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Mobile Sales Force Tracking via Google Maps

Netgen was recently commissioned by Dumarc to develop a system where their representatives and stores could be tracked simply and cleanly via a graphics tool. The idea of the system was that it would use Google Maps as its base and would then track each store and outlet where products were stocked.

Images of the store and the merchandising of the product are also tracked.

The development  brief required that the system must be easy to use via a PC or mobile device. The system should allow images and comments on stores to be updated easily. It should also be easy and quick to add new stores with their addresses – once a new store is loaded, the system looks up their location and plots them on the Google Map.

Stores can be located across Africa by the chain they belong to and also what area they are in. You are then able to zoom into the map and get right down to street level to actually see the surrounding area where the stores are located. In addition to this you can click on the Icon and from there can view custom uploaded photographs and comments by date on the selected store.

Netgen in a couple of weeks achieved this goal with Du Marc of getting the Phase I system up and running. Once the phase one system is populated and running fully the next phase will be developed. The system is securely protected via password and has a range of user levels for access and updating. The solution Netgen has provided is very scalable and will allow DuMarc to build and proceed with their expansions for many years to come.

(Note Image Figures have been removed to protect client confidentiality)

A Stylish Upgrade

Netgen has just completed a website upgrade for existing client Voila!. Voila! is a free monthly magazine featuring ‘all things fabulous’. Voila! gives readers the lowdown on the latest fashion, beauty, technology, car and music must-haves, and the website forms an integral part of their stylish arsenal.

When Voila! published their first issue over a year ago, Netgen was commissioned with building a website and supporting it monthly giving Voila! a strong online presence. The website is updated each month by adding the latest print edition which visitors can read via a flip magazine application. With the realization that their online reader base was increasing and wanting a more regular style fix, together with Netgen it was decided to update the website. Voila! also recently introduced advertising onto the website and saw an opportunity to increase this revenue stream through increased visitor numbers.

Netgen prides itself on building long term relationships with its clients, which is especially important in the online world where technical and structural updates are vital. By working closely with clients Netgen can find a solution that rejuvenates rather that completely changes the brands’ established presence online and most importantly without breaking the bank.

In order to achieve the desired goals for Voila!, Netgen created a blog space within the main central section of the Home page which is now updated regularly with events, product news, style icons and other interesting articles. Netgen also added a Twitter and Facebook stream onto the site in order to promote and incorporate all their popular social media platforms into the website, creating a nice social buzz to the site. Articles from the print edition are loaded in a top sliding banner and some of the main menu pages were given a structural upgrade making it easier to find information quickly.

Monthly the new issue will still be loaded into the flip magazine for readers to browse through and the colours of the site will change according to the theme of the latest issue thus ensuring a site that keeps readers coming back for more. All in all a very stylish upgrade and the proof is in increased visitor numbers!

Go check it out: www.voilamagazine.co.za

Netgen Integrates with your Accounts systems

Often clients come to us and they are looking for software to complement their current systems. Often their accounting system is adequate for producing the accounts figures but cannot cater for more complex interactions and web based front ends. Netgen’s Tradensync system is a simple example of where the front end dealer systems integrate seamlessly with the Pastel back-end. Information like stock balances and credits limits are read from Pastel and displayed and verified on the web based Tradensync system.

One of the many examples where we have integrated is recurring billing.

Often accounting software does invoicing and debtors but does not keep track of recurring items, their escalation and expiry and anniversary dates. Netgen has developed front end systems that interact with the package accounting systems. Transactions are entered with their relevant details in the custom front end and custom reports and spread sheets can then be drawn from this information. When invoicing needs to be done this is then activated from the front end and the invoices are posted automatically into the accounting system.

Another example is where you need remote users to be able to see stock and debtors balances:

Often users are travelling and only have access to a browser on a PC or Hotel or a cell phone. With the new breed of Tablets and laptops not all of these are compatible with the legacy accounting software BUT all generally can use a browser. Netgen has developed products that extract accounting data and present it to users via a web browser. Users do not require a VPN or special software to access this as the data is fully protected via a secure website by user name and password. The costs are also dramatically reduced as the software is not licensed per user like most accounting software. The data is also displayed in simpler forms without all unnecessary information that clutters and confuses.

Legacy accounting systems like Pastel have often been in a place a number of years. Sometimes it is scary to take the plunge and add to the systems but with Netgen you can take it step by step. Processing can be 100% automated with invoices and updates or alternatively you can still batch the transactions and update when you are ready and after checking. Either of  these systems work well and can be interchanged very easily and saves a lot of work and recaptures. Less recapturing – less cost and also less errors in entering information!!!!

Don’t run different systems and recapture information, Netgen has a solution to your needs and we can quickly and easily customise and integrate into your systems.

New Planet Fitness Website Live!

Netgen is very excited and proud to have been part of the team to give Planet Fitness a brand new online image and presence. The new Planet Fitness website went live in February 2012 and the brief from Planet Fitness was to create a website that gave the company an easy way to communicate to existing members as well as make it a hub of information for anyone wanting to join the wellness lifestyle community! The website is designed to make it easy for members to find the latest club news, schedules and other information relating to their fitness. The website has a blog with nutritional tips, fitness news and Planet group news. The new website reflects the Planet Fitness vision of becoming the preferred health club group in South Africa. Netgen created a website that not only showcases the Planet offering in an easy to find way but the website has also been designed so that it is easy to update information and content which is a necessity with 23 clubs spread across the country. In today’s fast paced world people want to find accurate and relevant information easily online and Netgen has helped create this for Planet Fitness. The key to the new website is the ability to add new exciting modules and features to the site. Please check the web site often as the new 3D walk through and member zone are going live soon.

