[Tosh]

What are the benefits of Aworka over Cleaner Planner?

Obviously it's lots cheaper. Has it go Go Cardless integration yet and can you text your customers from the Aworka panel?

If you can't text them from it what solutions are available for this?

Thanks in advance.

[Tosh]

To answer my own question, it appears Aworka is now compatible with GoCardless and also Text local. I never knew that.

[Shrek]

To answer my own question, it appears Aworka is now compatible with GoCardless and also Text local. I never knew that.

Glad you could help 😂

[8weekly]

I'm using Aworka. I've trialed CP twice. I couldn't get on with it. It was slow last time I tried it and you couldn't easily move jobs around on the planning page. It does everything well except handle flat rate VAT.

[Tosh]

To answer my own question, it appears Aworka is now compatible with GoCardless and also Text local. I never knew that.

Glad you could help 😂

I was going to thank myself,  but I talk to myself too much as it is.

[Shrek]

I still use my old maths exercise book to write everything in 

[tlwcs]

Window Cleaning Issues / Re: Aworka

« on: August 05, 2016, 06:24:11 pm »
Quote from: Slack Bladder on August 05, 2016, 06:07:26 pm
Quote from: tlwcs on August 05, 2016, 05:15:15 pm
Quote from: Slack Bladder on August 05, 2016, 03:31:21 pm
Has Aworka got customer texting function at all?

Yes it has.

Thanks.

So, in that case what features does CP have that Aworka doesn't? It also looks like Aworka has GoCardless integration. So, what are we getting for the extra £20 a month that CP is, or the 300% price difference?

I'm not sure now. I trailed CP twice but it's been some time ago now. I pay £100 pa upfront which is superb valve.
The GoCardless feature is included in that price. I would speak to Chris at Aworka.
Tony



You asked this last year, just change, you'll love it and save money too 😁

[Tosh]

You’re right, I did, I forgot. I’m senile.

Actually I remember asking, but don’t know what happened between me saying ’Thankyou’ and me processing it .  Im waiting for Chris to get to me about uploading a data file. Thankyou.

[Og]

I just texted someone using aworka. Painless.

[Perfect Windows]

Emailed Chris at Aworka on Tuesday.  No response yet.

[robbo333]

I text custies when I am using aworka on my phone, no problem.

[8weekly]

Emailed Chris at Aworka on Tuesday.  No response yet.

I usually get a quick response but I've noticed that the "contact us" link is unreliable.

[Perfect Windows]

I think a general danger is that developers rush in, all guns blazing, changing everything and setting the world on fire.  Then, once they have a reasonable amount coming in every month, they have little incentive to keep updating the product.  Why do the extra work for no more money?

I used to work for an organisation that wrote software for the motor trade.  If you wanted a new feature, you paid towards its development and the feature  was yours alone for a year, then became part of the core product.  It meant that the company I worked for always had an incentive to keep moving the product forward.  Made sense to me and to the customers.

Vin

[p1w1]

I think a general danger is that developers rush in, all guns blazing, changing everything and setting the world on fire.  Then, once they have a reasonable amount coming in every month, they have little incentive to keep updating the product.  Why do the extra work for no more money?

I used to work for an organisation that wrote software for the motor trade.  If you wanted a new feature, you paid towards its development and the feature  was yours alone for a year, then became part of the core product.  It meant that the company I worked for always had an incentive to keep moving the product forward.  Made sense to me and to the customers.

Vin

I think you're right there.. it happened to Window Cleaner Pro. I dont think anyone expects it to be updated for years and years, like you say why would the developer want to if he's not really going to make anymore money. I think the case with cleaner planner was that some of these features were all advertised as coming soon etc and it did have a dedicated forum.

I think some people bought into Cleaner Planner because of the future updates/features that were advertised as happening and the forum etc but the forum is gone now, and it's been some while now since these features were advertised as coming soon so expectedly people are starting to ask questions.
I personally wouldn't jump ship because of it Cleaner Planner is still a brilliant program and they may still  be doing all this stuff but it will be a shame if it doesn't emerge and i guess it will leave the door open for someone else to make a program with all the extra features with it taking its custom.

