Resco vs. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobile Client

Recently, I was assigned to a project for a utility company.  The client did all of the contract work for an energy company – from riser moves, to vent extension, to stress piping. They were implementing Microsoft Dynamics CRM and needed a mobile client for their gas fitters to use in the field.

The obvious choice here would be Microsoft’s CRM Mobile Client – which is where I started. But when I found out how the gas fitters were going to be using it, the Dynamics CRM Mobile Client didn’t seem like a feasible option anymore. Even though it had seemed like the perfect choice – it was free and customizable – we soon realized that it just couldn’t do the job that we needed it to.

Looking for a New Solution

While searching for a new solution, someone on my team suggested Resco, so we began researching it. Since Resco looked promising, we downloaded and experimented with the free trial. There were a few things we needed to change and adjust, but we went into design to see if it would work out.

After we did a walk-through with the client, we found that the only real downside in our case was that Resco isn’t free. That said, the cost is quite reasonable, though their pricing structure purchasing is on a per-user basis.

Resco’s Features

Resco offered some great features our client will benefit from:

• Image Capture – Gas fitters in the field need the ability to capture before and after pictures of the site. In the past they used cameras and printed all of these pictures out, but now they will be able to capture pictures with their tablets and have them all stored within Dynamics CRM.
• Diagram Capture – The ability to draw diagrams outlining where pipes and electric lines are in the ground in relation to the house and driveways of these sites was also needed. Resco allows the gas fitter to draw simple diagrams inside the app and then store them within Dynamics CRM as well.
  Here’s a very basic example I quickly drew. We leverage the signature area for the client’s simple diagrams.

 

• Offline and Syncing Capabilities – Safety is of huge importance. It is vital that the proper paperwork filled out, even in a situation where there is no internet access. The Resco mobile app for Dynamics CRM ended up being key in allowing all of these requirements to be fulfilled.

In the end, Resco’s benefits more than outweighed the cost and our client chose to implement with no hesitation.