NOTEVAULT™

TC3 CONSTRUCTION SERVICES

Retained by the forensic structural engineers to assist in the assessment of a collapse of the Dallas Cowboys 88,000 square foot practice facility in Irving Texas, TC3 used NoteVaults’s voice-to-text mobile reporting solution to accurately document their activities in minimum time.

Company: Based in Iowa, TC3 Construction Services is a general contractor recognized as an industry leader in the restoration and reconstruction of large commercial structures destroyed or severely damaged by fires, earthquakes, floods or other disasters. Representing both policyholders and insurers, TC3 is involved with projects throughout the United States.

Challenge: When retained by an insurance company, or a client whose facilities have been damaged or destroyed, TC3 responds by sending a key person immediately to the scene. In the case of the Dallas Cowboys Practice facility, that person was Eric Johnson. Johnson is a vice president at TC3, and is also a commercial pilot, which frequently allows him to among the first to arrive at the scene of a disaster.

Johnson’s decades-long construction industry experience have made him acutely aware of the importance of delivering detailed and accurate daily construction reports that keep the home office staff and other team members up to date on all aspects of a job, as well as guard against potential litigation down the road. Daily construction reports have been routine at TC3 for several years. In the past TC3 used Expedition construction management software, then switched to a system of spreadsheets developed in house. This spring TC3 switched gradually to using Note Vault, and now uses Note Vault on all projects except one that will finish on the old system within the month.

Johnson liked the speed and ease of use of Note Vault, and decided to use it on consulting projects before they are even sold as a construction job. This allows a project manager taking over a newly sold project to get up to speed quickly by reading the daily reports that begin with the first site visit by the sales person.

When the Cowboy’s practice facility collapsed in early May due to an intense micro burst downpour, TC3 was called in by the forensic structural engineers to help evaluate the cause of the failure. Johnson arrived on the scene within hours and began assisting the engineers in their evaluation of the collapse by lining up cranes and demolition contractors to expose hidden portions of the collapsed structure. With several people seriously injured during the accident, this was a high profile job, which would definitely require thorough and accurate documentation.

Solution:Johnson first learned of NoteVault earlier this spring and had chance to use the voice-to-text mobile reporting solution on several jobs. Johnson found the system saved him both time and effort in preparing the type of detailed construction reports he was looking for. He found that his NoteVault reports were consistently more accurate and more detailed because he simply spoke into his mobile phone as events occurred rather than trying to recall them at the end of the day. Those notes are then automatically transcribed, time-stamped and posted online. NoteVault was the perfect solution for reporting and documenting his activities at the Cowboys’ training facility.

Johnson was able to get more done in less time at the Cowboys practice facility by using Note Vault to dictate his notes. Because Note Vault reports are posted online within minutes, TC3’s home office personnel had almost immediate access to his job records. This helped expedite phone discussions with home office key people, as they were up to date on the rapidly developing issues and happenings on site.

Results: Using Note Vault, Johnson was able to document his activities quickly, as it happened, without interruption. He was able to supply highly detailed and accurate notes in real-time, not days or weeks later. Johnson didn’t have to spend any time at the end of each day, or at the end of his assignment, compiling notes and figures using spreadsheets he was already finished and ready to go for his next adventure. His home office was able to read about every detail of the Cowboy’s job through Note Vault’s online portal.

Business Lesson Learned

Quotable: “NoteVault definitely saves me time and I especially like the Auto Reporting feature, which means that the Home Office is automatically updated on the status of a job by email at the end of each business day.” -- Eric Johnson, Vice President, TC3 Construction Services.