[Tosh]

There’s an element of truth in that, but the boys at CP made all sorts of claims promoting future product upgrades but haven’t been able to deliver what was promised. Then the price goes up as well so most guys are paying 300% what others guys on a different piece of software are paying.  There’s going to be plenty jump ship I would imagine once they realise Aworka is GoCardless/text messaging  compatible. Those were the reasons I left Aworka two years ago.

Failure to honour your promises and then charge OTT rates is always going to mean you fall flat on your face.

[Tosh]

I think you're right there.. it happened to Window Cleaner Pro. I dont think anyone expects it to be updated for years and years, like you say why would the developer want to if he's not really going to make anymore money. I think the case with cleaner planner was that some of these features were all advertised as coming soon etc and it did have a dedicated forum.

There’s only one reason CP closed their forum down. It was too labour intensive. That for me was the first indication.

[Soupy]

There’s only one reason CP closed their forum down. It was too labour intensive.

For me maybe. 

I think the forum was closed because it was highlighting the length of time upgrades were taking, also it served it's purpose really, many of the day to day workings were tweaked due to input from the forum. Also, it was getting a bit "CIU" in there.

[Plankton]

I'm starting to use Smartround, well I should say I installed the app in January with the intentions of being fully up and running with it by last week. Hopefully I'll​stick at it and not go back to using the soon to be weather beaten book.

[Lee GLS]

I'm starting to use Smartround, well I should say I installed the app in January with the intentions of being fully up and running with it by last week. Hopefully I'll​stick at it and not go back to using the soon to be weather beaten book.

I tried smart round but couldn't get on with it, it didn't seem very clear, should probably have given it more time

[sunshine windows]

I thought the forum on cleaner planner was great, as soupy would resolve most issues within 5 mins 😂

[sunshine windows]

On a more serious note, how much is aworka at its premium level of service compared to cleanerplanner. Between 5 of us we pay a fair bit each month to CP.

[8weekly]

On a more serious note, how much is aworka at its premium level of service compared to cleanerplanner. Between 5 of us we pay a fair bit each month to CP.

£5 per additional user.

[windowswashed]

I tried window cleaner pro, had problems with it, in the end I gave up on it. I've always used George as it's a program you buy once and own it and best of all you don't have to  rely on someone else to keep your program running if it fails.
Aworka is a good price for what it offers compared to cleaner planner which I feel is overly priced considering you  only rent it.
I can text every customer I need to in minutes using copy and paste and sending to multiple numbers in one go just using my phone address book.  Gradually adding new customers and ensuring they pay online or BACS costs me nothing each month in handling charges.
Can't justify £25 a month each month to line some developing software programmer's pockets. I would have happily trialled cleaner planner and if it was  beneficial I would happily buy it if it saves time, but not prepared to  pay out each month for what I can do sufficiently using trusted and reliable George.

[Dave Willis]

Cleaner Planner just gets slower and slower, I gave up on the mobile app a year ago at least, it was poor. End of year reports are poor too compared to George, there should be one click to print all.
Probably stick with it for now as I can't be bothered with swapping it all over to Aworka again.

[Shrek]

Iv just been looking at George and it's not bad for a one off payment of £50

[dazmond]

Cleaner Planner just gets slower and slower, I gave up on the mobile app a year ago at least, it was poor. End of year reports are poor too compared to George, there should be one click to print all.
Probably stick with it for now as I can't be bothered with swapping it all over to Aworka again.

it must be something to do with your internet connection dave? i dont think CP is slow at all.in fact its 2000 times better than using a palm device and  the george program.

it takes seconds to upload and download latest data using the mobile app for me.i like it as its virtually effortless.i like how i can add a new job on the app when im out and about and i can slot it in the round order i prefer.

adding temporary notes to worksheets on the app too is very handy.i dont have any problems with CP.I had quite a few with george over the years.i think its worth the £18 a month.

[8weekly]

Cleaner Planner just gets slower and slower, I gave up on the mobile app a year ago at least, it was poor. End of year reports are poor too compared to George, there should be one click to print all.
Probably stick with it for now as I can't be bothered with swapping it all over to Aworka again.

it must be something to do with your internet connection dave? i dont think CP is slow at all.in fact its 2000 times better than using a palm device and  the george program.

it takes seconds to upload and download latest data using the mobile app for me.i like it as its virtually effortless.i like how i can add a new job on the app when im out and about and i can slot it in the round order i prefer.

adding temporary notes to worksheets on the app too is very handy.i dont have any problems with CP.I had quite a few with george over the years.i think its worth the £18 a month.

