Any comments on new Deltek product - ...

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Author Message (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Wednesday, October 06, 2021 - 11:28 am:    e-specs user wondering what is Deltek Specpoint? https://www.deltek.com/en/learn/blogs/project-nation/2021/09/introducing-deltek-specpoint Guest (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Wednesday, October 06, 2021 - 06:18 pm:    Sounds like a cloud-based subscription only model? Marc Chavez Senior Member Username: mchavez Post Number: 629 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Wednesday, October 06, 2021 - 07:56 pm:    e-SPECS will still be around for some time. no retirement dates set for it at this time. Of course all things change. but not for a while yet. Also basing software in the cloud simply makes sense in so many ways. the software folks can fix issues immediately. no downloading, no hardware compatibility problems etc. etc. Specpoint is the new home of MasterSpec with a more active connection to products and manufacturers than our SpecAgent product. it will also contain the text and choice fields of MasterSpec. this will allow the highly iterative activity of design to work. (pick a product, have the designer change their mind, pick another product, have the owner change their mind, pick a product, have the contractor change their mind... and finally come back to the product the spec writer picked in the first place.) Also instead of architects narrative, throw it away, outline spec, throw it away, short form spec, throw it away. DD spec and finally CD spec! whew you can start in one place and just add criteria and choices as you go. And yes it will connect to Revit (but not in the initial release. another reason for keeping e-SPECS around for a while ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 1416 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Wednesday, October 06, 2021 - 08:21 pm:    So Marc, will the spec master reside in the database and be updated in the database? Will MasterSpec be able to incorporate changes in the short term without having to wait for the entire cycle like BSD is able to do? Will information be linked together so making one selection will trigger automatic edits to related content? Will we need to export to Word in order to work in Word? How does the SpecPoint database differ from e-Specs other than lack of Revit plug-in? Thanks Marc Chavez Senior Member Username: mchavez Post Number: 630 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Wednesday, October 06, 2021 - 08:56 pm:    Well… Version 1 is version 1, PLEASE understand that. Also, please understand that I cannot layout our whole roadmap for development over the next several years…..yes… years. These things are not built over night. Trust me that there is a roadmap and that as an experienced specifier I want everything you mention below (and a lot more!) As to your very good questions: 1. Will the spec master reside in the database and be updated in the database? YES, we are committed to that, but not in 1.0 2. Will MasterSpec be able to incorporate changes in the short term without having to wait for the entire cycle like BSD is able to do? I'm not completely clear what you're saying but will we update, as changes to our text is made not on a quarterly basis? The timing of updates is being discussed. The ability to "push updates" is, of course in the software, we just need to decide how best to update you. Do you want an update every Tuesday PM like Microsoft used to do? Also, we have to coordinate with our Word product which is quarterly. 3. Will information be linked together so making one selection will trigger automatic edits to related content? YES a lot of that is in Ver 1. and more soon 4. Will we need to export to Word in order to work in Word? Well of course as Word is a different program. But do you mean dump to Word? yes you can. We are planning to do all the things we all want but many have not been programmed yet and these things take programmer time and money. 5. How does the SpecPoint database differ from e-Specs other than lack of Revit plug-in? Humm there is a programmer answer to that, and I bet I'm not supposed to talk about that at this time but it is different. I'm probably talking too much as it is 6. Revit connection will happen on several levels. ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 1417 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Wednesday, October 06, 2021 - 09:05 pm:    Thanks Marc. So, for now, the traditional quarterly Word version will continue to be available? Marc Chavez Senior Member Username: mchavez Post Number: 631 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Wednesday, October 06, 2021 - 09:36 pm:    absolutely! ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 1418 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Wednesday, October 06, 2021 - 10:10 pm:    Yay David R. Combs, CSI, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP Senior Member Username: davidc Post Number: 18 Registered: 02-2015 Posted on Thursday, October 07, 2021 - 07:43 am:    Double Yay! Thanks for the intel Marc. David R. Combs, CSI, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP Corgan Associates, Inc. Senior Specifier Brian Payne Senior Member Username: brian_payne Post Number: 248 Registered: 01-2014 Posted on Thursday, October 07, 2021 - 02:13 pm:    I sat through the Specpoint presentation by Gilles and while I'm sure there was more than what was presented, my biggest takeaway was a concern/interest over the assumed spec section writing process. What was presented was clearly a product first process to generating a spec and for 95% of any project spec that I write, that's not the process that corresponds to my experience. Again, I'm sure I'm judging on limited and incomplete information, but that was the first thing that came to mind. I'm an Ex-E-specs and current BSD user as well as a BIM manager, so I'm definetely onboard for a database driven, BIM integrated process, but I'm also very Office Master focused as it relates to process. ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 1419 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Thursday, October 07, 2021 - 03:34 pm:    As much as I like Gilles and his software (he was one of the creators of eSpecs), his apparent concept of spec writing is off-base at best. We don't design around products, manufacturers don't know what their products can and cannot do (nor do Architects), and it would be LITERALLY impossible for MasterSpec to include every piece of information needed during the decision-making process or the production-process to even start doing what he's claiming. This ranks right down there with Elon Musk's fictional self-driving vehicles. The technology doesn't exist and even if it did, humans don't have the capability to do this automatically. That's why you need Architect, Engineers, and Specifiers; to flesh out thoughts, designs, and ideas. Someone needs to step away from the pipe. (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Monday, October 11, 2021 - 02:10 pm:    Thanks for comments. (original unregistered guest) Looking forward to more discussion. (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Tuesday, August 30, 2022 - 06:25 pm:    With the end of support for Masterspec Word files on the horizon - any suggested alternatives outside of Deltek and Speclink? Would prefer not to create a Master and maintain - but we will if we must. Phil Kabza Senior Member Username: phil_kabza Post Number: 722 Registered: 12-2002 Posted on Wednesday, August 31, 2022 - 10:28 am:    Dear Unregistered, We resisted creating an office master for quite a few years. As our practice started to mature, we finally bit the bullet, starting with writing a master around our largest architectural client's typical work (K-12 and HE), and then branching out (health care and multifamily). We are able to work in a very fruitful quality loop where we capture addendum, RFI, submittal, and change order information from our clients and feed it back into our masters to keep them up to date and responsive. We can also capture the varied experience of our writers. It has been worth the master creation effort many times over. As we have found the MasterSpec manufacturer/product information to be lagging in recent years in some sections, this has also made our masters more accurate and ... most important ... far faster to edit to help meet the crush of work. We're watching the evolution of MasterSpec with curiosity and some trepidation after 30 years of word processing. We'll see where it goes and what is needed in the future to serve our clients. Why not register and join in the fun here? Phil Phil Kabza FCSI CCS AIA SpecGuy Specifications Consultants www.SpecGuy.com phil@specguy.com ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 1495 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Wednesday, August 31, 2022 - 11:31 am:    I'm curious if anyone has heard what is going to happen to Chalkline VisiSpecs if Deltek discontinues supporting MasterSpec in Word. We have not yet had a chance to test drive Conspectus Cloud but hope to in the future. I certainly like how Dave Stutzman and company have put it together. ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 1496 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Wednesday, August 31, 2022 - 12:00 pm:    Discussion here as well - http://discus.4specs.com/discus/messages/23/9732.html?1659784676 Jeffrey Potter Senior Member Username: jpotter Post Number: 29 Registered: 02-2017 Posted on Wednesday, August 31, 2022 - 12:11 pm:    For those concerned about custom office masters, you will have the ability to upload your custom office masters within Specpoint and maintain them. You will also have the ability to create custom office masters from the AIA MasterSpec as well within Specpoint. We have some awesome features coming out and if anyone would like to chat further, please reach out. JeffreyPotter@deltek.com As a specifier by trade, I understand the important of custom office masters AND also want everyone to understand that technology is opening new opportunities for specifications that haven't been available in the past. This is an awesome time for specifications, regardless of what software you currently use. If you look at the development of Drawings from hand drawn, to autocad, to Revit and now all the other development tools, it has been great for Architects. Specifications have been lost and now getting the attention they need. Technology, if done right, can help the specification process. Loretta Sheridan Senior Member Username: leshrdn Post Number: 41 Registered: 11-2021 Posted on Wednesday, August 31, 2022 - 02:27 pm:    I sat through a demo of SpecPoint, and I think it has great potential. If you work with PPDs based on Uniformat, it doesn't seem to be a stretch to use the SpecPoint system. I also Sat through a demo of Conspectus Cloud, and really liked a lot of what I saw. However... As I recently (last fall) switched from MasterSpec to SpecLink, I am discovering things of which I am not overly fond, and for which the extended demo I sat through never prepared me. I'd like to go back to MasterSpec. Not to say that at some point SpecLink won't fix the problems that I am finding I have with it. This was a long way of saying that I would really like to actually test drive SpecPoint or Conspectus Cloud before committing to either. A demo just doesn't tell you what you need to know. Chalkline VisiSpecs has a one month trial period which is great. Admittedly, it isn't quite long enough but it is still so MUCH better than a just a demo. Especially a demo using a spec section you never write. Anyhow, I don't think the the Word documents are slated for the dust heap real soon. I think they will be with us for a few more years. I HOPE they will be with us for a few more years. As for Chalkline VisiSpecs, I am using it in addition to SpecLink because we still get a lot of PDF files from consultants, and it is great at assembling the project manual. I haven't quite figured out how to best leverage it for the BIM integration, but they tell me we can even with SpecLink. I am sure Seamus is keeping on eye on what Deltek is developing. (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Thursday, September 01, 2022 - 11:39 am:    Deltek just announced the phase-out plan for Word DOCs, which is alarmingly soon: After the MasterSpec Q4 update (12-30-2022 release date) MasterSpec content will only be available via Specpoint. Their announcement indicates Word files will be available for download until "at least" 06-30-2023. MasterWorks is now on "Maintenance Support" and will go to "Sustaining Support" 07-01-2024. Those of us who use MasterSpec w/ Word for spec production should plan to identify an alternative by 2023 Q2. From initial investigation and comments I've heard, I don't have much confidence that Specpoint will be a solution that works well for my practice. ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 1498 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Thursday, September 01, 2022 - 06:33 pm:    https://www.deltek.com/en/learn/blogs/deltek-specification-solutions/2022/08/aia-masterspec-and-specbuilder-cloud Loretta Sheridan Senior Member Username: leshrdn Post Number: 42 Registered: 11-2021 Posted on Friday, September 02, 2022 - 07:23 am:    Has anyone here actually USED SpecPoint? David G. Axt, CCS, CSI ,SCIP Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 1954 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Friday, September 02, 2022 - 12:06 pm:    Loretta, If you use MasterSpec and click on the orange text "<Double click here to find, evaluate and insert list of manufacturers and products>" it will take you to SpecPoint. So if you are using MasterSpec then you are sort of using SpecPoint. ;-) David G. Axt, CCS, CSI, SCIP Specifications Consultant Axt Consulting LLC ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 1499 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Friday, September 02, 2022 - 12:39 pm:    David, do you mean where the manufacturers used to be listed? Phil Kabza Senior