XTEN-AV Reviews

MCA XTEN Review

Pros:

We love the ease of use and the interconnectivity with the drawing module.

Cons:

None at the moment. We are loving all the new updates and revisions.

Sound Advice Review

Comments: Overall, I think it is a good product that offers unique flexibility to create diagrams and designs for our customers.

Pros:

I like how easy it is to add new items to our drawings through their database and that they let us create a database of our own. I also like that I they will add items to their database that I specifically request.

Cons:

I really do not like the fact that there is no hierarchy structure for user permissions. I would like them to have administrator users who have full control over regular users and their projects.

Effective and Helpfull

Pros:

Easy to use, help a lot for our planning

Cons:

Not in French for the Docs part. Lot of products don't have the connections done.

Xten AV - Good starting software.

Comments: Overall, it's a good software and great toolkit. It reduces costs for smaller companies by eliminating the need for 4 or 5 other software into a single package.

Pros:

It's relatively easy to use, full featured, and covers all the basics for an IT and AV company.

Cons:

I don't like that my documents are paywalled if my payment lapses. I should have access to my completed documents even if payment lapses.

XTEN AV for a new design engineer

Comments: I like XTEN, its making my work flow faster

Pros:

I like how it makes single line drawings super easy just by uploading a BoM

Cons:

I do wish there was some more flexibility in the designer

Xten-AV are go to propsal design platform

Comments: Extend has really change the way we create proposals and gives us many options for all the different types of clients that we service.

Pros:

We loved drawing options to include in our proposals.

Cons:

Just getting started with any new platform can be daunting, and if I had to say what I didn't like, it would be the initial set up.

XTEN-AV for AV Line Schematics

Comments: I have had a great experience, it took me a few projects to get my templates and defaults the way I wanted them but now my workflow and efficiency are much better.

Pros:

I like the customization and automation features that I have access to and control over.

Cons:

What I like least is that some of the controls for zooming in and out are not quickly accessible.

Awesome Cloud Base Software

Comments: It has been a great experience using XTENAV compared to D-Tools and I have been a long time user of D-Tools. XTENAV is such a better tools to work with and easy to generate proposal much faster.

Pros:

Easy to use and learn very quickly. Easy to generate proposal with saved templates. Great library.

Cons:

Nothing really it was a great deal which made lots of sense to switch from D-Tools to XTENAV.

Great platform for rapid project development

Comments: Overall, it has been a very positive experience. Support requests some times go unanswered, but the product is good enough to overcome some minor shortcomings.

Pros:

The best feature is the pre-built device library and symbols. This greatly reduces build times.

Cons:

There are some minor issues with the cable schedule. There is no way to assign unique device names to devices which results in extra time spent for creating cable labels.

XTEN Review

Comments: Overall I think that this product is fantastic. I am starting to leverage other capabilities that we had not in the past and find it very helpful in tracking progress of opportunities.

Pros:

I really appreciate that this product provides the ability to create a complete design from nothing to complete technical drawings. This is very helpful in my role.

Cons:

I am still struggling with pulling in client floor plans into the design tool.

The perfect software for Small Business Integrators!

Comments: Surpassed all expectations!! They thought of everything and make my workload way easier~!!!

Pros:

(1) Most Important: The ability to customize the software! The templates for Proposals, Diagrams, Quotes, Invoices, etc are already well made and having the ability to customize each individual component of these templates to suit my needs makes this the most important feature!!! (and its easy to do ) (2) Ability to further customize administrative roles for collaboration with multiple people remotely. It is easy and efficient for working on projects with multiple people. (3) As close to perfect as it can be! In the AV industry it is hard to find a One-Stop-Shop solution and XTEN-AV provides a customizable platform as well as a pre-built(and growing) library of Manufacturer products.

Cons:

Personal con about it is that the pre-built library does not always have all the products that I need for quoting proposals. Though this is really not a con because the pre-built library gets added onto almost daily and for the items that I cannot find on the pre-built library I can easily add them to the library for future use. Which is a feature I also love because I can customize these items with my dealer pricing, customer pricing, and all line items to showcase the information that I need for presenting to the client!! (Great feature!!!)

A serious competitor to D-Tools that becomes better every day.

Comments: My company uses XTen only for the drawing feature. We tried D-Tools and found the offering pretty underwhelming. While D-Tools relies on AutoCAD or Visio for drawing, XTen has Draw.IO built in with an AV specific toolset that works.
Making your own blocks is fairly quick, and if you want for them to make some blocks for you the turn around time is only 48 hours or so. With new products coming out all the time right now, that's a valuable service.
XTen recently added true paper scaling, but it's still rough and not aimed toward North American users. As of February 2024 there is not an ability to draw objects of specific sizes, so having a copy of AutoCAD LT is still necessary. Additionally, normal architectural paper sizes must be custom created on each project.