When I tried it last time it was very slow.

[p1w1]

I've had the odd time we're it's slow on the main program but it's never been slow in regards to the app or it connecting to the internet ever.
Agree with Daz it's must be something at your end.
Great piece of software and a reasonable price too

[mufcglen]

found cleaner planner slow and overpriced, Aworka been spot on for me

[andi wilson]

I like CP, but agree it is painfully slow.. And sometimes it freezes altogether... Grrrr...

[Soupy]

The silence in here is deafening...

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

well that didn't last long boys did it ? guess there not flavour of the months any more remeber the same on here about window cleaning pro boom then bust whos next then to be the best thing in the world of window cleaning programs

[Michael Peterson]

I have used george, aworka,cleanerplanner and wcp, i like cleanerplanner the best but really it needs to continue developing i will try others if it stays where it is

[slap bash]

All these programs come in,  promise the world. Then when they find out its not big money for them, they loose interest and stop development until it dies. They need to produce other platforms for other trades to use.Do I need to spell it out.

[8weekly]

All these programs come in,  promise the world. Then when they find out its not big money for them, they loose interest and stop development until it dies. They need to produce other platforms for other trades to use.Do I need to spell it out.

There are still pretty regularl developments on Aworka

[Tosh]

All these programs come in,  promise the world. Then when they find out its not big money for them, they loose interest and stop development until it dies. They need to produce other platforms for other trades to use.Do I need to spell it out.

I suspect CP got so big it became too big, required too much time, which would explain why it's forum was shut down. They simply didn't like relying on one income stream and have other projects that they need to work on generating  income.

 Anyway I've just paid my last monthly subscription to Cleaner Planner for a little while I've gone over to a Aworka.  It does exactly the same as Cleaner Planner one third of the price

[Soupy]

well that didn't last long boys did it ? guess there not flavour of the months any more remeber the same on here about window cleaning pro boom then bust whos next then to be the best thing in the world of window cleaning programs

None of them have gone bust, so far as I'm aware?

[concept]

I pointed Rob in the direction of this thread, and various points discussed over time, and he assures me CP is very keen to continue development, and is currently prioritising a number of features requested by users.

With a few tweaks and a few additions, CP will be untouchable, if it's not already.

[tlwcs]

I pointed Rob in the direction of this thread, and various points discussed over time, and he assures me CP is very keen to continue development, and is currently prioritising a number of features requested by users.

With a few tweaks and a few additions, CP will be untouchable, if it's not already.

See Slacys post above.  😁

[Pete Thompson]

and he assures me CP is very keen to continue development, and is currently prioritising a number of features requested by users.

The only thing he's keen on is receiving the monthly payments from us, so that he can pay his mortgage while he works on other things.

I've seen this happen before with window cleaning software, CleanerPlanner has begun it's slow and painful death spiral.

I could understand it with Window Cleaner Pro because there was no monthly fee, hence no incentive to keep up, but charging a monthly fee (and so getting a continuous income stream) from CP AND letting customers down with an increasingly unreliable and substandard product is just unacceptable IMO.

It could be the way the software is structured, it's just not properly scalable and so more users will make it ever slower and there's nothing that can be done without re-writing the whole thing completely. (fat chance of that).

[Soupy]

Cleaner Planner just gets slower and slower

Never had this issue.

All these programs come in,  promise the world. Then when they find out its not big money for them

I'd wager that the potential market is bigger than you think. Selling it to the yanks would be the trick.

They simply didn't like relying on one income stream and have other projects that they need to work on generating  income.

Difficult one that, as a software designer Rob would have an hourly rate that he charges, any time spent developing CP that does not directly lead to a sale (or retention of existing customer base) would be unpaid, sort of.

I could understand it with Window Cleaner Pro because there was no monthly fee, hence no incentive to keep up, but charging a monthly fee (and so getting a continuous income stream) from CP AND letting customers down with an increasingly unreliable and substandard product is just unacceptable IMO.

I've never had a problem with reliability and I believe it's still the best out there although it appears Aworka has closed the gap.