Member Username: phil_kabza Post Number: 723 Registered: 12-2002 Posted on Saturday, September 03, 2022 - 09:38 am:    I am unable to launch the Masterworks Paragraph Builder in order to get David's result described above, or any other result. I cannot keep Paragraph Builder enabled in COM Addins. I'm also unable to load a new downloaded version of Masterworks. So for now, it's bye bye manufacturer lists in MasterSpec. We'll see what Deltek support people say on Monday. Phil Kabza FCSI CCS AIA SpecGuy Specifications Consultants www.SpecGuy.com phil@specguy.com Phil Kabza Senior Member Username: phil_kabza Post Number: 724 Registered: 12-2002 Posted on Saturday, September 03, 2022 - 11:07 am:    I found an obscure note in the Masterworks install process that says "OKB is required on your hard drive." Surely they don't mean the Russian blockchain software?? Any hints? Phil Kabza FCSI CCS AIA SpecGuy Specifications Consultants www.SpecGuy.com phil@specguy.com jpjordan@jordanconsultants.com (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Friday, September 02, 2022 - 07:40 pm:    I have noticed what David has reported. This is not true for all sections. guest (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Saturday, September 03, 2022 - 08:45 am:    David, clinking on the link may still be called "Paragraph Builder" and it accesses the manufacture's names in a program called "Spec Agent." That may now be called SpecPoint, and it may be an entirely different program. As you may know, manufacturer's now must pay Deltek to get their products listed, but I think manufacturer's names are listed for free. David G. Axt, CCS, CSI ,SCIP Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 1955 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Saturday, September 03, 2022 - 12:27 pm:    As I stated earlier, when I click on the orange text I get this: David G. Axt, CCS, CSI, SCIP Specifications Consultant Axt Consulting LLC ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 1503 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Saturday, September 03, 2022 - 12:49 pm:    What happens when you click on the products? Does it let you populate your spec from here with options and variable information if you choose one as your BOD? Loretta Sheridan Senior Member Username: leshrdn Post Number: 43 Registered: 11-2021 Posted on Tuesday, September 06, 2022 - 08:16 am:    David Axt: I meant used it to write specifications; not the orange link SpecAgent part of it. Eric Thompson New member Username: ethompson Post Number: 1 Registered: 10-2022 Posted on Wednesday, October 05, 2022 - 07:09 pm:    The idea behind Specpoint is great but it has some serious flaws that need to be dealt with before it is ready for prime time. Although Jeffrey indicates that you can import your office masters, you will be pulling your hair out and throwing things at your computer before getting your first section imported successfully. Specpoint kicks back 90% of your sections with either fixable invisible formatting errors or unfixable unexplained errors. It takes a lot of time trying to fix all of the invisible formatting errors in your word docs before reimporting to hope Specpoint will accept them. And then Specpoint isn’t smart enough to know that your 081113 Hollow Metal Doors that you got directly from Masterspec actually coincides with the Specpoint “Family”. That’s right, Specpoint now calls spec sections families for some unknown reason. After getting Specpoint to accept your imported section you will still have to wade through four levels of Uniformat assemblies before you can tell Specpoint that yes this is the same 081113 that you know. It just happens to be buried in this fun little Uniformat nest. FAMILY GROUPS assembly Z4010 Facility Superstructure Work Group Assembly Z4010.20 Superstructure Interiors Subgroup Assembly Z4010.2030 HOLLOW METAL DOORS AND FRAMES Family 081113 That is also the only way you can find it again as well. Yep, that’s right, you can’t list your families by spec section. For some reason they thought it was a good idea to mix Uniformat and Masterformat so you sort through both to find and edit your family/section. If you want to just start a section from scratch, as you likely will after having dealt with the import fiasco, you are forced to first start with these weird categories. before going down the uniformat rabbit hole searching for the section you actually want. By the way, that category “Doors” will only send you to interior doors. HM doors and frames can only be found by going through that Uniformat nest above. You’ll notice I filtered by architectural but it still shows electrical fixtures and fire alarm devices. Further on down the list you’ll also find light