What’s new from construction industry software providers? It’s been a while so we decided to ask. In this issue we focus on multi-product providers HCSS and Viewpoint. Admir Hadziabulic, director of support services at HCSS reviews the range of options open to managers by way of reviewing what HCSS provides, while Wayne Newitts, in Field Marketing at Viewpoint, plays the devil’s advocate. In the next issue, it’s takeoff software and other specialties.
Where We Are
“Until recently,” says Newitts, “the more sophisticated construction software systems were designed primarily around the needs of the office with smaller, discrete applications, often from a variety of vendors, applied to different needs in the field and operations.
“That the industry developed along these lines is not surprising, given that access to data, let alone integrated software systems, was not readily available to job sites until relatively recent cloud computing and smart mobile devices. Now that the technological obstacles to moving data between the office and the field have been mostly removed, many contractors are realizing the potential benefits of building a smarter job site.
“Being aware of the opportunity is a good distance away from realizing it, however. A good software system will have the functionality users need to get work done, but if it is not designed around the way the intended users work, then it doesn’t matter how functionally excellent it may be—it will likely become ‘shelf-ware.’
“Ease of use starts with building a user interface that suits the bill. Does field staff typically use tablets or smart phones? Does your organization want its field staff focused more on safety than software? Then their software should be developed with simplicity and speed in mind.”
“We also keep an ever-growing knowledge base in our common how-to and troubleshooting library available integrated with our flagship product HeavyBid. By simply clicking F1 on their keyboard, the user is presented with the most commonly asked questions regarding the feature they’re using.”
Well said, but what about actual training? “Training is rarely, if ever, ‘one and done,’” says Newitts. “Even simple single-function applications change over time and require users to learn and adapt. This issue is only exacerbated with more sophisticated software. Users of Enterprise Resource Planning systems, for example, should expect to include ongoing training as part of the cost of ownership.”
“Self-guided training using online resources provided by the vendor is becoming the norm in the industry, but significant variations, both good and bad, exist. To address this, software vendors are tending toward delivering smaller, easier-to-consume online help tools that take into account the tasks their users are performing. Instead of having to learn about every feature of a particular module to understand how to perform a task, the user can search for this information among the different online tools offered. Better systems will make effective use of online help tools within the software itself that anticipate the learning needs of individual user based on the work they’re performing.”
Onboarding Made Easy
And it’s not only existing employees that managers should be concerned about. HCSS launched the HCSS Academy in 2016 as a fundamentally no-cost resource to alleviate the burden of onboarding new employees. “When a customer hires a new foreman,” says Hadziabulic, “they can put him or her through training on how to use our HCSS Field app. Our online course goes beyond click training to educate users on cultural and business best practices. Depending on the course, at the end, we provide simulations or quizzes to validate learning. We have customers that instruct their employees to bookmark the HCSS Academy and turn to it first when they have questions. All learner progress is tracked, and a summary is provided to each user.
“For the customer-paid portion of the academy, HCSS is currently working on the release of My Team. Companies will be able to get a bird’s eye view of the training their employees have completed and are currently working on and assign courses to users and run reports on their progress.”
In addition to the HCSS Academy, HCSS also offers online implementation sessions and onsite visits and implemenation. “Our implementers learn your business processes and how they can be optimized. Traditionally this consists of two design session in which the implementers work with the customer to create a design plan for getting the maximum benefit from our software. The implementers then visit the customer’s site to assist in training and rolling out the design plan to field and office locations. We’ve also found online implementations have been effective for select, small-scale clients. Our implementers spend a series of remote sessions assisting in the design and roll out of the software.”
Webinars: “We leverage webinars in a variety of ways covering both one-time offerings and as a library of programs that end users can engage with at their own pace. To develop our new release/new feature webinars, the product manager will do a ‘deep dive’ showing off the new functionality. For our non-release webinars, we curate the sessions based on analyzing customer call drivers to identify commonalities where a central idea or focal point emerges. We then engage product experts and craft this idea into an educational experience for the most impact on the highest number of users. Across all of our sessions, we do a live Q&A to leverage the topic experts in the room.”
Knowledge Base: “We also host an online knowledge base containing several thousand articles spanning frequently asked questions, how-to documentation, and solutions to common troubleshooting issues. We leverage Knowledge-Centered Service methodology, where content is generated on demand. If a call is started and we have existing documentation that can be leveraged, it is. If there is no information within our knowledge base, the technician will create knowledge content based on the context and outcome of the case, which can be leveraged for future interactions. Each technician is equipped with the necessary tools to generate knowledge content formatted in a simplistic manner to directly address real situations of customer interaction.”
Telephone Support: “We encourage our customers to call us with how-to and best practices questions. In 2018, 46% of our support cases were how-to or training-related questions. We also offer an HCSS Community platform where customers can ask questions of other product users. Our Help Center has over 2,000-plus knowledge articles on common how-to questions. We are continually seeing a decline in how-to cases and an increase in online visitors, which proves that customers want to learn more and answer their questions on their own. A good rule of thumb is, if you can’t find the answer in five minutes, give us a call.”
Costs: “Most training material is included with the purchase of our software. Our self-paced courses on HeavyBid, HeavyJob, Equipment360, and HCSS Dispatcher are included with a subscription to annual maintenance. In order to truly maximize the impact of the HCSS Academy, we encourage companies and managers to utilize the social learning features along with the content provided. HCSS plans on adding knowledge incentives, such as certifications and badges that validate users continuous learning efforts. A certified employee means that they are ready to hit the road running and require less training,” says Hadziabulic.
New Technology Drives Training
“The newer a technology is to the market or a group of people, the more that group will benefit from the human interaction that comes with in-person training,” says Newitts. “With new (or new-to-you) technologies, you don’t know what you don’t know. So there is great benefit in hearing the issues that other users are having and the ways they are using the software to their advantage. These types of ad-hoc exchanges occur naturally in-person but are harder to duplicate in less personal online training. Plus, when they’re away from the office, learners tend to be able to focus more on training and less on the distractions of their ‘day job.’ Also, the relationships that can be built with the vendor and fellow users can be invaluable in the future. In-person training typically costs more, however, and often includes the additional burden of travel expenses.
“For mission critical applications and systems (your accounting or payroll software, for example), access to live support, whether online or on the phone, is a vital part of Viewpoint’s training offerings. Users will often contact a help desk or service because they simply don’t know how to operate the software. But because support staff members aren’t trainers, the result is that a user who really needs some time invested in training ends up relying on one-off solutions to issues that would mostly disappear if proper training were received. The party who pays most for this is the user, since they become stuck in a cycle of using a support line as an inadequate substitute for real in-depth training.
“The most successful individuals and software firms share a number of common characteristics, one being the drive to constantly upgrade and improve their skill sets. That said, according to a recent report from the McKinsey Global Institute, our industry is second to last in digitalization. As a whole, we still rely on non-electronic exchanges of information and documentation to get work done.
“Construction is facing a confluence of related explosions in technologies. These include mobile data, cloud computing, predictive analytics, and more, and we’re facing them while already in a bit of a technology hole. The good news is that a new generation of workers comes relatively pre-equipped to understand how to take advantage of these technologies. The big question is whether we as an industry can attract a sufficient number of the digitally literate to join our ranks.”
