Thursday 24th April 2025

Momentus Presentation

• Momentus is monitoring window usage and has coined the term “Red Alerts” that will flag if usage changes suddenly. Your CSM will then reach out to understand if there’s an issue.
• CSM can answer quick questions, but larger inquiries will be forwarded to arrange paid training.
• A new Performance Health (SPOT) review will be conducted to analyze accounts, events, etc.
• Going forward, support tickets will be routed to the most appropriately-skilled agent.
• Momentus will start to inform customers when they will not fix an issue.

David: One of the biggest issues is when something gets handed over to development; it then becomes a black hole, and we see no updates. We probably don’t need to see every note the development team adds, but we need some visibility.
Lee: Perhaps a forced update every 2 weeks or month would be nice.
Harlie: The bug with 25.1 timeouts is a prime example of this.
Momentus: We promise to improve! Everyone using Enterprise; no one using Elite.

Sarah A: Is there a market-specific channel that would be appropriate for us?
Momentus: Probably not, just the general track. We will follow up with you directly.

Josh: What AI do you have in mind? I see quite a lot of pointless AI around.
Momentus: The first major use will be “Ask Momentus.” You can query the data in the system using natural language, saving you from trawling through screens and reports to find numbers. We’ll be very selective whilst experimenting behind the scenes.
Lee: Are you reaching out to customers, or are customers reaching out to you to beta test?
Momentus: Exactly, we’re always open, feel free to reach out.

Momentus: We can now build prototypes much more quickly, requiring very little engineering effort to get customer feedback before deciding whether to move an idea forward.
David: Could we get involved earlier? We’re struggling to explain why the new UI is how it is (some processes are longer/worse, etc.). We’re going to get forced onto it soon.
Lee: Can you share more of the what and why, perhaps?
David: The process was started based on user feedback, followed by a lot of customer interviews.
Lee: Would you ever share any more details of the UX study, interviews, etc., so we can better understand?
Momentus: 85% of our customer base is on the new version, and 80% have left the new UI on. We’re getting a lot of feedback that the new UI allows users to jump in much faster; it’s more modern and behaves much like other cloud platforms. Our feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
Everyone: The numbers sound great, but we would love to see real evidence/examples.
Momentus: We showcase this in some of our webinars.

Ricky: I would love to see some best practices. For example, the way the service order screen has changed. If there’s now a better way or best practice, I’d love to know.
Fred: Who’s using the new UI?
Momentus: A handful of companies have rolled out the new UI.

Kris: Is someone monitoring the community?
Momentus: The community isn’t really monitored. It’s a good place to collaborate with each other. A large amount of feedback in the new UI thread have been addressed.

Lee: I saw an email a few days ago stating that product ideas/enhancements etc, are going via a different channel?
Momentus: Yes, now via the in-app help agent.
Lee: Does that mean we can’t see others’ submissions anymore?
Momentus: No, you can still see them.

Momentus: Going back to your original questions, I’m not sure we’ll ever be in a position to share videos of interviews, etc. We did share some numbers at Illuminate about man-hours saved, etc.
Lee: Numbers are great, but I would really love a case study, especially from someone in the room/UK.

Momentus: Momentus Payments is free of charge if you use an in-house payment gateway.
Kris: Do you need any finance modules to be able to use Momentus Payments?
Momentus: You would need the payment portal (which you would have to pay for). It also integrates into the online systems like ESC, OSB, etc.

Kris: Anything happening with reporting? Crystal, etc.?
Momentus: Yes, but no news yet.
Lee: We have a Power BI integration using the API. If you’re interested, feel free to reach out directly. There’s a brief note on our website Power BI Integration.

David: When will the new Outlook/email integration be?
Momentus: 25.2 (end of July).
James W: Which areas of the system will the email integration be able to push data?
Momentus: I will need to come back to you on that.
James W: Can you tell us more about change tracking for operations?
Momentus: I will need to follow up, but essentially, it’s configuring certain changes to notify specific people.

Momentus Connect

• Low code workflow builder is set to launch in H2 2025.
• Full launch is scheduled for July 2025.
• Momentus is looking to start launching many more integrations more frequently as a result.

