Long Reach Launches Release 5.2 of Flagship info@hand
Customer Relationship and Business Management System (CRBM):

Comprehensive System Includes CRM, Customer Portal, eStore,
IP Telephony Integration and QuickBooks Link

ONTARIO, CANADA – (Oct 8, 2007) – The Long Reach Corporation has announced the next generation of its flagship product, info@hand, a Customer Relationship and Business Management (CRBM) System for small and medium-sized businesses. (Try it here: admin/admin to login) The application is one of the first to blend first class Customer Relationship Management (CRM) features with extended business management capabilities for Order Management, Project & Resource tracking, Customer Service, and Human Resources.

info@hand differs from conventional CRM products in that it offers key features that enable small and medium businesses to capitalize on their ability to be nimble – and outmaneuver larger companies. info@hand does this by eliminating common small-business bottlenecks in finance and administrative areas. For example, it allows customer-facing personnel to create quotes or invoices quickly for clients, and then synchronize them later into a familiar accounting system for tracking by administrative staff.

Other features setting info@hand apart from the myriad of CRM products offered today include comprehensive project management capabilities such as timesheets, project costing and invoicing; fully integrated customer service management with an automatic assignment mode that pairs cases with the most qualified technicians; and strong international support including the ability to generate quote and invoice PDFs using the full UTF-8 character set needed for many languages including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Thai.

Pricing for info@hand is simple compared to other CRM products. info@hand is sold for a one-time customer fee of $250 per user, which includes specific software for mobile access (info@hand Mobile) and the Joomla!-based info@hand Customer Portal with eStore (which allows your clients access to automated sales and service 24/7). Many other CRM products charge additional fees per customer linked via the portal. Also included in the standard price is the info@hand Plug-in for Microsoft Outlook, and info@hand PBX for integrating with Asterisk/Trixbox-based telephone systems.

The key features of the latest info@hand version include:

IAH 5.2 Features:

• Mail merge capability - using an RTF template file (see Contacts module);
• Automatic phone number formatting, to ensure smooth IP telephony operation;
• Support for info@hand PBX 1.0, info@hand Finance for QuickBooks 1.1, info@hand Customer Portal 2.0, and info@hand eStore 1.0 (which is part of the Customer Portal 2.0);
• Discounts have become a regular module, within the Order Management Group tab. They are no longer accessed via the Quotes and Invoices section of the Admin page;
• Line item level discounts are now supported on Quotes, Sales Orders and Invoices;
• Discounts may now be percentage discounts, or fixed amount discounts;
• Assemblies may now include discount lines within their catalog definition;
• Quote approvals option if gross profit percentage is lower than a threshold value
• Enhanced Group Inbox capability, with support for directing incoming email to standard and custom folders (such as Customer Support) within Group Inbox, plus auto-create of Cases via email and improved bounce handling for Email Campaigns;
• New 'Test Mode' for data imports - instead of importing data, returns import CSV file with annotations on duplicates or other data quality issues (see Leads module);
• Create or add to campaign target lists using reports on Contacts and Leads (see Reports module).

In addition, today marks the release of info@hand Customer Portal 2.0, with support for these new features:

• Customer self-registration and password management;
• Marketing Event registration, for seminars etc;
• Review and comment on Invoices and Payment history;
• Review and comment on Quotes;
• Purchase products via the embedded eStore 1.0;
• May be implemented on existing Joomla! installations or as a stand-alone shrink-wrap installation.

An online demo of info@hand is available via their website. A 30-day free trial of the info@hand On Demand (subscription) service is also available. Customers may then decide to implement info@hand as an On Demand service, or as On Premise software running on the customer’s own server or at their ISP.