Viewing "Dhana's" Blogs

A couple weeks ago, we spent some time reworking the event portions in SalesdeskSuite.  A major revamp went into how we displayed the events.  Along with each event, we now provide extra information on each popup such as:

1. Event title
2. Start and end time
3. Contact Name
4. Location
5. URL
6. Description

Another cool feature we added in here was the legend.  Since we allow the user to add different types of events, each event type is assigned a color.  So if the user wanted to see only "Personal" events on his calendar, all he had to do was to click on the personal legend and the calendar quickly filters outs other events.

All users that have access to FileitSuite are assigned to a certain role. The role that a user has determines the kinds of access privileges he or she has in FileitSuite.

Why roles you might ask?  Well, say you have an accounting, a legal, and a human resources department at your work place.  There are bound to be documents to should only be accessible to the accounting team, but not the legal team and vice versa.  In FileitSuite, this is made easy by the built in role management.

 A user can be set to belong to more than one group.  To make setup easier, FileitSuite comes with a few roles predefined. 

1. Administator - a user with this role has access to all menu items and actions in FileitSuite
2. Processor - a user with this role can view and process documents(add metadata, etc)
3. Advanced - a user with this role can view and upload documents, but is not able to process the documents.
4. User - this is the most basic role.  In this role, the user can only view the documents. 

One of the things we love to do here at Matrixwebs is to make the Suites easier to use.   Case in point - Distribusuite's Order Entry system. 

When we first built the program, it was done using the staid old way - web forms.  The page reloaded when new items were added into order and so on.  This worked fine, but we realized that when someone was entering more than 5 items, the reloading was just going to take up too much of their precious time.

So, we then introduced Ajax into Order Entry.  For those of you who don't know what Ajax is, it's simply a way to send request back and forth from the client end (your frontend program) to the backend (where your data is processed, saved, etc) and vice versa.  This removed the reloading of the pages in between adding items and made the process a lot faster.

Then, we sat back and breathed a sigh of relief. Not for too long though.  As curious individuals, we then started getting live feedback from users.  They liked what they saw and tried, but they wanted more.  This started the wheels to turn in our heads and we decided to make it even better. 

Be prepared to welcome the third iteration of Order Entry.  This one is much, much faster, provides more user feedback on each action and well, just more forgiving.  We're not in the last stages of finishing this iteration, it will soon be in your grasp anytime soon!

One of the best parts of LegalSuite is how it takes out the complexity of a task and makes it easier the the end user.  For example, there is an Area Maintenance program that automatically assigns a work order to an employee or an affiliate in an area where the work order is created for.

How does this work?  Well, first, create an area using the program.  Then, for the area created, assign it the state, county, and zip codes. Next, assign employees to the area. And that's all there is to it.  Now, whenever a new order is created, it gets assigned to the person in charge.

In all businesses, it's always good to keep track of the daily operations of the business, such as the total orders received in a day, total sales for that particular month, how much sales has been generated up to that day for that year and so on.

DistribuSuite takes all that into consideration and puts those information into an information panel that is always available when you launch the program.

On top of that, DistribuSuite also comes with a unique feature that will help you or your co-workers with remembering specific tasks.  Simply add a note into our Global Notes program and that note will be displayed until it expires.

Ever send a few emails  to a co-worker about a task and wonder why he didn't respond?  Then you walk over to his desk and you find out that he is out sick.  Times like this, you wish you knew about it earlier so that you could get someone else to help you with  the task.

Besides building AttendanceSuite for the employer to keep track of his employees, we also built AttendanceSuite for the employees.  For example, as soon as the employee logs in, he is greeted by a calendar that list who's out, whose birthday it is on so on. 

This way, employees are always aware of the office status and don't waste time doing needless tasks.

The legal business is a complicated system.  Each different legal operation range from filing a motion, serving a motion and so forth.  The process does not stop there - research has to be conducted, document copies requested and every single task logged so that each minute can be billed for maximum profitablity.

LegalSuite is built to support that and more.  In LegalSuite, all new orders placed in the system is given a status.  All these new orders are easily accessible via the main menu so that they never get lost in the system and is always followed through.  Every time there is an update in the order, the status can easily be updated until the order is closed.

If you look at the screenshot, each order information includes information such as the customer, case name, branch and date the last update was assigned.These information helps the user make quick decisions about which order he would like to update.  On top of that, the user can also search for specific keyword.

I have more conscious lately of my carbon footprint.  I start feeling guilty if use a styrofoam cup and print extra documents.  Gone are the days where I use to print out reams and reams of documents from the web for perusal later.

When we at Matrixwebs started working on FileItSuite, we initially had one goal - search and retrieval.  We had customers who had a paper based filing system but were finding it increasingly hard to find relevant documents.  So we started small.

First, we added the capability for documents to be uploaded. Then, for each document, the user could add metadata that will make it searchable and linkable to other documents.

They loved it!

Then, they came back saying they wish they could port some old paper documents to this new system.  Uploading it one by one was OK, but was there a faster way?  Our brilliant programmers then came up with a novel idea of allowing scanned documents to appear in the system.  So, all the user had to do was to set some basic configuration on the scanner (one time thing), then load up the scanner with a bunch of documents and hit "Start".

FileItSuite has grown by leaps and bounds from the first time we started on it.  Stay tuned for other amazing features.

Variety is the spice of life.  But most contact management software expect you to conform to certain rigid rules.  For example, you cannot add more than one instant messenger connection to your contact manager because it's built just so.  Forget about adding multiple phone numbers.

Here at SalesdeskSuite, we realize that life is much more free form.  We realize some people just can be reached at more than 3 different phone numbers.  We realize someone might be on GTalk, AOL, ICQ, MSN Messenger and more.  So, what did we do to support this limitless lifestyle?

First, we gave the users the ability to add multiple phone numbers (I would have to say sky's the limit).  For each of these phone numbers, the user can add their own personalized labels so it makes much more sense to them.  Then we added the same idea for instant messengers.  Loving it?

We also brought this idea to the next level.  We added customizable fields in SalesdeskSuite where users can create custom fields for their contact entries.  Say, you would like to keep track of the date a contact would have to be followed up for a renewal and this changes from contact to contact.  Simply edit the label of one of the custom fields and add the data. How much more easier can it be?

One of the best things I love about AttendanceSuite is its flexibility.  Say an employee need to take just a half day off her personal day - all the manager has to do it to go in to the employee tab, set the amount of hours the employee will be gone and that's it.  AttendanceSuite keeps track of all the hours the employee has left. To add on to that, the manager can also print various reports about the employee's attendance record.

The same idea applies to sick hours, vacations hours and so forth.  With so much flexibility, especially now when employees are all working odd hours (some try to catch up on work after their kids go to bed), this greater flexibility allows everyone to be more productive and the employers happy.