Getting the right information to the right person at the right time.

It's one of BuildIT's maxims. And it just got reinforced with some awesome new code.

File Sharing Made Easy

Files – Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PDF's, drawings, photos, scanned images, whatever you have!

Every job has them. And the challenge often is making sure all the right parties get the right information they need.

Welcome to BuildIT's enhanced file sharing system. Now, you can actually 1) add files to tasks, and 2) share those files with anyone in your contact database via the free Contact Schedule for that contact.

Here's what you do:

1. In the schedule for a job, add one or more files to a task (from the "do this" menu) or the paperclip on the task.
2. Assign that task (if you haven't already) to someone in your contact database (client, sub trade, vendor, supplier, your mother-in-law, it doesn't matter).
3. Send that contact a link to their Contact Schedule (we've made that easy too, just click the square Contact Schedule button next to the contact's name, and follow the instructions at the top of the page).

Your contact will see their schedule, and any associated files for individual tasks. They'll be able to view, print and save attachments. We built this in such a way as to protect your files - they can't delete them, or post updated files. That's your job. And if the file changes at your end, they'll see the latest version at their end.

File Sharing Links

Emailing attachments is pretty standard, but no doubt you've been burnt before making sure everyone got the email... and realizing for whatever reason that the email never went through. Perhaps the attachment was too large, and your recipient's email program just crapped out. Who knows, could be gremlins in the system. Could be that you just forgot to add them!

Here's a great option if you just want to send an email to a contact, and have them download big files right off our server - simply email them one or more "file sharing links".

Select one or more files, then from the "do this" menu, create a "sharing links" email. The system instantly creates an email links to the files. No more babysitting email attachments hoping your recipient got the message.

We've seen the competition charging many $1,000's for file sharing services, especially to the AEC industry. The playing field has changed, and you get the same advantages for a fraction of the cost.

More good stuff to come on file sharing.

The BuildIT Team
1 866 585 5050 x1
http://www.builditsystems.com/

Dear BuildIT User,

Like a fine Napa Valley wine, BuildIT keeps getting better with age. This latest upgrade focuses on 2 main areas - your contacts, and ease of use. 

Improvements to Contact Management

Let's face it - people do business with people, so your people (contacts) are the most important resource you have. Communication issues are undoubtedly the big profit killer in most construction businesses. Our new features will help you better manage communications with key people on the job - and that's a good thing.

Log on and click the "contacts" tab. In the left margin menu you'll see which contacts are "job specific".

Did you know that with the BuildIT's "contact management" system you can do the following:

• Send one piece of communication to every key person associated with the job (via email, fax, or cellular text message).
• Remind all your sub-trades of a change to the schedule.
• Email attachments (or better yet, "sharing links" for large files) to a select group of contacts.
• Keep track of "who's who in the zoo" for every job that you do.
• Easily send out text messages without getting thumb cramps trying to key into a super small cell phone key pad (leave that for the tweenies).
• Share schedules for free with any contact in your database... use "Contact Schedules" to keep key folks in the loop with the tasks you have assigned to them.

Oh, and our development team wanted to add that some major "under the hood" tweaking and code re-writing was done to shave off time off page refresh rates (in this micro-wave fast food age, we know that time is money, and every fraction of a second counts !!).

Changes to the Gooee (uh, that would be GUI*)

What do most folks look for when they come to BuildIT?

Scheduling. 

So we made it painfully obvious what to press when you want to see your "schedule". Ah, that would be the "schedule" tab. And next to that would be the "calendar" tab where you would expect to see your appointments. We also made the job picklist in the top left yellow to make it stand out.

We changed the "do it" drop down menu in the top right to "do this", and we made it look more like a button. We even highlighted it yellow. It's an important control - and some new folks were just missing it. 

We've also consolidated all help to one button. Click on "help" in the top right, and you'll be greeted by a tabbed page, allowing you to get the help you need fast.

(*GUI = Graphical User Interface, in case you really wanted to know!)

Additional Enhancements

We've made text boxes accept more information, updated the job contact responsibilities dialog, allowed you to expand the workspace and hide the left margin menu in many screens... all based on user feedback of course.

Keep those suggestions flowing. Help us help you, and we both win. 

The BuildIT Team
1 866 585 5050 x1
www.builditsystems.com

Dear BuildIT User,

We are pleased to announce our latest update to the system - driven by your requests and suggestions.

Contact Schedules

Contact Schedules are a free and powerful service you can offer to anyone in your contact database:

Clients
Subtrades
Vendors
Contractors
Design Professionals
Other Employees

Contact Schedules give your contacts a real time view into the schedule, where they will see only those tasks assigned to them by you, the BuildIT user. When they open their free Contact Schedule online, your contacts can:

• view their tasks /action items
• change their views based on multiple filters
• and add comments to individual tasks which you, in turn, are notified of.