Visit the new website at www.planetfitness.co.za

Netgen Bulk Mailer Solutions with Trackeasy.

Netgen has been very busy refining the Trackeasy mailer system. Sending bulk emails out is easy but making sure that the delivery rate is as high as is possible and that the statistics are collected carefully is the hard part. Netgen has now installed a range of servers with reputable IP address ranged and we pre-scan all email addresses for poor quality and reject invalid addresses prior to sends. This process already refines the lists of sends. We are also careful who we allow to use our servers so as to maintain our reputation and also prevent our servers from being spam blocked.  We are sending in excess of 2 million messages already for some of our clients and would be excited to discuss the options with you. We have full reporting on opens, bounces and soft bounces and sends. Emails sends are also timed to minimize spam alerts and Netgen will also assist with the format of your email to ensure that you email complies with spam filters and does not get trapped in junk email boxes. We also provide a full in-house custom design service to assist you with professional email templates. Contact Katherine for more information.

New Netgen Cape Town Office

Netgen is excited to announce the opening of the Cape Town Branch Office. The temporary office is up and running  in Cape Town and all phone lines and network links are connected to the Johannesburg hub with local redundancy.  The office will be moving to its permanent home within the next 3 months. This office will serve to assist Cape Town clients and also allows Netgen to work with some top agencies and use local companies in Cape Town. Some of the Netgen support services are already being run from the Cape Town offices as well as hosting for certain servers that require redundancy in Johannesburg have been relocated to the Cape Hosting centers.

Ecostat Developments

Netgen has recently released a new format of modem and communicator for remote communications and data collection into Ecostat. The New units replace the Phase 1 Ecostat communicators developed for Ecostat. The new phase one units will be upgraded at a discounted price for clients through Ecostat. The new unit does not require a battery and also has much lower power requirements and is ideal for solar power installations. The automatic diagnostic routines developed by Hardy and his team allow the modem to reboot and re-request data if any information is missing for a given period. Data not received is recalculated on the server for missing and records and then a request is resent to the communicator to retrieve records. This means that if a unit has not been able to communicate for whatever reason and the logger has the data in its buffer we can retrieve this data and forward it to the server. The new communicator currently is implemented for E-Sampler, Bams,  E-Bams as well the Airoqual and Campbell Scientific range of equipment.

An online community hub for the suburb of Parktown

Parktown is one of Johannesburg’s oldest suburbs with a rich history of early Johannesburg. Many of the old mansions and homes reflect the heady early gold mining days and the wealth created by the so-called Randlords. The Parktown Association, which looks to preserve the rich history of the suburb as well as ensure a sense of community for residents and businesses within the suburb boundaries, commissioned Netgen to design and develop its new website. The website has a twofold purpose – to act as an information source about the suburb and its rich history but is also a community hub for residents living and businesses operating within the suburb. Netgen has created a website that fulfilled these needs and more. There is an online community notice board to keep residents in touch with news, security updates and events. It also has its own ‘exchange and mart’ – a place where residents can manage their own online ‘garage sales’ and provide services to other members of the Parktown community. The websites backend functionality makes it easy to upload new information so that website stays relevant and update. A perfect solution for a community hub

www.parktownassociation.co.za

Realising a designer’s online vision!

Netgen recently completed the SA Point of Purchase (POPS) website. The website was the vision of their Advertising Agency and Netgen was able to take his design vision and recreate it exactly. Although Netgen has its own very capable in-house design department – we also realise the need to be able to recreate a vision by a designer that does not have web development skills. The Advertising Agency has worked with POPS for many years and was looking to revamp their online presence but wanted a company to interpret the design vision exactly including featuring a gallery and videos of his clients work on the website. Netgen was able to provide this and a new and successful partnership has been born!

Visit the website at www.pops.co.za

Cloud Servers Support

Much has been in the press over the last year or two about putting servers in the cloud and cloud hosting. In reality this has been available for a while but there haven’t always been a lot of options available due to international bandwidth. With the greater introduction of more and more international capacity it has in fact become cheaper to host big cluster servers and cloud servers overseas. Netgen has become partners with a Major European player in the UK who has won numerous awards for their exceptional service and hardware and operating system expertise. Where locally we receive allotments of 100 Gigabytes of traffic on the overseas servers we work with the same pricing but in Terabytes. We are also at will able to within an hour increase CPU numbers and memory or disk space at will. If we find a server needs more speed we are literally within a few hours able to increase RAM and the number of processors we require and need. We have a number of real situations where we have been able to do this with no disruption.

Netgen has invested in a large infrastructure in the cloud and we have been testing around 20-30 services over the last 4 months in the cloud. The cloud offers both greater redundancy as we as cost reductions in a number of areas. We welcome the opportunity to discuss moving any of your new of existing services into the cloud and we will continue over the next few newsletters to bring you further information.