David: Will you need the API module to use the email import outlook integration?
Momentus: No, some of the integrations will be paid for whilst others will be included/free.
Momentus: Who would be interested in the 2-way integration with the Outlook calendar?
David: Yes, depending on the cost, if it could allow us to reduce licenses because some users only need to see the booking calendar.
Eddi: Same.
Momentus: It’s included in the “corporate package.”

Lee: Is there an opportunity for third-party apps in the integration marketplace?
Momentus: Potentially in the longer term.
Momentus: v2 APIs look very similar to v1 but allow for expanding related/hierarchical data.
Lee: Which version of OData?
Momentus: Read-only endpoints initially.
Lee: Can you query multiple levels (e.g., event + orders + order items)?
Momentus: Yes, though it’s not infinite levels.
Lee: Is the communication during beta testing direct with Momentus or between the users?
Momentus: It’s really direct with us, but users normally have access to a dedicated forum for connection.

Analytics

Momentus: Initially aimed at optimizing sales and increasing revenue! Expected release is Q2 for US/Canada and Q3 for EMEA.
Jodi: Is it going to be competitively priced vs. other BI solutions?
Momentus: Yes, there will be different options. Some will have out-of-the-box reports, whilst others will allow building reports using “low code”. In the longer term, we plan to facilitate file transfers for data import/export and scheduling/alerts.
Lee: Is it integrated into Momentus, or is it a separate/standalone tool?
Momentus: Standalone, in Momentus Connect. Long term, there will be more opportunities for integration with Momentus dashboards, etc.
Momentus: Pricing is not yet confirmed, but the expectation is that all users can view it, though licensing may be more limited around the builder.
Sarah Y: Where is the data coming from for benchmarks?
Momentus: From customers who opt in.
Fred: AIPC/AIPH standards?
Momentus: Yes!
David: Do you plan to move away from dashboards?
Momentus: No plans for that. It’s more trend-based and multi-source. Analytics data will remain reasonably up to date but won’t necessarily be real-time.
Jodi: Will the analytics use the dictionaries from the product?
Momentus: Will check.
Sarah Y: Will this go beyond sales, e.g. costs?
Momentus: Initially focused on sales and revenue forecasting. However, we are building a foundation for more comprehensive coverage of those use cases incrementally.

Q&A

David: We want to purchase a module for 1 year to review whether it’s successful. But we’ve been told once we purchase it we have to keep it.
Momentus: It’s important to us that the module delivers value. We don’t want to force you to continue using it if it doesn’t benefit. However, we’d want to understand why and try to find an alternative solution.
David: I don’t think there would be an alternative.
Momentus: It could be an integration with another platform.
David: If our catering team, for example, decides they no longer want it, we’re stuck with the cost forever.
Momentus: You could use the money toward other services or modules (like services direct etc.).

Barry: I didn’t know this was the case. We’re looking at some stuff too, but not sure we’ll go for it if we’re tied in for perpetuity.
Momentus: Reiterating, it’s a partnership, and we want to ensure you get value or offer alternatives.
Mark: We got burnt when we went through the discovery process and then found the solution didn’t work, despite every effort by Momentus.
Momentus: We’re an enterprise SaaS company, you’ll find the same with other SaaS companies.
Fred: I think you’ll speed up adoption if you ease up on that a bit.
Alex: That’s not how it works with all my other providers, AWS, Microsoft etc. we can scale up/down.
Momentus: That changes depending on the level you’re at. Bigger AWS customers spending millions per month have enterprise agreements that work in this way.

Momentus: FB has taken lots of notes. How can we share the answers? Email to the committee who can forward?
Lee: Use the forum, please.
Momentus: That sounds great.
James W: Can we reach out to you directly with follow-ups?
Momentus: Absolutely, feel free to reach out! Please also provide feedback to us on the format and how it went.

Barry: Is there something available for Power BI?
Momentus: No.
Lee: We have a Power BI integration using the API. If you’re interested, feel free to reach out directly. There’s a brief note on our website Power BI Integration.
Momentus: Replicas is an interesting topic.
Lee: Are they going away?
Momentus: Not really, but we want to reduce the need with all these new APIs, etc.

