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Information about the D-Tools/Google SketchUp integration

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Written by D-Tools Founder and President, Adam Stone

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Technical and product information written by the D-Tools technical support and development team

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Articles by Adam Stone

Other than my personal life and hobbies I am all about the system integration and A/V industry. I started in 1981 as a “TV delivery specialist” for the Good Guys a west coast CE chain. From there I started my own big dish satellite installation company which morphed into a home theater installation company in the early 90’s. I got out of the installation business in 1996 and went to work for an electrical contractor as project manager of their residential division where I was exposed to the complexities of old school/analog job costing, estimating, blueprints and project scheduling. Being a long time PC geek and creator of some database driven estimating tools I knew that there had to be a better way to deal with these complex projects. During the course of my employment there I was exposed to Visio as an easy to use drawing tool. After spending some time with it I realized that I could hook it up to a database and automate many of the disparate processes I needed to do to accomplish my tasks. That let to the formation of my current company D-Tools which is the leader in the marketplace with thousands of companies using our design, engineering and business management tools. My direct contact information is on the About tab.

Elevation view in SI5
03/27/2008 – 12:52 pm | View Comments
Elevation view in SI5

Overview video of the Elevation view in Si5.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMChA6MMcaQ

SI5 Visio Schematic View Video
03/27/2008 – 12:51 pm | View Comments
SI5 Visio Schematic View Video

Overview video of the Visio schematic view in D-Tools SI5

SI5 Visio Plan Diagram Video
03/27/2008 – 11:57 am | View Comments
SI5 Visio Plan Diagram Video

Overview video of the Visio plan diagram page in SI5

SI5 Visio Line Diagram Video
03/26/2008 – 12:46 pm | View Comments
SI5 Visio Line Diagram Video

Overview video of the Visio line diagram view in D-Tools SI5.

A Tale of Two Customer Service Experiences
01/31/2008 – 3:36 pm | View Comments

I recently experienced two dramatically different customer service experiences that I think we could all learn from.  In both cases these were corporate sales where repeat business is the most sought after result.  …

My New HVAC System – Part 3: The Result
01/22/2008 – 1:10 pm | View Comments

In Part 1 I described the sales and design process of my new HVAC System. In Part 2 I went over the installation. To recap, my furnace went out late last year. I purchased a …

Software: Build or Buy?
01/17/2008 – 5:05 pm | View Comments
Software: Build or Buy?

I was reading this post in CEPro this morning about the AudioVisions software centric business process. Based on what I read, they have spent many years creating custom software that links all of their internal …

How to Deliver Neat and Clean Installations
01/15/2008 – 1:18 pm | View Comments

Great article in CEPro here.

The Changing Face of Residential Integration
01/14/2008 – 5:16 pm | View Comments

I bought a Windows Vista Media Center Edition (VMCE)  Dell XPS 420 late last year to replace my aging  DIY  MCE that started life about three years ago.   The main difference between these two …

My New HVAC System – Part 2: The Installation
01/10/2008 – 4:18 pm | View Comments

In Part 1: I described the sales and design process of my new HVAC system.  In this installment I will attempt to elaborate on the installation process. 
If memory serves me right, I signed an agreement on December 18th …

My New HVAC System – Part 1: The Sales and Design Process
01/09/2008 – 5:39 pm | View Comments

My furnace quit just before the holidays last year.  Some of you from the Midwest laugh at our nor cal winters but to us it still seems really cold.  In any case, the first guy …

Defending your ignorance
12/18/2007 – 2:02 pm | View Comments

I think one of the biggest problems in many companies is how people will defend a position based on their ignorance.  I was aware of this behavior in the past but I never realized how …