PCRT overview

[FredJClaus]

I hear a lot of talk about this program and I can't justify shelling out 200.00 a year for it.

My company is a mobile lab, meaning we go to the client location. Very rarely do we bring computers back to the shop anymore. We are also starting an MSP program for commercial clients.

Would there be any benefit for a company like mine to have PCRT?

[Fred]

Hey Fred. I hope Jim and Xander will chime in to help you out with this question. I can't say anything, as I don't use PCRT.

[reggaemanu]

If you work essentially at the client location it may have less interest but it depends how you actually keep track of your work/customers/invoices.
I can just advise you to test the demo on his website so you can see by yourself if it can be useful for you or not

[FredJClaus]

Thanks for that. I didn't know there was a demo on the site. Will check it out.

[Charger440]

Well, First off Fred C, you read that wrong. PCRT is NOT $200 a year. It is $200 for one year of updates and support. There is a HUGE difference there. After the first year, the same updates and support is $140. If you choose not to pay after a year, the software will still function just as it always except you won't get any updates.

The latest version tries to incorporate more mobile billing and check-ins since IT is always on the move. I use PCRT everyday and am over all happy with it. It has some issues but you are never gonna find a perfect software

[FredJClaus]

Thanks for the clarification Jim. I was reading it wrong I guess.

[Xander]

It's just a tool for a specific use. If you don't think you'd get full advantage of it, don't buy into it. Some folks are perfectly happy shooting off invoices and receipts from Quickbooks or whatever. Like a lot of things in our business, there's no right or wrong way to do some things.

That said, the latest version now officially supports UVK imports and, as mentioned, more mobile functions (meh). I bought PCRT about 3-4 years ago and have renewed each year. "Updates" can be a bit misleading, though, as there is usually only one update per year and a couple of bug fixes shortly after.

[Charger440]

There is also the "is it worth updating?" With Lukes plan, when the new update comes out, if there are no features that suite you, then don't update. I have a friend that does it that way, if the update has nothing he needs he waits for the next update to see if there is anything interesting in it. I like that plan better than subscription based where you pay for "updates" that really have nothing to do with you or you don't care about them.