Transforming Restoration Operations with Albi’s Job Management Software

The chaotic nature of the disaster restoration sector sometimes makes organizing projects challenging. A lot can happen between a quote’s acceptance and a job’s completion. As delays potentially eat into profits, restoration companies benefit from solutions that help them complete a project on time and within budget. Tools that help restorers organize schedules and timelines while keeping track of essential assets can mean the difference between a profitable job and one that barely pays the bills.

That is essentially what job management software is: a tool that helps manage a project. Like any other tools restoration companies use, such platforms help optimize job management. Software that allows project managers to keep track of different tasks, manage resources, collaborate with other stakeholders, and even provide real-time updates, among other things, can be a boon to busy restoration businesses. As software for restorers that restorers make, Albi provides the tools to get restoration jobs done quickly, efficiently, and correctly.

Managing Projects with Job Management Software

Generally, job management software acts a bit like a project manager’s personal assistant. Management software that helps with handling jobs can boost a restoration company’s efficiency, productivity, and profitability, much like a good cup of coffee does for many project managers.

Job management software helps handle day-to-day tasks like scheduling or invoicing. It helps manage more mundane duties, including automating more repetitive work. It helps a project manager keep up-to-date on any job in real-time. Management software should help restoration companies schedule employees, manage customer information, keep updated on a project’s status, invoice for work done, and allocate resources, among other things. Everything such software platforms do should ensure that nothing falls through the cracks. However, there are some basic things any platform for managing jobs should include.

What Restorers Should Look for in a Job Management Software

Project managers require certain essential tools in job management software. Having the means to document damage with photos or videos and then share them easily with insurance assessors or other stakeholders ensures contractors get paid promptly and properly for their work. A software platform should also include a means to store and sort official emails, so ideally, it should be cloud-based to keep such communications safe and secure. Keeping track of tasks and the timelines for accomplishing them allows project managers to manage their time better.

All these things Albi can do and does well. However, Albi’s job management software also offers more advanced tools for restorers. These include scheduling timetables, collaboration tools, mobile capabilities, analytics that support real-time reporting, and apps for tracking equipment and mapping moisture in water-damaged structures. Additionally, Albi makes it easy to integrate apps into the platform to customize capabilities to meet other needs. 

Scheduling

Whether it involves scheduling start dates, meetings with assessors, employees, or end dates, along with status updates, good job management software will help project managers keep on top of multiple jobs. Management tools allow restorers to assign specific team members, earmark resources, and set deadlines for a job while also helping to prioritize projects that require greater urgency. Albi does all this from a central interface, which means there’s no longer a need to chase up team members to see how a job is progressing, as everything is available to everyone involved in a project.

Collaboration 

Getting people to work together seamlessly requires excellent communication. Tools enabling project managers to communicate individually with a team member or the whole team and with other stakeholders augment collaboration. Project managers must work with others involved, including their field teams, subcontractors, material suppliers, insurance assessors, and customers. Such tools should include capabilities to document damage and share this information with insurance assessors and others who need to know.

Albi eliminates the need for hard documentation, allowing field teams to access details about any job in real-time. Management software like Albi also enables instant updates, allowing teams to know immediately about any changes to the job, reducing the chance of delays due to miscommunication. Enabling easy documentation in the field smooths project timetables and decreases delays by getting insurance companies the information they need to approve claims. Not only does this apply to photos and videos, but also to moisture mapping, an app for which is included in Albi’s advanced offerings.  

Mobile 

Mobile technology has enabled field workers to work from anywhere, as long as they have an Internet connection. Any job management software worth its salt should have mobile capabilities so project managers don’t have to return to the office for administrative work. It allows managers with a smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device to track the progress of a job from another worksite (or elsewhere) and schedule tasks for individuals or entire teams. Gone are the days when this was a nice-to-have feature; mobile accessibility is essential to any restorer.

Albi’s mobile capabilities are part of the platform’s advanced features, allowing for more hands-on job management. Software tools enable project managers to access and update projects, ensuring everyone involved is informed of any changes, new information about the project, tasks still needing to get done, and other elements of the job. Management software like Albi also allows changes to be made seamlessly, whether it’s a new assignment for a team member, a deadline that’s been postponed, or a task still needing attention. Albi’s advanced mobile features complement its collaborative tools to simplify project management.

Reporting

Reporting in real-time can provide a snapshot of what’s happening at any moment in a restoration job. Management software that helps keep track of timelines, monitor the status of, and oversee the allocation of resources regarding a job in real-time helps restorers stay on top of multiple worksites, along with the teams involved in each. Additionally, analytics apps help project managers make sense of the data behind them, which helps augment a company’s overall productivity. Real-time updates can be used to create custom reports on patterns in the workplace, helping to identify bottlenecks that can lead to delays and spot other inefficiencies that make for better outcomes.

Albi’s cloud-based job management software enables information gathered from a restorer’s ongoing projects and historical data to be extrapolated by analyzing various aspects of previous work. The role of these reports in the restoration sector allows smaller players in the industry to level the playing field with larger companies with more resources.

Albi enables restoration companies to: 

• Add visuals like graphs and charts to reports to ease comprehension.  
• Compare trends over custom periods to optimize operations.
• Make reports that study financial expenditures on projects over defined periods.  
• Personalize reports based on the person’s role in the business.
• Predict fluctuations in business based on historical ebbs and flows of business.
• Provide information that allows managers to track performance better and manage projects.
• Report data on a timetable that enhances workflow.

Through these analytical reports, contractors can spot trends and patterns in the data to improve job management. Software like Albi enables restorers to provide the tools to their employees to help them learn and grow with the business.

Integration

Perhaps one of the most important issues regarding job management software for restorers involves the lack of customization. While a restoration contractor could use any construction-related software for job management, software tailored to meet the company’s exact needs will inevitably prove more useful. No software platform can be tailor-made for all its users; however, with an open API, any job management software can be personalized to meet a contractor’s needs without too much unnecessary fluff. And it’s Albi’s open API that makes it so useful to restoration companies.  

For example, Albi’s job management software includes several more advanced apps, including one for tracking equipment. For a restoration contractor with valuable equipment that needs to be used at several different worksites within a certain time, keeping track of where these are can help streamline project timelines. Integrating apps into a restoration platform can assist with job management. Software for restorers must have an app that helps document damage. Still, other useful apps exist, such as communication apps, navigating new neighborhoods, and even monitoring the weather. Albi can even support an app to brew coffee if it uses an open API…

How Albi’s Job Management Software Saves Contractors Money

Albi provides restoration contractors with much more than job management software. Designed to help restorers achieve success, Albi can transform restoration companies to optimize their performance, driving greater profitability. Yet, though Albi can be made to do almost anything a restoration company needs, it’s incredibly easy to use. User-friendliness improves how quickly employees will adopt and embrace the platform, and with Albi’s ease of use, this will come sooner than with other, less user-friendly software.

That’s one of Albi’s strongest points! Albi’s features include cloud-based apps for mobile devices and personal computers, allowing users to access data from anywhere. Unlike paper systems, which take several hours to achieve basic learning, with its accessibility and intuitive interface, Albi can be learned in as little as half an hour. Considering just this aspect of the platform, Albi can save restoration companies thousands of dollars per month!