Seattle, WA (April 15, 2007) - The developers of the Datatune Extranet have announced a series of workflow improvements which simplify the quote generation process and electronic invoice distribution for small business in the latest version of the Extranet. Additionally, access to the Extranet has been enhanced for mobile users seeking to maintain a connection with their Extranet via web-enabled cell phones and PDA's.
Like many small businesses, the tools for creating quotes for customers are usually the ubiquitous spreadsheet or word processing document. This creates a disconnect between the CRM/ERP system which the company uses to manage most business critical data and the quotes themselves so data ends up in multiple places with no relative connection.
Small businesses using the Datatune Extranet have had the luxury of creating quotes within the system, but like many back-office automation tools, the user had to print and send the quote to the customer, breaking the continuity and audit trail between the quote itself and the customer. With the recent release of the Extranet, users may now send the quote to the customer using a unique URL which allows the customer to open the quote from within the Extranet. This connection allows for an audit trail indicating that the quote was received and reviewed by the customer from within the Extranet so it's easy for users to know when their quote has been reviewed.
The quote audit trail has been extended to the electronic invoicing feature within the Extranet as well. Now when users send an electronic copy of an invoice to a customer, a note and timestamp is automatically created in the customer's history indicating that the invoice was sent. Like the quote engine, when a customer reviews the invoice, another note and timestamp is added to the customer's history indicating that the invoice was indeed received and reviewed. This audit trail allows Extranet users to easily determine that their customer correspondence is making it to its intended target without requiring any additional steps on the part of the small business.
Mobile users, who have long desired access to their customer information while on the road can now log into their Extranet with a web-enabled cell phone or PDA. A slimmed-down version of the Extranet which has been optimized for cell/PDA access is available to all Extranet users which simplifies access to commonly needed information like phone numbers, addresses, contact names and more.
Because the Datatune Extranet is a hosted application, all upgrades are automatically deployed to existing customers and are available at no extra charge to Extranet subscribers.
About Datatune
Datatune is a trusted small business software development and consulting firm with proven solutions tailored towards information-driven companies. Datatune recognizes that small businesses require the same levels of reliability and security that Fortune-500 companies enjoy and since 1997, Datatune has brought enterprise-class solutions to small business.
Datatune's hallmark application, the Datatune Extranet gives small businesses a competitive advantage by combining tools to build relationships, increase sales opportunities and efficiently manage their time from a single, inexpensive application. This intuitive web-based software provides a central repository for storing client data, billable hours, quotes, projects and more and is an ideal tool for collaborative environments which include outside-salespeople, contractors, vendors and agents.
Through the combination of time tracking software, CRM software, ERP software and billing software, the Datatune Extranet can streamline every aspect of a service-based company from a single, web-enabled interface while lowering costs and increasing efficiency.
For additional information, visit www.datatune.com or email [email protected]