NAME: Tour de Force - Customer Relationship Management Software
SUMMARY: Tour de Force™ is the complete Outlook® based CRM software system designed for small to medium-sized enterprises. Tour de Force™ helps companies manage all of their CRM and sales force automation needs, completely within the familiar Microsoft Outlook interface.
OVERVIEW: Tour de Force version 2.0 is a third generation product built on a robust architecture that makes Tour de Force more flexible than ever. Tour de Force can be easily customized to harmonize with your existing business model and sales strategy. Tour de Force is a truly collaborative environment that can be accessed online or offline, ensuring availability of your information. Pertinent emails to customers are tracked and captured, then logged into the appropriate account, for access by all assigned users. All accounts, contacts, and opportunities are fully inter-related, offering easy access to your data from multiple locations and interfaces. With virtually unlimited user defined fields, Tour de Force is software that you can fine-tune to fit the terminology, methods, and sales processes of your company.
Tour de Force's architecture is extensible, allowing easy additions known as modules to be added depending on your needs. Examples of add on modules include:
• The Business System Integration (BSI) module of Tour de Force provides access to key financial indicators regarding a customer Account. This information is accessed through an additional tab found in the current Account form. The information is also available through Tour de Force's Advanced Export Module, for the purposes of creating reports relating Account profiling information with actual sales data.
• The Advanced Export Module allows for much greater analysis of data within Tour de Force, including the ability to export and filter all standard and user-defined fields, relational exports of any two item types within Tour de Force, and out of the box support of any custom fields that are added to a Tour de Force item.
• The Tour de Force Manager’s Console is an add-on module intended for sales managers. User the Manager's Console to quickly analyze sales performance, set-up predefined views of key financial data, and more.
DISTINGUISING FEATURES: • Work completely within Microsoft Outlook without jumping between applications
• Emails tracked and logged to appropriate accounts
• Synchronize CRM data with PDAs and wireless devices
• Work offline with your laptop and synchronize your data when you connect back into the office
• Customize screens and create user defined fields to better profile your Accounts, Contacts and Opportunities
• Easily manage open tasks (personal or assigned) in a shared environment
• Store data in the Exchange Public Information Store, and apply permissions for who can view and edit information
• Interface with your enterprise software
• 100% offline functionality
• Consistent synchronization process that works
• Synchronization process that auto-resolves conflicts by established rules
• User option: complete or minimal synchronization
• Web interface to complete system from Internet connection through use of Citrix® or Terminal Services
NAME: Computer Network Evaluation, Design, and Deployment
SUMMARY: Improve your ability to access information in the office and on the road. Quickly and easily share files as well as printers and other devices. Enhance the security and reliability of your data, all with the help of Apollo Solutions.
OVERVIEW: Many businesses can benefit by having a server in their network, or just by having a true network in place, but they often wonder about the costs and advantages. Apollo Solutions can quickly and easily provide you with the answers you need to make a decision that is right for you. We feel that with the advent of new hard drive technology for servers, and the aggressive pricing of Microsoft’s Small Business Server software package, a server begins to make sense for businesses with even a very few employees. If your business has two or more computers, you can achieve a time and cost savings, while increasing the efficiency and productivity of your employees, by using a client/server network and the right software.
In this type of network environment (client/server), your business can achieve significant time and cost savings over a peer-to-peer network (connecting multiple individual computers together) because you can:
• Share equipment (fax machines, printers) and resources (Internet access) to reduce costs.
• Share contact and schedule information between all employees, or just those desired.
• Centrally back up your company information to help prevent data loss and to save time.
• Enhance security by controlling employee access to sensitive data (financial records, personnel information).
• Provide a central access point for information instead of housing it all on individual computers.
You can also:
• Find, store, and share company information in one central, secure location to save time.
• Provide access to information remotely, so those out of the office can have the same resources available as those in the office.
• Improve the security of your network by allowing you to determine the individuals and devices that have access to your information and systems.
