Text Messaging Integration
- July 31, 2013
- Cary
Using the Twilio API, I can integrate text messaging into almost any environment. It can be as simple as notification texts or as complex as an interactive, automated payment system. Twilio is a cloud solution provider built in Amazon`s enterprise environment. There is no hardware needed. It costs 1 cent per text message. Twilio provides a .NET wrapper in C# that can be used to integrate texting into any .NET based programming. They also provide object libraries for many other platforms, such as PHP.
Many businesses have a need to notify clients or customers of events that affect them. Many businesses still do this by regular mail, even though they are not required to by law. It just happens to be a function of their business that they need to execute. Moreover, let's face it - email is dead. Yes, we still use it. Yes, you'll probably still need to accomodate it in your overall communication service offerings. However, many business models court their customers in such a way that the intimacy of text messaging is welcomed by those customers. Modern Customer Relationship Management concepts certainly drive this kind of thinking. Achieving any level of importance you can in the lives of you customers is the objective. The more they think about you, the better. In short, if it makes sense in any way for your customers to recieve a text from you or send a text to you - they are going to expect to do so and your customer satisfaction will improve if you can meet their need in a simple, effective way.
The beauty of Twilio is that it's a Cloud based service, enabling you to get started texting your customers immediately. There is no hardware to buy, no insane setup costs, no massive monthly phone bills. One cent per text is all it costs. Imagine that. You may be mailing customers notices or wasting your time emailing messages that don't get through SPAM filters and are ignored if they do. You may be spending upwards of a dollar a shot to mail people things. Change that cost to one cent and recompute your profits...
Call me today for a free consultation on how I can deliver texting to your business at a shockingly low cost.
MS Office Automation
- July 17, 2013
- Cary
Do you live and die by your Excel Spreadsheets? Do you pay people to produce reports for you in Word Documents? You may even be spending your own valuable time doing these repetitive functions! Automating these processes using .NET tools and the Office Object Libraries can change your life and make your business vastly more efficient. Elimination of repetetive data entry is another specialty of mine.
The truth is that many companies purchase Microsoft Office and simply make a letterhead in Word, an invoice in Excel and maybe a formula or two. However, most people do not realize that simply having MS Office installed on a plain Windows workstation opens the door to the use of free development and automation tools from Microsoft that get easier to use with each new iteration. Custom forms required for your business? Document management needs? Paperless environment to eliminate your file room? All of this is possible simply by having Office and using free tools like Visual Studio Express and WebMatrix.
Call me today for a free evaluation of your business computing environment. I can start from square one with new Office users or hit the ground running, no matter how complex your existing systems.
What is "The Cloud?"
- July 15, 2013
- Cary
"The Cloud" is a modern euphemism for the virtual space created by Internet based service companies and their hosted offerings. This environment offers commoditization of computing resources - enabling development and successful implmentation of systems that focus on business objectives rather than technical hurdles. In plain English, using The Cloud enables you to focus on programming your ideas and functions while leaving backup, security, network nightmares, hardware and the stress of keeping everything online 24/7.... in the hands of the people who do that for a living. Did you get into business to run a computer center? I didn't think so. Neither did I.
There are many well known companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Google and IBM that have cloud services available. The thing to understand here is that this is not a trend or a fad. It is the future of computing. Software development tools are evolving in the same manner, with wonderful libraries available for inclusion - simply by being connected to the internet. Incredibly, organizations now publish vast software library repositories and literally compete for the attention of developers with these free tools. Real world examples of this are jQuery and Bootstrap, both of which are high level libraries written in JavaScript. One or two lines of code in your web page, linking to the cloud based source of these two fantastic APIs, and you suddenly have access to a wealth of easy functions to make your web page dynamic and animated. Web sites and applications with impressive functionality can now be conjured up with the wave of a wand, leaving you to simply customize them for your business logic.
I am always happy to sit down for a free consultation with a new client and discuss the opportunites available. I specialize in helping small business owners, who can't afford to keep someone like me on staff but could sure use that resource. Systems like this get set up and then run themselves with basic maintenance and perhaps a little more customization down the road. Chances are, what you do at your business is simple. Don't get ripped off for systems integration if all you do is sell a product or service, bill your customers and keep track of your money. It's not rocket science. Call me today for a free consultation!
