allow me to customize more so I can avoid fields of information that I don't need.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 5/10

Pros
I like that it has options to select different teams to send in requests and it gets recorded immediately.

Cons
There should be an option to amend the request instead of having to create a new one.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
The software has got great features packed and synced in perfectly for any Building Management System to manage soundly. Work Orders and Change Orders are created and managed with so much ease!

Cons
It still has got some navigation issues to resolve and make things inside more simpler and way better!

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 7/10

Pros
The unlimited support is really good and super helpful! They really excel here. And having unlimited users has truly been more helpful than I knew.

Cons
We are a manufacturing facility, and they typically had been focused on schools, but they are growing with more manufacturing customers and continually adding and making more adjustments.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Maintenance Edge is easy to implement and daily use by myself and my technicians is quick. The FacilityDude staff are some of the nicest and easy to work with people that I have encountered.

Cons
I am in the manufacturing business (hardwood lumber mills). The heavy equipment and truck application of Maintenance Edge is not quite as interactive as previous programs I have used. The staff is listening to manufacturing clients to make these issues more workable and is making changes in the program to help users of trucks and other rolling stock to make use and the resulting information simpler to enter and report on.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
the ease of user integration for work order managment

Cons
some limitations of the software and the learning curve can varied

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
The product has been good, but the customer service and training has been what has made it a success

Cons
There are a few things that I wish took a few less clicks to complete.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10