Extending our Interests
A very busy autumn has seen us getting deep into building a web shop, creating a wireless PDA application, and finding that our Dynamic AI product may be the answer to a Lotus notes user's prayers!
We hope that some of these will be interesting to you!
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 Autumn Shows
We have been busy at several shows this Autumn, featuring our major Facilities Management system, Eclipse-fm®, Visual DataFlex, Dynamic AI and a brand new Electos based web shop.
This autumn we exhibited at both the Healthcare Facilities Conference - and for the first time at the Health Facilities Scotland Show. Eclipse-fm® featured our new Mobile Devices module, due to release before year end, which allows Facilities Management Staff to acquire job details in the field without returning to the office. This generated a lot of interest at both of these shows.
We already have several NHS trusts lined up to take this new module which is driven by a combination of the Visual DataFlex. Web Application Server and Momote's "MX Platform" that delivers the application to a wide range of wireless devices such as PDAs and pocket PCs .
 Breaking new exhibition ground for us, the release of Dynamic AI v6 was featured at Softworld in October. The show generated a lot of interest both with end users, and with particular potential for inclusion as a built in Business Intelligence tool for several commercial applications. More on this new version of Dynamic AI, below.
Visual DataFlex of course featured strongly at the two day Seminar and Training arranged by Data Access Europe. Our own "special interest", Electos, and particularly the new Electos Web shop raised a lot of interest. More on this, and the release of Visual DataFlex v12.1 below.
Add in a two day Visual DataFlex reseller conference in Amsterdam this has been one of the busiest periods we have ever seen - but with the resulting rising levels of interest making it all worthwhile!
Please contact us if any of the products featured in this newsletter - Phone 08701 634466, email enquiries@asckey.com .
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Electos
The Electos CMS now offers web shop capabilities
The Electos Content Managed Web Site system has proved an effective basis for web sites for us and for a number of clients for some time now.
With the launch of The ElectronicZone's website and web shop - http://www.electroniczone.co.uk, Electos is proving to be an excellent and easy to manage basis for a comprehensive Web Shop system as well. Compared with the ElectronicZone's previous web shop, Electos provides a number of benefits, which add up to a feeling of freedom to build a web site and shop in a way that really reflects how you want it to look. For the story of how the ElectronicZone developed, see this case study , but as a summary of the benefits:-
No Limits
· No limits to the number of web pages
· No limits to the number of products
· No limits to the number of featured product catalogues
· Easy site re-organisation as it develops
Many web shop systems, particularly in the lower price ranges, are limited in the number of pages and products that are allowed. Sometimes such limits are purely based on subscription costs, but as the ElectronicZone discovered, it may be an absolute limit, with no way out.
The Electos web shop system imposes no limits, and the ability to break the overall product catalogue into various sections - or "Zones" as the ElectronicZone calls them - is a big benefit where the product range is wide.
"What you see is what you get" layout
Many web shops use a "form fill" approach to entering product data. While this has some benefits in maintaining a consistent look and feel, the downside is that this is a very abstract approach, and allows for no freedom to lay out particular pages or product details at will.
Electos uses a "WYSYWIG" approach for page and product editing that encourages a free-form approach, within a page and product template set that keeps the general look and feel of the web shop and web site consistent.
With the overall appearance settled, this freedom of layout within individual pages and product descriptions is very effective, and the Electos ElectronicZone site has a very "lively" look and feel to it as a result.
Page and Product Level Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
A blessing for a business that has a wide range of products, Electos allows for the placement of the data that search engines use at every level, from the overall site, right down to the individual page and product. With millions of sites competing for attention, SEO is something that has to be considered. You may not reach the top even if you do it, but you certainly won't if you don't!
Looking for a Christmas present - take a look at the ElectronicZone web site - and while you do, think "Could my business do with a web site/shop like that?"
Do you need a Web Shop, or a better one than you have got now? Or even just a Web site that is easy to build and maintain?
We offer easy and inexpensive hosting of both Electos based and "ordinary" web sites, along with e-mail hosting.
Call us on 08701 634466 or email enquiries@asckey.com
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Electos is proving to be an excellent and easy to manage basis for a comprehensive Web Shop system as well. Compared with the ElectronicZone's previous web shop, Electos provides a number of benefits, which add up to a feeling of freedom to build a web site and shop in a way that really reflects how you want it to look. For the story of how the ElectronicZone developed, see this case study , but as a summary of the benefits:- |
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 Visual DataFlex v12.1 released
The latest version of the Visual Data Flex development tool, released this autumn, combines the power to create complex business applications and the resources to quickly and easily build effective, attractive and user friendly database functionality, into a single, easy to use package for developers, irrespective of their level of experience.
Visual DataFlex v12.1 now allows developers who are wanting to improve the 'look and feel' of their applications to do so, often with the addition of no more than just a few lines of code. This is due to the inclusion of built in Codejock component support, notably to the CommandBars and Skin Framework components which provide extensive new visual features for developers to build into their applications.
Visual DataFlex 12.1 is available as a free development tool for non-commercial, personal use. The personal development licence is unrestricted, and like the commercial licence includes access to multiple data sources, web development, and the Electos CMS system as well as Windows development and the Codejock components.
Equally at home in building Windows or Internet applications, or in developing client and server web services, Visual DataFlex today powers a surprising number of very complex, professionally built business applications, yet is easy enough for the non IT specialist to handle (See this Case History for an example).
More on our VDF website
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Dynamic AI v6 Released
The latest release of the Dynamic AI Business Intelligance Web reporting system offers major new features and two new versions.
The new versions are
- Personal Edition - this is a Free of Charge version for personal use.
- Desktop Edition - easily installed to your own PC or Laptop, this low cost edition is ideal starter edition for serious management use.
Full details of the new Dynamic AI v 6 are available here |
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 Dynamic AI and Lotus Notes.
Lotus Notes, for sometime now an IBM product, finds widespread usage in some of the bigger European enterprises way beyond its e-mail roots as a general communication and collaboration platform. It is currently moving on from its original shared file database to a foundation in IBM's DB2.
DB2 is of course an SQL database, and one that can be accessed from Dynamic AI, so we are now looking at DAI as a reporting tool for Lotus Notes! DB2 while a much loved management tool, often used to control document distribution within development teams, has been somewhat lacking in good reporting capabilities.
A systems analyst of our acquaintance would love to be able to report on the circulation and "when read" dates for documents circulated in this way. In another similar enterprise, a whole extra layer of document management software was added to meet that deficiency.
Do you have in depth reporting needs? We think that the new edition of Dynamic AI may be just what you are looking for, and we are able to give away a free "Personal Edition" which will allow you to easily assess this first class Business Intelligence too, for yourself.
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 Thinking of a new website, need to revise your existing one, or need web shop facilities -
Talk to us! 08701 634466
Church End Farm
Warboys Road, Pidley,
Cambs PE28 3DA
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