Customer Database

[kwatt]

Both Dave and I are still very actively chasing this as it is an essential thing to have in this day and age.

Hopefully we’ll have more news on this soon, but some software companies seem to pretty much not care when it comes to getting business.

K.

[bassman]

Re: Customer Database

I use ServiceBase from PC Control Systems Originaly Designed for the brown goods industry but equally good for white goods it contains a diary for booking calls, to as many engineers as you would like,it will produce sperate job sheets for each engineer, a spares inventory system, produces invoices, lists spares used also part numbers,
will make up parts orders,and produce statements, as you use it it builds up its own database of model numbers so that when you are booking a job you just enter a model number and the make and type of machine automatically installs on job sheet, an extra program also enters correct address by just typing in postcode, it will produce statements of unpaid invoices plus loads of other usefull features,it saves me hours of work. If you haven’t tried it give them a call them a call 01604 601677

[kwatt]

That’s one of the big problems we’ve encountered though, they have all been adapted from browngoods or gas boiler servicing it seems, not one has been designed from the ground up for what we actually do.

I simply have gone shopping with a wishlist of things we want to see. 😉

K.

[Pat-UK]

Re: Customer Database

Just to save me repeating everything I typed and still on this topic but I made some posts yesterday that may be of help on this subject.

http://www.ukwhitegoods.com/postt291.htm

Hope this helps

[kwatt]

Pat,

Here’s the problems…

To use Access is fine on a small scale, I find it slows up as the database gets bigger or more relational information is required. It also has the world’s most horrid GUI. 😉

It’s also not cheap to buy and there are many dBase’s out there available for free, like MySQL or PostgreSQL amongst others.

The other big problem for those of us doing contract work is communications, both ways, in real time between a remote client and very possibly a field engineer or ten as well.

Dave and I have spent a LOT of time looking at various packages, even custom ones, and are still seeking the ideal system to cut across some of the boundries faced by desgining software that is as good for a one man company as it is for one that employs up to 30 engineers. Even then, when you find something, can it handle the data and fields that we need it to as well as give the backend relationships between tables, be robust and quick to use and provide all the other bells and whistles to boot. Honestly, it’s a nightmare given the sheer spectrum of company sizes and different information/ways of working and using the information and we’ve concluded that nothing out there is a “one size fits all” application. Yet.

One of the biggest hurdles we’ve found is the number of contracts that we can deal with, along with individual customers, layered on top of product groups. It appears that, as an industry, we are quite unique in that respect with only browngoods coming close. Since we’re all skint I think that’s why we’ve seen so many browngoods applications ported to be used in our industry, none of which that we’ve seen meet out needs. Likewise there are more than a few ported from the heating industry, again, not suitable merely workable.

But if you want to let us have a copy of yours we’d be more than happy to take a look at it. 😀

K.

[Pat-UK]

Re: Customer Database

Sure No problem.

What I will do, instead of sending you the one i’m using, I’ll knock up a tidier version that covers all the basic essentials that I think are needed and you can comment and critisise ( i know I can’t spell the bleedin word ) and tell me if you want it developed further in to something we can all use.

I’ve never had any problems with access but as it sounds like you already know, the table structure is basically the same for what ever database system you choose to use.

I have never really had any problems with search times, i’ve only got about 10,000 records on mine so this will make it a bit quicker and I have created relationships to have NO data redundancy to speed up seaches and cut data and tables sorted in a way to allow me search the most common search criteria more quickly.

I designed the application on SSADM and I know access is by far not the most efficient tool around but it works and is easy for most to use mainly because of that same GUI and as I was studying Access at the time I applied it to access, And I think generally most people have a copy of it on thier PC.

As I have said, if someone is prepared to take the time to write a full requirement spec, I’ll be more than happy to design the application for you.

And no i’m not after any £££, But who knows, we may get a package that is comertialy viable to the outside world !!!

[kwatt]

Fire me a copy over then and we’ll get a look at it.

K.

[Pat-UK]

Re: Customer Database

Something I should add and this is VERY IMPORTANT is that there will never be a single package that will ever suit everyones’ needs.

But between us I recon a reasonable base can be created that end users can adapt or have adapted to suit their individual needs.

What I have works very well for me and will probably work just as well for many of you, but on the other may not be any good some others. Everyone has thier own needs and requirments and The perfect package is not possible accross the board, only on an individual basis.

[TeeMyob]

Re: Customer Database

So where did we all get with this?

Still looking to replace the old DOS ServiceBase but is PC Controls ServiceBase 2000 not also a bit dated now?

Trev

[LJDomestics]

Re: Customer Database

I use a fail safe system its called “pen and paper” and it costs me a quid a yr.

