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Your
decision as to which service management software product is
going to work best for you is an important one. We certainly
hope it will be Eclipse, however we want you to be
completely informed as to things to keep in mind in this process.
Take a look at the information below and ask these important
questions when shopping for service management software.
IMPORTANT
If
you are going to invest your time & money in a
computer system that is CRITICAL
to the operation of your business, and you'll use
everyday, think seriously about the product AND MOST
IMPORTANTLY the SOFTWARE COMPANY
that you are dealing with. Does the company offer
TRUE pre-sales and after-sales support?
Can
you call them with questions?
Can you call them if you have a problem? Are they
able to service the timezones that you operate in,
during YOUR business hours? Do they
understand your culture and your business style? Are
you really comfortable investing your data into a
system that you might find impossible to get it out
of later, with a company that you have ANY
suspicion will be a problem to deal with?
Think
of the true cost of having all of your jobs, customer
info, asset management info, etc. in a system that
is down, that you can't access. What's the value in
having a WELL SUPPORTED system to
you if you have problems? That's the true
cost of a system.
Many
software vendors attempt to offer a cheap, 'shareware
style' solution for service management. Or they are
located in remote countries with little or no local
support to you. Getting quick answers to questions
can often be a matter of days before you get your
system needs addressed. Can you truly afford to be
unable to use your software in these situations? Customers
often forget the true overall cost of such software
in their business. Make sure you are considering ALL
the costs. What does it really cost you if your techs
don't know where their next job is? What is the true
cost of not being able to raise an invoice to your
customer to get paid? Or providing service to clients
who you think have a service agreement, but in fact
don't. Makes the cost of the computer software look
pretty small in comparison.
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We pride ourselves not only by having a solid, 21st century
service management solution for your business, but also on
the level of support we can offer our clients. Whether that
be before the sale, or after. If you want to get any information
on Eclipse, you can call us at 480-451-7440.
We offer sales information from 8:30AM to 6:00PM, Monday to
Friday, Arizona Time. We also offer support from 9AM to 9PM
EST. Try us if you have any reservations. Then try other product
companies and see just how you go there too. Its your business.
Make sure you do more than just comparing a product brochure
or feature set of products. You are going to be using the
software everyday, so make sure you are comfortable with the
facilities that surround its use.
Some
Background Info on Eclipse:
Eclipse is a service software
product that is solely owned and written by
Tech Solutions Inc. Tech Solutions is a US
Corporation, that has been around since the
early 1980s, registered as a corporation in 1995,
and Eclipse was first released in 1997. Its written
by people who understand the service business because
THEY HAVE WORKED IN IT. This is not
a shareware application. Eclipse is a serious effort
to offer both technology and a business philosophy
to address the critical success factors of the service
industry.
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Tech
Solutions Inc. is based in Scottsdale,
Arizona, USA. We support all US and Canadian
Timezones and service other regions through a network
of resellers. |
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Now having said that, let's look at the product comparison
at a feature by feature level:
| Ask
these questions... |
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Eclipse |
Other |
| Is
the system designed specifically for service businesses?
Can you guarantee that the software isn't simply
a 'tacked on' afterthought to an accounting system
or other product? |
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| Was
the system designed around true business philosophies
that makes a service business more successful and
profitable? Does it really understand what a day
in the life of a technician is all about and leverage
off what makes a technician, and therefore your
service business, more successful? |
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| If
the software appears to be 'very cheap', can you
guarantee that there are no hidden costs down the
line when you need to expand the system, or that
you won't reach a limit where you simply can't expand
it at all? Can you guarantee that you won't be charged
for expensive support, or find that it takes support
personnel days or weeks to get back to you with
answers to questions, or issues? |
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| Can
you 'test drive' the system for FREE for 30 days
before deciding to purchase it? |
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| Does
the system fully embrace the things that are important
to a hi-tech service organization, like service
agreements, preventative maintenance, powerful asset
management? |
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| Is
the service management software system built on
a solid and powerful 'client/server' framework,
allowing you to grow your system to up to 100 concurrent
users, without having to incur additional costs
of IT support, or database management software licenses,
such as MS SQL Server? Does it include inbuilt data
backup facilities, data mirroring, or transaction
logging to protect your mission critical data? |
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| Can
you be sure that you can secure the use of your
system? Can you guarantee that your technicians
can't, for example, view the payroll of their peers,
or the profit & loss statements of your organization
in an accounting system by using the service software? |
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| Can
the system be customized if you need it to be? |
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| Does
the software come with any options to purchase annual
support, or will you be hit down the road for expensive
upgrade fees? |
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| Is
the system price based on the number of concurrent
users that you will have, or do you have to buy
more system than you really need up front? Are you
getting a system that won't penalize you based on
the number of technicians you have? |
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| Is
the system built on-top of a powerful relational
database management system, or is it simply just
a 'peer to peer' network system that exposes your
data to unnecessary risk? |
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| Do
you have the ability to utilize PDA devices for
your field technicians if you wanted to? |
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| Can
you truly host your own data to the Internet if
you need to, or do you have to put your data into
a 3rd party's hands (Application Service Provider)
and have them host it? |
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| Is
your Internet solution protected from security vulnerabilities
and not tied to 'targeted' web servers such as Microsoft's
IIS? |
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| Are
you purchasing a program that won't charge you a
yearly license fee, year after year? |
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| Does
the system minimize the amount of administration
time that your techs will spend with it, and get
them back onto billable jobs, or is it so complicated
that you are going to lose time and money with your
techs fumbling with it? |
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| Does
the system have hundreds and hundreds of users worldwide? |
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| Does
the system allow you to change accounting software
products that it works with if you outgrow the accounting
software down the track? |
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| Was
the system designed by a professional software company,
or is it simply a 'home grown' system that came
from another service company, with minimal professional
software development experience? |
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| Is
your multi-user system capable of integrating with
ODBC compliant 3rd party software, such as Crystal
Reports, MS Excel, Brio Query, etc.? Does it come
with its own built in custom report generator? |
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| Does
your multi-user system allow you to export your
data out to text files if you need to, or is the
data locked into a proprietary system that you can
never get access to it other than through the software? |
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| Does
the software support Time based service agreements
allow the pre-sale of blocks of time up front to
a customer? |
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| Does
the software support multiple technicians allocated
to the same job? |
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| Does
the software integrate Purchasing and Inventory
capabilities that allow you to manage this important
asset? |
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| Can
you incrementally bill one job, but keep it open
after its been billed? |
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| Can
you create a service call in under 45 seconds with
the software, while a client is on the phone with
you? |
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| Can
you do multiple tasks at the same time with the
service management software, allowing you to maximize
your productivity during the day? |
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| Can
you contact reference sites to see how others have
benefited from the software in their service organizations? |
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| Does
your system minimize the need for IT support staff
to run it? |
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| Does
the system really understand and support knowledge
and its retention in your service business? |
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| Can
you allow your field technicians to search your
database for knowledge articles, or update it from
the field via the web, including uploading of file
attachments (i.e.. pictures, video, etc.)? |
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| Can
you offer your customers the ability to create a
service request over the web? |
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| Can
you customize the look & feel of the web pages
of your service system and make it look like a part
of your existing web site? |
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These
are all critical questions that need to be asked. Often they
are avoided or forgotten and if you purchase the wrong system,
it can be too late. Your data may be next to impossible to
move to another system, and the investment in not only the
wrong software but your time of setting it up is down the
drain. Don't make mistakes. Make sure you ask these critical
questions before you purchase.
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