Article written by Wayne Newitts and originally appeared on the Dexter + Chaney blog

This is ultimately a blog about construction software, but stay with me as I put on my “Top Gear” hat and take you on a trip through an automotive analogy.

I remember first learning how to work on cars a number of years ago, a number that is becoming disturbingly large. This was back in the day when owning a timing light was pretty standard and checking the points, plugs and condenser was pretty routine. Opening the hood of my ’72 Nova, I could actually identify just about everything I saw there.

Fast forward to the much more recent past when I thought I’d teach my daughter a thing or two about car maintenance. Open the hood of her 2006 “Dad’s tired of driving me everywhere” car, and, well, I see the battery, master cylinder, umm, think that’s the alternator…but mostly I see a big block of plastic with two computer ports.

So I told her to just get the oil changed every 3,000 or so, check the tire pressure regularly, and I went to sit under a shade tree to reminisce.

As the new year approaches, we wanted to inform you of a couple of items that warrant your attention.

First, as these are the early days in regards to the Affordable Care Act, one of our astute Spectrum clients noticed an issue in Spectrum that came too late to make a product change. This is connected to the 1095C forms and the need to print and collate those with the W2's. Unfortunately, Spectrum does not have the option to print W2's and 1095C's utilizing the same sort order so it made it difficult to collate a large number of employee W2's and 1095C's. To provide a solution, two of our consultants created custom reports that now sort the 1095C in either SSN or Name Alpha order to mirror the options for W2 printing.

• 1095-C Sorted by Employee Social Security Number
• 1095-C Sorted by Employee Alpha

Please download the custom reports to have them available when you reach this point in your 1095C processing. Instructions for adding these reports to your Spectrum installation are included on the download page.

In a perfect world, everyone involved in a construction project works from the same playbook. They all use the same tools and processes to share critical information with each other in real time. Project managers in the field keep the accounting team in the office continually apprised of the project’s status and immediately alert them when any necessary changes or issues arise. Meanwhile, the accounting team has a full view and understanding of the project from pre-bid to closeout. They assist the project managers by reviewing bids for accuracy, conducting background checks on vendors and subcontractors, adjusting financial data where needed and more. The result is a project that is completed on time and under budget, with few disruptions.

Yet, few—if any—projects operate in this way. In the real world, communication and collaboration between the field and the office is often hampered by missing or incomplete data, delays in relaying information and insufficient means to alert parties when important changes or updates are made.

The development of technologies such as specialized construction software, mobile devices and cloud computing have helped ease some of these project pains in recent years. However, achieving true collaboration between the office and the field requires streamlining both technology and business practice.

Spectrum Workflow allows you to define and enforce specific rules on your Spectrum processes. Not only can the user easily see all steps that are currently assigned to them, they can quickly approve, reject or mark that the step has been completed. The full history of each transaction processed through workflow is always available.

Key Benefits Include

Original Article by Andy Holtmann

The Employee Kiosk and Subcontract Kiosk allow all authorized users, including subcontractors, easy and secure Spectrum access to payroll and subcontract data—without the need for additional user licenses.

“These kiosks add yet another layer of easy-to-use, yet powerful functionality to the Spectrum Dashboard and provide relevant information to everyone in the company,” said John Chaney, CEO and co-founder of Dexter + Chaney. “It was important to us and to our clients to find new, simple ways to streamline the everyday processes that can often be cumbersome or time-consuming.”

The Employee Kiosk provides a secure portal for employees to enter their own hours and payroll information, and to access other human resources information. When users log into their Spectrum Dashboards, they will see the Employee Kiosk app, where they can enter, modify or delete time records with just a few clicks. They can also retrieve summaries of previous time card entries and print out their earnings statements.

Original Article by Andy Holtmann

You can use Spectrum’s customizable Dashboard to expand access to all of your employees without the need to purchase additional licenses.

“The value of software isn’t just in the depth of its features,” said John Chaney, CEO of Dexter + Chaney. “Value also depends on the breadth of accessibility. Everyone in a company needs reliable, up-to-date information to do their job. With the new all-access Dashboard, Spectrum makes it significantly easier to keep all employees informed, keep them equipped with information, and help them work better together.”

The Spectrum Dashboard includes a large number of pre-built apps that each user can choose to place on their desktop. The apps tie directly into Spectrum’s database, ensuring that all the information presented is up-to-minute accurate. Users with appropriate permission can modify apps, and with some minimal training can create custom apps themselves. Examples of pre-built Dashboard apps include graphical reports of construction job cost, cash flow alerts, job progress, change order notifications, to do lists, and even RSS feeds from relevant online media.

A Dexter + Chaney White Paper

Putting information into the hands of the people closest to the action is not a revolutionary idea. When the action takes place at multiple locations and involves constantly changing conditions and participants, the flow of information becomes even more crucial. This environment is what most contractors have faced every day long before smart phones, tablets, the Internet, and even computing technology in general.

Today, we face something more than the emergence of a new technology. Three fundamental aspects of information management – mobility, computing, and software – are transforming together. And it is when technologies come together and reinforce each other that they have the biggest impact on the way people live and work.

A New Level of Mobility

Although relatively new to the marketplace, tablet computers and smart phones now account for a significant amount of computing. These devices not only provide users with more ways to communicate, they provide access to powerful applications and large amounts of data. Project managers, job site supervisors, and other field staff have access to more information than ever before – information they can access from wherever work takes them.

We are excited to introduce the Employee Kiosk (EK) module in Spectrum version 14–the latest module from Dexter + Chaney!

Key Benefits

• Allows employees to enter their own payroll time in a secure manner.
• Provides employees with access to their earnings information.
• Does not require the use of a concurrent Spectrum license.

How it works

Employees are provided with Spectrum login credentials that only allow them access to the kiosk. Access to data through the Employee Kiosk is strictly limited to the current user’s payroll information (as defined using the ‘contact’ link between the employee code and operator code).

Since the earliest days of business computing, there have been countless changes to the technology solutions available to those in construction. However, three major waves have significantly changed how contractors do business.

Not long ago, creating a mobile project team simply meant setting everyone up with a cell phone.  As phones became smarter, wireless networks improved, and data plans came down in price, contractors began to make mobility more meaningful.  A new marketplace developed that offered construction-specific mobile apps for a variety of tasks, such as remote time entry, punch lists and even basic cost estimating. This quickly evolving technology has significant implications for how construction professionals communicate and perform their jobs. Additionally, the increasingly widespread use of smart devices is changing the playing field for mobile app and software providers alike.