If you have ever missed a sale because you couldn’t locate the correct customer information quickly, or because you were away from the office and didn’t have access to your information, then you can begin to see the need for a more centrally-based network strategy. Do you find that sometimes key information is stored on one employee’s PC, and sometimes hard to retrieve when you need it? With a client/server network, your customers’ information is always at your fingertips because you can store, share, and update information in one central place that’s accessible by several people simultaneously. The next time one of your employees is on vacation or out ill, and someone else needs to locate one of this person’s documents, you can go to one source to find what you need.
When you are away from the office, you can access important business information such as e-mail, contacts, customer records, company files, and documents on your network, so you will always have the resources you need to respond to sales leads, contact customers, and keep your business moving forward.
One of the best ways to keep your business running efficiently is to make sure everyone in your company has the necessary tools for communication. Proper network design and deployment by Apollo Solutions helps build teamwork through centralization and sharing of files, managing and organizing e-mail messages, schedules, contacts, and other personal and team information. It also provides remote access to business information and resources from any computer with Internet access, so you can access your e-mail, contacts, internal company Web site, files on your network, and more when you are away from the office.
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: • Document sharing
• File storage
• Automated backup of critical information
• Company-wide anti-virus and SPAM protection
• Printer sharing and management
• Internet access, including ISP and/or router choices
• Email management, including appointments and contacts, both private and shared
• Database management
• Firewall protection
• Remote access of information while away from the office
NAME: Hardware Needs Evaluation and Procurement
SUMMARY: Computer hardware, such as desktop servers, routers, firewalls and other components have evolved from business conveniences to daily necessities for smooth business operation. Let Apollo Solutions use our experience to help you make the correct hardware purchases to suit your business needs.
OVERVIEW: While some business owners have chosen to take on the task of buying needed computer hardware themselves, and have done so “on line”, from sources such as Dell, there is yet another subset of the business community that prefers not to be burdened with researching all the possible brands and ratings of hardware, but rather to rely on local technology expertise to recommend the appropriate products to buy, based on an understanding of the owner’s business needs, budget, and long term goals.
Apollo Solutions will provide such services, in many cases based on long term relationships of IT support with business owners. Products needed to maintain business functions, or enhance office productivity, are usually discussed with decision makers beforehand, then researched, specified, and quoted. Apollo Solutions maintains strong relationships with a few reliable PC hardware suppliers, and can specify PC workstations, servers, and notebooks to specific owners’ needs, and deliver items usually within 3 days of placing an order. Products typically have options of 1, 2, or 3 year warranties, either depot or on-site. Choices of the most appropriate software operating system to be pre-installed on the hardware are also necessary to consider.
Purchasing a server usually requires decisions such as the type of hard drive to use (SCSI or SATA), and whether redundancy of hardware is important or not. If so, RAID should be considered, and the type of RAID to deploy must be decided upon, with the most popular types being Type 1 and Type 5. Spending more money on certain components of a PC workstation can prove worthwhile, by bringing a measurable performance boost, while upgrading other components will sometimes show indistinguishable benefits to the average user. Apollo Solutions tries to keep these facts in mind when quoting hardware to business owners. Finally, Apollo Solutions can install and network all hardware provided
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: • Company requirements researched and hardware configurations specified with customer needs of cost and performance considered
• Computer hardware sold and installed by your IT support provider
• Specified products include: PC workstations, servers, notebooks, routers, firewalls, switches, network attached storage devices, wireless networking components, printers, battery backups, and various other network connectivity devices as needed for specific interface needs
• No need to use multiple vendors for computer hardware, software, and/or network installation and support
NAME: In-House Corporate Email System Implementation
SUMMARY: Microsoft Exchange Server, the messaging and collaboration application, is software that runs on a company’s network and enables employees to send/receive electronic mail and share calendars and contacts. Let our implementation experience ease your transition to this valuable application.
OVERVIEW: Corporate email brings with it the benefits of communication, collaboration, and corporate identity. Our preferred solution, Exchange Server, is designed to best operate with a client PC software application such as Microsoft’s Outlook, however, it also interoperates with Outlook Express and other e-mail client applications. E-mail messages are sent and received through client devices such as a personal computer, workstation, or a mobile device, including mobile phones or Pocket PCs (PDAs). Properly deployed, a user’s email is also accessible remotely, from any Internet browser, anywhere in the world.
