Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Durning the process of starting my business, I`ve researched a lot of things that I`ll need, or think I`ll need.

My two biggest concerns at the moment are VOIP and contact management/quotation software.

A lot of what I`ve read here at SUN concerning VOIP is good information. However, after doing some research on Packet 8 and less extensively Vonage, I haven`t really seen  a majority of reviews that are positive. Is VOIP that unrelaibale? Is customer service and head games by these companies that terrible? I understand the bandwidth issue, and feel that I have a good enough up/down load speeds to use the product. I also understand the reliability issues with power outages, and can live with the limitations that outages can cause. I have a cell phone that calls can be forwarded to. I guess I want the same thing any business owner wants... what they pay for. The need of a fax line with VOIP is paramount to my survival. Is there a good solution out there for VOIP? Vonage looks like a good deal as I`m a one person operation, but the lawsuit makes me wary.

The search continues for CRM software that isn`t hosted. I want to be able to buy the product and install it physically myself. I would like to have something that works well with Outlook, and is a suite of programs that are aimed at sales productivity. I talked with one vendor today, and they have a great product, but the price left me slack-jawed. I need the abilty to track customer contacts, history for them, be able to send email and create email campaigns, dial the phone from the software, produce quotes and be able to email or fax them from the program, and have some sort of catalog or inventory list as well.

Am I shooting for the moon, or just not digging deep enough? All these thing to implement, and only so many hours in a day...

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~Dave~
Industrial Clean Air

Why is this critical to your startup?

So much of my work is done on the fax... a lot of people I sell to still use it vs email 9 times out of 10. It`s strange... people that own the shops I market to own 5 axis machining centers, and can program them with their eyes shut, but refuse to use email...

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~Dave~
Industrial Clean Air

Okay, so what you`re saying is that a foundational part of your new business will be connectivity and telecommunications infrastructure? If so, that`s fine. I just wanted to get a clarification, because I think that`ll help get an answer here. :-)

Dear DGoodin,

I just got curious about this topic, and I got in.

I saw you are a "Industrial Clean Air" that means....You keep the air clean on Industrial Businesses Companies...or...A/C? I`m confuse.

I believe it might be the first.

Well, if that it. It sounds to me they are more habit and more confortable to use a fax machine as a communication media rather than learn how to use the scanner-fax-copier-blender machine. Company of that type use to send handwriting schemes, diagrams, handwriting sings on projects, etc. Hard to get those papers through a scanner -> PC -> convert to a file (PDF? JPG? what form you told me?) and attach to an email...pfff... too much work (they think). When a push of a paper and a few buttons can do it.

That`s for one side. Understand why they do that.

From the other side. Yes, kind of you are pointing to the moon.

I`m on computers tech business for the last 13 years and 25 as a hobby.

Research is my breakfast and dinner. I never heard software nor a system that makes all those things you are telling us, altogether.

However, as Craig Landes said: Why is this critical to your startup?

 

About the VOIP,

 

how much volume of calls you do?

How many people will answer the calls?

Why you are talking about a lawsuit?

 

About the CRM you called it.

 

First, if there exist any software which could do-it-all, I`m afraid your risk would be like the old english phrase says "put all the eggs on the same basket" could carry your system full shut-down if the software crash (and it will, but this is another old english phrase).

 

However, I had an experience with a customer that I recommend him to call a programmer and ask him to make a build-to-fit software for him. And that was his real solution. He kept tracks on even what his operators `talk` (literally, they have to type brief note what he/she and the customer talked about) like most Phone Company do.

About the outage, with few UPS battery you can buy anywhere (bigger than 350W) on critical devices such as computers, routers, dsl modems and other sensitive devices, can keep you up & running more than half an hour, if you need more, a house type of generator would be more than additional help for those devices to keep you longer run.

But everything will depend your Company infrastructure.

How many employees, phone lines and customer we are talking about?

If we are talking about few, Microsoft Office (for pc-fax builtin, even via network) that works together with other Microsoft products such as Microsoft Outlook (not O.Express) and Exchange Server (if you work in a team environment, to sync contact, app, calendars, etc) might be the solution.

 

To type phone numbers from the pc, just go to www.download.com and find hundred of freeware software, free, small and fast enough to do it.

 

So you shouldn`t worry or expend a lot of money for startup. Then you`ll find out something better along the way.

 

;)

:-) Now there`s a comprehensive list of questions and things to think about. I swear, I`m starting to think that SuN is like Wikipedia...! You can get an answer to just about ANYthing!! :-D

For CRM , I just started using Highrise and I think I learned about it here at SUN and was thrilled. But that being web/online, I think, and there is ACT offline I think.

Somebody say yes, it is so.

Jill

Jill will...Concierge Service LLC

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Jill will...Concierge Service LLC
If you can`t , Jill will...
Serving Metro Detroit with creative, personal service.
www.jillwilldoit.com