Status of tasks is now color coded, so contacts can see at a glance which tasks require attention immediately.

Contact Schedules are a key benefit to BuildIT users who want to keep their contacts updated with ever changing schedules. No more relying on outdated printed schedules, marked up calendars, and Gantt charts pieced together on the walls. Send out Contact Schedules to all you key players today, and start leveraging the power of real time scheduling.

Each and every contact in your database has a free Contact Schedule! For example, 200 contacts in your contact database means 200 separate, distinct, and available Contact Schedules that you can use to drive your business forward to the next level of keeping folks informed, keeping customers happy, and keeping your schedules on track.

Rich Text “HTML” Email Creator

Many BuildIT users rely heavily on the power of BuildIT’s email system. Without a doubt, it makes sense to keep all communications on the job in one place, organized, and accessible by all key players on your team.

Now, this powerful communications system has been improved with a rich text editor. You have been requesting this for months, and it has finally arrived! You can select different fonts, sizes, colors, bold, underline - the list goes one. Many of the key functions you have used in other common email systems like MSN, Hotmail, Gmail and Outlook, are now included with BuildIT. We’ve even made it easier to view your emails for those of you with larger monitors.

Additional Enhancements

We haven’t stopped there. BuildIT is a constant work in progress. Our Users (and other stakeholders) expect nothing less. You’ll also benefit from:

• Spell checker (now deployed in many dialogs, including documents, and enhanced for emails).
• DO IT control to create a schedule template from an existing job.
• New “form view” for viewing, printing, faxing, and emailing document templates.
• New controls allowing users to email or fax more than one document in one step.
• Contact Schedule preferences, allowing you to change the layout your customers see.
• Date header now displays on each page of a printed Gantt chart.
• Continued speed enhancements to the BuildIT engine and some fine-tuning to really make things hum.
• New Blog (you're reading it now) for research, power tips, and a dose of humor – for folks that are serious about getting the most from BuildIT.

We’re proud of the success of our customers who use BuildIT to manage their businesses. It’s your vote of confidence in the system, and your continued input that drives BuildIT forward. Stay profitable in 2008, and let us know where we can make a difference.

The BuildIT Team
1 866 585 5050 x1
www.builditsystems.com

Dear BuildIT User:

The system just got faster... and easier to use too!

There's a new "start page"...

• that makes it easy for you to do the things you need to do, all from one screen
• that gives access to the information you need in a single click
• that displays video buttons (icons) to get you to the right video fast

Log into BuildIT and from the "dashboard" tab, click "start" in the top left under the "view:" menu.

You’ll notice there are 3 columns ~ Organize | Schedule | Communicate ~ just click on the icons and links below.

You can make the new "start page" the first page you see when you log in. In the lower left of the "dashboard" screen, click "my preferences..." select the "start" view, and save changes.

Take advantage of the new "start page" today!

The BuildIT Team
1 866 585 5050 x1
www.builditsystems.com

Dear BuildIT User,

Announcing a powerful new way to store, organize, and share all your electronic files.

Dear BuildIT User,

New features just added:

1. BuildIT goes international

Country, State/Province, Cellular Carriers and more have been regionalized to better suit local and international users. Maps, weather, postal, yellow pages, white pages, etc. for users in more countries. Let us know if you have any suggestions to improve the "helpers" in the system.

2. Power faxing

Tried faxing lately straight from your BuildIT account? It's fast. It's easy. There's no need to print out anything. No looking up fax numbers. No waiting for faxes to go thru. Send faxes to one or more people in seconds. You can even fax MS Word documents, PDF's, and more.

3. New help videos We've added a few new videos recently to help you get even more value from the system:

Dear BuildIT User,

New features just added to the system:

1. Working Days Calculator

Need some help creating schedule templates? Help has arrived! Want to know how many "work days" exist between two dates (if you subtract weekends and holidays)? Or... what if you start a task next Wednesday that will takes 13 work days to complete, but there's a holiday and a couple weekends during that time? This handy new calculator will tell you which calendar date the task ends on, or how many work days are between any two dates. To access your new Working Days Calculator simply click "tasks", then click "do it" at the top right, then choose "Calculate Working Days" and up pops your calculator. Bonus: you can even print out a schedule that shows calendar days, work and non-work days. Use this handy printout to plan or schedule jobs, crews, or projects.

2. Technical Notes

Anyone who has been on the system for a while has seen new features and upgrades released … now you can check out the new "technical notes" if you want to know more. Click on the "msg ctr" button at the upper right of any screen, then in the left margin, click on "tech notes" and see in plain English what we've released, and what new features are coming.

Best regards,

The BuildIT Team
1 866 585 5050 x1
www.builditsystems.com

PS: Do you work with anyone that needs to be more organized? Click here to let them know about BuildIT and get a free Starbucks card when they sign up.