Sarah Y: Annual memberships, boxes, etc.?
Momentus: We’re looking into this and possible solutions to integrate with.
Lee: Does membership still exist?
Momentus: Old MBD no.
Jodi: There’s a new one.
Momentus: I’m not aware of that, but I will follow up.

Barry: Ticketing?
Momentus: No.
Lee: We’ve done some integrations, I’ll reach out.
Jane: Is there a list of all the APIs? We’d love an integration with JotForm.
Lee: Yes, link from Momentus.
Momentus: No integration with JotForm planned initially.

Momentus: 21 customers have reported the timeout. We’ve escalated the ticket to critical and hope to have an update in the morning.
Lee Update: Jen shared confirmation on the forum that this has been fixed and the patch will be available/rolled out on Monday! Forum Post.

Helen: Will the red flag feature help with tickets that have gone stale?
Momentus: We’ve got the data and tool built, but we’re probably not implementing that yet. I’d like to add it to the list.

Sarah A: When will the next Ignite be?
Momentus: March 2026, in Copenhagen, an announcement will go out soon!

Friday 25th April 2025

Kris: AP automation - are we using it (not 100%), and are GG using it too?
Gavin: Not much.

Mark: OSB?
Jodi: RCSI uses it internally, and Jaarbeurs uses it both internally and externally.
Sarah Y: We looked at it but decided not to go ahead yet. It was too expensive for what we wanted to use it for. Initially, we wanted to use it internally for shorter lead time, small room bookings.
Fred: I think that’s its target.

Sarah Y: Feedback from Momentus was that they’d like to hear a bit more from each venue regarding how they use the system, what their issues are, etc., rather than just the person’s name.
Lee: Yes, that would be really helpful for each other too, maybe like next steps at your venue (e.g. I’m looking at OSB and going live with the new UI next week; my number one pain point is X).
David: Maybe we do this via something like SurveyMonkey one month in advance, and then Momentus can use this to decide whom to send.
Harlie: Still discussing in person, but prepped.
Lee: This would help build the agenda too, as I know JM found it challenging to get agenda topics.

Mark: How can we make it easier to organize?
Alex: I can help with that. Eventbrite?
Lee: Maybe something like Meetup.com might work to make maintaining the list easier too.
David: I think there’s a cost involved.
Harlie: I’m really open to meeting online more frequently.

Jane: Shall we do the next one in person or virtual?
Jodi: Freddie has confirmed the conference will be annual going forward.
Jane: Maybe we do it in person later this year (autumn), then virtual after the conference next year (as many of us will see each other in person there anyway).

Jane: Who wants to host?
Sarah Y: We can host next year, but not later this year.
Alex: Maybe us, we will look into it.

Demo

Gavin: How do you get the test banner at the top?
Kris: I don’t know, I thought Momentus did it? I didn’t know you could have multiple test environments.
Gavin: Yes, but there might be costs associated. When you copy from PROD to TEST, they automatically update too.
Jim: You can ask Momentus to redact the email addresses whilst they do it.
Jodi: You need to manually delete all scheduled tasks, or else users will get emails from Test as well.
Jim: I don’t think we’ve done this in the past. Perhaps we’ve asked Momentus to do that as part of their process?

Jodi: Are you using different themes?
Harlie: Yes, per department.
Lee: Do you find much duplication when having to apply the same change across multiple themes?
Harlie: Not really.
Kris: We actually did have duplication when we recently stopped using requisitions; we had to go through every theme/layout and remove all references.
Lee: You can do it at the role level and won’t need to update the layouts/themes.
Kris: Yes, that might have worked actually!
Kris: Does everyone else use requisitions?
Sarah Y: We do, though only for Capex.

Jane: Do you do two approvals?
Most others have two approvals.
Kris: We do two, but one is a real approval, whilst the receiving is the second (implicit). However, the limit isn’t observed when receiving.
Kris: Is there not a way to limit receiving by limit?
Alex: We don’t actually send POs out.
Ricky: I think that varies by department; we do send them.