I'm still hopeful there will be development.

[Soupy]

I tried window cleaner pro, had problems with it, in the end I gave up on it. I've always used George as it's a program you buy once and own it and best of all you don't have to  rely on someone else to keep your program running if it fails.
Aworka is a good price for what it offers compared to cleaner planner which I feel is overly priced considering you  only rent it.
I can text every customer I need to in minutes using copy and paste and sending to multiple numbers in one go just using my phone address book.  Gradually adding new customers and ensuring they pay online or BACS costs me nothing each month in handling charges.
Can't justify £25 a month each month to line some developing software programmer's pockets. I would have happily trialled cleaner planner and if it was  beneficial I would happily buy it if it saves time, but not prepared to  pay out each month for what I can do sufficiently using trusted and reliable George.

Cleaner Planner (and Aworka) are a different league to George. Seriously. There is no point making the comparison. If you don't need better software than George then why comment on a thread called Aworka vs cleaner planner? To justify it's price tag CP needs to save me an hour a month, which it does easily. What exactly is it you'd want the software to do?

At £25 CP is expensive but only in comparison to the alternatives. If you compare it to similar software in other industries it's actually cheap. Take the beauty industry as an example:

https://biz.booksy.net/en-gb/pricing.html

To run booksy on the scale that I run CP would cost £80 per month and it's not got that many additional features in comparison.

[Martin Lane]

I have a contract with a school they have just got a new software programme that schedules the work for the maintenance guys, and where teachers can request jobs to be done and to report problems
£20.000 for the software and £400 a month in fees

Makes Cleaner planner  a bargain
Martin   

[Soupy]

On a more serious note, how much is aworka at its premium level of service compared to cleanerplanner. Between 5 of us we pay a fair bit each month to CP.

£5 per additional user.

That makes it more expensive than cleaner planner for me.

[Tosh]

At £25 CP is expensive but only in comparison to the alternatives. If you compare it to similar software in other industries it's actually cheap. Take the beauty industry as an example:

https://biz.booksy.net/en-gb/pricing.html

To run booksy on the scale that I run CP would cost £80 per month and it's not got that many additional features in comparison.

Anything to do with the beauty industry and women's make-up is going to be extortionate. Compare women's shampoo to men's shampoo

[Soupy]

At £25 CP is expensive but only in comparison to the alternatives. If you compare it to similar software in other industries it's actually cheap. Take the beauty industry as an example:

https://biz.booksy.net/en-gb/pricing.html

To run booksy on the scale that I run CP would cost £80 per month and it's not got that many additional features in comparison.

Anything to do with the beauty industry and women's make-up is going to be extortionate. Compare women's shampoo to men's shampoo

Shampoo? What's that got to do with anything? There are differing budget ranges in the beauty industry, same as any other industry.

It's booking software, you can get booking software that's cheaper, like George, and it's crap, like George. You can even use pen and paper if you're that way inclined. The comparison is perfectly valid and the price of shampoo is irrelevant.

Where booksy has CP beat is the support (24/7) and development but booksy is a bigger company.

[sunshine windows]

On a more serious note, how much is aworka at its premium level of service compared to cleanerplanner. Between 5 of us we pay a fair bit each month to CP.

£5 per additional user.

That makes it more expensive than cleaner planner for me.

Forgive me if I'm wrong soupy, but I think you must have multiple users on an employed basis,  meaning everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet.

I need an overall master account, with each franchisee having their own account, with me being able to view everything. So 5 x full monthly payments instead of additional users. Makes the overall cost quite expensive.

[Soupy]

I have and need 10 separate users all accessing the same data, not sure how Aworka would handle that. CP is £50 per month.

I have no idea how the system handles franchises. Couldn't you just run the software like I do? I suppose there is a trust issue there.

[Simon Trapani]

Calm down Soupy.

You get all defensive over Cleaner Planner. You did with me once when I said I couldn't justify the price.

George isn't crap IMO. Yes I would like to see some improvements and personally I am going to trial Aworka soon.

It's just opinions.

[dazmond]

i find CP effortless to use and i dont find it slow.much much better than george.its in a different league IMO.£18 a month is ok as im saving money on paper and ink (printing worksheets and debtlists out,etc)as the mobile app is really good(as long as you have a decent large smartphone like a samsung galaxy note for example).

i cant fault it at all for me as a sole trader.it does everything i want/need for my window cleaning business.it saves admin time too even though its minimal anyway for a one man band.i dont think it needs any more development.

