FAQ: About InBizness

QUESTION FROM A READER:

I've been looking at InBizness and have a few questions about it:

1- Is inbizness a locked solution in any way, is there a limit to customization?

2- Would your solution work with IWP/CWP? If so, how well does the experience translate?

3- Do you have to physically ship inbizness?, (we are located in Barcelona...) :-)

ANSWER:

Thanks for your interest in InBizness. InBizness is not locked in any way. All elements are open for your individual customizations. None of the InBizness packages are designed for the web. So you would need to review what your web needs are, what the FileMaker limitations on the web are and then customize InBizness accordingly. In some cases, this is minor and in some case time consuming. None of these changes are that challenging technically, it is just layout and script tweaks to make the experience web compatible. InBizness is small enough to ship as an email enclosure, so delivery is almost instant!

InBizness Property Manager 3.0

InBizness 3.0 has a number of enhancements including a new fees module integrated with the payment system and a significantly upgraded tenants module. This is a third update in the last six months and this just illustrates the power and flexibility of the FileMaker database environment.

TENANT MODULE UPDATES
The tenant module has received a number of user interface and operational changes with this update. The tab bar has been updated to be more effective and streamlined. The Deposit / Move Out tab has been renamed Rental Details. Two new tabs were added as well Tenant Details and Fees.

So the tab bar for tenants now reads General, Income, Rental Details, Tenant Details, Activities, Payments, Fees, Files and Background. The addition of tenant details allowed us to move some of the tenant data from the top area to this dedicated tab. So the top area now contains just the name and phone number of the primary and secondary tenants.

The tenant details tab now has a wider array of fields supporting information of both primary and secondary tenants. This includes phone numbers, email address, SSN / EIN id numbers, drivers license, date of birth and age.

The renamed Rental Details tab contains a new collection of fields to support tracking insurance information including the company, phone number, policy number, voucher start and end dates.

The new Fees tab allows the assessment of fees (most likely late fees) to a tenant record. These assigned fees can then be easily added to payment records that go along with or independent of rental payments.

THE NEW FEES SYSTEM
The fee system is tied directly to the tenants, unit and payments modules. The user interface to access fees is available only from the tenants module.

You can add a new fee to the system by clicking its associated button.

Fees are paid via the payment system. You will see this change in the payment dialog box where unpaid fees are shown and can be added to that payment.

DEVELOPER RELATED CHANGES
Since the system is getting more robust with additional data relationships integrated within the system, the relationship graph has been updates to be easier to read and access.

InBizness Property Manager 2.0

The following is a list of updates that were added to InBizness Property Manager 2.0.

TENANT RELATED CHANGES
Added new table called TenantIncome to facilitate better tracking of multiple levels of tenant income.

Added new tab in the Tenants module called Income.

Added a new field called Annual Household Income which displays the entered monthly income by twelve.

Removed the phone 2 fields and added fields for a second tenant name and phone info
Deleted employee related fields and added that functionality back into the Tenant Income table.

Added new fields of Household Size, Household Income, Date Last Certified For Income Eligibility.

Added new list view layout that focuses upon the household income data
Tweaked the list button so it gives you a choice of the general list or the household income list.

Tweaked the button in the rentals portal to bring up a choice dialog box so you can go to the rental details or directly to the unit information.

Added field to track insurance voucher information in the Tenant form view in the Deposits / Insurance / Move Out tab.


TENANT / UNIT LINK CHANGES
Made changes to the dialog box that is used to link a tenant to an available unit. Primarily, it has more logic to automatically set the status of the unit when it is rented for the first time.

DEVELOPER RELATED CHANGES
Added a developer related script that preps the database for a new installation by deleting all records in all tables

InBizness Basic CRM

What makes InBizness Basic CRM different than the other FileMaker CRM products on the market currently? For starters, it is designed specifically for the small to average size organization in terms of price, features, flexibility and ruthlessly simple open architecture. How about we briefly discuss each of these points.

ABOUT THE PRICE
InBizness Basic is sold to you for $299.00 US. There isn't a different price if you have one user, ten users or fifty users. There isn't a different price if you want to run it on a machine to machine network (called pier to pier), on an office server (using FileMaker Server) or on an worldwide LAN. InBizness Basic CRM is a FileMaker 10 based product, so you will need to purchase the correct FileMaker licenses to support your users but InBizness Basic CRM is only $299.00. (period)

ABOUT THE FEATURES
We put in the most basic features of supporting companies (clients / leads / vendors), invoices, purchase orders, inventory, correspondence, department staff and activity management. There isn't any overly complicated calendar tool, just the ability to create linked activities from almost every module. The idea is to forego complicated click intensive calendar views, just simple point and click operations so that things get done.

