Simsol, Is it the best software?
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Simsol, Is it the best software? - 3/22/2006 10:49:49 AM
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MDC
Posts: 50
Joined: 12/7/2005
Home base: Downingtown, PA
Status: offline
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As I sit here in Xactimate level 1 training, (so that I can understand and use a backup estimating software), I find that Simsol is the best estimating system I have used. I have tried several estiamting systems, and Simsol stand alone.
I have tried to create template reports in Xactimate and found that the merge field (tokens) would not be created. In attempting to create a template report per the Xactimate way, my laptop crashed twice.
So if you are here reading the different responses as to which estimating software you should use, I would look no further than Simsol.
The easy of use and input speed is exceptional to any system I have used.
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RE: Simsol, Is it the best software? - 3/22/2006 11:33:26 AM
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Gale
Posts: 739
Joined: 4/19/2004
Home base: Murray, KY
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Mike, you raised a good question. Perhaps it is more of a YES or NO than True or False type question. Clearly no one adjusting software is the “BEST” software just as not one brand of cars is the “BEST” brand of car. Maybe some would say BMW is the best brand and someone else would say VW is the best brand.
Like cars one has to look at the factors and who is selecting those factors. Since we all work for the carriers, not ourselves, an adjusting vendor, etc we have to look at what is best in the mind of the carriers. The other golden rule comes into to play, “He who has the gold makes the rules” so if we want that person’s gold we play by their rules.
What software a carrier prefers is directed to a large extent at least initially by the sales force of the different adjusting software companies.
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RE: Simsol, Is it the best software? - 3/22/2006 12:01:17 PM
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MDC
Posts: 50
Joined: 12/7/2005
Home base: Downingtown, PA
Status: offline
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Gale, I appreciate your response.
In using Simsol I can create and customize reports to meet the vendor/carriers requirements. Once I have created the report, two clicks of the mouse completes the report requirement. I have created template reports with over 30 merge fields whereas this saves a lot of time in processing claims. The quicker I can process claims, the more money I can make.
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RE: Simsol, Is it the best software? - 3/22/2006 12:23:31 PM
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Gale
Posts: 739
Joined: 4/19/2004
Home base: Murray, KY
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Mike, in working with carriers, vendors and adjusters it is clear not all software is equal in the eyes of the adjuster. Simsol is without question a product that many in the trenches really appreciate.
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RE: Simsol, Is it the best software? - 3/22/2006 9:34:24 PM
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margar
Posts: 241
Joined: 3/18/2006
Home base: Benton, KY
Status: offline
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XACTIMATE 02 HANDS DOWN THE BEST!
XACTIMATE @$ A CLOSE 2ND
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RE: Simsol, Is it the best software? - 3/22/2006 9:35:35 PM
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margar
Posts: 241
Joined: 3/18/2006
Home base: Benton, KY
Status: offline
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OOPS! XACTIMATE 24 A CLOSE 2nd
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RE: Simsol, Is it the best software? - 3/22/2006 10:08:45 PM
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Gale
Posts: 739
Joined: 4/19/2004
Home base: Murray, KY
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Mark, Xactimate 2002 is without question a product that many in the trenches really appreciate.
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RE: Simsol, Is it the best software? - 3/22/2006 10:48:24 PM
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margar
Posts: 241
Joined: 3/18/2006
Home base: Benton, KY
Status: offline
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Gale
Xactimate has seemed to serve me well but to be honest I don,t have a lot to compare the software with. It is really the only one I have ever used and it seems like most all of the vendors I have worked for either use it as their primary or will allow the use of.
However with each year it seems to me that more of the vendors and Carriers are experimenting with different software.
To me it would appear that estimating software is kinda like your favorite pair of shoes. It just fits real nice.
From just down the road from you guy,s in Benton Ky
Mark
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RE: Simsol, Is it the best software? - 3/23/2006 12:05:55 AM
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Gale
Posts: 739
Joined: 4/19/2004
Home base: Murray, KY
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Mark, I agree with you. Tonight I finally went to Office Depot and got a new phone because I had beat my old one to death over the last eight years. Our IT manager had been trying to get me to go with something new for some time. The #3 key sometimes had to be hit 2 or 3 times but somehow without thinking I knew if it actually entered a 3 or to hit it again. J The roaring when using the speaker phone forced me to make a change.
When we have our 20th anniversary in 12 years like Xactimate is having now I am sure all adjusting software will be very different and we expect free to the adjusters. Call and stop by sometime. Last week we had a 1700 mile training and sales trip and will be in Nashville week after next attending the PLRB.
My number is 800-736-1246 ext. 101 or gale@powerclaim.com and our site is www.powerclaim.com for our address.
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RE: Simsol, Is it the best software? - 3/23/2006 3:17:23 PM
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Storm Duty
Posts: 163
Joined: 8/16/2004
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Mike, you know my preference! When you are told that you have to use an incomplete system and that the vendor/carrier expects a superior product, you get frustrated when they give you only half of the tools to get the job done. That is why I use Simsol! It's one box with all the tools I need for a superior product. The FPIC templates we created are a prime example of it. Another vendor that I handled claims for in NO actually had an IT person create an Excel template to pick-up for the short comings of other systems, ie., ITV, Contents, Final Report, Invoice, etc.
The carriers have to see it's short comings and look to a product that is more complete or give Xactimate the option of either being equal or losing carrier support.