Lee: Kris, you mentioned a formula for “Harlie to approve” for your POs. Do you have fancy dashboards and many summary fields, reports, formulas, etc.? I always feel they are powerful yet underutilised (DR has shared some great examples and presented in the past).
Kris: There’s no demand, or the business doesn’t know it’s possible. I’ve discussed it with some, but they don’t have the appetite for it.
Lee: One dashboard per department?
Harlie: A couple for most departments (for example IT has a venue dashboard and a client dashboard).

ESCV

Ricky: It’s a pain because deadline cut-off dates require creating separate web shops!
Kris: Yes!
Ricky: I’ve added User Defined Fields (UDF’s) to certain items to make the customer tick to agree not to plug in their own router, etc.
Eddi: Do you have anything set-up to detect rogue networks?
Harlie: I’m not sure; I think so, but I can definitely put you in touch with our team.
Ricky: Yes, please.

Eddi: We’re building a web shop for catering, but when you have a date picker, the description vanishes?
Kris: I think you have to enter the web description
Eddi: I think we’ve already got that.
Lee: It might be a bug in your web skin.

Ricky: Do you find that sometimes people update the function date when they shouldn’t?
Kris/Gavin: I think you can configure it to use the event date rather than the function date.

Event Planner Portal

Is anyone using the Event Planner Portal?
Fred: Nobody in the UK, but some users in the Netherlands are.
Fred: How do you manage signups of exhibitors for the first time? What’s your workflow, as you can only sign in on the website.
Kris: I think we just let anyone sign in.
Gavin: Most venues do.

New UI

James W: We haven’t rolled it out, but have a few users trying it. We’re struggling when a grid is sorted and grouped with several levels; we have to zoom out to 80%. All general fields have moved into the quick info section, but it only shows the top three rows, so we’re having to move everything out. We haven’t mentioned this to Momentus yet.
ACTION: Everyone to see if the quick info issue is a problem for them too; then we can collectively ask Momentus to run a script to do this for us all automatically. Others agree that compared to the old UI, the new UI on dashboards hardly fits any data in.
Lee: You can improve things a little by right-clicking the heading and toggling text wrapping. If this isn’t a problem for everyone, or if Momentus can’t help, we could share a Crystal report that will identify all the layouts needing updates to make the task more manageable.

David: Our test database was refreshed last night. The test banner now shows “TEST DATABASE” on the second line.
David: Some of us are using dark mode, but this has been removed in the new UI. Momentus suggests using the Dark Reader Chrome extension as an alternative. Be mindful of some of the colour mappings (e.g. event status colours) looking different! Also note that it’s not technically free.
Jim & Jodi: The website makes it look like you have to pay £7.99, but on the actual page in the extension store, it says the amount is a “donation.”

Jane: We rolled out to everyone, and no concerns raised outside of finance, which we’ve switched off for now.
Jane: They’ve made a lot of changes since 24.4. I definitely recommend trying it sooner rather than later and sending your feedback.
Barry: Even when we ask for testing, we find a new bug on the day we go live.
Lee: There’s a fine line; I recommend saving some time for testing and using that as contingency to fire-fight if needed. Chances are you may still miss the issues regardless of how much testing you do beforehand.

Kris: We had a bug with the “search for” function not working. Others also experienced this issue.
Kris: I think it’s fixed now; we raised it - some bug with new account indexing?

Ricky: Let’s try to share when we’re looking at purchasing new modules. For example, we’ve been using ESC for five years but are thinking of going elsewhere and probably wouldn’t recommend it.

Lee: What is everyone using for documentation?
Everyone: Word.
Lee: After the last meeting, we experimented with Tango, Scribe, Loom, etc. but didn’t really get on with them. We’ve ended up building something for a few customers that allows us to manage documentation as code, which had numerous benefits. There are some notes on our website: Bespoke Solutions and a small demo docs site if you want to see how it might look: Demo Docs.

Ricky: Has anyone looked at automated plotting for floorplans, ducts, rigging, pipes, services etc?
Group: No.

Lee: There used to be a mechanism to bulk merge accounts from a CSV/spreadsheet/list. This doesn’t exist anymore, and there doesn’t appear to be an API, so we can’t build our own tool either.
There is a discussion on the support center, and it’d be great if you could all upvote/encourage USI to make this happen. Thanks! Support Center Discussion.