What is AlphaCRM?
AlphaCRM is a proven CRM platform for building your custom business system to help you do business in your unique way.
What are some typical applications?
AlphaCRM can of course be used as a classic CRM solution, but as it is highly configurable for your needs it can be
used for much more:
- Client portal applications where clients use the system for self-service
- Member portal applications where charity or organisation members use the system for self-service
- Patient portal applications where health practice patients can use the system to book or review appointments or notes (subject to regulatory constraints)
- eCommerce solutions with complex client accounts and products
- Data management applications for internal staff and clients
- Content-managed web sites with complex data requirements
Throughout this site we talk about AlphaCRM, the same features and processes apply to our tailored editions:
AlphaMMS - Member Management System
AlphaHMS - HR Management System
AlphaSMS - Student Management System
AlphaPRS - Patient record system
AlphaIMS - Incident Management System
Please contact us for more information on these editions.
What can AlphaCRM do for me?
AlphaCRM is designed for the development of bespoke systems, and is engineered by a software development company which specialises in bespoke, custom software, Therefore AlphaCRM can do for you whatever you need it to do.
Why do we call it a platform?
Many business systems are either built on dedicated bespoke code which has to be uniquely extended for every new feature you need or they are built using complex off-the-shelf systems which are expensive to license and then still require expensive and extensive customisation to modify the built-in features to work the way your business does.
AlphaCRM, on the other hand is a platform onto which just your business entities and processes are built thus providing the best combination of trusted core code (like an off-the-shelf system) yet with a compact and efficient implementation (like a bespoke system).
See Features of AlphaCRM? for more information.
AlphaCRM is supported and sold for AlphaCRM Ltd by Alpha Systems Consultants Ltd, a UK-based software development company. For more information about the company and it's other products and services, please visit www.alpha-sys-consult.co.uk. It is also available via selected reseller partners - contact us for more information.
Features of AlphaCRM
AlphaCRM is a platform designed to be the core of your business system. We call it a CRM but in fact it can be used for a range of system types - see Typical AlphaCRM systems for ideas.
AlphaCRM can implement whatever business objects (entities) your business processes need - examples might be; staff, clients, orders, jobs, projects, sales, contacts, suppliers, courses, leads, ... and any other we've not thought of. These entities will contain the data you need for your business - and because we implement it with you there's no need to remove the fields we though of before you can add your own - we implement what you need and only what you need.
Your business is not just based on data, it's also based on work flows and data flows. So, when we work together to implement a business solution we implement the flows you need. Whether they be simple like sending an email or SMS to a specific team member or complex like creating multiple entities and tasks then assigning them to various clients and suppliers, we will implement what you need so that your unique business process is implemented in your way - not the way we tell you to do it.
AlphaCRM is designed for both end-user and OEM businesses - that is, we might implement it for you to use in your business, or we might implement it for your client to use in their business, using your branding and your company name rather than ours.
AlphaCRM can not only be branded to suit your requirements, but it can also be embedded within another system in order to seemingly provide additional functionality without significant rework to that 'host' system.
Unlike some other popular CRM solutions, AlphaCRM is compatible with all popular browsers - both desktop and mobile - so if your users are predominantly mobile, your system automatically adjusts to the kind of browser and device the user has.
For a full list of typical features your AlphaCRM implementation might have, please see below.
See also How to get AlphaCRM for more information.
AlphaCRM's detailed features
AlphaCRM systems are always built to your specification and to implement your business processes and data. This page lists some core features which can be easily implemented into your system. The list is not definitive, and we will always build your system how you want it
Server support
- Apache on Windows or Linux
- IIS on Windows
- MySQL
- PHP
Data types
- Standard text and numerical data types (text, integer, float, bool, date, time, etc.)
- Notes for records
- Uploaded documents and images
- Array fields
- Dictionary fields
- Matrix fields
- PDF documents and web pages generated on the system using data in the system
- Excel .xlsx documents generated on the system using data in the system
- Tasks assigned to users
- HTML pages
- RSS feeds
- Built-in CMS with layout themes for public pages of customer portal applications
- Built-in blog system for public consumption in customer portal applications
- Built-in forms engine with optional captcha for data capture from public pages of customer portal applications
Logon control
- User name and password
- Cookie-based remembered logon
- User access optionally restricted by IP address
Workflow
- Server-side events such as OnEdit, OnSave, etc.
- Client-side events such as OnLoad, OnPageLoad, etc.
