Docking Station- 3 monitor set up for home office? File access, sharing etc?

[BHC Vic]

Before procore I would use drop box. Create a folder and send everyone a link to it. That was 10 years ago though.

 

[rivermobster]

@Hammer

So my SIL uses one of these things. On the boat in Oxnard last weekend, we were watching the Dodger game on TV with it, and three of us were on our cell phones at the same time. She has the older 4G one, that is much cheaper than the new 5G ones. She says it's about the size of a CC, but thicker, charges with a cord, and she pays about 20 bucks a month with Verizon for unlimited data. She also has one from t-mobil. They both require cell service I'm told, so one of em works where the other one doesn't. For deep desert camping, they have a Starlink as well.

I'm gonna look into this more myself!

https://www.verizon.com/onesearch/search?q=hotspot&fq=(recordContentType:Devices%20OR%20recordContentType:Accessories)

 

[Icky]

@Hammer

So my SIL uses one of these things. On the boat in Oxnard last weekend, we were watching the Dodger game on TV with it, and three of us were on our cell phones at the same time. She has the older 4G one, that is much cheaper than the new 5G ones. She says it's about the size of a CC, but thicker, charges with a cord, and she pays about 20 bucks a month with Verizon for unlimited data. She also has one from t-mobil. They both require cell service I'm told, so one of em works where the other one doesn't. For deep desert camping, they have a Starlink as well.

I'm gonna look into this more myself!

https://www.verizon.com/onesearch/search?q=hotspot&fq=(recordContentType:Devices%20OR%20recordContentType:Accessories)

They work great if you have service, areas like Parker and Glamis when it's busy not so much. I have starlink for those areas

 

[Hammer]

And in not trying to be a dick or know it all. This is a constant thing with older guys in the field. They are against it, don’t want it, hate it, and then they learn and get familiar and love it and wonder why they waited so long. That just how it’s going with technology in construction. We are YEARS behind as a whole in this industry

You are not wrong with this. Not every employer has the funding or time to pay a full time guy to train computer skills to field guys AND run the business and pull the supers off their jobs for training and keep the project running smoothly.

Let alone have a dedicated estimator, sales guy/team, Project Engineer and PM/APM etc..., some companies have one or two guys that have to fill all those roles, or do a little of each, that doesn't mean they aren't successful either. It's possible they are in the growing stages and don't have capital to hire a full time office staff YET.

 

[Hammer]

@Hammer

So my SIL uses one of these things. On the boat in Oxnard last weekend, we were watching the Dodger game on TV with it, and three of us were on our cell phones at the same time. She has the older 4G one, that is much cheaper than the new 5G ones. She says it's about the size of a CC, but thicker, charges with a cord, and she pays about 20 bucks a month with Verizon for unlimited data. She also has one from t-mobil. They both require cell service I'm told, so one of em works where the other one doesn't. For deep desert camping, they have a Starlink as well.

I'm gonna look into this more myself!

https://www.verizon.com/onesearch/search?q=hotspot&fq=(recordContentType:Devices%20OR%20recordContentType:Accessories)

I have one, my phone can act as a hotspot too.

 

[Hammer]

They work great if you have service, areas like Parker and Glamis when it's busy not so much. I have starlink for those areas

Still on the fence with Starlink, I don't NEED it while I'm on vacation. It would be nice, but I'm trying to keep my kids off cell phones and tablets when we are camping or at the desert. Its a challenge. I'm guilty of it too. The wife already gives me a hard time about being on my phone on vacation. But sometimes you gotta work to pay for said vacation. LOL

If I could use Starlink at home and on vacation for the same price I pay for home internet I'd look into it. One thing at a time.....

 

[BHC Vic]

You are not wrong with this. Not every employer has the funding or time to pay a full time guy to train computer skills to field guys AND run the business and pull the supers off their jobs for training and keep the project running smoothly.

