Sell the Job

SI5.5 helps you manage every important aspect of the system integration process, providing a high degree of synchronization, increased performance, added flexibility, better communication, and advanced customization options. Whether you are a business owner, sales professional, project manager, engineer or installer, SI5.5 can help improve your business efficiency.

SI5.5 makes it easy for you to generate fast, accurate, professional looking estimates and proposals leveraging D-Tools' data-driven project process. D-Tools SI5.5 comes out-of-the-box with extensive data management tools, making it easy to build your own custom database of the products you sell and install. Import your existing product data via SI5.5's EZ-Match data import (imports .csv files) or download data from D-Tools' extensive manufacturer product database of over 150,000 AV, energy, IT, and security products from leading manufacturers.

Step 1: Add products to your database.

SI5.5's Manage My Product Data (MMPD) tool allows you to select the products you need and download them into your database for future use. Enter products manually, import product data from a spreadsheet (.csv file format) or download data from D-Tools Manufacturer product database.

Step 2: Create a Project.

D-Tools SI5.5 is a powerful, flexible digital project management system that allows you to create a project, add files, drawings and other electronic documents such as pdfs, word docs, excel files, and manage them from a single project folder, improving organization and communication between team members, clients, and other trades.

SI5.5’s New Project Wizard allows you to quickly add project information such as Client contact information, site address, Scope of Work, Locations and Zones, Project-specific payment schedules, and also allows you to add custom properties unique to your business. Once you complete the wizard your new project appears in the Projects Explorer. Now you can start adding products to your project in SI5.5's Estimator interface to begin to build the system and create your estimate and proposal.

Step 3: Add products to the project.

Add products from your database into the project file one of two ways - you can drag and drop from the database or you can use the "Add Products" window which makes it easy to assign multiple products to a location, zone, or multiple locations and zones. SI5.5 allows you to associate accessories and assign products to locations and zones to help you organize your projects more efficiently.

You can also add products to the proposal through the use of D-Tools’ “package” feature. D-Tools also allows you to create “packages” or “pre-engineered systems” that contain a grouping of products and accessories such as speaker packages, which could contain matching speakers, cable, mounting brackets and labor. You can assign a custom price to this completed package, and re-use it for future projects. D-Tools packages make it easier for you to create proposals and makes it easy for the customer to understand what they are getting.

Whenever you add products to the project file all of the associated product information is now automatically available for client documentation, drawings, installation, and management reports.

Step 4: Generate the Proposal.

All of the product information added to the project can be used to generate reports in SI5. From the D-Tools Reporting Center you can quickly and easily create Client, Installation, and Management Reports. SI5.5 comes out-of-the-box with many report templates, and you can also create your own with D-Tools Report Designer available in SI5.5 Pro.

To generate a proposal you simply choose from one of D-Tools' report templates. From the Reports List you will see that SI5.5 has many report templates available. Simply choose a template from the Client Reports category.

By simply double clicking on one of D-Tools' Proposal templates, SI5.5 will take all of the information from your project file and automatically create the proposal. You can filter the information that you would like to show up in the proposal - you can filter by category, location, zone, hide or show line item pricing - there are a number of options to suit your needs.

SI5.5 ships with customizable report templates, allowing you to add your own logos and graphics so you can personalize and create a custom look and feel. In addition, D-Tools SI5.5 Pro features a Report Designer which allows you to create your own custom reports from any data field within the software.