- Scheduled tasks via OS cron or Windows Scheduler
- On-demand support by external applications and libraries
- State-machine style workflow progress based on entity state and transition
- Generation of PDF document from template for download or storage
- Generation of DOCX document from a stored template for storage then download
- Generation of XLSX spreadsheet document from live data for download or storage
- Generation of web page from template for immediate viewing
- Standard rich record editing in tabbed editor form
- Quick edit in popup quick view of a record
- In-place editing in a results grid
Data management
- Standard CRUD data operations
- User selected columns and view order
- Data lists
- Export as CSV
- Export as XML
- Export as JSON
- Printable views
- Saved views
- Standard administrator-defined report designer
- Advanced administrator-defined reports
- Hard-coded reports specified at build-time
- Bar charts
- Pie charts
- Radar charts
- Field-level and record-level access restriction by user role
- Full class-level and record-level API for interaction with offline and other systems
Dashboard features
- Custom style of home-page per user role
- Reports in home page dashboard
- Bar charts and pie charts in home page dashboard
Communications
- Managed email templates and SMTP server connections
- Managed SMS templates and text service connections
- Use of APIs such as mapping services, postcode lookup services, commercial information lookup, etc.
- Built-in browser-based VOIP phone calls
- Built-in browser-based instant messaging between users
- Interfaces into AlphaCRM via HTTP protocols to suit the needs of other web and desktop systems
White-label support
- Custom header and footer or standard header and footer
- Can be embedded into a third-party system
- Can be branded for you or a client
System design features
- Built-in text-based entity configuration tool
- Import of entities from StarUML visual modeling tool.
Don't forget, this is just an overview of core features, please contact us if you don't see here something your system might need.
Benefits to your business
If you're looking for a new CRM or business system you've probably looked at various options - (a) off-the-shelf hosted systems, (b) off-the-shelf on-premise solutions or (c) classic bespoke systems.
You've probably discovered that each of these options has pros and cons, and none is just right for you - that's where AlphaCRM meets your needs.
AlphaCRM compared to off-the-shelf hosted systems
OTS hosted systems tend to be sold per-user per month and therefore as your business grows so do your costs. AlphaCRM is implemented as a custom solution at a fixed price for your requirements and so once you have the system for your needs you can add users with no increase in costs. If you plan to have a client portal then whilst OTS suppliers usually want to charge you per-client for portal services, these are included in the development price with AlphaCRM so your business is not penalised for growing.
OTS systems are designed to meet everybody's needs in one solution and so are often slow and complex but still require tailoring to meet your actual needs. That's if they can meet your needs if your processes are special or complex. AlphaCRM on the other hand only includes the entities and processes you need for your business, so is compact and efficient and is built for you so meets your needs from day one.
AlphaCRM compared to off-the-shelf on-premise systems
OTS on-premise systems are usually PC/Windows server-based solutions that require dedicated infrastructure within your organisation. Although this is fine for your team, you would then need an additional solution or additional infrastructure if you wanted to also provide a client portal into your in-house system. AlphaCRM on the other hand can be installed on low-cost, common shared or dedicated hosting and can therefore provide your in-house system and a client portal in one implementation.
AlphaCRM compared to classic bespoke systems
Classic bespoke systems are generally very efficient and well coded, but deliver only the exact features you need at the outset. As your business grows or your processes change the system will need modification - perhaps minor but perhaps major. Additionally, every change requires specific testing and implementation as it would be brand-new code. Using AlphaCRM on the other hand means that your system is based on an efficient, proven core that can be enhanced by our development team to meet your needs, and since the core itself has it's own rolling programme of enhancements, a future revision may even include your new requirements built-in but is already backwardly compatible with your current system.
We don't want to pull the wool over your eyes - you can see that the pros and cons of each option are complex and sometimes contradictory. That's because complex business processes need complex business systems and there is no perfect answer. AlphaCRM is designed to address most of the cons of typical solutions but our implementation approach is designed to remove the risk from your decision. See Implementing AlphaCRM for more information.
How to get AlphaCRM
From Benefits of AlphaCRM you will have seen that deciding on a route to a new business system is not simple. That's why our implementation process is designed to get you the right thing first time.
Initial discussions
First we talk or meet to discuss your current system and processes and also your latest needs. We bear in mind that your needs will change over time, so we talk about your business ambitions and goals and your growth plans.
Initial decisions
From the initial discussions, we'll both have an idea whether AlphaCRM is right for you. If it's not, we may be able to help you identify the best solution or some other recommendations. If AlphCRM is your best option (and we hope it will be), we can move on to the next step.
Business analysis and review
You wouldn't buy a car just from a picture and a spec. sheet - you'd review whether the seats are comfy and the instruments are easy to read. So with a business system, you'd check out the detail to make sure it will be a proper fit. We arrange to meet with you for a period of time - maybe half a day, maybe several days - to discuss your exact processes and data. From this we can understand the entities and relationships to be defined within your system plus the security considerations, workflows and special features you might need. Because the BA described here is of value even if you don't go ahead with an AlphaCRM implementation, we will charge a daily rate for this.
Quotation
From the BA as described above, we can provide you with a fixed price to include building your system and either hosting it for you, or deploying it to your choice of hosting. The quotation will identify fixed prices and any optional daily-rate items such as data migration. The quotation will also identify the payment schedule and commercial terms.
Build
Once we've agreed the requirements, price and timeframe, we build your system with the agreed features and deploy it for you.