Pros:

The great customer service and ease of communication with the XTen team is currently still amazing.

Cons:

Lack of Paper Sizes and Scaling commands hold it back from being a true AutoCAD replacement.

XTEN Wins Bids

Comments: Overall Xten has been a great decision for our company. [sensitive content hidden] has made the switch very easy and has been very helpful with training sessions!

Pros:

I like the ease of functionality and the customizable feature of the proposals!

Cons:

I do wish that the initial BOM and then the Areas & Items were linked and updated simultaneously when changes were made.

Why I love xten-av

Comments: Overall my experience and expectations have been meet above what i imagined.

Pros:

Bom list build outs for ease of ordering parts and equipment.

Cons:

I personally don’t like that a new tab opens every time you click on a different part of the project.

XTEN-AV For Non-Integrator

Comments: Overall, I have enjoyed using XTEN-AV over the past 2+ years and appreciate their flexibility and willingness to listen to product suggestions.

Pros:

The ability to quickly create and use design templates for rooms that are repeatable

Cons:

Ability to click and add PDF design documents such as line drawings into a proposal. I know this is coming soon but presently it is a pain to manage

Best AV Project Software

Comments: XTEN-AV has been an absolute game changer for us. We now have complete AV diagrams that can be handed off to the install team. Everyone we contact from the company is pleasant and more than willing to help us! This has become essential to our office operations.

Pros:

This is the best AV diagramming and project management software out there. It has simplified so many processes within our institution. It make drawing AV flows much easier and then generating a BOM from that to pass on to vendors is now effortless. It really has made work flow in the office much easier and given back hours of time to our office. We also love that since this is web based it can be accessed from anywhere we need.

Cons:

The thing we like least about XTEN-AV is getting used to the flow of tasks within the program. There was a slight learning curve to get used to program but that's any new program. It made us reevaluate our office process for the better.

Happy new customer to XTen-AV!

Comments: In overall I think the service and the product in general is a lot for the money spent!

Pros:

The workflow in general is very intuitive, without leaving customizing out of the picture. The more I use the program, the more I like it!

Cons:

I would have been awesome if I can work with system drawings in layers. This is not critical to me, but let say I have a huge design of many products in various categories. Showing just the Video-side of the design with a push of a button, could speed up the report- and installation of the design a little. The rack-design is a bit too simple for my use. Added more components or making more customizing in this area, would be appreciated.

AV Designers Dream Come True

Comments: Overall its a great tool that has lots of challenges to overcome in order to compete with big boys in the industry, however the start is great and I truly hope they invest into product devolvement and GUI improvements.

Pros:

BOM - Bill of Materials Design - On the fly changes

Cons:

It would be great to have this app as a software and not just web based. Not always do I have network access.

XTEN-AV Intgration

Comments: It is the best AV drawing platform for the money.

Pros:

The drawing software to make professional cabling drawings for AV systems is a great alternative to Auto CAD. The growing library is a big plus with the ease of adding in products that may not be in the library.

Cons:

When i re-open some of the drawings, they are not the same as saved. Duplicate products are shown and the drawing has to be re-modified at times. The proposal builder needs some work. Labor cost needs to be implimented in a better way.

XTEN-AV is a MUST!

Comments: My experience has been wonderful. You are given a dedicated agent from XTEN-AV to work with and they have live agent chat if you need help answering any questions!

Pros:

It's a very detailed program. You can keep track of your project from all stages.

Cons:

I really haven't found any issues that I do not like about XTEN-AV.

Long-time XTEN-AV user

Comments: x.doc is a nice module of the XTEN-AV platform that guides from proposals to final system documentation, and everything in between. But for me the star of the show is x.draw. With over 30 years of experience in A/V system design, in my experience XTEN-AV is intuitive, flexible and quick.

Pros:

The extensive library database of manufactures equipment models.

Cons:

The ability to modify device blocks easily within x.draw.

Great Software For AV Design

Comments: XTEN is great and has helped our team incredibly.

Pros:

XTEN has made my workflow extremely easy. It has helped me conceptualize designs prior to presenting to the client and has also made communication, and file sharing with a client a breeze.

Cons:

Sometimes the workflow of the software is not as modular as some of the applications we are using XTEN for don't always lineup with how the process of what X-Draw walks you through.

Ease of Design

Pros:

I absolutely love the overall concept of providing constant gear updates and tools to allow for ease of designs.

Cons:

I wish the library of professional gear would update much more efficiently and sooner.

One of the better options

Pros:

The ability to easily create drawings and replicate designs.

Cons:

Xdraw isn't the most intuitive software, so there is a learning curve and takes a little time to figure out how to be efficient with it.

Fast and Easy Way to Propose

Pros:

Simplicity of how everything is laid out.

Cons:

That there is no offline software based version. I don’t always have access to internet when in field.