Questions:

1. Why do I need a CRM for my business? Is Business Commander a CRM?

.
A Customer Relationship Management database is critical for all competitive businesses. Having a single central area where all customer information is managed and reviewed by organization staff is critical. Business Commander is CRM functionality, plus a number of other items which would not be considered CRM related. The customer works with us to determine which modules they need. The unneeded modules are removed from screen.

2. I want to use FileMaker 8, but I don't want an old recycled FMP 6 database that was converted.

.
Business Commander was engineered from scratch in FileMaker 8 and was not recycled from the old Business Commander 6. As a result, the BC8 uses a single file and takes advantage of all the benefits of FileMaker Pro 8. Having previously created BC6, our development team knew where all the pitfalls and shortcoming were with the old version. So we were able to create a new highly optimized system.

3. What are the typical costs with BC8

.
A small deployment of BC8 is approximately $5,000. However most businesses choose to pay $10,000 to $15,000 to have the system fine tuned for their business needs. Of course these are gross estimates based on previous customer activities.

4. I would like an exact quote for my specialized copy of BC8.

.
No problem. We need to meet in person, or by phone to discuss your needs and to provide a fixed cost quote.

5. Do I need FileMaker Server for BC8?

.
This is highly recommended for "mission critical" databases. Customers may use the "peer to peer" functionality of FileMaker Pro (client); however, this does not protect the database as does FileMaker Server software. Additionally, the server also provides automatic backups.

6. I would like my sales team to have BC8, but they are on remote laptops and do not always have a internet connection. What can we do?

.
There is one important question to ask. Does your remote user need to have access to the database when they are NOT connected to the internet? If not, then your database server needs to be setup with a static IP address, and you will need to make sure that your office Firewall lets FileMaker traffic pass through. If you need to have the remote staff access the database when they are NOT connected to the internet, then RCC offers the ability to Synchronize remote copies of BC8 using the SyncDek technology. This is third party software that works to keep everyone's copy of BC8 synchronized with each other. This is very cool technology, but adds cost to the deployment.

7. Will BC8 work with future versions of FileMaker

.
Yes

8. Do you sell FileMaker software?

.
No. Please called 800-725-2747 to buy FileMaker software direct from the company (10 or more copies). If you just need one or two copies feel free to buy the software from Fry's Electronics or some other software dealer.

9. I have a couple of Mac users, but most of the people in the office use Windows XP, is that OK?

.
Mac and Windows users can share the database at the same time with no problem. Very cool!

10. What operating systems can we use to run BC8

.
Check our technical requirements here

11. Can I sell products on the internet from BC8

.
Actually, Yes. However, you should discuss your needs with us to determine the best course to proceed. There are a number of options available.

12. What are the different kinds of Email I can send from BC8?

.
You can send Plain Text email, HTML emails, or a rather helpful type of email, which takes a snapshot of the FileMaker Layout, and emails that to a email address.
 

13. What are the different modules of Business Commander?

.


As of Summer 2006:

Contacts
Accounts
Estimates ( a.k.a. quotes)
Sales Orders ( a.k.a. work orders)
Invoices (with or Without Credit Card Processing)
Projects
Subtasks (Milestone or Deliverables)
TimeSheets
Meets & Meeting Discussions (which connect to projects & Action items)
Change Orders
Actions Items ( a.k.a. To-Do List, these connect to people or projects)
Expenses (these can be standalone or connected to a staff or project)
Staff (these are your employees and contractors)
Products (includes ability to manage Bill of Materials or BOMs)
Retainers
Payment Notifications (notices to your contract staff to execute work)
Purchase Orders Issued
Purchase Orders Received
Opportunities ( a.k.a. Pipeline)
Calendar (multiple user basic calendar)
Checks Issues (These are specific payments. Some customers use this, or transfer info into Quickbooks or other ERP system)

14. I would like to read the instruction manual for Business Commander before I buy it.

.
Every customer that uses BC has substantial modifications made to the database during the customization phase, making any manuals instantly outdated and inaccurate. RCC can create a manual for you AFTER the customization process is completed. Just ask us to include it in our quote. There are two types of manuals/documentation. End User Documentation tells users how to use the software. Technical documentation is useful for explaining to your FileMaker Support staff how the database was constructed, and how the internal "guts" of the system are organized.

15. How hard is it for the average user to work in Business Commander?

.
The average "Power User" will not have much difficulty learning FileMaker and making modest changes to Business Commander. BC was designed to allow "associate level" i.e. junior FileMaker Developers the ability to understand and make changes. Sometimes senior level programmers like to make things complicated. RCC has enforced a strict development policy where complicated programming and techniques are not allowed in Business Commander.   Once a customer receives their own version of Business Commander, the customer's own set of requirements may dictate more complex programming. However, those sorts of things are never contained in Business Commander from the outset.

16. I don't want to be locked into a proprietary system.

.
You're not!   Business Commander is owned by RCC and is licensed to customers for unlimited use. Each customer has in their possession the "master password" to allow total programming access to Business Commander.   The customer may elect to hiring another FileMaker consultant to work on BC down the road, or hiring a full time employee/developer to support their business. This is not a problem since BC is designed to be simple to understand and the customer has possession of the master password.
 
 








 
 
© copyright 2007 Business Commander All Rights Reserved