eSPACE

Vorteile

We have been very pleased with the transition over to eSpace. The software has helped us to be much more effective across six campus locations and managing work requests that originate from our 150+ clients. The Preventative Maintenance function makes future planning easy so that I can focus on the proactive responsibilities of my job, rather than trying to remember when the boiler inspection is due. The Life Cycle Calculator is also a valuable tool for budget planning. There are other opportunities to advance our efficiencies such as the HVAC integration that we have not yet capitalized on, but is evident to us of a greater level of intentionality more than just work requests and asset inventory. The support team is always available for our questions and responds typically by the end of day. Working with the Cool Solutions Team feels very much like a partnership to fulfill our churches Mission and Vision from the sticks and bricks to all the nations.

Nachteile

The cons more come from our side in that so many functions are available to us that we under utilize for the betterment of our facilities. Without much time spent within the software, it can feel overwhelming. But this in no way reflects our overall satisfaction of the product.

Vorteile

The ease of use and storage of information.

Nachteile

The un-customizable pieces within a work order.

Vorteile

I like the calendar view and for the most part the ease of use with setting up an event. Some details are harder to remember to include with my events especially when I don't enter events often.

Nachteile

Some of the reporting is quirky and incomplete. For example: An event that spans over 2-3 days consecutively only shows the first day of the event in the set up report so I need to be extra careful to look in other places to make sure I have all the info. I would love a report that shows all the info of an event in one spot as I export this info to a PDF to share with my team as our tasks are split up per event.

Vorteile

It's user friendly while still having the available options for all our event and building schedule needs.

Nachteile

I'm still new to the software so I can't really pick out anything as of yet. The one part I had trouble with is figuring out the 'route' a request takes once submitted. It would be a nice feature to designate the order of specific individuals the request has pass through during the approval process.

Vorteile

I liked that the developers really thought through the event management process from beginning to end and were very thorough. It's hard to find a system that fits our workflow and the features in eSpace fit almost exactly what we were looking for.

Nachteile

Lack of SSO, some information is not accessible in the API, some permissions quirks.

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Warum eSPACE gewählt wurde

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Vorteile

Ease of use, detail-oriented and thorough.

Nachteile

The user interface feels somewhat dated.

Vorteile

Seems pretty simple to learn and fortunately we have someone on staff who knows it well and was trained, so we can ask questions when help is needed.

Nachteile

The multiple steps it takes to complete an event.

Vorteile

I like the tracking portion of the software and the audit trail

Nachteile

I wish eSpace has more features to the software like chat support and a knowledge/wiki and a asset tracker.

Vorteile

It was a big help for our team to function well. We are even more organized than before. It is one of the best softwares for the development of every organizations.

Nachteile

There are sudden changes to some of the features that takes time before we adapt.

Vorteile

It is helpful in scheduling events and organizing.

Nachteile

It is sometimes can be confusing to use.

Vorteile

I like the fact that events are shown on the calendar even before they are final approved.....sometimes they get held up in our organization yet our facilities guys can see it anyway and therefore do the necessary setup.

Nachteile

I don't like how the sub-admin approvals work. As an administrator it is too easy for me to give my pre-approval and my approval inadvertently bypassing the sub-admin when their approval is critical. I wish there was a safeguard against this.

I like being able to view the history of an event but wish there was a little more detail on date and time changes.

I like the fact that each category can have their own color but don't like that it takes up another line in the calendar view.....we don't use it because of this. Would like it if the event name just took on the color instead of adding another line with the colored box.

Vorteile

We like the ease of use, very easy and user-friendly.

Nachteile

1 - Under the "Setup TAb - "configuration" (which is the indicator of how space should be set up) should be a "required" field since it is critical for every room reservation. We find people tend to forget this and then we have to go back and follow up with them nearly every time.
2 - Under the "Setup Tab - Instead of "Edit" this should say something that would trigger the end user such as "Add Configuration" or Add Details - Add Notes....People again tend to miss this because they don't clearly understand what they are "editing" and then again, its not a "required field (which it should be).
3. It would be good if "attachments" could be more visible instead of being hidden under "optional settings". People again tend to miss this feature.