fixtures, planting, plumbing fixtures and a bunch of structural categories. It’s a real mess. This is clearly not made for architects, in fact Architectural is 8th on the seemingly random drop-down list of disciplines. The additive editing is a great direction (just like BSD Speclink does) but the organization and navigation are really just inexplicably convoluted. You’ll be left shaking your head at how impossible it will be to get a set of architectural specs out of this platform. Hold on to your Word docs for a few more years until thing is actually ready to come out of Beta. It’s still a bit premature to be releasing this at this point. The architectural community will never accept this platform in the state it is right now. It won’t be useful until they allow us to hide the Uniformat structure in the background and let us navigate by divisions and sections the way Masterformat is set up. Jeffrey Potter Senior Member Username: jpotter Post Number: 33 Registered: 02-2017 Posted on Thursday, October 06, 2022 - 01:22 pm:    Hi Eric, thank you very much for your input. We'll look into making import easier for the user. Planning on sending out a "guide" relatively soon to help pre-format sections prior to import. I'll have the review of the HM Door issue looked into as well. Also, just an FYI, and to the other members of this forum, we are implementing (currently developing) a MasterFormat switch to allow users to easily switch between MasterFormat (divisions and sections) and Uniformat in their projects. We do listen really closely to feedback and this was the top items on everyone's list. Again, thank you Eric for the feedback Eric on this Eric Thompson Junior Member Username: ethompson Post Number: 2 Registered: 10-2022 Posted on Friday, October 07, 2022 - 11:30 am:    Jeffrey, I think most of us know that additive editing via database specifications is the way of the future. I am completely on board with the idea and can’t wait to graduate from the Word docs. From what I can tell, that part of Specpoint is working well, although I didn’t get to spend much time exploring that as I was having so much trouble just trying to get sections added and then trying to find them again. It’s very reassuring to hear that Specpoint understands the shortcoming and the Masterformat toggle is on the way. Is the schedule of improvements that Specpoint is working on published somewhere? You might want to suggest that your team make this list of future improvements available. If I had seen that future hotfix listed at the top of the home screen I would have been much less aggravated trying to figure out how our firm was going to cope with this platform when support for the Word docs is halted. I was already thinking of ways to break the news to our senior spec writer that I would not be renewing our licenses. I’m quite sure that if I had showed him Specpoint in its current iteration he would have informed me of his plans for early retirement. Is there a Specpoint forum where developers are receiving feedback? I have suggestions about correcting formatting from within Specpoint, how best to manage masters, project templates, and other things that I see are missing from the platform. I would like to subscribe to the latest news concerning the platform. The last hotfix according to the current release notes was 1.0.2 Oct. 1st 2021. Jeffrey Potter Senior Member Username: jpotter Post Number: 34 Registered: 02-2017 Posted on Friday, October 07, 2022 - 01:37 pm:    Eric, Unfortunately, there is no posted external schedule for improvements or our Roadmap. I have started the conversation with the team and see where it lands. That is great feedback on release notification. We do updates on a very regular cadence and then hot fixes if needed in between them. We do have a forum for feedback and ideas that we track regularly. As a specpoint user, you can submit, view, and vote on other ideas. We take those and prioritize development. When someone is onboarded, the onboarder should be going over that. Please use that place for your feedback, ideas, etc. Or you can just send me or your CSM an email. Those release notes are really outdated. I'm looking into the issue on why you are seeing that. Our last hotfix was last Thursday and prior release was a couple weeks ago. Just to mentioned, because I am sure the thought is out there for everyone, that Specpoint is not developed by non-industry professionals. We do have software engineers that write the application, but in determining the features, UI/UX, ect, our Product Management Team is composed of licensed architects, spec writers, and other industry professionals. Sometimes we do miss on items, but we do pay attention to feedback. Specpoint is young, but we will get there