[Soupy]

Calm down Soupy.

No, thanks.

You get all defensive over Cleaner Planner. You did with me once when I said I couldn't justify the price.

George isn't crap IMO. Yes I would like to see some improvements and personally I am going to trial Aworka soon.

It's just opinions.

George is brilliant compared to pen and paper, if you're happy to stick with either of those that's fine.

George is only crap in comparison.

[The Jester of Wibbly]

George is not crap. Nor do you need paper and ink if you use a windows tablet. I tried cp and could not find any benefit for a one man operation. It seemed to take longer to use with all the uploading and downloaded and creating work sheets.  Its probably worth the spend on cp if you have more users though.

[Shrek]

I enjoy using excel and pen and paper

[Simon Trapani]

George is not crap. Nor do you need paper and ink if you use a windows tablet. I tried cp and could not find any benefit for a one man operation. It seemed to take longer to use with all the uploading and downloaded and creating work sheets.  Its probably worth the spend on cp if you have more users though.

I know we're getting off topic, but I found a 10" Windows Tablet slower & worse & I haven't even got fat fingers!

I prefer Pocket George for easy sync (although I wish it had full access & was not on defunct Palm) combined with full version George on my trusty desktop pc. Give me a large monitor, proper keyboard & mouse any day.  And I still print an A4 worksheet as  I find it quicker & easier to look at as a whole rather than the Palm or firing up the tablet.

[windowswashed]

I use NOT CRAPPY george as a single user. It's brilliant. I print a sheet out and write when it's done and payment method. Oh,  if anyone stops me in the street to ask about window cleaning I take their details and write it on the back of my sheet, no need to get a laptop out and type it in as a simple pen and paper is so much easier. Old fashioned I may be but it's worked for me for 19 years. New w'c's come along with CP and phones as big as small tablets and want to charge maximum price for minimal effort, wont speak to their customers or other w/c's and disappear within a year as they have this fantastic idea that by having the newish van with the newish wfp gear that's all they need but in reality this business is all about getting on with Joe Public to spread word of mouth recommendations through doing an honest, regular job, reliably 

[Stoots]

George is the best for a one man band.


Putting it on a Windows tablet stops the paper element.

[Og]

Funny how everyone feels obligated to defend the system they use.

[8weekly]

I tried window cleaner pro, had problems with it, in the end I gave up on it. I've always used George as it's a program you buy once and own it and best of all you don't have to  rely on someone else to keep your program running if it fails.
Aworka is a good price for what it offers compared to cleaner planner which I feel is overly priced considering you  only rent it.
I can text every customer I need to in minutes using copy and paste and sending to multiple numbers in one go just using my phone address book.  Gradually adding new customers and ensuring they pay online or BACS costs me nothing each month in handling charges.
Can't justify £25 a month each month to line some developing software programmer's pockets. I would have happily trialled cleaner planner and if it was  beneficial I would happily buy it if it saves time, but not prepared to  pay out each month for what I can do sufficiently using trusted and reliable George.

Cleaner Planner (and Aworka) are a different league to George. Seriously. There is no point making the comparison. If you don't need better software than George then why comment on a thread called Aworka vs cleaner planner? To justify it's price tag CP needs to save me an hour a month, which it does easily. What exactly is it you'd want the software to do?

At £25 CP is expensive but only in comparison to the alternatives. If you compare it to similar software in other industries it's actually cheap. Take the beauty industry as an example:

https://biz.booksy.net/en-gb/pricing.html

To run booksy on the scale that I run CP would cost £80 per month and it's not got that many additional features in comparison.

CP is probably cheaper for you than Aworka as on paper Aworka is £5 per additional user.

[sunshine windows]

I have and need 10 separate users all accessing the same data, not sure how Aworka would handle that. CP is £50 per month.

I have no idea how the system handles franchises. Couldn't you just run the software like I do? I suppose there is a trust issue there.

Not a trust issue, more of a privacy one.

I feel that the franchisees are entitled to keep their business affairs/turnover private from each other, so they all use separate accounts, with me being able to manage everyone's if I need to.