Vorteile

The ability to have a calendar easily accessible to our entire staff that also manages the room reservations with straightforward steps to create an event has become a vital element of our office life. Operating within eSpace is intuitive and the adjusting the settings is simple, allowing for maximum functionality according to varying needs.

Nachteile

In the most recent upgrade, the Spaces and Services into an "Items" tab, which does mean that our team is no longer forced to see the Services page - we are not in the habit of looking for the Services and now it's too easy to "Next" over to the subsequent steps without seeing that section. This is particularly problematic for when different teams on our staff run reports based on the services requested for events, yet many of the events needing a service have not asked for them by accident.

Vorteile

We use this at our church to schedule events, fulfill work orders, display public calendars, and as a ticketing system for our IT department. It feels like every other month we're able to integrate or use the eSPACE software instead of another software we've used in the past. It really helps us put all of our eggs in one basket in regards to church operations.

The fact that you can request ideas and the development team listens is a huge advantage they have on other providers for event scheduling and work order management. The knowledge base is great and always helpful when trying to find the correct function you need.

Vorteile

Puts all my maintenance requests in one location, and allows me to prioritize, schedule, comment, and determine/edit the status of each work order easily.

Nachteile

No barcode/QR code scanning/tracking of assets...yet.

Vorteile

Relatively easy to set up
public access through website

Nachteile

could be easier to use
wish you could set up reusable templates
have experienced difficulty editing existing events

Vorteile

Since the improvements have been made, I can now enter a large number of rooms for one event, so that is making my job easier. It is easy to read and follow. When I have had a question, or an issue, the customer support has been wonderful.

Nachteile

When I have used the schedules piece, it seems to be very confusing for our Buildings and Grounds people to read at their end. Even though I have booked rooms at certain times, they don't appear on the calendar the way I have booked them, so I have stopped using the schedules for that reason.

Vorteile

Quickly and easily allows staff to customize singular and ongoing meetings/events. Public events are immediately added to our church calendar upon approval, which can be linked to event pages making it easy for our guests to access information. We use eSpace for it's most basic functions, but it's been an invaluable planning tool for scheduling, resources and setup for 40+ on campus meetings/events per week.

Nachteile

The latest update makes editing events and spaces more difficult than previous versions. Users often think they've complete the form without selecting the final submit button, leaving events in draft form and requiring follow-up.

Vorteile

I like that it is suited so well for churches. I like that it manages our HVAC controls in one place. I like that it manages the multitude of steps involved in event management as it processes that workflow for me. Lastly, I love that it seamlessly manages all our work orders for facility maintenance.

Nachteile

As it grows, more functionality leads to more clicking and navigating. It is to be expected, and I am confident it will get better over time as streamlining is a priority at eSpace.

Vorteile

It allows me to reserve spaces easily and inexpensively.
I can email messages within the reservation to communicate with the person who made the reservation.

Nachteile

I am unable to connect it to billing somehow. That would be ideal.
The communications aspect is a little primitive. I am able to communicate within the reservation summary, but I am not able to easily copy others in the organization so they too have a copy of the approved reservation.

Vorteile

The HVAC controls integration is my favorite part of the software. I have been able to cut back the standard HVAC schedule for each building I manage and let eSpace turn on HVAC units for the select spaces that are occupied.

Nachteile

It would have been better if we had more support from eSpace setting up the HVAC integration. We received a manual, but an in-person eSpace tech working with our HVAC controls technician would have been better.

Vorteile

The amount of time that is required to add or change an entry. I spend much less time adding or making changes. It is also very user friendly.

Nachteile

I guess the only recommendation that I have is on the conflict end. It would be nice to be able to not only see who you have a conflict with, but more easily see what specifically the conflict is. For example, if you request the use of the Gym and bathrooms. Is the conflict with the Gym or bathrooms. Naturally if it is with the bathrooms, then it is not a problem because several users may use this space at one time. Reserving the bathrooms could be a subset of the space and not listed separately in the request column. Overall, ESpace has been a great addition this year.

Vorteile

Online program that can be used anywhere for ALL to see immediate additions and changes. We are now paperless and so much more efficient and effective with our scheduling.

Nachteile

We have some folks that are resistant to change. With so many features, the program came seem overwhelming at first. Our learning curve was a lot longer than we expected.