I promise. J Jordan (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Tuesday, October 11, 2022 - 12:34 am:    While I do not disagree that moving in the direction of a database is the "wave of the future," content is critical. Over the last several years, I have seen MasterSpec slip on this issue. Improving content through content and expansion of the library has been excruciating slow as resources seem to have been diverted to other endeavors. When will I see a section on glass toilet partitions or phenolic casework? Dan Helphrey Senior Member Username: dbhelphrey Post Number: 116 Registered: 12-2018 Posted on Tuesday, October 11, 2022 - 02:28 pm:    Will we be able to export Word (or at least RTF) files? K Burditt (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Thursday, October 27, 2022 - 11:06 pm:    Will it be possible in SpecPoint to easily shift from an Outline to a Short or Long Form without rewriting the whole section? Would save me time and the client money. Jeffrey Potter Senior Member Username: jpotter Post Number: 35 Registered: 02-2017 Posted on Monday, November 07, 2022 - 10:08 am:    Hi Dan, yes you can export to .docx and PDF. Sometime in 2023, specpoint will have what is called LOS (Level of Specification) and this will allow for easy transition between the different stages of a specification without having to rewrite at every stage. Edward J Dueppen, RA, CSI, CCS, LEED AP Senior Member Username: edueppen Post Number: 84 Registered: 08-2013 Posted on Monday, November 07, 2022 - 12:12 pm:    Hi Jeffrey, I'm told that starting Q1 2023 that the AIA Masterspecs will only be available through Specpoint. I contacted a Deltek specification solutions marketing person about this and she assured me that subscribers will NOT be required to use Specpoint for spec editing, that we can still access and export Word files. To quote: "You will be able to extract the updates from Specpoint and export out to Word if that’s the environment you wish to work within." So, for the past month I've tried off and on to try to figure out how to export the AIA Masterspec documents from Specpoint so that I could edit them in Masterworks, VisiSpecs, or some other Word software. I've watched the Specpoint tutorials and attended several Specpoint webinars, but I still have not found a way to export COMPLETE sections, including all product options, sustainability options, etc. For instance, I just downloaded Section 07 9219 - Acoustical Joint Sealants and the only Part 2 article included is "Miscellaneous Materials". But where are the joint sealant products? What am I doing wrong? Jeffrey Potter Senior Member Username: jpotter Post Number: 36 Registered: 02-2017 Posted on Monday, November 07, 2022 - 03:11 pm:    Hi Edward, That is correct, although the AIA Masterspec specifications are designed to work within Specpoint without having to export them to .docx. It is a process to do so as you have to add all the sections (families) and product types to a project, then "unhide" all the content (using the eyeball) and then click the "export" button on the top ribbon. Please also note, that every time there is an update, the this process has to be redone for those sections. When you add a section (family) to a project, you also have to add the corresponding "Products" underneath the section for them to be added to the section. If you have more questions, please email me at jeffreypotter@deltek.com. J Peter Jordan (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Tuesday, November 08, 2022 - 08:36 am:    Jeffrey: I just tried to send an email to the email address you posted and it got bounced back. Do you have an update email? Jeffrey Potter Senior Member Username: jpotter Post Number: 37 Registered: 02-2017 Posted on Tuesday, November 08, 2022 - 10:52 am:    Peter, I sent you a separate email. Chris Waltz (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Friday, December 02, 2022 - 08:40 pm:    So I am an old Masterspec user but a new SpecPoint user (1 week). I was able to export my files to WORD and get things to work pretty well, but then when trying to export to WORD I suddenly recieved an error message that said "Invalid Family Treepath" and it will no longer let me export any files, leaving me dead in the water without any way to export my content. I have tried deleting my entire project and recreating it, but that made no difference. I emailed Deltek, but as it was after 5:00pm Eastern Time on a Friday I suppose I will have to wait until Monday morning - since no one in our industry works on weekends I guess that's fine . Of course I did get an automated response telling me to go to the online help which simply tells me there is no infomraiton on my error message. I have a looming