Ventus

Avantages

Ventus has modules that address the majority of our business application needs in one piece of software. It gives us the ability to instantly dispatch P1 tickets to our remote technicians and gives them the ability to invoice instantly. It also gives us the ability to manage construction projects from start to finish.

Inconvénients

There have been many improvements to reporting in the application, but I would like to see a dashboard that would give us quick data visualization options.

Avantages

Love the mobile data for the techs to bill on site.

Inconvénients

Check register is hard for me as I compare it to Quickbooks. I would love to have a little more training that doesn't cost me a ton to get. To see how I can make use of the software even more.

Avantages

The program has a lot to offer. Can be an all inclusive software system.

Inconvénients

No or very little training on the software. No idea how to use most of it. Not consistent from one module to another. EX. spell check in service billing but not in accounts receivable billing.

Avantages

As a salesmen Ventus makes it easy to compile quotes or PO if needed. With the process being similar it makes training easier with new hires.

Inconvénients

The graphical user interface or reporting and ease of use when using reporting.

Avantages

Ventus has a huge array of updates and advancements for the staff in the office and the techs in the field. The system seemed user-friendly and easy to navigate depending on tasks.

Inconvénients

The colors in Ventus were hard on the eyes from time to time.

Avantages

Pros-One software for all facets needed to operate a business. The staff at VMS make you feel like family and are personally vested in your success. Bar coding capabilities. Ability to transfer Estimate to Job Cost and Service. The ease of searching is great. Docu - ability to attach all documents. Vast number of reports, very diverse in what you can pull. Ability to save to queue to have a history of all transactions.

Inconvénients

Cons - No user's manual. Inconsistency between modules in where to go to search really just inconsistencies between modules period (Ex. some modules you go through Tasks to execute things, others you can do directly from the screen you are in). Can't set zero quantities doing a cycle count for a portion of inventory. Lack of synchronized data (Ex. PM Inquiry -must execute function to make sure it is current; Job Cost - when changing contract through JOB BUDGET/COST SUMMARY - it does not update contract amount in Job File) Passwords - need ability to set override capabilities for specified actions. Daily Password needed for everything under Options. Lack of automatic GL entry or notice that one is needed if a user performs a transaction that needs to have a GL trans done (ex -physical count, inv adj) Lack of "locked for editing" warning when accessing something that someone else is currently in.

Avantages

I love the complete, thorough, and effective applications that allow for effective accounting and profit calculating.

Inconvénients

There is really nothing I dont like about it

Avantages

The ability to have everything in one software.

Inconvénients

Some of the processes has quite a few steps that i wish were more streamlined.

Avantages

Item inquiry is one of my favorite functions. Ventus makes it easy to find when a part came in, where it came from and the open and past sales. This has became a time saver in many ways.

Writing checks in Ventus is a breeze. It allows us to change the information prior to creating the check if discount amounts were entered in incorrectly.

There is a new credit memo function in AR for applying checks to invoices has saved time and allowed us to keep a better AR record.

The new lookup functions that have been added everywhere makes finding information easier. One downfall is not being able to lookup a number with begins with.

Inconvénients

The item inquiry is one of my favorite features in Ventus. However, we do not have a way to look up customer part/material sales history. This can be difficult when a customer would like something that they ordered before but is unsure of the part number.

Post-match: The overall idea of post-match is wonderful! However, we are a company that pays our invoices by the discount date. We were unable to create checks for parts that were not received in. Loved the idea of being able to see what po was applied to the invoice. However, saving money was a bigger priority. We had to leave post-match so we were able to write checks. Still waiting for that function to change so we are able to utilize Ventus to the fullest.

There has been a recent change to where our overall control of our company maintenance was taken away. Our company takes pride in the controls that we have over our accounting software and the upkeep of it. Because of this we have set-up controls to keep others out where they do not belong. Our control over this has been taken away because of other companies and their misuse of the company maintenance, AR Inquiry and AP History. This should be regulated by the company and not VMS.

Avantages

I like most that the software contains almost everything that we need. It has service for our dispatching and bill of service. It has job costing for all of our larger projects. It has Payroll, Inventory, Accounts Payable, Purchase Orders, Equipment Controls, Call Management, Estimating, Order Processing for over the counter parts sales and Accounts Receivable. You wont need anything separate to run your day to day transactions.

The Dispatch board is our FAVORITE part. You can schedule your technicians, maintain contracts with billing, bill by time and material, fixed dollar or flat rate.

Inconvénients

There is few online add options. For example, when you need to make a new inventory item, you have to go to the item maintenance file. So you have to leave the screen to you are and go somewhere else - however, you can keep the tabs open so don't loss what you are working on.

Some of their add ons (like e-time) don't really work for technicians that are multi-taskers (work both on jobs and service tickets).

Avantages

From an accounting standpoint, it works very well because all modules, including General Ledger, are part of the Ventus product.

The dispatch board is very dynamic especially when running mobile data. We are also implementing the barcoding module and DocU, the paperless document management module.

Inconvénients

Because the software is so versatile, sometimes we struggle with finding the best way to set up our work flow process.

Avantages

It works well, gives us accurate information, and bottom line, makes running our business simpler by being able to integrate everything we do on one platform without compromises.

Inconvénients

My only criticism is that we will sometimes experience a new issue after loading a software update. We always get a quick response to any issues that result from that when contacting their support personnel.

