myCOI vs. Jones: Comparing Two Leading COI Tracking Solutions

To help you make an informed decision about the best COI tracking solution for your business, we’ve conducted a side-by-side comparison of Jones and myCOI. We’ll be comparing the two platforms based on several criteria, including key features, industry specialization, ease of use, and more. Let’s dive in.

myCOI vs. Jones Document Audit Time

The time it takes to audit a COI can significantly impact project progress or getting buildings to compliant standards, and can have ramifications on your bottom line. Slower COI review times mean delays in getting vendors and subcontractors onsite and working, as well as wasting dozens of employee hours per week manually auditing documents.

myCOI boasts good audit accuracy, but former customers have reported average audit times ranging from 2 days to 2 weeks. A basic myCOI subscription has no option to expedite documents, and is subject to delays during periods of high renewal volume.

Jones’ team of insurance experts audit insurance documents in under 24 business hours to specific requirements tailored to individual organizations. Further, Jones boasts 99.9% accuracy in COI audits powered by risk specialists and OCR technology. Jones does not sacrifice on speed or accuracy, differentiating it from myCOI as the faster COI tracking solution.

TAKEAWAY:

Both myCOI and Jones review with a high level of accuracy, with dedicated teams of insurance experts on staff, but their audit times are a differentiator. Jones has a turnaround time of under 24 business hours, while myCOI can take up to two weeks to review a COI for tracking.

Comparing myCOI and Jones Integrations Capabilities for COI Tracking

Seamlessly integrating with a variety of software including project management, accounting, and property management solutions is a key element of efficient COI tracking. An important factor to keep in mind when adding any new tools to a tech stack is ensuring they integrate well with all of your existing software.

myCOI integrates with a variety of leading software in the compliance and property management space, including Procore and MRI. Users will need to switch between Procore and myCOI for most compliance tasks which can be inconvenient and disrupt their workflows.

Jones is built with integrations in mind, boasting bi-directional integrations with MRI, Yardi, Procore, and more, as well as a custom API. For construction clients, Jones allows users to perform many actions directly within Procore like creating new projects, sending COI requests, uploading insurance documents, and adding new requirements. Spending time tabbing in and out of different windows is an unnecessary friction point that Jones’ bi-directional integrations solve.

TAKEAWAY:

With an increasing amount of software in the average commercial real estate and construction tech stack, having tools that integrate well with each other is a key component of building scalable workflows. Jones’ bi-directional integrations with a plethora of leading CRE and construction software makes pushing information to other solutions simple and efficient. myCOI has a wide variety of integrations to help with COI tracking, but requires more manual task management between different software.

Number of Users on Jones vs. myCOI for COI Tracking

Collaboration between members of a property management or construction team is easier when all team members have access to the same data in the same platform. Jones offers unlimited users seats for no additional cost, allowing all members of your organization to access Jones’ suite of tools. Jones works to help organizations scale, helping ensure continuity as new members join growing teams. In contrast, myCOI has a limited number of user seats, which can hinder collaboration and increase costs. It may not be an issue if you have a small team, but if expansion is in the cards for your organization it could prove to be a sticking point.

TAKEAWAY:

Jones offers unlimited seats for customer organizations, allowing all members of property management or construction teams to collaborate efficiently on one COI management platform. myCOI has a limited user count with the ability to purchase additional licenses to expand the scope of COI tracking at your organization.

myCOI and Jones Ease of Use for Subcontractors and Vendors

An easy-to-use platform is crucial for ensuring that subcontractors and vendors can quickly and efficiently upload their insurance documents. Jones provides a simple, frictionless process with no login required. Vendors, tenants, and subcontractors are prompted to upload documents through company branded automated emails. Further, Jones allows users to upload COIs, endorsements, and multiple PDFs together or as separate files, rather than requiring end users to bundle all the documents together themselves. Subcontractors and vendors can also easily loop in their insurance brokers, making collaboration with risk management professionals a breeze.

In contrast, myCOI requires vendors, subcontractors, and tenants to create an account and login to a portal to upload documents. This in turn drives a drop-off in collections. The cumbersome process of creating an account, verifying an email, and remembering a password for an account that you might only use one or two times is a large barrier to onboarding users onto the platform. Further, myCOI users must also manually combine all files into a single PDF for upload. This process can be cumbersome and time-consuming for even tech-savvy individuals.

TAKEAWAY:

Jones’ simplified, password-free document upload flows boost collection rates by making it easier for vendors and subcontractors to provide their COI documents. Fewer steps means fewer dropoff points, and Jones minimizes required inputs from end users. myCOI requires end users to create an account and log into a portal.

Lease Extractions Done by myCOI and Jones

Parsing contract requirements from documents about properties is an important part of creating the auditing standards future COIs will be reviewed against. Building a strong set of requirements is a crucial way of ensuring continued compliance and protecting from liability as new vendors and tenants come on board. Jones does not charge for lease extractions. myCOI charges per individual extraction, which isn’t an issue if you’re using a small set of requirements but can add up over time as you look to expand your portfolio or project count. Check out our blog here for a deeper dive into the Jones vs. myCOI tracking pricing models.

