BigChange Reviews

Pros

I think the best element of this product is that’s it very versatile as it allows you to design it around your current operation. Also the team are constantly releasing useful updates, some of which make life a little easier and some offer productivity gains.

Cons

There nothing really that’s bad here, any elements that were hare to navigate are constantly being updated to make them as user friendly as possible.

Pros

My favourite part of BigChange is having all of the tools needed to run a business in one place. Prior to the implementation of BigChange we had a scheduling programme, a CRM, a vehicle tracking system and an invoicing software. We now just use BigChange for all of these functions.

Cons

I would like to see more flexibility in terms of additional features and making it more bespoke to individual businesses. It can sometimes feel like a one-size-fits-all approach.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing BigChange

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to BigChange

Pros

BigChange is easy to use on a day-to-day basis - creating quotes, jobs and contracts and purchase orders is easy, after the initial set up. Scheduling is straightforward.I liked the suggestions portal and the feeling that improvements were being made based on our requirements (it's a shame that this no longer exists).

Cons

We have always wanted an asset management system, but have never found a solution that would work with our custom job reports, and record trends. We looked into integration with laboratories, but costs were prohibitive. Things like being able to see calendars on devices, easier stock and timesheet management, having sites and jobs linked to account managers in an effective way, are all things we have never managed to sort out. Having additional costs for developments which would be helpful for all customers has deterred us. Many issues going to Roadcrew have never been completed, and service levels have dropped off in the last year.

Pros

Ability to see jobs in real time. Allows complete visibility throughout the whole business. We use the knowledge base for how too's and all of our policies to make sure that people use the correct ones. Being involved with the BC team when things don't quite work how you would like and they are alway willing to listen and take on board my suggestions and ideas.THe basic setting up was relativley easy and the worksheets are a great idea!

Cons

The financial side of BC reporting isn't really up to scratch at the moment and we have had to find work arounds.

Pros

User friendly and customizable to fit our operation and we can always find a way to do something using the system, you just have to be a creative problem solver!

Cons

mobile app for the admin side could do with being developed, or a more mobile friendly version for quick changes on the move.

Pros

The system worksheets are a game changer

Cons

It’s too clunky - multiple pop ups and no real organisational system

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing BigChange

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to BigChange

Pros

Job Watch is a very modular product and very straight forward to tailor to an individual business. Implementing this software had an immediate impact on the speed at which field service jobs were detailed and billed to the client. Cash flow was positively effected due to itemised billing, client sign off of work completed and job reports tied to invoices. Job watch manages all of the processes concerning my company's field service activity, from the tracking of engineers to the delivery of an accurate invoice with the added bonus of reducing time and costs associated with service administration.

Cons

The contracts section of the software is difficult to tailor to our business and engineers on site do not have visibility of the contract levels that are set so they cannot see what works are covered by any agreement.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to BigChange

Pros

Its functionality and the ability to hold all our customers details, job details and job tracking.

Cons

There are several actions that need to be done separately in order for an automation to work. This can be tricky to work out and normally involves calling Road Crew.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing BigChange

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to BigChange

Pros

That all the things we need are on the same software and they all work together. We previously used 4 pieces of software to do all we do on BigChange, and it's made our processes so much slicker and more professional! Our resources have found the app so much easier than previous software's we've used.

Cons

Stock & Equipment is not easy to use at all. I have tried to work round with what we can but I can't find a way this will work for us

Pros

The ability to tailor a bespoke software system that works for your team and your customers. A we continue to systemise our business, Big Change are at the heart of this.

Automation, photographic job reports, workflows which drive consistency and track your engineer function.

Cons

The system sometimes doesn't flow very easily at times, many clicks to get from A to B at times.

Pros

The onboarding and customer service is great. First line support are excellent and it's refreshing to find a company that you call and easily get through to a real person that can resolve problems. The availability of the APIs is generally better than the alternatives.