Vorteile

Being able to view the entire month helps with planning activities not back to back. Adding the approval for Security required for an activity, or childcare to name just a couple. It also sends a notice to the appropriate person that needs to make that approval for the childcare, or security.

Vorteile

I like the dashboard. I like being able to see all of my upcoming events/groups/classes at a glance. I also like being able to communicate about the event to the administrator within the reservation so I don't have to email about the event and give details that are already contained in espace...a real time-saver! I also like being able to see which events have been approved or are pending or that have conflicts.

Nachteile

Sometimes I don't know when it's appropriate to resubmit an event after making an edit.

Vorteile

This is the most comprehensive and easiest to use facility management software I have ever used. We have been able to improve our event set up progress both in accuracy (not missing a resources) and on time completion (having the set up ready). Our housekeeping team has been able to utilize the Maintenance PM feature to modernize how we know what to clean when. Before this feature daily lists had to be created to each housekeeper which often changed week to week. Now each housekeeper can access their daily work order which is recurring week to week.
The customer support is also great! Any issue I have has been resolved quickly or implemented as a future development making the software better for everyone.

Nachteile

Sometimes changes occur or new features are added that you hear very little about. Also if Items from the post idea wall get enough votes to be implemented send a notification and reward the users who have ideas implemented.

Vorteile

The software has a low learning curve and is intuitive. Customer service is responsive and helpful. Work orders can be submitted without a login. Work orders can contain custom forms to aid in more complex or unique requests. eSpace has mobile apps for iOS and Android (most work order systems rely on mobile webpages too much). Great modules to support assets ("Equipment"), inventory, and recurring preventative maintenance work orders. System is actively being actively developed and upgraded on a regular basis. Web interface is well designed and spaced well to use with a tablet or 2in1 laptop computer. Low cost and easy payment options. eSpace functions well as a work order system and event management system which = less administrative work compared to managing 2 systems separately. Easy to setup the system without training, but setup training is provided at a low cost if needed. Overall its a great product supported by a great team. Though some functionality is lacking, I am betting that with time, eSpace will be able to turn their great system into a top competitor in the field.

Nachteile

The software is lacking some advanced functionality. There is some give and take to have an event management system and work order system tied together in one system. The list of rooms/spaces is truly a mess (very clunky to navigate, constant issues with users selecting multiple rooms by accident because it is not remotely intuitive). The Android app is slow to load work orders (seems to be due to the app attempting to load rooms/spaces). Customer service is responsive, but always tells you to go vote on features rather than giving timelines. Voting on a potential cool new feature is perfectly fine, but having to vote on critical functionality is simply an annoyance.

Vorteile

1. Ease of use. New users have had very little problems using this software from the 2 word documents I created for new users and give to them before they can use the software to create an event.
2. Ease of making changes. The software makes changes and applies all the way through all existing events on our calendar.
3. Functionality of the software meeting our needs. Providing this as an online process, having the calendar ported over to our website and being able to print weekly and month calendars is a real plus.

Nachteile

There have been a couple of very littles things that would have been cool to have but I understand it is very difficult to meet the needs of every organizations little differences so I cannot enter any Cons!!

Vorteile

This uniform way of reserving rooms, set-ups, and supplies has made our massive business extremely happy. While each step clearly states what is needed, the best part is the attention to detail for each personalized​ request.

Nachteile

I have never understood the struggle with working with eSPACE until I had to help an employee over 50+. She did not grow up in the "everyone has a computer" stage of life and has struggled​ with the multitude of steps to make reservations. Now, we could have trained her better, but the more complicated your reservations are the more steps to complete it.

Vorteile

We have a high number of events and it helps us manage two campuses effectively. We utilize almost every space on campus for meetings and events and it allows us to not overbook areas. Just recently started using Work Order Management and very pleased. It helps streamline my teams efforts and makes them more productive.

Vorteile

I love that I have the ability to update my reservation for a space with additional dates, schedules, and set up information as we draw closer to an event. Also, it allows us to really customize our available services as we need to over time. I love that I can keep a weekly event going through to the next year and beyond by just adding additional dates to the calendar. We also have it set up for me to approve events and services in the building I'm in charge of so that I can manage those events well or veto them.

