What is a good client tracking/organizer software? Filemaker Pro?

[Vitamin C]

Food for thought...I've heard several times that data cd's have a surprisingly short shelf life. Here's a quote I found online claiming possibly as short as 2 years.

Researchers for IBM Germany have discovered that burning a CD-R disc activates a heat sensitive dye and brings the shelf life from 5 - 10 years of a an un-burned disc down to a measly two years. (Source: Popular Mechanics Mag)

I've also had a USB Hard drive decide not to turn on one day... fortunately, I didn't need to research how to get the data back off of it becuase I keep two usb hard drive backups.

 

[Guest]

With a web based program, how safe is it?

I have Medicare ID's, SS numbers, dates of birth, etc on file for most my clients. I would be worried about putting it out there...

Why do you keep SS info at all? I never do and have never needed it. I keep policy or app numbers, but never SSNs. I've never had a problem calling in to a health carrier, giving a policy number and being able to have the gal on the phone find the records.

Most CRM system have an option to encrypt various fields if desired.

As too how safe is your data? It is going to depend on how safe your web host is. If you deal with a first-class outfit like Pair.com you don't have much to worry about. However I am suspect of the el cheapo hosts (1and1, etc.) out there.

If you have the option of a VPS (virtual private server), (Dreamhost offers it) that will increase your security. The fewer people who have FTP or control panel access to the physical box the more secure.

I have my own dedicated server so it is not shared by anyone... and that greatly increases security. (I pay about $1800 a year for the server but I host Jaya123 on it and that more than pays for it. And since I wrote Jaya123 I made sure it was secure!)

Bottom line it comes down to your comfort level. If you don't think you will sleep at night by using a web-based system like Zoho or Salesforce or SugarCRM or FreeCrm, then use ACT or YIO or something local to your office. I'm confident that the data on my web databases are secure so I go with that route.

Again, don't keep sensitive data that you don't have to keep. I have no need for SSNs and I encrypt policy and app numbers via the database field options. Some people create their own encryption... like taking a number, determining what position in the alphabet it is, adding 3, and using that letter: 4876 is gkji (4=d (4th letter in alphabet) and adding 3 to 4 is 7 which is g). Make up your own code for SSNs if you want to keep them.

 

[midwestbroker]

The only reason I have SS numbers is their Medicare ID.

I use ACT right now, and have modified it enough to make it what I want. I know zoho will allow me to import all my files there from ACT.

I like the idea of using an online database so I can access it from anywhere.

 

[tkirk97]

www.redtailtechnology.com, best I have used. Interent based, no servers needed, you can setup your own email, document imaging. It has about anything and everything you could ever want to do. PM me if you want more specifics. $50 bucks per month

 

[BiggitySwat]

In case anyone is wondering, since I have a Macintosh, I ended up buying BENTO. Bento is a simpler database software from the makers of FileMaker Pro.

To remind me of client birthdays, I just use birthdayalarm.com

I'm very happy with Bento as it integrates with the Mac application called "iCal," which tracks your upcoming events and even can be set up to give you reminder emails and alerts. Bento has full support for a "to do list," customer list, and professional business contacts list.

You can also export any list as an Excel file for easy mail merging....I did it already to send mass mail to my current book of business.

 

[Guest]

To remind me of client birthdays, I just use birthdayalarm.com

I'm very happy with Bento as it integrates with the Mac application called "iCal," which tracks your upcoming events and even can be set up to give you reminder emails and alerts. Bento has full support for a "to do list," customer list, and professional business contacts list.

You could have just set up a new calendar in iCal called "Birthdays" and entered each client's birthday with a reminder set to a few days (or weeks) before.

Most CRM systems (like SugarCRM, FreeCRM, Salesforce, ACT,) have a built in calendar that will pop up reminders or email them to you. Sugar is very weak in this area so I use iCal local on my Mac. Works fine. I'm told Sugar is working on a new, improved calendaring system, somehow tied to Google calendar (whatever that is.)

 

[Guest]

In Outlook, if you enter the birthday in the contact record, a recurring event shows up automatically in the calendar view.

Use Contact/Categories to assign "leads, prospects, clients" etc. and sort by category.

Use Activity/Categories to track policies "submitted, issued, inforce" etc. and sort by category.

Back up your data (.pst file). All this is Local PC, not internet.

Simple. (...and free - I still use Outlook 2003)

You could also sync via Plaxo or Carbonite etc. for an offsite internet backup (not free).

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Or use OCS (One Card System) or some derivative; also simple, local (computer-free), portable, and doesn't crash or need backing up (unless you spill the cards or they get rained on).

 

[retread]

The only reason I have SS numbers is their Medicare ID.

I use ACT right now, and have modified it enough to make it what I want. I know zoho will allow me to import all my files there from ACT.

I like the idea of using an online database so I can access it from anywhere.

If you use "Laplink Everywhere" you can also access your database from your own office computer remotely, and not have to expose it to a third party. The program uses 128 bit encryption to avoid intercept in transmission, and other than that limited exposure during transfer, you can keep your data in house.

Personally, I would rather keep my data in house. That's the original philosophy that drove the desire for "Personal Computers" back in the day. This way I am never at the mercy of another business that I don't have control over. And in this business where you are responsible for the privacy protection of your client's data, this is a prudent measure.

 

[Josh]

I have SugarCRM on one site and it works really well to work between different computers because it's web based. Because I want something to work more specific to my needs, I'm developing my own. Anyone want to guess what it's called? Yup, MedicarePlanSolutionsCRM. It's specific to Medicare and works well for agencies and Medicare Advantage plans. It also helps store scope of appointment forms so audits go easy

 

[Guest]

I have SugarCRM on one site and it works really well to work between different computers because it's web based. Because I want something to work more specific to my needs, I'm developing my own. Anyone want to guess what it's called? Yup, MedicarePlanSolutionsCRM. It's specific to Medicare and works well for agencies and Medicare Advantage plans. It also helps store scope of appointment forms so audits go easy

Why not take SugarCRM and modify it it instead of re-inventing the wheel.

For those who don't know what I mean, SugarCRM has a "community edition" which is open-source... meaning anyone can get the code and change it. You can even create a brand new product so long as whatever changes you made are available to anyone who asks. So you could create MedicarePlanSolutionsCRM, pop it on a server and take subscriptions. It could be a big money-maker. Of course... you have to be a pretty good programmer because SugarCRM is about 1000 code modules... some with several hundred lines of code...and most of the code is not well documented.

I can easily read it, but it would take several months of learning PHP and SQL before the average person would have enough skill to not only figure out what the code is doing, but what he WANTS it to do.