Cons

The reports are not good and not well thought out when compared to competitors, exporting is difficult or not available for some reports and there are no options for the automation of report exports for integration.

Pros

Great for setting up customers and scheduling works

Cons

shame it doesn't pull all the information through
shame there's not enough implementation time given
shame about the lack of after care and support
would use it a lot more but really don't know how to and not paying for more implementation time

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to BigChange

Pros

The process of setting up the software was much easier than expected and using the system to match our existing work sheets and procedures was very easy to do.
The system allowing us to see everything as it is happening has had a massive impact on our business. We can now invoice quicker because we can see straight away if a job has been completed without having to make phone calls to our operatives. Getting live data from vehicles has allowed us to track mileage much easier and help us monitor our vehicles much more efficiently. The planner allows you see if the work you are giving your operatives is realistic.

Cons

On the fleet section it gives you columns for when Services, Mot, tax etc are due, but we are unable to add to this column, we have other things for our vehicles that we need to book in but we have to keep track of this another way off the system.

Pros

I like the Scheduling feature once the jobs are on. Very easy to schedule and reallocate jobs when you need to.
I also like the Easy Views - This is one of the most helpful sections of the system.

Cons

Having to create a Customer site (Child Company) for every new job you get and then creating a new job especially when you may never work at that site again. would be much easier quicker and convenient if you could free type the site address in.
The training side of it I have to admit is awful. It has taken me so long to get where I am now and most of that has been my time sat playing around with the system - The training videos are too fast, it skips parts out or assumes you know where exactly you are meant to go on the system to do or find something, or it says this part will be covered in another module. A guide for logging a customer - Guide for Logging a Customer Site - A Guide for inputting a job - A Guide for raising an Invoice would be so much better than trying to watch a video take notes and then try and remember how to do it, Esp as customers are expected to input and set up everything virtually within the system.
MAPS - It would be helpful if it would advise how many miles away the engineer is until he reaches his destination.
JOBS / INVOICES - Once the Jobs or Invoices are complete you can't amend any of the details this is very annoying as you are having to duplicate everything and then save any pictures etc and worksheets and move them over to the next one. ALSO the description you type when raising the job. If you make a spelling mistake and the Job is complete you can't correct this field - This is then on the customers Invoice.

Pros

BigChange has a friendly and appealing interface that is easy to navigate. Fleet management and tracking is easy and comes with a mobile app that allows you to keep an eye on your assets on the move. Scheduling a job is easy and being able to see live progress on any job is very useful.

Cons

As with many comprehensive packages they didn’t start out that way meaning they have grown arms and legs as time has gone by. This can mean that as more aspects of your business gets integrated with the system some areas fall short in terms of features or functionality, especially if your industry is part of a smaller customer base. For example, many of your personnel’s information is needed to the point that the system becomes a natural HR hub or platform, but permissions are either too much or too little to keep this information withheld enough from other staff in some cases. Separately, in a world where much job planning is done months in advance, only being able to see 28 days worth of jobs on the tablets is frustrating, especially when technicians are trying to book holidays. The system has so much to offer that inevitably many will pay for functionality they simply don’t need. A 500mb data allowance per tablet per month is virtually impossible to stay within on a platform that encourages plenty of photo taking as part of workflows - this results in high excess data charges…a very painful and unneeded extra cost.

Pros

Instant updates from the field engineers to the office enabling the support staff to update customers , it has a built in vehicle tracker which saved us money as we was able to remove our existing trackers from the vehicles cutting down on running cost , we have also reduced our paper work by 85% which is a saving to the company

Cons

Stock systems is not straight forward and site asset logging does not work how we would like it , but knowing big change this will be sorted in the near future

Pros

The system is internet based which is a good feature as can be accessed remotely with ease. This system is quicker and has more features than our previous one, although more assistance in setting these up from big Change is required. Big change continues to develop and add features that are needed.