Nachteile

If you you are adding a schedule to an ongoing event, but decide to cancel said addition of schedule because the availability is not there for it to be approved, you could be like me and inadvertently end up cancelling an entire major event and not just the schedule that has been approved and ongoing all year with NO WAY to undo the cancellation.

Vorteile

I love that it is straightforward and user intuitive
I like the public forms ability
I like that the app is similiar to the web version

Nachteile

Some of the hierarchy setup is a little difficult to work with when it comes to rooms/equipment
Its too easy to create duplicate tasks

Vorteile

It's intuitive, and moves you step by step through the process. Making room reservations is easy. I really like eSPACE a lot.

Nachteile

1. Have to navigate back to Dashboard before searching for another event. This is a waste of time, they should put a Search option at the top of every screen, not just the Dashboard. This also seems super intuitive, not sure why they haven't done this yet. They must not ever have to search and look at multiple reservations back to back. It's annoying.

2. The "email me one month before event ends" reminder option DOES NOT WORK. I have brought this to their attention several times, but it is not fixed. This is crucial for the work I do, and it is ridiculous that this doesn't work.

Vorteile

Being able to reserve a room and saying what is needed.

Nachteile

A person can reserve a room, even if someone was in that room first. Creating awkward conversations when both parties show up.

Vorteile

It is definitely better than our previous program. I love the various ways you can view schedules...calendar, list, filtered, automatic reports, etc. Very helpful.

I also love that you can include all kinds of layers to a request/schedule. Everything from chair setup to door unlocking to setup/tear down time, etc. It's pretty flexible.

Nachteile

I think I would describe the workflow as clunky? It's not horrible but it often takes some digging to find what you're looking for. I rarely making requests/bookings, etc. I am someone who is a part of the approval process, so 95% of my time on eSpace is approving, not making requests. I don't love that I have to navigate through several clicks across and request to find important pieces of information about the requests.

I also don't love the conflict system. I wish it told me right off the bat what the conflict was, instead of me having to look around to find it.

Vorteile

seems intuitive; I can go back to add something I forgot very easily and not have to click back through pages that didn't change. When I had questions - the help chat was great with info and response time.

Nachteile

I wish that the ability to add the "last meeting/month before it ends" notification to a contact about the last occurrence before the event is submitted. At my church where we are using this, most of my events have an outside (of staff) contact that is the one making the reservation. Currently I add them as a contact and the event has to be approved and then I have to go back into the event to mark event notifications that I want one sent, but (second challenge) I can only send it to myself or a sub-admin and not the outside contact that makes the decision to extend. In my world, I have 154 events i just entered into your software, with 154 different contacts that I need those people to get the notification, not me getting it and then forwarding to the contact. At the end of each semester I will be spending a lot of time just forwarding email. A very inefficient use of time.

Vorteile

The ability to easily schedule a large number of rooms and being able to see any and all potential conflicts.

Nachteile

Inability to select all rooms with one click when scheduling a building closure. It takes extra time to individually select each room for a closure.

Vorteile

The flexibility and automatic features that it has.

Nachteile

I wish it was able to connect to more of the other devices we use around the building without the need to build our own code.

Vorteile

The customer support has been the best part of this software. I also really appreciate the constant updates that occur.

Nachteile

I think that this system could use a lot of work. There are constant updates which I really appreciate, but I think the sofware isn't nearly as intuitive as it should be. I can go to many websites and fill in information, click the NEXT button, and go to the page that I think I should go to. This system isn't like that. I click NEXT and it takes me to a different area. Or I think I'm submitting something, but it doesn't work the way I want. I'm a 33 year old, tech savvy woman who only has issues with eSpace. Yes, there are countless articles and videos to watch to learn how to do something, but I think if the system was set up better, these aids wouldn't be necessary all of the time.

Vorteile

The amount of features and integrations that are available are quite vast. While the software works well for smaller uses, as our campus continues to grow I'm really coming to love and appreciate the huge amount of options that are available for use. Also, the customer service is absolutely top notch. You can get ahold of someone at almost anytime, and they are always happy to help. They are also actively prowling their suggestion board and adding in user requests.

Nachteile

The only thing I dislike about this software is the limitations placed on the different levels of the software. I find myself needing 1 small element of a higher priced tier, but not willing to pay the price to upgrade because I won't use the rest of those features.

