All Type Electric selects Dexter + Chaney’s Spectrum Construction Software for its multi-company, enterprise business solution

Edmonton, Alberta based All Type Electric selected Dexter + Chaney ’s Spectrum Construction Software for its complete business, construction and service management needs. The company, growing at a rapid pace since parent company The Coles Bay Group acquired it in 2013, needed a software solution to tie together data between departments and multiple companies.

All Type Electric is a very specialized electrical contractor and equipment fabricator working on everything from industrial maintenance to design-build projects. They also fabricate temporary power equipment. The company expanded by acquiring another Calgary-based electrical contractor, which will operate under the All Type name, and just this summer added another company to its family under the Coles Bay Group umbrella – Los Angeles–based Multin Electric.

“We are a little more diversified than the typical electrical contractor,” said Michael Brown, principal of the Coles Bay Group. “One of the specific reasons we looked at and ultimately bought Spectrum was for its multi-company enterprise capability, which is very strong.”

Brown said his company needed the software to work seamlessly among multiple companies in the United States and Canada. Connecting these multiple entities, as well as employees in the field with staff in the office in real time with a web-based solution was a driving factor in selecting Spectrum. “We wanted to be working with a solution that was already in the browser. The fact that Dexter + Chaney has led on this and already has that learning curve behind them was a big plus,” he said.

All Type Electric is utilizing Spectrum’s Field Tech mobile solution, allowing its technicians to work remotely with work orders and service management tasks, yet stay connected to the office in real time.

“Having the Field Tech piece was huge,” Brown said. “Very few companies have that remote working capability with iPads yet 0 most companies don’t, or if they do, they’re using third parties to do it. Spectrum was the only one we saw that had all of the features and functionality together in one package.”

Brown continued, noting the connectivity provided throughout Spectrum opens access to all of his companies’ employees, so that they can perform their jobs from anywhere. “Spectrum is a very mobile solution that allows you to be flexible and travel with your data at your fingertips to multiple locations, he said. Just this past summer, I reviewed draw requests from 35,000 feet in the air on WiFi on a flight to China over Siberia.”

John Chaney, Dexter + Chaney’s co-founder and CEO, said it thrills him to see clients putting to use in the real world what he and Spectrum developers envisioned years ago when deciding to move the software to the cloud.

“We knew cloud-based business management and intelligence was going to be the next big technology wave for our industry and I’m excited to see it taking root with forward-thinking companies like All Type Electric and the Coles Bay Group,” Chaney said. “We’re committed to continually investing in Spectrum and growing our technology to fit our clients’ needs and desires.”

Brown noted that is a big reason why Spectrum was so appealing to him.

“The company listens to and acknowledges its clients and makes development decisions based on their input,” Brown said. "Because of that, I genuinely believe this is the best software for construction companies.”