P
Peter
- Jan 1, 1970
- 0
Hi,
I am a part time system administrator for a Security/File alarm dealer. The
company currently uses QuickBooks for accounting/invoicing/payroll/etc.,
however they do not have a customer database that keeps track of what's
installed at a customer's site and the service call history for that
customer. Currently everything is kept in folders which means that there
are filing cabinets all over the office to keep the folders in order. There
are many problems with this situation, including "losing" files for
hours/days because the file is on someone's desk when it should be in the
cabinet, not having immediate, easy access to what's installed at the
customer's site when they call in reporting a problem, etc.
There's got to be a software solution to help this problem. The paper
master file can never go away (at least right now), but if all this
information was stored online somehow it would seem that the efficiencies
gained would greatly offset the cost to purchase/maintain a customer
database.
I am looking for some recommendations on software that other security/alarm
dealers use to keep track of their customers. Positive and negative
feedback about specific software would be great. What software is out
there?
Ideal functions it should perform/data it should store:
1. Customer demographic information
2. Track what's installed at a customer site
3. Service call history (reported problem, work performed, technicians who
worked on service call, new parts/devices installed)
4. Inventory control
5. Job scheduling/dispatch functions
6. Track how long each employee spent at the job
7. Reporting
8. Client/Server based with simultaneous users (7+)
It would be nice to have:
1. Integration with QuickBooks (switching accounting software is not an
option, even if accounting software came with the package it would not be
used).
2. Ability to download customer job info to a PDA device so service
technicians don't have to take the master file with them.
Thanks in advance.
-Peter
I am a part time system administrator for a Security/File alarm dealer. The
company currently uses QuickBooks for accounting/invoicing/payroll/etc.,
however they do not have a customer database that keeps track of what's
installed at a customer's site and the service call history for that
customer. Currently everything is kept in folders which means that there
are filing cabinets all over the office to keep the folders in order. There
are many problems with this situation, including "losing" files for
hours/days because the file is on someone's desk when it should be in the
cabinet, not having immediate, easy access to what's installed at the
customer's site when they call in reporting a problem, etc.
There's got to be a software solution to help this problem. The paper
master file can never go away (at least right now), but if all this
information was stored online somehow it would seem that the efficiencies
gained would greatly offset the cost to purchase/maintain a customer
database.
I am looking for some recommendations on software that other security/alarm
dealers use to keep track of their customers. Positive and negative
feedback about specific software would be great. What software is out
there?
Ideal functions it should perform/data it should store:
1. Customer demographic information
2. Track what's installed at a customer site
3. Service call history (reported problem, work performed, technicians who
worked on service call, new parts/devices installed)
4. Inventory control
5. Job scheduling/dispatch functions
6. Track how long each employee spent at the job
7. Reporting
8. Client/Server based with simultaneous users (7+)
It would be nice to have:
1. Integration with QuickBooks (switching accounting software is not an
option, even if accounting software came with the package it would not be
used).
2. Ability to download customer job info to a PDA device so service
technicians don't have to take the master file with them.
Thanks in advance.
-Peter