User testing
You then have some time to test the system to make sure it is what you want, and does what you want.
Go live
Once testing is complete you can use your system as live. At this point, warranty terms apply, as do hosting and support charges. Hosting charges will vary with the service level of the hosting we agree on and support charges may vary with the complexity of your system and the number of approved support contacts - but will always be an agreed fixed price/percentage per year.
Business as usual
No business remains static - as your business changes or grows so will your needs. If your system needs change we can meet with you to discuss extensions and changes to your AlphaCRM system so that it grows with you. These changes would be implemented as a mini-project following the relevant parts of this process and you will always know where you are.
If this process sounds like just the way you'd like to work - get in touch now and start that first step.
Who's already using AlphaCRM
This section highlights some existing installations of AlphaCRM. Note that these may be implemented by either AlphaCRM itself or one of it's resellers. Listed are the end client organisation and some special features of the installations - in addition to the core AlphaCRM features.
AlphaCRM provides a visual tool for individuals and HR managers in client organisations to score and review as charts their TNA scores as stored and managed in a remote data source
AlphaCRM integrates with a Java-based telephony component to allow staff to dial leads direct from the system
AlphaCRM provides specialised registration forms and integration with hosted payment pages
AlphaCRM manages a visual calendar and the workflow for specialist services for the bookings
Clients can log in order to book staff onto courses and obtain PDF certificates
Staff of client nursing agencies complete health questionnaires online in AlphaCRM which are then assessed by FV staff and reports generated as PDF attachments to automated emails.
The system provides a content management system for staff to use when setting up and running an event for their pharma clients. Additionally delegate details are captured when registering for the event and are stored for later use such as reminders and attendance certificates subject to relevant contact rules.
The system provides a public web site which provides public information about upcoming concerts as well as society news and diary dates for logged-on members.
AlphaCRM Ltd. provides, via sponsorship, a photo sharing system for parents of children attending a special event to upload and share photos from the event. The site is available by invitation only and reduces the risk of photos of children being distributed beyond acceptable scope
The Message Mosaic public web site is built using the CMS features of AlphaCRM and wraps around the AlphaCRM-based custom-developed analysis engine which powers their unique offering.
Staff manage products and stock levels along with complex special pricing for categorised partners
Senior staff use tablets at remote sites to review and manage H&S issues
Smart Repair technicians use a mobile device to connect to an installation of AlphaCRM which allows them to record job details and generate invoices which can be sent directly to the dealership
Retail customers read information about skip products and place online orders which then integrate with hosted payment pages to take payment
Retail customers read information about grab products and place online orders which then integrate with hosted payment pages to take payment
Retail and trade customers contact Ridon Glass by phone or email and staff use AlphaCRM to manage the full enquiry, quotation, supply and fit process using tasks and due dates to ensure customers are served promptly by the appropriate staff member
AlphaCRM manages multi-database school and member data as well as review content for display via highly visual website and related Andriod and iOS apps
AlphaCRM manages website content and the requests and availability of client staff
AlphaCRM manages the data behind an online tutorial and tutor management system which provides it's own USPs
A highly customised front-end sits on top of AlphaCRM to allow car dealer staff to place orders which are then filled by valeting company staff and invoices are generated within the system
The system is in daily use with Hendy Group, Breeze Volkswagen amongst others
A highly branded front-end sits on top of AlphaCRM which manages huge volumes of pricing records and customer records for fleet managers and VW staff
About us
AlphaCRM is a product of Alpha CRM Ltd, which is a specialist provider of tailored CRM solutions. Based on the South Coast of England the company has over 20 years of experience in developing both off-the-shelf and bespoke software and development tools. Through our sister business, Alpha Systems Consultants Ltd., we can also offer specialist PC and web applications alongside AlphaCRM systems. We can also provide data integration solutions based on industry-standard technologies.
Policies
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displayed in product Help|About information.
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own purposes.
Privacy policy
Any data provided by you via this website or in the course of a live project is your property and we will
not disclose it to anyone for any reason without your prior consent. Projects are undertaken under a
mutually-acceptable non-disclosure agreement.
Charges
Small contracts
We will normally invoice small contacts at an agreed hourly rate, and will agree a maximum number of
hours or cost so that you know your maximum exposure.
Larger contracts
We will normally quote a larger contract at a fixed price for an agreed scope of work. However, if we
agree to changes relative to the initial specification or scope, these will be charged as either additional
contracts or at an agreed hourly rate.
Copyright
This web site and contents are copyright © Alpha CRM Ltd., 2016
Legal information
Company registration: Registered in England and Wales, registration number 08738526
VAT registration number: GB 176 9653 53
Contact us
Please get in touch with us to find out more about how AlphaCRM can benefit your business.
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AlphaCRM Ltd.
5 Lindal Court Allen Road Hedge End Southampton SO30 4FD |
| By email: | sales@alphacrm.co.uk |
| By fax: | 0870 762 0864 |
| By phone: | 01489 660110 |
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