ServiceChannel Pricing, Features, Reviews & Comparison of Alternatives

Pros
Transparency and Consistency: Everything is transparent; when dispatches were created, who created them, what contractor was dispatched, when the tech was on site if there was a proposal, who approved it, when we were invoiced, who approved it, when the invoice was paid, etc. How one location is managed is how all locations are managed. Accountability at all levels, for all things: There's never any doubt about what happened when it happened. Proposal Approvals: Our initial big win with Service Channel was its proposal approval process. Prior to Service Channel, our system of proposal approvals amounted to an excel spreadsheet and a chain of emails that was very hard to manage and impossible to track. Now it clear and consistent and easy to review. Asset Tracking: We have heavily used the asset tracking abilities of Service Channel for the past 2 years. It's now coming to fruition the results of our effort, having the ability to look at any given piece of equipment and see its make/model/serial information and know how many repairs were made over the past year so we can make the best decisions on whether to repair or replace it. Preventative Maintenance: We have ultimate consistency in our PM program knowing when dispatches go out, who they go to, and exactly what the scope of work is that we send. Flexibility: The system is incredibly flexible, not a one size fits all system at all. You can be as creative as possible in its use, tailoring it to your organization's specific needs. Contractor Compliance: Service Channel has helped our accounting team gain consistency in knowing when certificates of insurance are out of date System Reporting: It's incredibly powerful. What do you want to know-- average invoice amounts per trade? what contractor are performing well? what are your top 10 most frequently repaired assets? You name it-- you can report on it. Fluid Accounting Processes: Invoices flow from SC into our Accounting software (with integration) after approval from the field. SC has helped keep our accounting department lean and mean. SC is a widely used, well-developed system -- one of the biggest and best. They're constantly improving.

Cons
Contractor Engagement: Ultimately contractors have to choose to engage and participate in Service Channel and smaller contractors can offer a challenge in their participation. I feel like, if there was one thing I'd improve about the system, I wish it was easier for the contractors to work through their onboarding. The better the contractor experience, the easier for them to navigate, the more contractors that will want to work inside of the system. Without contractor buy-in, the system loses its power. Pay per feature: While SC does have a very strong base feature set, to upgrade and use certain other features, will cost an additional, small, per-site fee. You will run into little programming flaws from time to time and have to report them when they pop up, for correction. Because of the volume of clients that SC has and the fact they have to prioritize improvements, sometimes it takes longer for the correction than one might like.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 7/10

Pros
As a Facilities Manager, high value is placed on ease of use for the field and its versatility. Our staff uses Service Channel for multiple store issues. Repair and Maintenance, Loss Prevention issues including alarm issues and requests for a variety of things, Finance issues including inventory control and auditing matters, Operational issues and requests, overall it is extremely useful and we are expanding its use all the time. One of the nicest features for store associate use is that it is very user friendly, you don't need to be 'techy' to understand it. Creating new service request are made simple by the use of drop down boxes which are self explanatory and the system just leads the user to the next screen... we are very pleased with this tool and will continue using it as we grow.

Cons
There have been a number of upgrades of late, which in itself is good, but often causes the system to run slow... there are new 'bugs' that develop as a result of upgrades which do eventually get resolved.

Rating breakdown

Pros
I love almost everything about SC. It starts with how easy the software is to use. I am on it daily whether it is accepting calls for billing out. In their WO Reports section you can look up all calls that have not been accepted, opened, in progress and complete. SC has an app that allows you to check into business using GPS, for some customers you may need to dial a phone number using a store phone but that is easy! I love that you can submit proposals immediately and the notes section provides a perfect spot to communicate with the customer. As a vendor, communication is key, especially when working in high energy, loud, or busy environments.

Cons
The only thing I don't love is when you reject a call it stays in your open section of the WO reports. I wish they would have a reject section- they may I just have not come across it.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Rating breakdown

Pros
Having worked with various systems of this type at 3 different Fortune 500 companies and 2 major contractors, Service Channel is a great introductory CMMS program. It is very simplistic in its approach to creating work orders and is by far the most contractor-friendly for those with limited technical experience or back office support. The initial training support is fantastic! It is one of the most widely used systems today, most likely due to its ease of use. Therefore, there is an abundance of very qualified contractors readily available to support your needs. Once set up, the electronic payment portion is a outstanding benefit. Extremely effective and easy. I appreciate the team\account manager dedicated to our account. They are always available and willing to help. Excellent partnership and extremely responsive.

Cons
Initial setup and continuing changes are a huge opportunity. The templates for uploading are antiquated and require the creation and review of 1000s of line items of data. Most other comparable systems complete the setup for you. This is not the case with Service Channel. If you have a large portfolio, be prepared to spend 100s of hours setting up. Changes are "clunky" and not intuitive. Recently, the customer interface went through an entire change with no warning or training to the customer. 2 months later and we are still trying to work through the changes. This is not an Asset Management software. If you are looking to report on individual equipment asset life, this is not the program for you. If what you need is an electronic dispatching and reporting system, Service Channel is perfect! If you have a large portfolio with multiple providers, the Preventative Maintenance Module is a huge disappointment. It's nearly impossible to correctly load the first time and even more difficult to manage and make changes and corrections. The Android and iOS apps have extremely limited functionality. Again, another huge disappointment for a company supposed to be on the cutting edge.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 5/10