Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: g.brookes on April 22, 2012, 08:03:50 pm
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Hi people, due to an expanding round its getting harder and harder to keep everything up to date with paper and pen. i have a mac and i want something internet based so i can use it on my phone as well. i have been trying buckit since last week but i have encountered a problem every single day, and today i cant access my job list. can anyone recommend other programmes like this? cheers
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Hey, I have it too.
I use george full time but would like something to run off my phone so I can go paperless.
Ive had all sorts of problems from the inital registration to the importing of custards but each time they have sorted it more or less instantly with good communication.
I would email them with the troubles your having.
Art
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I looked at Buckit last week. Few too many issues for my liking but I did like its main page where it showed the status of various elements of my business.
Sticking with Aworka for now, though I'm going to email Chris to see if he can implement some of Buckits more attractive qualities.
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Install George and then purchase a PDA,for about £20.00 and do it that way
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thanks for the advice but like i said i use a mac so cant run george. i'll have a look at aworka
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use a paralell machine.(sp)
you can run windows on a mac its easy. vmware , parallels etc
i have to for some hardware inc my new leaflettter tracker lol
i run george on windows on my shiny 27"imac,, i7' 8gb ram . 1tb harddrive moster lol
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Thanks for the feedback on Buckit. You're correct - we have encountered a few issues over the last couple of weeks.
Ironically, the main reason for this is that there is so much active development happening on Buckit at the moment. The good news however is that our development team is working on Buckit literally full-time and (to date) all reported problems have been fixed including the issues that Matt and Gareth have reported.
We'd really recommend that you give Buckit another quick try. It is completely free for 2 months with no obligation so there's not really much to lose!
Something else worth mentioning is that to minimize any future issues cropping up when we update the site, we now have TWO sites :-
http://buckit.co.uk - the current 'stable' release
http://beta.buckit.co.uk - the latest release with new features
You can use either site to access your database securely. Obviously the "beta" one includes the latest updates, changes and improvements with the option of logging on to the "stable" site in the event of problems.
Hope this information is helpful!
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One of the issues I had, which was one of the deciders for me, was that if a job frequency is every 4 weeks and you're a week late the following visit in Buckit was programmed in for 3 weeks after. Not how it should be IMO. I couldn't see how to work round that. Any help would be welcome.
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Hi Matt - I've just tested it and I understand what you mean - there's definitely a case for calculating the date from TODAY rather than the last date.
However, sometimes if you're just a day late and the property is only cleaned on one specific day of the week, then it would be more desirable to calculate it from the original due date.
What we'll do is make it optional (via a prompt) when the next next date is calculated. We'll get that put in ASAP and added to the BETA site (http://beta.buckit.co.uk).
Thanks for your feedback!
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I also found entering details of payments recieved via the IPhone was not clear and very confusing (to the point of baffling) and I'm not sure the payments were actually acknowledged, thus you think you've checked it off but in reality haven't.
I've just tried to log on with iPhone and no response to the app at all :-\
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Hi Matt - thanks for your feedback.
>> I've just tried to log on with iPhone and no response to the app at all
I've just tried logging on to both the "buckit.co.uk" site and "beta.buckit.co.uk" from my mobile and it works fine. I can also see from our server that a number of other users are currently logged on to the mobile app without any problems. Is there a specific message that you're getting or is it possible that your mobile data signal is poor where you are?
>> entering details of payments recieved via the IPhone was not clear and very confusing
One of the things we're doing is adding a number of new prompts on the mobile version to confirm data has been saved/deleted/updated etc. This should help to clarify things. For now, when you press SAVE you are usually returned to the HOME screen. Unless an error is displayed on the screen (which is in red), it is safe to assume that the record has been correctly saved.
I was just thinking that it might be helpful if you don't mind posting any follow-up questions on our forum (I don't want to get in trouble with the nice guys at cleanitup.co.uk!). Our support forum is http://buckitforum.co.uk and you can use your same login details as for Buckit.
Thanks!
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I have not tried it but it looks like it has that, window cleaner pro look to me.
Didnt they start some cloud program ::)
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I think Buckit is definitely the future.
Hopefully the near future, not the distant future!
At least buckit is getting beta!!!
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One of the issues I had, which was one of the deciders for me, was that if a job frequency is every 4 weeks and you're a week late the following visit in Buckit was programmed in for 3 weeks after. Not how it should be IMO. I couldn't see how to work round that. Any help would be welcome.
that s how it should be matt, I have used this system for years, if I am late a little I am early a little, all customers get 13 cleans per year
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No it isn't Ian, not if your business doesn't operate like that.
At the very least there should be an option. For the developers benefit, if not the users, because that's one of the reasons I wont be using it. And thats their loss. You should know that.
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Hi guys
Thanks for the feedback. After seeing the different views we've decided to make this an optional feature, so you can either make it 4 weeks from today, or from when the job was originally scheduled. Of course the reason we went for scheduling 4 weeks from the last clean date is, if you are delayed for 2 or 3 weeks the customer is not going to want you coming back with a week or two, at least in the majority of cases.
We're building that new functionality in now.