deadline and no way to export my work which leaves me hesitant to do more work inside the program since it may just all be wasted effort. If anyone has experienced this error, I would appreciate any support I can get! Nathan Woods, RA, CSI, CCCA, LEED AP Senior Member Username: nwoods Post Number: 900 Registered: 08-2005 Posted on Friday, December 02, 2022 - 10:26 pm:    In an effort to keep you moving, have you tried exporting to a differnt folder? Perhaps one at a high level on your C drive? Remember that many programs under Windows have a file name & path limit of 256 characters and don’t allow “wildcard” symbols in the file name. Clean that up and perhaps it will work for you? pcarch47 (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Monday, July 31, 2023 - 11:29 am:    7/31/2023 Our Architectural Office is small (10 employees) and need to update our Specifications. Need to decide if DELTEK ($4K) or SPECLINK ($2K)would be best? Both are cloud based. THX. Pete Campos David G. Axt, CDT, CCS, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 2033 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Monday, July 31, 2023 - 02:00 pm:    Only $2,00 for Speclink? RIB quoted me $4,478! David G. Axt, CDT, CCS, CSI, SCIP Specifications Consultant Axt Consulting LLC Loretta Sheridan Senior Member Username: leshrdn Post Number: 98 Registered: 11-2021 Posted on Monday, July 31, 2023 - 02:27 pm:    Holy c**p! we pay a TON for twenty-something seats! A LOT of money! pcarch47 -- I would double-check to make sure that is not just an introductory offer and after one year, the subscription goes up significantly. Also, what is included in that? Is it the "full" subscription or is it limited in some way? Make sure you are comparing apples to apples, and that the apples stay apples for awhile. Phil Kabza Senior Member Username: phil_kabza Post Number: 768 Registered: 12-2002 Posted on Monday, July 31, 2023 - 04:53 pm:    Pete Campos: A couple of years ago, your question would have been a simple one. The answer would still have been "it depends," but it would have depended on who in your office would be writing specs, and what kind of project types they would be handling. However, the commercial specification libraries have been bought out and taken over by software applications companies and their CFOs. All has changed. Evaluating the content and the efficiency of the competing products is difficult. Can you wait a year or so for an answer, and just put notes on drawings and work with friendly contractors? Phil Kabza FCSI CCS AIA SpecGuy Specifications Consultants www.SpecGuy.com phil@specguy.com ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 1585 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Monday, July 31, 2023 - 05:08 pm:    Pete, can you see if you can do a trial with each and see which one, if either, provides you with what you're looking for? The cost you pay for access will be nothing compared to the cost of time lost if you can't make the damn things work. You may want to reach out Dave Stutzman at Conspectus about their Cloud product as well as Chalkline for VisiSpecs, but understand that with VisiSpecs you will still need a MasterSpec subscription. Ronald J. Ray, RA, CCS, CCCA, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: rjray Post Number: 223 Registered: 04-2004 Posted on Monday, July 31, 2023 - 05:12 pm:    Pete, Phil makes excellent points. For a 10-person office, have you considered using the services of an independent specification consultant; like Phil, myself, or any number of other participants in 4specs.com? John Hunter Senior Member Username: johnhunter Post Number: 180 Registered: 12-2005 Posted on Monday, July 31, 2023 - 05:17 pm:    Pete Campos: Phil K. is pretty much spot on with "it depends" in a marketplace that is considerably different than it was a few years ago. That said, and depending on your organization's approach to specs, you may want to look at ZeroDocs (https://zerodocs.com/) which may turn out to be a cost-effective solution to your needs. email Adam Schwegel (adam@zerodocs.com). I have no financial interest in ZeroDocs. ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 1596 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Monday, October 16, 2023 - 02:10 pm:    So the end is near. Deltek shuts off Word file distribution the end of this year. Have Specpoint users found an easy way to batch convert Specpoint files to Word? Can you convert the entire Architectural library? Do you still have to download files into project folders and then turn on the products and sustainability content before converting? Do you have to open each Section or does Specpoint let you turn on content for the entire project in one command? Thanks!