Thanks to everyone that participated in all the user forums so far this year. One of the sessions we went through was about the future of your business management system (simPRO Enterprise and simPRO Fire). We have been working hard on a number of concepts for over a year now. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Announcement’ Category
Under Construction – simPRO 11 – A Sneak Peek
Thursday, July 29th, 2010Xero & simPRO – Official Release
Friday, July 2nd, 2010
The simPRO to Xero and simPRO Digital Pen to Xero integrations have now officially been released!
Although we have numerous clients using both, it has just be officially signed off and published by the Xero team as a tried & true integration.
It was announced by Xero this week in their June 2010 Product Update Newsletter.
They have also made a nice little video, I must admit that the Xero team are excellent at make very succinct videos that give enough info to whet your interest without going too deep into details, something we need to learn from.
If you want more detail on the Xero online accounting and simPRO online estimating, job management and invoicing solutions, please see below:
Xero & simPRO Mobile Digital Pens
If you are looking for an estimation or project management package that gives you flexibility and delivers real productivity benefits then you can’t afford to miss the pairing of simPRO Enterprise and Xero – web based solutions at their best.
simPRO Digital Pen + Xero Online Accounting = The Xero Pen
Monday, March 8th, 2010
We are very excited today to announce the release of our full integration of the simPRO Mobile Digital Pen with the online leader in accounting systems, Xero.
Put simply this new integration from the simPRO Mobile Digital Pen (that we internally nicknamed the Xero Pen) allows field based staff to complete an invoice sheet using a pen and paper and to have that instantly and electronically able to be updated into Xero.
Imagine the small trade service business completing their invoices at the clients site and having that invoice instantly available for a book keeper to update in Xero. Imagine a catering business delivering to their client and getting a signature on the invoice sheet before it is electronically sent and updated into Xero.
Delays in invoicing, late nights catching up on paper work and double entry of forms is now a thing of the past! Anyone in the business can now complete an invoice and have that available instantly for Xero.
The simPRO Mobile > Xero Digital Pen system works by utilising the Anoto based digital pen & paper technology to create invoice pages (either loose single sheets or duplicate sheets in pads) that are filled in using a digital pen. Once an invoice sheet is completed it is sent via Bluetooth to the users mobile phone and routed through the internet to the web based simPRO Mobile form portal.
In the form portal, the original invoice form is displayed in a PDF format showing all original handwriting and signatures and is also converted into a data file using powerful handwriting recognition software. The form is checked for accuracy and any errors can be fixed and additional items can be added if required. The form is then submitted which archives a copy in the simPRO Mobile form portal and then sends the data file to Xero where it is added in as a draft invoice.
We currently have a generic invoice form available in $, £ and € that is freely available to anyone (although it is designed to fit a service company). We plan to add other generic forms to the system over time.
Of course we can design, build and integrate any customised forms for any type of business. Forms are not just limited to invoices though, they can also be expense claims, asset registering or for any other function within Xero. And because the simPRO Mobile Digital Pen system can also send photos attached to the forms, you might be able to send copies of receipts, suppliers invoices, images of the assets being recorded etc into the simPRO form portal to accompany the forms for faster processing.
Below is a quick video showing the “Xero Pen” in action.
For any details on this, please call us:
UK & Europe – +44 2033 970 086
Australia & New Zealand – +61 7 3272 9366
And Now, The Google Tablet
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
Coming hot off the heels of the Apple iPad, we now have another serious contender in portable computing in the form of Google giving us their take on the tablet computer.
Using a sleek, ultra thin touch screen and running on the light weight Chrome OS, this device should really be a great thin client/web based computer.
Although there are no real specs about it yet, you will have to assume that they will go down the opposite path of Apple, meaning that it will be an open platform, will have the ability to multi task, will probably even have a USB port! Hopefully it will ship with 3G from day one.
Some of the specs that have been leaked recently say that it:
will sport a 10.1-inch TFT HD-ready multi-touch display, and would come with 64GB SSD, 2GB RAM and other bells and whistles such as WiFi, 3G, Bluetooth, Ethernet port, USB ports, webcam, 3.5mm audio jack, multi-card reader, etc.
This would be a better device than the iPad for those of us in simPRO as our whole business is web based and for e-mail, calendar, documents & chat we use Google Apps Premier – so I would make the bold assumption that they will be perfectly integrated as part of the entire system, bringing the hardware and software together in a perfect little Google ecosystem. Plus the benefit of an Ethernet port means that you patch into a network when Wifi & 3G are not available. If they add in an HDMI port as well, then it will be a ripper as it could be used for presentations etc.
We look forward to finding out more about the spec, pricing & shipping times and will keep you updated as we know more. But being a web based system, it is pretty safe to say that it would support all the simPRO systems – even the signature capture is quite likely as Google (unlike Apple) still support Flash.
See more about the Google Tablet and pictures here.
Does simPRO Run on the Apple iPad? It Sure Does!
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
iPad Views
With all the excitement over the past week about the launch of the Apple iPad we have been getting people asking us – “does simPRO work on the iPad?”
First of all, if you have been asleep for the past week, the iPad is the new tablet computer release from Apple. It has sparked a lot of renewed interest in the tablet computer that has been available in various guises for many many years.
The tablet never really took off except for a few specialised industrial uses (simPRO has been available on most of the devices often called Ultra Mobile PCs for a few years).
The iPad has sparked this renewed interest in this computer format for a number of reason:
1) It is Apple and they put their brand reputation into it and let the Apple FanBoys whip up uber excitement across the web.
2) Since it is Apple you are pretty sure that it will look good and it will work.
3) It is actually a fraction of the cost of standard Windows based UMPCs & tablets.
4) Netbooks have been around for awhile and people are open to the smaller form factor that is mostly designed to be a web browsing (thin client) style product, not an all singing all dancing power computer.
5) As it is built on the iPhone OS, it will be supporting all the existing (squillions) of apps for the iPhone.
So – where does it fit in with simPRO systems. It fits in very well actually. Considering that it is effectively a stylish touch screen portable web browser, the iPad is a perfect fit for the simPRO user.
simPRO Appoints TLP Technology as Hardware Partner
Friday, November 20th, 2009simPRO is proud to announce that they have appointed TLP Technology to become their UK partner in providing hardware and hardware related technical support for the simPRO Enterprise software system.
Absolutely agree. Empower the field worker to focus on their core responsibilities AND support the streamlining of back-end operations toward analysi
I like how straight forward the process is.
Sounds like a good idea but how is that better than just getting a pda solution for guys?
Great article. There's a lot of good information here, though I did want to let you know something - I am running Redhat with the circulating beta of
Looks good - the digital notes can also be transferred straight on the computer, right ?
Hi JDW - yes it would be a great tool for any kind of business that needs to invoice from the road. If any of your clients are contractors or service
Is this real? I need that for my new plumbing company for the lads. But we will use sage for this is there a sage pen?
Interesting - as an accountant I think that would be a great tool to use for busineses of any size that I deal with. Any ideas on when it might be