CRM Frequently Asked Questions

There's an awful lot to download I don't have the time for that!

I appreciate that there is a lot to do but this is because of Microsoft's application and fixes required, the application is only a minimal part of the download. If you do not have the time or you are unsure if the system can be installed on one of your machines then JRFComputing is very happy to install it for you at a cost of £50 plus travel.

Why is it Free?

The system is free to use on a single user basis, as it stands. My hope is that you will use the software and be impressed so that you will want additional things provided from JRFComputing.

What is the additional cost?

To use the system on a multi-user platform the cost is £250 per user up to a maximum of 16 users on Microsoft's Free MsSQL platform. In reality if more than five users will be simultaneously using the software I would recommend  using Microsoft's Paid for 2008 Server, or Purchasing Microsoft's Small Business Server Software which comes with a licensed copy of MsSQL 2008

Additional Software

The free CRM package makes use of several other downloadable (and free) useful pieces of software. The first is Cute PDF please check the links page. This enables reports to printed as PDF documents which can be read with adobe Acrobat Reader. Xlite is a package that allows telephone communication from the PC to Landlines, a telephone account is needed with a provider such as Draytel, cost approximately £10 for a line number. If SMS messaging is to be used with the CRM then credit for this is needed with a provider such as 24x.com.

 Bulk Emailing

There are many packages available to enable Mass Emailing and there is one that is properly already installed on your system. Microsoft Word provides a Mail Merge to Email facility which is very useful and I use it to send out my mailings. The system will work with an ODBC Compliant tool such as Live Mail Professional from www.email-unlimited.com but this is a paid for tool.