Frequently Asked Questions

I’m a surveyor and I’d like my clients to be able to access their surveys online. Does Survey JEM™ offer that facility?

Absolutely. Survey JEM™ was designed to provide online access for our clients and our client’s clients. Each organisation wanting online access to their own survey data simply needs to have a separate permit code. Any user can be granted access to one or more permit codes so you can access all your client’s permit codes but they will only be able to access their own data. We have survey companies and high profile clients already using Survey JEM™ in this way with excellent feedback.

I want my report to look like it belongs to my company, not a third party, can this be achieved with Survey JEM™?

Absolutely! The PDF reports that Survey JEM™ creates are very professional but they can also contain a host of your own customised components such as UKAS logos, company logos and your own report text. In short, you can really put your own stamp on a Survey JEM™ report.

You claim Survey JEM™ is easy to use, but what about a genuine novice trying to populate data into the various fields, surely that would require some extensive training?

Not at all! You will find that most of the editable fields on Survey JEM™ have drop down lists to choose entries from. This keeps the data consistent and easy to enter. For example, some surveyors refer to a toilet while others use the term W.C. In one export we completed previously we had to map nine different entries for a toilet to one single value!

Survey JEM™ has kept the terminology to a minimum, using the most recognisable terms to describe areas or asbestos containing materials. Should you find that you do need to add additional values to various fields then you can do this yourself.

How long does it take and how much does the training to use Survey JEM™ cost?

From the outset we have made Survey JEM™ very easy to learn. By making it simple, expensive training courses or regular refresher courses are simply not required. If someone with a basic level of IT competency can easily use Survey JEM™ then we feel that we have achieved what we set out to do. We can offer training on Survey JEM™ if required, although in twenty years we have rarely been asked to provide it, something we are particularly proud of.

How do I know what level of risk there is regarding any given sample and the premises as a whole?

When the correct data is entered into Survey JEM™, any risks found are calculated automatically and very clearly identified for individual samples as well as for the survey as a whole.

What sort of computer equipment do I need to run Survey JEM™ and how expensive is it to buy?

The good news is that any web enabled device, such as a smart phone, tablet or a laptop will enable you to use Survey JEM™. A lot of our clients make good use of tablets as this enables them to take the photographs they need and import them directly into the report as they conduct their inspection. Any data entered is also saved immediately so if you happen to drop your tablet out of a window you won’t lose all your work.

Can I upload photographs of asbestos containing materials or areas directly from my camera, phone or tablet to Survey JEM™?

Yes you can! There is no need to manipulate your images in another application prior to adding to your asbestos survey report.

If I phone up with a question will I be charged?

No (within reasonable limits). If a client called every day with the same question then we would have to look at charging them but that has not happened yet in 20 years. We have even answered questions on occasion such as “I’m in PC World and I want to buy a new laptop for my daughter’s birthday. Which one should I buy?”.

Can I generate a hard copy of the survey report from Survey JEM™ so that maintenance staff can have a quick reference guide when offline?

Yes. Survey JEM™ generates survey reports in PDF format so you can print off the survey report or just particularly relevant sections to make identification of asbestos containing locations easily identifiable for maintenance personnel.

I have a list of site addresses and other details on a spreadsheet. Can you load them into Survey JEM™.

Yes. We have extensive experience of doing exactly this and have provided this service for many clients over the years. As part of the process we also checked the data and reported back any issues found. If a client has thousands of properties then the address data usually contains a proportion of errors such as duplicated addresses or missing information. We have managed to obtain a very high level of data quality from such records.

Does the entire amount of survey data have to be entered into Survey JEM™ again every time we have a re-inspection?

No it doesn’t. To save an enormous amount of time, and therefore money, you are able to create another edition of the previous report and simply update any entries required, it really is that simple!

Having to type in the entries for every single field can be a real chore when adding loads of records. Does Survey JEM™ have a way of speeding this process up?

Yes indeed! Survey JEM™ uses a system of layered data storage that will minimise the overall data entry time as well as using automated entries in other areas. This approach saves even more time by completing some fields automatically should certain criteria be met. We feel it is important to design our software to make our clients lives easier.

An asbestos report can be a pretty wordy document. What has Survey JEM™ got to ease the burden on the report author?

Survey JEM™ allows the report author to generate their own bespoke report and apply that text to the type of survey being conducted. Survey JEM™ also has a document library and file store to save all your photographs, floor plans and certificates in, making Survey JEM™ the only tool you’ll ever need when recording your asbestos inspection, re-inspection and management data.

If I have all my data stored with Survey JEM™, will I be tied in to the system should I wish to take my business elsewhere?

Although we have never had a client leave us to go to another provider, we accept it could happen. Should this scenario ever arise, we can export all your data into a useable file to be used by your new software provider. In short, you are never tied in to Survey JEM™ as the licence fees are renewable annually.

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