Groupware Practice

The term "groupware" refers to software tools that allow users to increase their productivity by helping them to communicate, and to share information and resources.   At Friedrich, Klatt and Associates, our work with groupware focuses on enabling teams to work together more effectively.  We can help you accomplish this goal whether your team members are located in one office, or distributed in many offices, and whether they are from one company, or multiple companies.

Many of the groupware solutions we build use Lotus Notes.  Notes has led the groupware infrastructure industry for the last ten years.  Our firm has an internal commitment to Notes; we run many aspects of our own business using the Notes applications that we have developed. This practice allows us to continually improve and test our groupware software.

Notes lends itself to re-using application templates, and we often base new applications on our existing templates.  We develop groupware applications with adaptability in mind.  Our software architecture allows us to tailor our applications to meet your specific requirements:  security, workflow, specific pick-lists, industry-specific labels, specialized views, and the like.

When our base applications fit your needs, we can easily provide you with customized software in only a week or two.  Aren't you really looking for robust design and speedy delivery?  If you are interested in more information, we would be happy to supply form layouts, view listings, and the like.

Groupware Application Examples

• E-Book, which is an electronic repository of categorized, "documented" documents and files, whether they are native Notes documents, external files, OLE-embedded, OLE-linked, Notes file attachments, or Internet URL's.



• Prospect tracking, including contacts, phone calls, meetings, action items, etc.
• Customer tracking, including contacts, phone calls, meetings, action items, etc. Includes buttons to generate time logs (see below) from call, meeting, and other records.
• Project and to-do item tracking, including proposal generation, project status updates, etc.
• Time logging. Includes export to relational database using Notes ODBC driver. Includes mail-in time log document support. Includes more than 20 views, to see billable and non-billable time, by project, by client, by person, by time period (year/month/day hierarchy), etc. Can enforce description spell-checking. Supports approval processes (spell-checked, proof-read, reviewed, posted to billing system). Supports tracking review status and messages between document author and reviewers.
• Software repository. Stores screen shots, documents type of module, language, interface, location, author, status, etc. Can launch development tool and a demonstration program.
• Issue tracking. Breaks down pluses and minuses, costs, organization units impacted, alternatives, recommendation, etc. Tracks decision status.
• Process documentation, including processes, their inputs and outputs, software applications that support processes, issues for discussion, integrated discussion threads, etc.
• Purchase tracking, including serial numbers, cost break-down, methods of payment and shipping, expected shipment and receipt dates, etc. Includes mail-in document support.
• Company bulletin board, including mail-in bulletin support.
• Document assembly. Supports template sections and document generation from any selected set of section documents. (For contracts, proposals, letters, etc.)
• Company policy and procedure manual.

General Features

• Buttons to generate action items related to the current document.
• Buttons to send e-mail notifications to an ad-hoc pick-list of people, regarding a given document. The notifications are created automatically, including appropriate subjects, doc-links back to the original document, etc.
• Numerous look-up tables.
• Integration across forms and applications, based on shared, consistent client codes, project codes, employee names, and the like.