Once deployed, Exchange Server offers your company integrated collaborative messaging features such as scheduling, contact, and task management. In coordination with your ISP, you can have mail sent directly to your in-house server (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, or SMTP), or use other methods such as Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3) and Internet Message Access Protocol 4 (IMAP4). Apollo Solutions can help you determine which is best for your organization. Microsoft Outlook Web Access, a service in Exchange Server, accommodates what are known as thin clients (Web browser–based access clients)to access mail. Exchange Server 2003, the newest version available, supports mobile devices such as Pocket PC and Smartphones and enables you to synchronize your Inbox, Calendar, and Contacts and Tasks lists so you can remotely check your appointments and other important information. Mobile device browsers are also supported through Exchange's Outlook Mobile Access, which enables HTML, compressed HTML (CHTML), and Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) browser–based devices to access Exchange Server. Exchange 2003 also has a SPAM filter available, to help users manage the seemingly endless onslaught of unsolicited mail. If you are using an older version of Exchange, Apollo Solutions can also handle the upgrade to allow you to take advantage of the latest features.
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: • With proper domain name registration and coordination with your Internet Service Provider (ISP), corporate email is delivered and managed “in-house”, for any number of users and aliases.
• Microsoft’s Exchange server is the application of choice used to provide email control, and extensive collaboration between employees.
• Functions such as sharing of calendar appointments and contact information amongst specified company employees is easily achieved
• Apollo Solutions has provided email support for every one of its clients, and has worked with the last 3 generations of Microsoft’s Exchange Server application
• The newest version of Exchange can also handle sensing and elimination of SPAM
NAME: Part-time IT Support and Consulting for Small and Medium Sized Businesses
SUMMARY: Purchasing a support contract from Apollo Solutions affords smaller firms the opportunity to deploy and maintain the same tools that larger firms do, only without the full time employee commitment. Monthly support contracts allow the business owner to better plan IT expenses during the year.
OVERVIEW: Small and medium sized businesses usually have the same IT needs as larger firms – but not the same staff. Large firms typically have full-time computer support staff that take care of reoccurring problems such as viruses, email delivery, and Internet access, and also more strategic issues such as planning for future technology needs designed to help create and serve business growth. Smaller firms typically rely on the skills of the most computer literate employee to accomplish some of these same functions, even if that person has other tasks to perform for which they were hired.
Today’s business world almost certainly demands the use of technology such as email and Internet access. Customers and vendors alike are more frequently requiring electronic input of data, over paper forms. All businesses need to continue to advance their set of available tools to keep up. For example, fast Internet access has become extremely affordable, but sometimes companies are confused by all the options and don’t feel well equipped to make the needed decisions on how to move forward with the technology, and how to maintain any choices made once they are deployed. What is a LAN, what can it do for me, and how can I keep it up and running, once installed? Is a server necessary for my company? These are some of the reasons a monthly support contract for IT services might make sense for your company.
With Apollo Solutions, there will always be a main point of contact for any work covered under any maintenance agreement (support contract). Work performed is always agreed upon by the consultant and the business owner. The contract will have an agreed upon amount of hours spent per month and at the end of each month, a detailed record of work performed is delivered. If consulting hours ever need to exceed that which has been allocated per month, additional hours would first be agreed upon and authorized by the business owner.
Should problems arise with any of the technology in use at the customer’s site, Apollo Solutions can provide you with the support to help diagnose errors and determine the most appropriate method of correcting the situation. Regardless of whether the hardware or software in use has been sold by Apollo Solutions, we can act as your representative to the original manufacturer or creator of all products purchased, should you desire, to aid in typical problem resolution.
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: • Predictable amounts of time (dollars) spent per month on IT support
• Act as your IT department when you do not have one in-house
• Visits can include work on implementing any product or procedure, typically to improve productivity or provide better company information flow
• Work also includes upkeep of: existing email systems, Internet access, anti-virus protection systems, SPAM elimination controls, contact management systems, networked (shared) printers, remote access systems, file backups
• Maintenance of database applications typically used for accounting (AP, AR, Purchasing, Inventory Control, etc.) and/or customer relationship applications
•Creation of reports from database applications to provide desired operations information to management