Vorteile

The biggest pro which is an influencer for most companies is the price point this falls in, you get a lot of bang for the buck with this product.
-Good Customer Service
-Easy for admins to master

Nachteile

I wish there was more workflows and automation out of the box with this product. This solution is mostly prebuilt and set up for use.

Vorteile

eSPACE is easy to use and quick to learn. Each web page can be manipulated to look how you would like for your audience. Taking payments for events and registrations is super easy and convenient. Uploading photos and pdfs makes using this software for our church extremely functional.

Nachteile

It can be confusing for page visitors to navigate the website. The amount of tabs and drop down menus can make it difficult for them to find what they are looking for.

Vorteile

We have used eSpace for years and love how we can all be on the same page about what areas of our building is being used. My favorite feature though is being able to embed the calendar on our website.

Nachteile

There are times where the notifications are wonky. I'll get emails to approve an event that isn't something that I'm responsible for. That may be an internal issue, but that's the only complaint I can think of.

Vorteile

The software does everything it is advertised to do and they are continually making improvements to make it even better. The customer support is awesome. If we have any issues or problems, they are very responsive and work with us until it is resolved. We have connected our HVAC systems with eSPACE, which was quite a process since our HVAC is an old system. But everyone at eSPACE worked with us through the whole process to get it functioning properly. Everything works automatically and it is great.

Nachteile

Some of the functions can be a little confusing, but after working with it, we usually figure it out. We would like to customize some of the sub-admin sections more, but the new communications tools available may also eliminate that.

Vorteile

We greatly value eSpace's capability to provide a readily available mobile interface for our Facilities personnel to access and use for work orders, from event setups to repairs and everything in between. The eSpace app has allowed us to move away from using paper notes on clipboards to an entirely digital system that we can use to track work order completion, as well as time of completion and who completed it.

Nachteile

eSpace's interface can at times be messy, cluttered, and a little difficult to navigate. Some of our employees have expressed that the mobile app lacks certain features to make navigating it easy and intuitive.

Despite these issues, however, eSpace has been very communicative and helpful, and are always implementing features that greatly assist with problems that arise.

Vorteile

It has a myriad of functionality. It is organized and intuitive and will do a great job tracking work orders. It also allows for uploading documents which is useful to attach warranties and pictures.

Nachteile

The access structure levels makes it hard to know what you are actually getting for your money. Also there is nothing simple about the work order entry. Too many fields to fill out to get a basic order entered. Only useful for current entry. Sometimes it would be nice to add a workorder from last week for tracking purposes but it only accepts current date.

Vorteile

Ability for set up crews to be able to view set ups on the app instead of printing out daily reports. Creating forms for certain room's needs is essential for our church's needs. However, this is not a unique feature to eSPACE. We look forward to having a work order management system which is the main reason we chose eSPACE.
Phone calls with eSPACE have been helpful.

Nachteile

Was told before purchase that the set up would be easy. A kind but inexperienced employee advised us incorrectly about how to set things up and it caused hours and hours of extra work. It would've been helpful to have a game plan of specific things to consider before structuring our account - best practices. We basically had to figure most of it out ourselves. The template instructions didn't always match the actual template.
The app often has glitches - specifically when viewing the calendar the screen turns black or the events for a specific day do not load. You can usually back out and try again and it resolves.
We have had some long delays while waiting for an answer with Live Support. It hasn't been a huge problem but when first time users are asking questions and trying to learn the system, it is discouraging to them.

Vorteile

the program is flexible and gives you plenty of options
gives you the information needed for your team
prevents double booking

Nachteile

could have more customization for reports rather than exporting to excel, easy customize-able reporting would be a great plus

Vorteile

I think the best thing about the software is that I ma quickly and easily able to keep our team organized, focused, and as effective as possible simply with a few keystrokes to ensure that we have a great space to work.

Nachteile

Some of the questions in the reservation process seem redundant. It feels like I have a few to many screens to click through in order to complete the reservation process.

Vorteile

The calendar is a quick and easy way for our staff to view room availability and what is happening in our buildings. We love the "room conflict" feature so there is an ease of reserving spaces without causing conflict with multiple users.

Nachteile

We wish there was a drop down feature on the calendar that you could choose the month and year without having to type it in or scroll through each month. Would also like an easier way to produce invoicing for clients who book rooms.