TAKEAWAY:

Jones never charges for lease or contract requirement extractions, whereas myCOI charges for each additional extraction they have to conduct.

Analytics Dashboards Offered by myCOI and Jones

Data-driven insights are crucial for making informed decisions and mitigating risks in both construction and commercial real estate. Even organizations with strong risk controls or insurance brokers who handle COI review often lack visibility into comprehensive portfolio risk. While brokers are insurance experts, they don’t necessarily provide valuable insights if they’re not using solutions that allow organizations to understand their comprehensive compliance status. Jones offers an advanced suite of charts that help your team take measurable actions to mitigate risk, including:

• Compliance Status Overview
• Compliance by Requirement
• Records Requiring Attention
• Waivers by Requirement
• Expiring Records per Month
• Compliance Per Property

These charts give teams the specific insights they need to boost compliance rates, identify shortcomings in their risk management strategies, and take actions to protect their organizations from risk.

Ex-myCOI users have reported outdated, misleading, and hard-to-use charts, which can make it difficult for teams to glean actionable insights from the data. While you can be certain their audits are accurate, you won’t necessarily be able to quickly and accurately report on risk across your portfolio. This makes spot checks and internal audits a point of concern.

TAKEAWAY:

Jones offers a comprehensive and thorough set of analytics dashboards and reports that make visualizing risk across a portfolio or projects simple and fast. The granular insights Jones offers property management and construction teams can drive higher compliance and make reporting on risk to organization stakeholders easier. myCOIs cumbersome and difficult to use reports hinders the ability of the end user to create actionable strategies to reduce risk, limiting it to just tracking COIs. 

Specific Industry Expertise for myCOI and Jones

One key factor to keep in mind when choosing a COI tracking solution between Jones and myCOI is the industries the solution serves. myCOI serves a wide range of industries, including education, non-profits, trucking, cannabis sales, aviation, and entertainment. Their expertise in these sectors helps organizations with broad insurance needs, and has allowed them to build a breadth of insurance expertise. The fact they serve such a wide variety of customer organizations may dilute their focus and result in a less specialized platform. This approach of opting for a one-size-fits-all solution has benefits and drawbacks. The level of specificity of the solution for construction and CRE will inherently be lower than a purpose-built platform.

Jones is designed with the construction and commercial real estate industries in mind. Our support team is composed of real estate and construction insurance experts. We’ve also worked to tailor the selection of requirements based on the needs of our customers.

Jones’ product roadmap is directly shaped by feature requests from customers in the CRE and construction industries, with purpose-built workflows and regular updates designed to meet the needs of these sectors. Jones is also built to scale with growing CRE and construction organizations, and makes it simple to onboard new properties as your portfolio or project count expands.

TAKEAWAY:

myCOI fits a broad variety of industries, and has exposure to all types of insurance requirements. Their one-size-fits-all platform is built to accommodate a variety of insurance needs. Jones’ product is built with CRE and construction in mind, drawing on extensive customer feedback from leading CRE organizations and ENR 400 contractors. Our support team is composed of industry insurance experts that understand the unique needs of the sectors.

myCOI vs Jones: Network of Insurance Info

A strong network of insurance documents and verified contacts can make managing COIs much more efficient. That’s why Jones launched The Jones Network, a vast repository with thousands of insurance documents and verified contacts on file. This searchable database can save teams valuable time and effort when it comes to sourcing vendors, approving COIs, and accessing accurate and up to date insurance information. Jonathan Kaufman Iger, the President & CEO of Sage told us The Jones Network has driven “cost optimization and even higher service standards for our tenants,” and called the platform “what a modern-day PropTech solution should look like.”

myCOI does not offer a comparable network of insurance documents or verified contacts. The document upload process is manual, and information is not shared between properties and projects. This lack of centralization and searchable records means longer onboarding times, more documents to manage, and fewer insights into vendor compliance. myCOI’s lack of a network limits its capability to aggregate trusted vendors and facilitate quicker work on customer properties and projects.

TAKEAWAY:

The Jones Network makes sourcing and adding new vendors and subcontractors easier and faster than ever before. Rather than having to manually chase down every tenant, vendor, and subcontractor to collect insurance data, property management and construction teams can instantly access any records they need right from within The Jones Network. This single source of truth approach turns vendor sourcing and management into a strategic activity. myCOI has no central database, which can prove cumbersome when collecting COIs.

myCOI vs. Jones: Which is the better COI tracking solution?

In short, Jones offers a range of advantages over myCOI when it comes to COI tracking solutions for the construction and real estate industries. With its industry-specific focus, vast network of insurance documents and contacts, quick auditing capabilities, purpose-built product, and comprehensive suite of analytics tools it makes COI management and reducing risk across entire portfolios easier than ever before. myCOI does offer accurate auditing and tracking capabilities, plus a wide variety of served industries, but does lag behind Jones in terms of user friendliness, specificity, pricing model, and integrations. myCOI isn’t built for commercial real estate and construction like Jones is, but is a great fit for users in industries like non-profit, aviation, trucking, and entertainment.

Want to know more about how Jones helps organizations simplify their COI management and reduce risk?

Get in touch with us today.