For Tim Topor, vice president of sales at Buffalo Security & Fire AV, speed and mobility are everything. Since adopting D-Tools Cloud, the Buffalo, NY-based integration firm has transformed the way it builds proposals, manages service work, and supports its technicians across security, fire alarm and commercial AV projects.
“We can’t live without D-Tools because the ability to be mobile and have the integrated pricing saves me so much time in my quoting that I can be 10 times faster when I’m building quotes for customers,” says Topor. “I’ve had customers telling me constantly, ‘Tim, you’re turning around quotes in a day or two days.’ And it’s all because of D-Tools Cloud.”
"We can't live without D-Tools." -- Tim Topor, Buffalo Security & Fire AV
D-Tools is the Integration Business Platform for the technology integration industry. D-Tools Cloud is the company’s award-winning Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution designed for modern integration businesses. From proposals and project management to service plans and payments, web-based D-Tools Cloud has helped AV, security and low-voltage integrators manage their entire workflow in one connected system since 2018.
Mobile App Is Vital Part of Success
For Topor, the ability to work from anywhere has been a game-changer. “Without that, I would not be able to turn my quotes around. I wouldn’t have been able to work on the plane yesterday getting quotes out, sending them out to be signed, approved, revisions,” he says. “It’s just been so helpful. It’s an intricate part of the business.”
In business since 2011, Buffalo Security & Fire AV draws on nearly 100 years of combined experience among its technicians and designers to protect life and property for clients throughout Western New York. The company operates as a comprehensive team of fire alarm, security, AV, and building systems specialists, and selected D-Tools Cloud specifically so its sales team and field technicians could collaborate seamlessly on quotes, service cases, opportunities and work orders from a single, web-based platform.
Among the platform’s many capabilities, Topor singles out integrated pricing as his favorite feature. “My favorite feature of D-Tools Cloud is definitely the integrated pricing. The ability to tie in and pick different vendors, different products, and have it there every time. So, you have the price, the SKU, part number, margin, all that being saved in there and tied right to the vendor so I can refresh price lists is definitely one of the coolest features,” he explains.
The platform’s multimedia proposals are another standout. “Really being able to customize proposals on the fly for different customers, putting their logos and really cool tailored things is really a benefit we like,” Topor adds.
Alternates Features Helps Close Deals
When it comes to actually winning business, the Alternates feature in D-Tools Cloud has become Topor’s closing tool of choice. “The biggest feature that’s helped me close deals is the alternates feature — being able to alternate pricing between, say, a 98- and 110-inch display and let the customer decide and be able to select that inside the detailed quote and then approve the quote,” Topor recalls. “That’s definitely been the most helpful and unique feature.”
For Buffalo Security & Fire AV, D-Tools Cloud has quickly become much more than a quoting tool — it’s an essential platform that powers the business in the office, in the field, and even at 30,000 feet.