Let alone have a dedicated estimator, sales guy/team, Project Engineer and PM/APM etc..., some companies have one or two guys that have to fill all those roles, or do a little of each, that doesn't mean they aren't successful either. It's possible they are in the growing stages and don't have capital to hire a full time office staff YET.

Yea I get that for sure. This is where those youngsters come into play, they are cheap labor but the are techy. That’s what I tell all my apprentices. Be that guy, take some initiative. Don’t do the 8 and skate.

 

[n2otoofast4u]

How expensive is procore? My understanding is cost is based on project value you’re running though it. That’s how it used to be anyways. Autodesk has PlanGrid now. Well it’s called something different but same thing.

Its VERY expensive, and is based on your revenue of the projects you use it on. We are a $150M+- a year sub contractor and we signed on for a year to try it out as a project management tool for ourselves. We obviously get a seat on the projects through the GC, but wanted to use it to manage our side and we are doing MEPF complete on projects so the documentation is obviously crazy. We dropped it after the year and went into what is now Trimble Construct One and it is working well for us. It has direct reporting back into our accounting and am now told that our CRM is integrating with it and our accounting as well come 2025, so we will be sticking with it.

I can tell you some of these GCs are writing HUGE checks to Procore, but as you know, it works VERY well from that side!

 

[BHC Vic]

Its VERY expensive, and is based on your revenue of the projects you use it on. We are a $150M+- a year sub contractor and we signed on for a year to try it out as a project management tool for ourselves. We obviously get a seat on the projects through the GC, but wanted to use it to manage our side and we are doing MEPF complete on projects so the documentation is obviously crazy. We dropped it after the year and went into what is now Trimble Construct One and it is working well for us. It has direct reporting back into our accounting and am now told that our CRM is integrating with it and our accounting as well come 2025, so we will be sticking with it.

I can tell you some of these GCs are writing HUGE checks to Procore, but as you know, it works VERY well from that side!

Yes it’s based project revenue that’s why I was thinking for a smaller company it shouldn’t be too bad. Most subs just get invited by the GC and just have to know how to use it. I’m not in the field anymore so it’s nice to hear real feedback. My brother works for my old company Sharpe interiors and they are huge on procore but sharpe also built their campus in carpenteria so there’s a working relationship there.

 

[n2otoofast4u]

Yes it’s based project revenue that’s why I was thinking for a smaller company it shouldn’t be too bad. Most subs just get invited by the GC and just have to know how to use it. I’m not in the field anymore so it’s nice to hear real feedback. My brother works for my old company Sharpe interiors and they are huge on procore but sharpe also built their campus in carpenteria so there’s a working relationship there.

Got it!

It is absolutely the most widely use construction software around. I would say that 90% or more of our GCs are using it and more and more are using it for even more activities like billing, punch list, etc. It seems that the GCs are really starting to take advantage of what they are paying for. Most of our big projects that we interview or propose for have some questions in the RFP about our ability and skills with Procore.

Side question, do you have any experience with Open Space camera software? We have been using it for about a year now, and although it had push back at first, it is really taking off. Its a 3D camera that you give a few insertion points on a set of drawings to and then walk the building with this thing attached to your hard hat and click a few buttons at each insertion point and it ties it all together and builds a virtual map that you can "walk" on the computer and go room to room and see progress, safety concerns, QA/QC issues, etc. Its pretty interesting! It works great for our out of state stuff because we can have anyone walk the job that knows how to run the camera, and then our PMs who may be in a different state can see true progress on the jobs, etc.

 

[BHC Vic]

Got it!

It is absolutely the most widely use construction software around. I would say that 90% or more of our GCs are using it and more and more are using it for even more activities like billing, punch list, etc. It seems that the GCs are really starting to take advantage of what they are paying for. Most of our big projects that we interview or propose for have some questions in the RFP about our ability and skills with Procore.