ABOUT THE FLEXIBILITY
We never intended to put dozens of modules into this product but we wanted to support those of you that do. We didn't add every possible feature to every module but we wanted to support those of you that do. This means you can add just what you need to support your workplace and have a streamlined elegant system.

We do have a unique feature that allows users to group common activities and add those group activities to a module with a click of the button. This coding can be easily lifted and added to other modules you might want to add to your database.

ABOUT THE RUTHLESSLY SIMPLE OPEN ARCHITECTURE
We have not added any technology other than pure basic FileMaker design. If you have read and understand the $99 FileMaker Training Series manual, you should have no problem modifying all aspects of InBizness Basic CRM.

HOW ABOUT INCLUDED SUPPORT?
Yes, we include 2 hours of support or even customization with each copy of InBizness Basic CRM. Any additional design support is only $85 a hour (or less with a prepaid support bundle purchase).

Want to know more, check out the included video tutorials and feel free to contact us with any questions.

FAQ: InBizness In Peer To Peer Setting

QUESTION:
I just found your web page and the Basic CRM solution might be something for my 2/3 persons company.

Am I correct in assuming that I can run the file on a peer-to-peer network (I have 1 FMP 10 and 1 FMP 9) and that I would have full access to the source code ?

ANSWER:
There is some specific FileMaker 10 code in the database, so I would recommend having all the machines running FileMaker 10. FileMaker has some great upgrade prices for you, so I would recommend checking that out.

It should do just dandy on a peer - to - peer network because it is a classic FileMaker file. So any of the limitations FileMaker has in peer - to - peer it would have. Any of the conditions that FileMaker recommends for FileMaker Server (like backups / lots of records / etc...) would apply to this product as well. Yes, it is sold open for modification, so you can edit the source code to meet your needs. In fact, that is what it is really designed for ... customization! T

InBizness Quiz 1.4 Update

InBizness Quiz is a unique learning experience for the FileMaker developer. What you get is access to a quiz library of over 1,600 questions in both a random or targeted quiz session formats. You even get some great choices in how you access your quiz sessions from FileMaker, a web browser (via FileMaker IWP) or via the iPhone (via the Safari browser). So you can take a new quiz just about any time and anywhere.

ABOUT THE RANDOM QUIZ ENVIRONMENT
Random quizzes are a great way to evaluate where you are in your FileMaker knowledge. With each new release we have upped the ante on our random quiz environment. We have eight different options on random quizzes with include five different experience level options.

Here you can see the main access screen for your random quizzes. (click picture to expand)

ABOUT THE TARGETED QUIZ ENVIRONMENT
If you thought that eight different options for random quizzes, you are really going to like having fifteen different options for targeted quizzes. These targeted quizzes are great for any areas in which you feel that you could do better. But it isn’t about the score, it is the process that pays the dividends.

Here you can see our current targeted quiz options. (click picture to expand)

ABOUT YOUR QUIZ QUESTIONS
The questions appear in a classic multiple choice setting and are pretty straight forward. We didn’t spend a lot of effort coming up with trick questions or obtuse situation scenarios.

Here you can see one of the quiz questions. (click picture to expand)

ABOUT YOUR QUIZ RESULTS
After taking the quiz, you will see a scrollable list of the questions you missed. You will see the question ID number, the question, your incorrect answer choice and the final correct answer choice. You can also view your quiz history at any time.

Here you can see the quiz result screen. (click picture to expand)

Here you can see your quiz history so you can measure your results.

Coming Soon InBizness Basic CRM - Yet Another FileMaker CRM Database

Lately, I’ve been creating new databases by harvesting a lot of code from my previous projects. Literally, I’m choosing the “New Database” command from under the File menu, tossing out the default table and pasting in pieces from my other projects. I tend to design with “recycle” in mind but I’m surprising myself these days. This is an InBizness CRM database but has a few different twists to it.

MORE EMPHASIS ON THE ACTIVITY AND ACTIVITY GROUPS
I introduced the Activity Group with InBizness Real Estate but this version is a bit different. First off, an activity group can be assigned to many different modules including Companies, Products, Invoices, Purchases and Staff.

PREFERRED PRODUCTS / PRICES FOR COMPANY RECORDS
Added in an option where you can setup default products (with default pricing) for a company and then quickly invoice from there.

INVOICE BACKORDER LOGIC
The invoice module has a backorder logic where you can create a new invoice based upon what was not shipped from a previous one.

CONSOLIDATED LINE ITEMS TABLE
Not a biggie but I always have a separate table for invoices and purchase orders. In this database, they are combined.

FILEMAKER 10 FEATURES
Lots of small script trigger features including a quicksearch, quick date range and pull down menu field navigation.