No databse crashes ( well i do run out of ink so i just replace the biro )
8)

[kwatt]

Re: Customer Database

Wow, this is a blast from the past! 🙂

Despite us putting a fair bit of effort and cash into the project it never really got anywhere. In fact we lost a fair whack of cash trying to get it done. 🙁

For the past couple of years I’ve had many more things to be doing than getting a service database up and running. Plus most of the stuff that is/has been about is old hat really and the interest seemed to die away for some reason.

Technology moves on, it won’t hang about just because of us or pretty much anyone else. What I had started would be, by now, past its sell-by date IMO.

With that in mind I’m getting slowly drawn into this again mainly as nothing I’ve seen does what I want it to do and, certainly not easily. Factor in the expense of most “systems” above that and the closed proprietary nature where you get locked in on costs and they all start looking less attractive.

I’m looking at options again to make it free or very low cost. Not that this ever really went away, it just got moved down the list of things that were important to be doing for me. It is moving back up that list.

Minimum leadtime to anything concrete, 6 months.

You will note that I’m not giving much away, it’s deliberate, so don’t ask too many questions as I might just say I’m saying nuffin’. 😉

Lee, while I appreciate the pen and paper there’s a few flaws with that system in this day and age. Suffice to say, I couldn’t run a business these days without IT and I’m sure many others are the same. 😉

K.

[TeeMyob]

Re: Customer Database

Thanks K,

Not sure if I can watch this Topic so will just have to keep my eyes peeled.

Regards,
Trev.

[silverbroom]

Re: Customer Database

Had an e-mail from Geoff at BLI Service with a sample of a service call management system.

Said a demo disc would be ready in about three or four weeks, Sure this is on UKW somewhere.

silverbroom

[LJDomestics]

Re: Customer Database

Don’t get me wrong i ain’t knocking a system, but anything thats on a pc and even backed up tends to be a pain when it hits the fan.
My old employer couldn’t grasp the I.T world and crashed the works pc on a daily basis, only for me to have to fix time and time again so i gave him the pen and paper back and it was happy days then on.
I have invoices on the pc etc and ive no problems with I.T stuff/building pc’s etc or running my own forums as i used to, even built my own online shop with a zencart package but all was a lot of effort for little return.
So now its basically a phone, a pen and a notepad, forget the satnav too although im tempted as my fuel bills for getting lost are beyond control tbh. lol

[kwatt]

Re: Customer Database

IT is like anything that you happen to keep in your toolbox…

If you know what it is, what it is used for and how to use it then it can save you a lot of time and trouble as well as making the job a lot easier.

IT, for business, touches (or can) on so many areas it can make you massively more efficient and help you waste less time with all the backend paperwork which, as we all know, engineers just love to do. 😉 😆

And that means it saves money.

Gotta know what to do with it though and which tool for which job.

I’ll give you an example…

I used to be a devout Windows user loving the mass of programs and tweaks for it and the fact that it was an almost universal standard as far as IT goes.

IIRC in 2006 I bought my first Mac to play with and liked a lot of what I saw, I liked the simplicity of it for daily use as it just did the job.

Later, in 2007, I took a leap of faith and bought a Macbook Pro as my main “out the office” PC. After a good few weeks wrestling with many things that I was unfamiliar with I got totally converted to using a Mac and now I won’t touch a Doze box unless I really, really have to. They’re slow, cumbersome and difficult to use sat beside a Mac.

But the Macs are much more expensive although better built, almost double the cost in some cases.

To me however it’s worth it as the Macs just work and, keep working. All my stuff is backed up seamlessly without any intervention on my part every hour. I can search stuff faster and more accurately. All my contacts, diary and all that stuff is backed up to the cloud and synched across multiple devices, including my phone and again, I don’t have to touch it for that to happen.

But you try telling a devout Windows user that a Mac is better for work and they’ll bang on about allsorts of downsides and, to be fair, there are some. Not enough to put me off the Mac though and not enough that I can’t justify paying the Apple Tax.

But conversely I’ve never had downtime on the Mac other than the odd reboot.

The question that I asked myself was, how much was my time worth in relation to the extra cost of the Macs? The answer was, my time was worth more than the extra cost of the Mac weighed against the benefits of using that as a PC, for me.

You make the same choice with something as simple as an electric screwdriver. Is the time you spend taking out all the screws from the back of a machine by hand worth more or less than the cost of the screwdriver? Short answer is that, yes, it is invariably worth paying for the screwdriver. Or even whatever other tool you happen to name and some are even required just to do what you have to do, so you nee it just to earn.

Then you find all sorts of other uses for the tool as well though usually, in this case a simple screwdriver.

And this is where the expression, knowing the cost of an item and knowing the value of an item (or tool) are two entirely different things, IMO comes from.

K.

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