Side question, do you have any experience with Open Space camera software? We have been using it for about a year now, and although it had push back at first, it is really taking off. Its a 3D camera that you give a few insertion points on a set of drawings to and then walk the building with this thing attached to your hard hat and click a few buttons at each insertion point and it ties it all together and builds a virtual map that you can "walk" on the computer and go room to room and see progress, safety concerns, QA/QC issues, etc. Its pretty interesting! It works great for our out of state stuff because we can have anyone walk the job that knows how to run the camera, and then our PMs who may be in a different state can see true progress on the jobs, etc.

We saw that out at the ITC maybe two years ago. It didn’t really take off though. I’ll ask our tech coordinator Andy if we are doing anything with it. Last week I was out there and he had that stupid robot dog and was messing around the whole time so I didn’t really get to talk with him

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Mike, for your multiple monitor situation, I'd suggest the Dell USB-C monitors. They are the docking station. My laptop is my only work computer. When I get to the office I just plug it into the single USB-C cord and it connects to the 2 monitors and charges at the same time. The computer recognizes the monitors and the settings I have already established for them and its off and running using all 3 screens. I have the Logitech bluetooth mouse and and keyboards at work that stay there so there is literally only 1 wire to plug in and its a full desktop computer with 3 monitors.

USB-C Monitors - Dell External Computer Monitors | Dell USA

Learn about the new standard in monitor connectivity. Explore Dell & Ultrasharp monitors that use USB-C technology.

www.dell.com

Our file management system is almost identical to what King295 said (to the point that I am wondering if we both work for the same company......) The one drive is seamless and allows access from anywhere on anything.

 

[Bigbore500r]

It’s not that much I can guarantee it. I don’t pay a cent.

Its a shit ton of money to outfit an entire company to run Procore. On the field side, it doesn't cost anything to access the projects and upload pictures, constraints, reports, etc. But for the companies running the project and owning the licenses, its big $$$

 

[ChevelleSB406]

I always am fascinated by what various software programs cost users per month. I build stuff in CRM for a living, and we have a huge volume discount with Salesforce, but we also have various tools we bring in as well, D&B, LinkedIn Navigator, Office365 obviously, People.ai, etc. All various levels of pride. Currently my sales people all said and done cost about $600/mo per user for CRM related functions. Our company balks every once in a while, which is ironic as the software we lease, per program, can be as high as $4k/mo per user.

 

[Hammer]

Got it!

It is absolutely the most widely use construction software around. I would say that 90% or more of our GCs are using it and more and more are using it for even more activities like billing, punch list, etc. It seems that the GCs are really starting to take advantage of what they are paying for. Most of our big projects that we interview or propose for have some questions in the RFP about our ability and skills with Procore.

Side question, do you have any experience with Open Space camera software? We have been using it for about a year now, and although it had push back at first, it is really taking off. Its a 3D camera that you give a few insertion points on a set of drawings to and then walk the building with this thing attached to your hard hat and click a few buttons at each insertion point and it ties it all together and builds a virtual map that you can "walk" on the computer and go room to room and see progress, safety concerns, QA/QC issues, etc. Its pretty interesting! It works great for our out of state stuff because we can have anyone walk the job that knows how to run the camera, and then our PMs who may be in a different state can see true progress on the jobs, etc.

Is this similar to Matterport? I have used that for several out of state projects to "walk the job" . This sounds like it will cross reference the set points on the CD's to give you a reference of the 3D images?

 

[Xtrmwakeboarder]

And in not trying to be a dick or know it all. This is a constant thing with older guys in the field. They are against it, don’t want it, hate it, and then they learn and get familiar and love it and wonder why they waited so long. That just how it’s going with technology in construction. We are YEARS behind as a whole in this industry

This is old people in EVERY industry….

 

[Motoxxxloak]

3 Acer 24.5” monitors with a 3 screen mount and a sit stand desk from Amazon. I may stack another 3 screens but this will work for now. Also use a Lenovo dock with adapters from Amazon. Will upload pics in a bit


MOUNTPRO Triple Monitor Desk... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YWKQ873?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share