[dazmond]

I use NOT CRAPPY george as a single user. It's brilliant. I print a sheet out and write when it's done and payment method. Oh,  if anyone stops me in the street to ask about window cleaning I take their details and write it on the back of my sheet, no need to get a laptop out and type it in as a simple pen and paper is so much easier. Old fashioned I may be but it's worked for me for 19 years. New w'c's come along with CP and phones as big as small tablets and want to charge maximum price for minimal effort, wont speak to their customers or other w/c's and disappear within a year as they have this fantastic idea that by having the newish van with the newish wfp gear that's all they need but in reality this business is all about getting on with Joe Public to spread word of mouth recommendations through doing an honest, regular job, reliably 

im an old(ish) window cleaner(24 years window cleaning),brand new shiny van,CP and a phone nearly as big as a tablet.i also charge a fair price for a good job.

what does that make me?

[Tosh]

An old git who’s got a phone the size of a large aspirin.

[Soupy]

I use NOT CRAPPY george as a single user. It's brilliant. I print a sheet out and write when it's done and payment method. Oh,  if anyone stops me in the street to ask about window cleaning I take their details and write it on the back of my sheet, no need to get a laptop out and type it in as a simple pen and paper is so much easier. Old fashioned I may be but it's worked for me for 19 years. New w'c's come along with CP and phones as big as small tablets and want to charge maximum price for minimal effort, wont speak to their customers or other w/c's and disappear within a year as they have this fantastic idea that by having the newish van with the newish wfp gear that's all they need but in reality this business is all about getting on with Joe Public to spread word of mouth recommendations through doing an honest, regular job, reliably 

im an old(ish) window cleaner(24 years window cleaning),brand new shiny van,CP and a phone nearly as big as a tablet.i also charge a fair price for a good job.

what does that make me?

Bruce Wayne?

[windowswashed]

If your happy with cleaner planner, stick with it. If your happy carrying a massive phone good for you. I'm happy not using cleaner planner so it seems we're all happy, hooray 

[Soupy]

If your happy with cleaner planner, stick with it. If your happy carrying a massive phone good for you. I'm happy not using cleaner planner so it seems we're all happy, hooray 

 

Have you never read any of my posts? I'm never happy, it's kinda my thing yeah?

Gype.

[jonboywalton75]

I use NOT CRAPPY george as a single user. It's brilliant. I print a sheet out and write when it's done and payment method. Oh,  if anyone stops me in the street to ask about window cleaning I take their details and write it on the back of my sheet, no need to get a laptop out and type it in as a simple pen and paper is so much easier. Old fashioned I may be but it's worked for me for 19 years. New w'c's come along with CP and phones as big as small tablets and want to charge maximum price for minimal effort, wont speak to their customers or other w/c's and disappear within a year as they have this fantastic idea that by having the newish van with the newish wfp gear that's all they need but in reality this business is all about getting on with Joe Public to spread word of mouth recommendations through doing an honest, regular job, reliably 

im an old(ish) window cleaner(24 years window cleaning),brand new shiny van,CP and a phone nearly as big as a tablet.i also charge a fair price for a good job.

what does that make me?

And me (all the ABOVE) except I'm that old or can't remember how long I've been cleaning 

[trafficjamz]

Is Aworka similar to  CP in that you can mark jobs as completed on your phone/tablet when you're in an area with no signal and then it syncs later?
I couldn't find an Aworka app on the play store.

[8weekly]

Yes.

[Tosh]

Is Aworka similar to  CP in that you can mark jobs as completed on your phone/tablet when you're in an area with no signal and then it syncs later?
I couldn't find an Aworka app on the play store.

http://www.aworka.com

[trafficjamz]

Is it a standalone app? iOS/Android?
When I click on 'open mobile app' it just takes me to a mobile site in my browser

No info anywhere 

[Tosh]

Its not an app, its hosted on a website. You have to create an account and login.

[Klean07]

Three years on still same views or different?

[dazmond]

Three years on still same views or different?

im still using CP and its great for my needs...well worth £15 a month IMO........

[Klean07]

Thanks Daz  that's all I wanted to know really!

[CF Facilities]

Would not change from Aworka. Great value. I think they have just gone Vat registered so a bit more expensive but still good.