Mark up Drawings in Onetrace's Fire Stopping Software

Fire stopping software has come a very long way from where it used to be, and yet it hasn’t. Many existing systems are still using antiquated workflows running on bloated frameworks, rendering the entire user experience inefficient and poor. In 2021, no software should look and feel like it was made in 1997, and no system should be restricted to laptops only, or operate so slowly and sluggishly that it’s difficult to work with.

Respectable software companies that are passionate about the industry they work in, because they are focused on making a difference, not just making a profit, continue to innovate and iterate their product offering. They spend countless hours thinking about and searching for solutions to problems that users didn’t even realise were problems because they just always “did it that way.” When a new version of Onetrace is released, we’re always underway with the next version. We are always striving to improve the framework, because as industry leaders, we know the work is never really done and we work hard to make a difference in the fire protection industry.

For Onetrace, making great software is just part of the journey. While we build our fire stopping software with compliance in mind, we also look for features and improvements to make the job of a fire protection operative more efficient and effective. Photographic evidence has become one of the primary methods of ensuring responsibility and accountability for compliance. Therefore, photo capturing is a major feature in our fire stopping software.

Before a job begins, there are certain steps that should be followed. In the many decades before, these steps were sometimes overlooked but as fire protection companies became more compliant-aware as the industry developed in that direction, once neglected areas became more focused upon. One of these areas is floor plans. There was once a time when floor plans were forgotten or just never bothered with. Back then, a fire protection operative would go to a site, with or without floor plans, get the job done, fill out a brief report and the job’s done. They would give it to the office the next time they went in for the administrative staff to check and file. Sometimes the floor plans made it into the report, sometimes they did not. This was especially so if the operatives were miles from the office and the job was “last-minute-dot-com”, which many were since fire stopping was an afterthought to constructing the actual building.

Fast forward to today, you can’t really do a job without floor plans. Onetrace’s fire stopping software has made it possible for every fire protection operative to access their job’s floor plans, no matter where they are working from. The contributions over the last decade have only made this reality possible with improved remote working practices, widespread internet access and the proliferation of mobile technology. With Onetrace, it does not matter where your fire protection operatives are, they can download floor plans onto their devices and even access them offline, if they know they will have limited or no internet access.

The ability to access the floor plans is one thing, but with Onetrace, we go one step further. From directly inside the app, you can markup your drawings, allowing fire protection operatives to mark up and highlight key areas directly from their devices. Previously, operatives had to get the drawings, make copies, and then physically draw up their notes and highlight locations. As technology developed, they started using drawing applications to help with the process, but the method is clunky. You’d have to download the floor plan, take a screenshot, email it to yourself, download it onto your mobile, then import it into a drawing app, do the markups, then export it and email it back to yourself, download it onto your desktop and then add it to your report. With Onetrace, all you have to do is click a button to markup, and it’s all saved, right there in the app. No emailing back and forth, or downloading here, there and everywhere. One button, that’s all there is to it.

Onetrace fire stopping software was built to make your life as a fire protection operative easier. We thought of everything we could, and every iteration of the app just keeps getting better and better. If you’re ready to see how Onetrace can support your business, simply get in touch or request a demo. If you’re not ready to commit, that’s okay - you can try Onetrace completely free for 14 days with zero obligation or commitment.