VisibleThread VT Docs vs. XaitPorter

VT is fabulous to proposal writing as it created for that. It can also be used for ANY type of persuasive or technical writing. If you can write it, VT can help to make the writing better. BUT!!! if you are writing news articles or descriptive writing, this is NOT the software for you. VT works to eliminate fluff, ambiguous words, exaggerations, run-on sentences, improper grammar, misspelled words, sentence fragments, etc. VT also works to eliminate passive writing. As with any software, use it for what it was created - and find something else for the rest.

XaitPorter is ideal when a large document, containing many (preferably independent) sections is being created by more than five writers across different office locations and is subject to review by multiple reviewers and requires formal approval. It is particularly suited for external documents which are to be delivered as a non-editable PDF file.

Incentivized

• Acronym finder - the best acronym finder I have used! This creates an Excel spreadsheet with the acronyms and their definitions in an alphabetically sorted worksheet ... AND this worksheet includes actual sentences from the document showing how and where the acronym was used.
• Compare documents - WOW! what a wonderful update! You get an Excel worksheet with the 2 compared documents side-by-side showing differences in red and statements with no changes in blue.
• Starter compliance matrix (SCM) - again, one of the best SCM-creators I have used. This choice is quick, concise, and the resulting Excel worksheet is easy to manipulate and change.

• Enables several writers to write in the same document at the same time, which means that it is always possible to get the latest version printed and see the current state.
• Because we are limited in the template to a few styles we don't use a lot of time after completion checking up on which style the writers has been using. This saves us a lot of editing.
• Before we got XaitPorter the drawing team didn't get the figures to quality control until the final stages of the process, but now the figures are received as soon as the writer uploads them. This also saves a lot of overtime, because the drawing team is involved earlier on.

Incentivized

• Dictionaries - I would like to see more "canned" dictionaries. We create our own, but I know that VT has more that they can supply, giving us more quick turnaround changes (versus always having to start from scratch).

• The dashboard is complex and not easily understood. Since we only worked on a few documents at a time, we went straight into the document and never spent time on the dashboard.
• Being cloud based, the time taken to move from one section of the document to another becomes painful.
• The word import function could be improved.
• There are some functionalities in Word that are not available in XaitPorter. For example you can insert pictures within a table in Word but you cant do that in XaitPorter.

Incentivized

It's very basic. More features would be better.

We find it to be intuitive to use with a simple menu and right-click based functionality in place.

Incentivized

XaitPorter is always there even though we have issues with outages (suddenly the network does not work, but that is internal issue)

Incentivized

Our reports/Tenders complete in a reasonable time frame, actually faster than Word. We have not integrated with other systems or softwares.

Incentivized

They have a clear method for reporting any issues and work hard to get a resolution, keeping me informed of progress.

Incentivized

He was really good. He came from Xait and trained us for several days. He got all involved and answered the questions asked. He was a professional trainee

Incentivized

The online training was really good. They know the way of getting people involved and they answered all questions asked. They were there for us.

Incentivized

I was really satisfied with the implementation

Incentivized

We reviewed many other products but found all of them did not have the extent of tasks that VT had. These searches were over 5 years ago and many of the products reviewed are no longer available. In addition, some software still in existence have merit, just not to the extent we need. I do not want to give anyone a bad rating just because we did not choose them. Again, choose the right software for the right job!

We looked at every major product and some newer ones. We liked Xait's general robustness and handling of images (despite the issue about the internal library), as well as the output quality in PDF. Also, we're a Mac shop so we could not be chained to a Windows editor.

Incentivized

I just love the system

Incentivized

• We reduced proposal writing time and output. By reducing time, we gained time for work in other areas of proposal handling. I used to need 3-5 DAYS to create an acronym list. Now, with VT, I do the same work in 1-2 hours!
• VT is for proposal WRITING and not for proposal HANDLING. Our proposal managers and coordinators do the handling part.

• We have seen reduced overtime costs for tender support staff who used to spend a lot of time managing and dealing with version control issues, formatting issues, layout issues and printing issues
• We have experienced that Porter has allowed us to handle more work without increasing our staffing.
• The quality of our submissions has improved both by the switch to Porter, and further by the increased proficiency of both our administrators and writers.

Incentivized