When facilities teams look to go digital with their quality control, they usually consider free inspection software alongside paid options.
So if the price is right, why doesn’t everyone use free custodial inspection software?
In our work with thousands of facilities teams over the years, we’ve had plenty of conversations with people who have used or tried free options. We’ve noticed some themes about the pros and cons, as well as what tends to go wrong, common frustrations, and growing pains.
As creators of our own digital inspection software, we’re intimately familiar with the work, time, and expenses just required to keep an app up and running. And that’s before you consider new features or customer support.
Feel free to take what we say with a grain of salt! But we hope to give you a clear-eyed, balanced look at when free software seems to work well — and when it might not cut it for a team.
What are the free inspection options?
While free programs do come and go, the current options mostly fall into one of the following categories:
- Bundled software. This software comes as part of another product or service. The most prominent example is CompuClean, which is offered through Spartan Chemical distributors; another offering is WandaNEXT by Bunzl.
- Free add-ons. These are usually modules included within a larger facilities management, operations, or business enterprise software.
- Free services. Some teams take a basic, all-purpose tool, such as Google Forms or Microsoft Forms, and build out a process for managing their quality control using that system.
Considerations for evaluating free inspection options
Cost is a huge consideration for most teams, and “free” is a pretty hard price tag to beat. But in business, “free” often means strings attached. After all, a commercial cleaning company that underbids a job usually can’t deliver the required service — at least not sustainably. Just as clients in the facilities space can avoid a headache by considering more than the price tag, savvy facilities professionals measure the costs of their tools against the efficiency they bring to the job.
So the first step is to consider just what those attached strings may be.
Data ownership and security
In our personal lives, many of us are used to getting apps, entertainment, and more for free. The catch varies, but it’s often our privacy. Companies gather, use, and sell our attention and data. Sometimes it’s as straightforward as a TV ad, while other times it’s information on our demographics, our buying habits, and even the places we go.
Different people have different tolerances for the strings attached to these free services. It’s the same for janitorial teams.
One key question to ask: Who owns the data your team enters into the software or app? What happens if you decide to switch programs or go with another distributor or supplier? Will you be able to export all of the data you’ve gathered over the years?
If a free software provider doesn’t provide a way to export your data, it could mean losing years of quality control and inspection data — or sticking with an ineffective program because it’s too much of a loss.
Data security
It takes work to keep data secure. We dedicate considerable resources to keeping data security strong and up-to-date. This includes industry best practices for data encryption and transmission. All data is stored and hosted in the United States, in Virginia, by Amazon Web Services. (See more about data security at OrangeQC.)
A company that creates a free tool as a cost center or add-on may not be able to invest the time, money, and expertise required to maintain a high level of data security.
Any team, no matter its size or industry, has good reason to want their data safe and secure. Some organizations and clients require that extra security, especially if they deal with sensitive information.
Software quality
The next point to consider: How good is that free software? And what motivation does the provider have to keep it at that level — or to improve it?
Part of answering that question, of course, might be talking to other teams who have used it, reading reviews, or testing it out yourself.
At a high level, it’s also worth considering the provider’s reason for offering the software. For example, a tool made by a chemical company is probably going to be really effective at inventory management. They have a lot of incentive to make reordering supplies simple and painless. Features like quality control, reporting, and client communication, on the other hand? They may not be top-of-mind.
That’s not to say anyone is delivering a clunky product on purpose. But great software takes a lot of resources to create and maintain. For example, for OrangeQC we’ve released 21 new version updates to the iOS app alone just in the past year, ranging from bug fixes and platform improvements to entirely new features requested by our teams. And that’s just on one platform — we also have an Android app and a web app, all of which need to work well together for teams using many different types of devices.
Without time and money invested, any app will become like a junk closet that becomes less and less usable over time.
A less dramatic example may be inspection and quality control modules offered by larger software companies. This requires more nuance, because these add-ons have a lot more variation in how well they work. It also depends on your team’s process.
We’ve talked to teams who have been happy with the modules they’re using, as well as others who end up frustrated. A large chunk of those we’ve talked to fall somewhere in between, where they aren’t necessarily thrilled, but don’t want the hassle of making a switch.
Scalability
Finally, consider how the solution you’re evaluating will scale as your process grows and changes.
Many teams start simple, with pen-and-paper inspections or custom creations made in Google Forms or Microsoft Forms. This can actually be a great place to start defining your process, capturing basic information, and learning what you need out of your inspection tools.
Eventually, however, many teams outgrow those simple solutions. They often don’t cut it for a big team that needs to cover a large area, or to communicate in real-time when some people are in the field, and others are in the office or onsite at a different location.
Considering how these processes will scale can help you plan ahead for the point at which you’ll outgrow them.
The benefit of paid software
Charging a fair price allows us to keep our software working smoothly, up-to-date, and constantly improving. This is what we do, and we know our company’s success depends on how well we do it.
We’re also able to work with our teams to make the tools work better in the real world. For example, offline performance is a big deal to us – because it’s a big deal to our clients. They can’t do their jobs if the forms won’t load in the field or sync when the device reconnects. So we talk about it constantly and hire developers who specifically have experience ensuring a smooth experience, even with a spotty connection.
We love that delivering best-in-class tools makes a big difference in the work that our clients do, freeing them up to do their jobs.
Just as not all free inspection software has the same level of quality, paid inspection software isn’t all the same. Check out our suggestions for the top six most important questions to ask software vendors for tips that can help reveal whether software will be a reliable long-term partner for your team.
How to try OrangeQC for free
What we do offer for free is an unlimited 30-day trial of OrangeQC.
By now, you know to look for the strings attached to that offer, so we’ll be upfront with you — and no, it’s not a sneaky subscription we’re hoping you’ll forget to cancel. That’s why we don’t require any payment info to claim your trial.
No, the truth is that when we let facilities professionals get their hands on our software…. they like it. (The word “love” comes up a lot, too.)
Some of our free trial users dive in and have their whole team using the tools at all of their sites before the 30 days are up. Others talk with us one-on-one with us to explore the full set of features and what they can do. (Of course, some find that it’s not actually the right fit at this time, and that’s okay, too!)
Click here to claim your own 30-day trial and investigate at your own pace.