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RE: Simsol, Is it the best software? - 3/24/2006 11:35:08 AM
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Medulus
Posts: 367
Joined: 4/19/2004
Home base: Lake Ariel, PA
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Though I have limited time since Katrina hit, I occasionally take someone who is just starting out as an adjuster along for a ride-along for the day. The last people I've taken along have been signed up to take Xactimate training in the near future at considerable expense. (Just an aside: Shouldn't a program that costs as much to use as Xactimate at least have a free tutorial? Talk about price gouging!) We go out and inspect a couple losses together, then I sit down with them at my computer and we put together a claim file based on one of the inspections we did that day. I use Simsol myself whenever I'm given a choice, so Simsol is the program I walk them through. If they know Simsol, they can learn Xactimate rather quickly. The only problem is that they may end up wasting time looking for features they used on my Simsol program that are just not there on the Xactimate program. With Simsol, we can easily mount and label the photos, prepare a diagram, enter today's activity notes, prepare a square foot valuation, prepare separate estimates for building, adjacent structures, and contents, prepare a statement of loss, put together a report, and prepare a billing worksheet. Then we bundle it all up as a pdf and send it off to the cat supervisor. It's just so much easier than showing someone all these facets of claim handling on Xactimate plus all the other programs you have to use to supplement Xactimate's short-comings. If all the carrier wants is an estimate with pretty diagrams and a couple pictures then Xactimate is just fine. But if it is important to provide all the information they need to handle a claim with minimal questions, Simsol has Xactimate beat hands down, and at a fraction of the price.
This is not to mention that Simsol is very responsive to the adjusting community. My experience with Xactimate is that they are not.
Some day soon I plan to try out Gale's Powerclaim program as well, just so I know I am able to use any of the four major adjusting programs that I might be asked to use. I know this already about Powerclaim -- If I have a question, I can get the attention of the company president real fast by contacting him through this website. Gale has, in the past, made some very generous offers to CADO members. I simply haven't had an assignment where it seemed like the right time to take him up on any of them.
Simsol also has considerable presence on these pages, and the president of the company is very accessible. I have never seen any presence on the part of Xactimate or Integraclaim on CADO. If they are monitoring what adjusters think of their product, I don't know. But their presence is noticeably lacking from these pages.
Of the three programs I am very familiar with, Simsol is always my preferred choice. I can use Xactimate and Integra proficiently, but if I want to get the files closed, closed fast, and closed well, Simsol can do that better than any other program I've ever used.
_____________________________
Steve Ebner
"With great power comes great responsibility." (Stanley Lieber, Amazing Fantasy # 15 August 1962)
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RE: Simsol, Is it the best software? - 3/24/2006 11:51:25 AM
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Russ
Posts: 96
Joined: 4/19/2004
Home base: Saint Petersburg, FL
Status: offline
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I agree with Steve. I have used SIMSOL(when my Vendor let me) since Northridge and have found no better software. I can make money with any of the softwares available, but prefer the ease of SIMSOL. I have not used Powerclaim on a CAT yet but I have played with it and it is very adjuster friendly and easy to use. I have tried to get the Vendors I work for to switch to SIMSOL, but I haven't quite convinced them yet. If they would use it for a few claims they would switch. My opinion only, I like all other adjusters use what I am told to use. I miss Gale wearing his coveralls at the conferences. Ya''ll have a great day and be careful out there.
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RE: Simsol, Is it the best software? - 3/24/2006 2:05:14 PM
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BobH
Posts: 103
Joined: 2/2/2006
Home base: San Luis Obispo, California
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After 10 years of Xactimate, I still find it rather hard to use. But I trust its price database. Xactimate has evolved a very extensive list of repair items, and I think that is why so many Ins Carriers use it.
The R&D Xactimate does to update its prices quarterly, and by zip code, and specifically for Cat zones, for such a huge database of repair items is amazing. The software has to be able to separate out the material portion of the repair step and not tax the labor.
In the mid '90's I tried Simsol (and other programs) but found the price lists incomplete. Are they equal to Xactimate now?
The Xactimate price list is almost too huge - the item you want is like a needle in a haystack. Sometimes I click on the top column above the description of the repair steps, which sorts the items by description rather than a cryptic code.
_____________________________
Bob Harvey
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. Albert Einstein
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RE: Simsol, Is it the best software? - 3/24/2006 4:05:18 PM
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MDC
Posts: 50
Joined: 12/7/2005
Home base: Downingtown, PA
Status: offline
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BobH, Simsol does provide quarterly price updates on their web site. Their database is baed upon the National Constuction Estimator price guide published by Craftman Books. I update my software version and database as soon as they are available so that I can continuly providee an accurate product.
With regards to Medulus comments, I would like to agree in that Simsol does provide a complete ADJUSTING package. With their preloaded templetes and the ease of customizing your own templete, ease of input make Simsol one ot the top two programs.
I have used Xactimate off an on for about 5 yerars and found that the input of sope items is slow and cumbersome.
With regards to this year, I will only work for vendors/carriers that allow the CAT adjuster to use whatever software program they want, period.
Basically, I would be surprised if one uses more than 75 to 100 data base items during a CAT.
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RE: Simsol, Is it the best software? - 3/24/2006 10:33:07 PM
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ranger
Posts: 186
Joined: 11/20/2004
Home base: Bonham, Texas
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I have used Xactimate starting with when I was a staff adjuster with Farmers and that has been for eleven years. I would like to know what carriers will allow Simsol to be used on their estimates. I would like to try Simsol as it sounds like a good program and it has a lower cost than Xactimate. State Farm, Farmers, St. Paul/Travelers, USAA and National Lloyds all require you to use Xactimate. I am not financially secure enough to hold out for a vender or company that will allow me to use Simsol. The daily assignments I get when I am back from hurricane assignments all require Xactimate. I would like to know what companies allow Simsol as I might sign with them for the next hurricane.
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