Welcome
Welcome to the Forté AWB newsletter. It is designed to bring you the latest news, information and tips to help you get the best from your Forté AWB software.
Kim joins Forté
Kim Oorschot has recently joined the Forté team as a training consultant. Kim has a BSc in Computer Science and an interest in improving the usability of computer systems. Kim is setting up online tutorials and training course material for Forté, and is focused on improving the overall effectiveness of Forté documentation, including online Help and user manuals.
Focus on usability, documentation and training
As a result of consultation, a number of key messages have been received from our current Forté AWB user base, regarding ways the system could be enhanced to better meet their needs. Implementing changes in these areas will contribute significantly towards improving the experience of our users.
A number of projects have been initiated in this area, including:
A focus on usability: We are currently dedicating all development resource toward making the usability suggestions gathered over some time into reality.
Change requests: We have a new change request and rollout process in place. This now includes specified Beta sites that are charged with functionally testing releases prior to more general distribution. This process will ensure the quality of delivered releases.
A focus on documentation: We are in the process of providing our users with an enhanced level of documentation. Kim is charged with completing Forté documentation, and planned improvements in this critical area will ensure all users have access to effective resources, reducing their need to call support.
A focus on training: We are developing Forté training courses in 3 streams (bronze, silver, gold) and 2 areas (core CRM and financial modules), to be delivered by Kim through the internet at low cost.
Tips
Email efficiency
Remember to regularly empty your folder of deleted emails. To do this, right-click on the Deleted email folder and select the 'Empty deleted folder' option. Emails that are mistakenly deleted are usually recovered within a day or so of their deletion. There is no point in maintaining a full history of deletions, as this will slow down your system and increase the database size.
Keep your inbox uncluttered by filing emails that have been dealt with. Emails from known contact addresses have a file icon beside them. To file an email, right-click on the email, and select 'File'. The filed email will be visible to authorised users on the activity tab for the contact.
Local encryption
If you run Forte in a Main mode, client data will probably synchronise to your local hard drive. If you run a laptop, or are worried about unauthorised access, using a local encrypted volume to provide Government level security is recommended. A good open source solution that we use is TrueCrypt. See http://www.truecrypt.org/ for more details.
User Forum
We now have a User Forum area on the Forté website. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please register as a forum user and post your comments in the Forté AWB section. The User Forum is located at http://www.fortecrm.net/smf/
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