Cons

The monthly invoices is a massive issue, it shouldn't be such a long winded process to submit our monthly invoices. We also have different customer categories on the system and due to the data being different on the detail tab, if the drop down is changed accidentally, even if not saved all data is lost - this has caused numerous issues whilst learning how the system works. The onboarding process was more bundled in data than understanding how the system works and how to input the data, it has been with monthly issue since our go live in March with has caused additional unnecessary administration work. The hand over was also pretty rushed and felt like once on boarded we were left to get on with it rather than assisted in the continuous development of the newly taken out system.

Pros

It is really easy to interrogate and interact with

Cons

Not easy to work out how to use reporting etc, without using the university. Sometimes counterintuitive compared to other planning applications. Would be helpful to be able to easily build and interrogate reporting. Sometimes not able to report on certain things eg worksheets

Pros

big change was already in use when i joined the company, it was easy to learn and use.alot of aspects to it and some useful tools.

Cons

As i implemented the daily walk round vehicle checks on the mobile app which was relatively easy to set up i was disappointed that you can't print off these checks or any defect reports to keep on a manual file.

Pros

Ease of use, job scheduling is fast, easy and simple. Worksheets can be created to suit job categories and business needs. Fleet management provides reminders when vehicle maintenance is due and daily reports via vehicle checks. Expenses can be attached to work orders in order to set the correct costs for invoicing clients. Vehicle tracking and reporting, financial reports, it's all there in one place.

Cons

As our business grows, I'm sure there will be additional features we will come across that would be beneficial but so far I can't say there is anything we don't like. Perhaps the process of adding new resources could be slightly easier.

Pros

The ability to collective store information between both customers, jobs & resources also for a service company has allowed us to have everything available within a couple of clicks. Doing this allows us to keep a live up to date paper trail that anyone in the business can get information from.

Cons

At times some adjustments & changes are often discussed and then taking in excess of a year.Additionally there are a few things which might seem like a minor tweak but could often requires hours of back and forth. Sometimes some factors of Job Watch are very binary and sometimes require some further flexibility.

Pros

The Dashboard and Schedule screens are great - so easy to understand and use. The vehicle tracking is excellent too - we particularly like being able to use Google to actually see where vehicles are parked. The ability to produce league tables of driver behaviour has also had a great impact on the behaviour of our engineers, and our fleet insurers like this too.
Road Crew are always helpful and knowledgeable and theon-line help centre is also useful.
The integration with our bespoke management software was relatively easy and any subsequent tweaks have been easy to manage.
Our engineers are very happy not to be hand writing job sheets any more and clients are more than happy to accept electronic records.

Cons

The facility to download data to create bespoke reports would be very useful, especially around the Resources and Vehicle information - the data on what they do is great but to get a list of, for example, engineers and their skills is not possible without asking Road Crew to do this.

Pros

It rolls many functions of the business up into one place, making managing and cross referencing between them much easier. The customizable aspects also make the job management side feel more unique to our own needs and allow us to adapt it on the fly rather than trying to work out how to make a system work for us. The support team are also always incredibly helpful!

Cons

None that come to mind immediately. We did have a couple of things we would have liked at integration but they have all been added since throughout various updates (Such as colour coding for jobs on the schedule)

Pros

This is a really easy system to use, you can design to meet your company needs for policies, procedures, health & safety. You can manage the system yourself, you do not need software engineers to design your worksheets this can all be done in house

Cons

There is a big opportunity to increase a HR facility. We currently pay for HR Access for our HR needs, when we could run just one system but improvements need to be made. the message system could do with having the ability to add an attachment and the text amount increased. A URL (as requested by me as a development request) to the notes section.

Pros

The functionality of the system is great, we make best use of the system onsite to show evidence of jobs and allow our customer to sign off works which removes any confusion over a completed job.

Cons

One issue we have found is, when jobs are uploaded to the big change the map will only show one job per location/postcode, the projects we are awarded could have up to 10 jobs on one site under the one postcode so on a overview the map doesn't show our full capacity.