Avantages

Bar-coding has allowed us to tag each individual item as it is received. Once tagged it makes the transfer of material from warehouse to Tech van much easier and faster (saving time) and this allows us to scan the item versus typing it in which can lead to many typos and errors which leads to wrong parts getting transferred and of course that leads to loss of money and extremely time consuming to fix (MONEY SAVER $$). Bar-coding also has allowed our Techs in the field to be able to scan the item directly to their tablet. This is much faster and no room for typos and picking the wrong part. Not only has this helped us in the everyday operation but Bar-coding and Scanning also has cut our time for inventory down by more than half. What would take us (2) full days we are now doing in less than an (8) hour day.

Inconvénients

Bar-coding and Scanning has been a positive for us.

Avantages

What I like most about Ventus is that our company is able to use one software for all of our database needs, everything we do is run through one database that covers us from contracts, service management, purchasing/accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, billing, it does it all and each module communicates with the other.

Inconvénients

My only dislike is that due to the system constantly being enhanced via software updates, our company experiences a higher than desirable frequency of bugs and issues when we do software updates. These can often be solved fairly quickly, but the amount of issues our company has faced has been a real hardship both in terms of time we have to spend tracking issues and on the flip side, waiting on fixes for the issues that we experience. We have only been on Ventus for a little over a year so we are hopeful that as time goes on the problems will become a less common occurrence for us.

Avantages

It is a fully integrated product from purchase orders to dispatch to all things financial. We don't have to go outside the VMS product for supporting software such as an accounting product. Ventus can be customizable to fit your needs and have not seen a better dispatch board.

Inconvénients

There are places in the software that are inflexible and some processes that could be improved such as the ability to online add items (such as a new vendor or a new inventory part #). Currently have to go the task of adding something new.

Avantages

Customer Support and ability to customize

Inconvénients

Reports. But there is now a designer function and more reports that are Excel Raw - improving each day

Avantages

We migrated from VMS to Ventus about 4 years ago, and it was a great decision! We were up and running within a day and needed very little training. The support from VMS is great, they are always very helpful and responsive. The product is easy to use and navigate, and we are very happy!

Inconvénients

Currently, the only issue we have with the software is that we are not allowed to have a master password for the Company Maintenance portion, and have to call in every time we need to use that portion of the software. Sometimes we are doing maintenance changes after hours, and we cannot obtain a password then.

Avantages

The software handles all of our needs in one interactive package. It seamlessly handles detailed workorders, inventory, job cost, payroll, general ledger, equipment control. AR, AP,
general ledger and offers management tools and reporting to know exactly where we are doing well or not so well in real time.
Mobile data, barcode scanning, and % of profit reporting are my favorite features, but I truly enjoy the whole package. Using this software has increased our profit 10% or more.

Inconvénients

Requires employees to be well trained on the software.

Avantages

I like how easy it is to use and understand VMS. You are able to get reports that show you valuable information. You are also able to put things in order by job number or area.

Inconvénients

I don't like that this program is set up as excel but it doesn't have all the functions of excel.
For example you should be able to group a bunch of categories in order and be able to change them.
In Job Cost when setting up a job it would be useful if you could change all of the divisions, departments, or tax codes all at once.

Avantages

The thing I like most is that it is all inclusive containing dispatch / service through payroll and accounting. Also the fact that it’s customizable to your business - different companies have different ways of using it.

Inconvénients

There is a learning curve - it takes a while to learn everything this comprehensive software is capable of. I still am learning more each day even after 2 plus years.

Avantages

integration between all modules is great

Inconvénients

in service - on the gui side (vms not ventus) you can't search by the name of a street, you have to have the house number or when you search in a/r, its is by the vendor id and not the name

Avantages

Top marks for customer support.
Having an integrated solution for all our business is very efficient.

Inconvénients

The documentation is only on-line, not integrated into the software. The documentation is task accomplishment specific. It does not lend itself well to "What does that field do?" or "What is the impact of checking this box?" type questions.

Avantages

THE PROGRAM FOR AIA BILLING IS THE EASY SET UP OF THE JOB TILL COMPLETION
OF THE JOB
THE WAY THE PROGRAM GIVES THE CUSTOMER ONCE SUBMITTED A COMPLETE
BREAK DOWN OF THE BILLING OF THE MONTH - FROM THE INVOICE TO THE SCHEDULE OF
VALUES, TO THE APPLICATION OF PAYMENT

Inconvénients

IF A MISTAKE IS MADE IN THE AP - IT IS NOT FUN TRYING TO CORRECT AND REMOVE

IF A DISCOUNT IS TAKEN AND SOMETHING IN THE SYSTEM DOES NOT TAKE THE DISCOUNT IT CAN SHOW UP IN HISTORICAL NOT A FUN THING TO GET OUT OF THE SYSTEM

Avantages

It helps me to track all of my equipment that I lease and create easy contracts and invoicing as well as all of my rental properties and even consulting services.
I like the easy to use password options. I can secure private information or limit use of programs or reports that are only for use by certain users.

Inconvénients

Requires trained and informed users …...

Avantages

Very robust. Integrated modules allow us to efficiently handle all accounting, payroll, inventory, service management and dispatch functions. The ability to have custom programming for additional needs.

Inconvénients

In the past, work orders were slow to be resolved. Much improved now.