Why Do Contractors Choose Workyard Over Housecall Pro?

While Housecall Pro has its merits, Workyard offers several compelling advantages that make it a superior choice for field service businesses. Here are five key reasons why Workyard stands out:

1. Advanced GPS Time-Tracking with Real-Time Location Data.

Housecall Pro displays a map-based view of actively working field technicians. However, its location data have a few minutes of delay, so dispatchers can’t count on it if they need real-time location tracking.’

To be fair, Housecall Pro’s map displays live locations of work vehicles. However, GPS fleet tracking is not built into its system. For it to work, you need to integrate Housecall Pro with a third-party software, Force Fleet Tracking. This adds up to your monthly fees, not to mention the additional effort of installing the tracking device in your vehicle.

Again, Housecall Pro doesn’t track employees’ locations in real time but is somehow capable of live vehicle tracking through integration. This results in strange instances when your service tech and truck show up in two different map locations at the same time.

Meanwhile, Workyard’s GPS-enabled time clock app offers real-time location tracking, ensuring you know where your team is during their shifts. This allows for better oversight and empowers you to make on-the-spot dispatching decisions based on the technician’s proximity to the customer or project location.

2. Comprehensive and Accurate Mileage Tracking.

Workyard tracks not only the locations your workers visited while on the clock but also the driving mileage they spent in between. 

With its built-in mileage tracking feature, Workyard takes into account each worker’s “windshield time.” By knowing how far and how long the worker spent driving to and from job locations, you will be able to pinpoint which sites consumed the most resources. As a result, you will be compelled to find ways to plan and optimize technician routing, saving your company significant fuel expenses in the process.

Housecall Pro falls short in this area as it lacks a built-in capability to track mileage. Businesses that aren’t willing to pay extra fees for Housecall Pro’s third-party vehicle mileage tracker will have to face potential inefficiencies and disputes over travel costs.

3. Geofencing and Automatic Clock-In.

Workyard allows users to set up geofences around specific customer or project locations. These virtual boundaries surrounding job sites can elevate your team’s time and location tracking.

Once geofencing is activated, managers can add rules like automatic clock-in. This allows Workyard’s app to automatically clock workers in as soon as they set foot on the job site and trim their clock-out times to the last geofenced site exited.

Workyard’s rule-based geofencing reduces the chances of time theft and ensures accurate time tracking even if workers forget to clock in or out.

Housecall Pro does not offer this level of precision, which can lead to discrepancies in employee timesheets and payroll processing.

4. Offline Capability.

Fieldwork doesn’t always happen in areas with reliable internet access. Workyard’s offline capability means your team can still log their hours and access essential information even when they are out of range. The GPS would work without the internet.

Workyard’s offline-capable mobile apps enable field workers to work uninterruptedly as their hours are quietly recorded in the background. They can clock in, take breaks, and clock out without an internet connection. 

While admins back in the office won’t be able to see their field employees’ live locations, Workyard’s app continues to record their whereabouts. As soon as the internet is restored, all GPS data will automatically sync to the server, ensuring no data is lost. 

By contrast, Housecall Pro offers very limited offline functionality. It doesn’t provide anything else aside from giving workers limited viewing access to the stored job data. This can lead to time-tracking errors like inaccurate time reporting from employees assigned to remote locations with little to no reception. 

5. Built-In Labor Compliance.

Workyard excels in labor compliance with features such as meal and rest break reminders, automatic break insertion, customizable break rules, and location-specific break settings. These features ensure your business adheres to labor laws and avoids potential fines.

Housecall Pro does not offer these built-in tools, leaving your business at risk of non-compliance and associated penalties.

By choosing Workyard, field service businesses gain access to superior tracking, compliance, and operational efficiency features that Housecall Pro simply does not match. These advantages make Workyard the better choice for businesses looking to streamline their field operations and ensure high levels of productivity and compliance.

Want to see more detailed coverage of Housecall Pro? Click the link in this sentence to check out our No-Nonsense Review of Housecall Pro, which includes a detailed analysis of the app’s features, advantages, shortcomings, pricing, user reviews, alternatives, and more!