Lee
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i book my work in on my iphone thing is when i book them in for example its not to the day it may be a few days either side depending on where im working because i work in mainly 2 diffrent areas.will that still work with bucket or does it book it in 1 month from when you enter it automatically.
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You could try George online for £10.00 a Month, so need for PDA you can work off your mobile phone... :) :)
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Round tracker 4 is the one i use. £35.00. I have the up grade pro4 but not used it, as i'm not sure how to transfer the info....http://www.windowcleaningresources.co.uk/html/roundtrackerv4.html £37.00 for the new version.
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Really like the look and layout of Buckit the only concern i have with web based programs is if the company goes bust what happens to my rounds and details .
All that work will be lost i also like the look and layout of Aworka .
Having said that i also get that with regular investment via subscription of £10.00 a month it means it can constantly be developed and not become outdated like pay up front software .
Thoughts opinions and votes for the Best please . MIKE
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Anybody ???????????????????????????????????????
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You can back up the data to your pc etc as a CSV file (I think) - spread sheet format.
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They also have their own help forum.
www.buckitforum.co.uk
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Thanks lads i have decided to trial buckit . MIKE
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Aworka have just released some interesting new features. You can now update your daily work without a 3G connection, you just sync when you get back into an area with a connection. To me that was all important, to be able to keep your records updated on the go.
The app has a load of new features that you could previously only access with the website based version.
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Thanks for that Matt . Had another look at Aworka started trial and must say it is the best very easy to use great layout automatic scheduling . 10 out of 10 . MIKE
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@ Cliff Perkins
>> i book my work in on my iphone thing is when i book them in for example its not to the day it may
>> be a few days either side depending on where im working because i work in mainly 2 diffrent areas.
>> will that still work with bucket or does it book it in 1 month from when you enter it automatically. [/color]
Hi Cliff - Buckit doesn't force you to work to a specific date. Each time you complete a 'recurring' job, it calculates the next due date based on your criteria. You are free to override that date and enter any date you want for the next clean.
@ Mike M & M Window Cleaning
>> Really like the look and layout of Buckit the only concern i have with web based programs is if
>> the company goes bust what happens to my rounds and details.[/color]
Hi Mike - sorry for the delay in replying. We don't monitor this forum like we do our own (www.buckitforum.co.uk) so we didn't notice your post until just now. To answer your question, we've been around for well over a decade as a development company.
Buckit is not our primary source of income (not even close!) so it's unlikely we're going anywhere. However, we treat Buckit the same as our other far more expensive services - namely the data is kept highly secure and highly confidential. If we were to go out of business then (as with our other services) we would :-
(a) send complete database dumps and CSV export files to all customers (actually you can download these at anytime anyway)
(b) release the source code (which we wholly own) to the opensource community so that the project could be picked up
>> Having said that i also get that with regular investment via subscription of £10.00 a month
>> it means it can constantly be developed and not become outdated like pay up front software .
Absolutely correct - unlike other purchased programs which can stagnate, the subscription model means that Buckit will continue to be developed as long as it's in existence.
Hope this helps!
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Thanks for replying Team Buckit ,
I Aworka is great what i do like is your jobs get listed in a planner just like a calendar so can see what jobs are scheduled for each day .
But if you get rained off you can either nudge all the custys into the next day with the nudge button .
Or like yesterday for me i had to knock off early and had to miss a big house out so i just double tap on that custy and am able to drag and drop that job into monday and make it my first job .
Its a revolution for me plus i am able to log all my expenses and mileage easy . I can check everything at a glance and print or export whatever i want . MIKE
P.S THANKS AGAIN MATT
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Thanks for your feedback Matt - we're constantly working on improving Buckit so I've added your comments to our wish-list. We do already have a "push-back" feature to bump jobs back by X number of days, but it would be a good idea to make this more prominent and perhaps make it a 1-click feature too.
Thanks again!
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Buckit Guys,
Not sure if I'm missing something about the way everyone else arranges their rounds but I'd be interested to hear whether my method can work on Buckit.
I don't run the round based upon due dates. They are in there, obviously, but my rounds are based upon location. So, if you looked at my master job sheet (currently on Excel) and plotted the jobs on a map, you'd get a sensible route around the area I cover.
For any given day, then, I take the next job after the most recently completed job. Take the next x jobs and look to see if the due date is earlier than or equal to today's date. If not, they are deleted from the list. What's left is a list of due or overdue customers in the order they need doing. It works beautifully and minimises my mileage without having to do ANY route planning the night before I work.
Is that possible in Buckit?
Vin
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Hi Vin - thanks for your post.
Yes this is possible with Buckit. If you go to the PROPERTIES screen you'll notice that there's a tick box at the bottom which says "Re-Order Properties".
This allows you to set the order that you clean all your properties. Now when you click SCHEDULE and add properties to your JOB SHEET, they appear in the order that you specified. This means that properties on the Job Sheet are always shown in the order that you clean them.
I hope this makes sense - probably the best thing to do is to give it a go and see what you think. If there's anything that we can tweak in order to make it work better, please let us know. We're actively developing Buckit the whole time to improve it so we welcome your suggestions!