Forté CRM Professional Released!

The complete electronic customer file every call every email every document every note every meeting every task every opportunity

Forté CRM (Customer Relationship Managment) is designed to help you manage and improve your sales process, sales team management, ongoing customer service, marketing and information management.

Forté CRM is designed for any organisation, and is ideal for organisations with geographically distributed offices and/or mobile staff. Forté CRM is available in versions ranging from single user home office (Solo and Professional) to global corporations hosting on their own systems (Enterprise and Hosted).

Forté CRM is not just another 'me too' CRM solution. The Forté CRM application is a CRM tool that combines the benefits of browser-based applications (e.g. shared databases, stateless connections, centralised administration and updates, access across the internet without requirement for VPN, etc) with the familarity and usability of a 'native' Windows application.

Fortés CRM provide a single interface to email, correspondence, client database, reporting, workflow, scripting, time tracking, word processing, backups and document management. The open architecture provides seamless extension, allowing infinite customisation for your future needs.

Forté Enterprise and Hosted versions include our unique data synchronising technology ISAC™ (Intelligent Synchronizing Automatic Cache) at no extra cost. ISAC™ synchronises data in the background when a connection is available. No need to log off; no need to go through cumbersome error prone setup processes; no downtime while the system synchronises. When you want to travel, simply disconnect your laptop as usual - no need even to exit Forté.

Forté was built from the ground up with data synchronisation integral to the design. It is not something that was added after Forté was developed, nor is it based on any third party products. Many other systems claim data synchronising, however they merely use their database vendor's replication engine in an attempt to mimic synchronisation.

Forté's synchronisation uses permissions that are setup as part of the normal CRM setup to limit user's access to data. Only data that a user is entitled to view or edit is synchronised. The synchronisation is two way so that any changes in the server database are synchronised to the client and any changes to the client are synchronised to the server.

Document generation goes beyond simple mail merging. As well as standard word processing features such as mail merging from text in the database (names, addresses, etc), the Forté document engine, CLAD (Centralised Automated Live Documents), allows the generation of tables and graphs directly into your document. These 'merge symbols' use the inbuilt scripting engine to extract data and format tables and graphs - the output possibilities are endless.

Forté is able to be customised in multiple ways:

• Scripting enables tasks and business processes to be automated. For example the generation of a contract document may trigger a script which creates a task to check that the document has been signed by a certain date.
• Document templates configured specifically for your business.
• Filters which filter data according to criteria such as 'all contacts that are active and have not been contacted for more than 60 days'.
• Forté has as standard, a data translation engine for the purpose of importing and extracting data to/from other systems. This can be a one off in the case of a conversion from another system to Forté, or it can be scheduled to run periodically for the purposes of linking with another system such as an accounting package, ERP system, etc.
• Queries can be written to extract and report on your data. This can be exported in various formats such as excel, comma deliminated text, Lotus 1,2,3 etc.
• Forté has a comprehensive API (application program interface) enabling thrid party developers to custom develop modules for Forté. The published and documented API is the same API that the Forté developers use thus options are unlimited.

Forté features a comprehensive corporate-grade centralised security policy controlling global access to application and business data. The central group-based permission system allows easy management of both data and functions. Just as users have one single interface, system administrators can control all security parameters through the same tool. Forté satisfies the system administrator’s dream of total centralised control from a single interface.

Forté is designed to grow with you from single user to many users - there is no need to changes systems as your organisation grows. New customers will have their CRM operational in as little as two hours with our extensive library of templates. Corporates will relish in the virtually unlimited customization capabilities normally only found in expensive enterprise CRM's.

The Forté software platform requires no third party licenses and can utilize your choice of proprietary (Microsoft, Oracle, etc) or open source components, reducing operational and maintenance costs.

Designed for resource efficiency: Using ISAC™ dramatically reduces server hardware requirements and extends usable lifespan of the hardware. ISAC™ also reduces Internet and network bandwidth usage compared to client-server and browser based solutions.

Designed to be serviced by IT staff with general skill sets, without need for vendor training. Customization uses common non-proprietary development languages and tools, reducing vendor reliance.

Straightforward to roll out and easy to upgrade. Forté’s unique automated install and recovery onto new or replacement equipment takes the drama out of provisioning or the “lost laptop”. The server installation process generates a setup file which is distributed to users. They simply run the installer, type their login and password and the system is up and running. No other client setup is required as everything (including server urls, etc) is contained in the setup installed.

Your choice of hosting options. The database can be hosted by us (or another third party) or by you on your systems. You can host with us and if your organisation grows, you can move the database to your own servers. If hosted by us, a backup of your database is available for download at anytime.