CommitCRM

[LFITServices]

Underwhelming, disappointed. I see nothing enticing me to upgrade. This should have been a 7.x release.

I assume it is more under the hood in regards to pirating of the software since new registration codes were sent out.

How about a whole redesign of the web interface? Some eye candy would be nice. It is 2014....

What about a new mail connector that doesn't rely on an Outlook client? Why not hook directly to Exchange?

So many things I could ramble on about but I will stop.

[Support Team]

Re: RangerMSP 8.0

RangerMSP 8 includes tons of new features an options. The list can be found here.

Naturally all of the new features and enhancements are a direct result of the direct feedback that we receive from our users.

The feedback about this new RangerMSP 8 has so far been really great! This does not mean that we don't have other items on our to-do list, we actually have, tons of them!

In regards to the specific items that you mentioned:

The Email Connector module does not require Outlook. I suspect that you refer to the option of emailing from RangerMSP client application - for that Outlook is indeed required. At this time we do not have plans to develop a full email client like Outlook but rather to integrate with it. The idea here is that we don't want to spend resources on developing an email client inside RangerMSP but rather spend these resources on other, more dedicated features, and in the same time integrate with Outlook for emailing directly from RangerMSP.

Web interface redesign - we're mostly with you on this and plan to approach it. Other people has suggested that as well.

Thanks for your feedback and we hope that you will nonetheless find version 8 useful.

[hayden]

Re: CommitCRM 8.0

I have to agree with the poster.

After 8 months, this is a pretty lack lustre release. I can't see how it's a 8x release, since there is nothing major. It should have been 7x.

Considering we are one of your longest customers, and you haven't felt the need to consult us, to say the least, is disappointing.

However, instead of writing it out here, I think I will send you an email.

[raymond]

Re: CommitCRM 8.0

We will certainly upgrade but the enhancements list is disappointing to say the least.

To-Do Lists sound useful but it really depends on how they have been implemented. My big question here is why wouldn't we just fix the Tasks module instead -- now we have To-Do's and Tasks... in the working world, tasks and to-do's are the same thing! This is very (very) confusing!

Report Scheduler sounds like a positive add but I'm curious if it's actually going to work with filters (seeing as we can't save reports with custom set filters). If we can't set the custom filters, then this is completely useless... will check and report back.

Structured Notes... well this sounds interesting and it's my guess that this is the answer to the requests to add the desperately needed additional fields in Contacts however (and I haven't loaded and checked yet so I will reserve judgment on this), my guess is that these do not show up in table views (and can't be sorted), can't be searched and reports can't be created on them, which absolutely makes this useless for any real work... again, we will load it up and report back.

Tab Management might be very useful in that we can now order the tabs which should make finding things much easier.

Other than that, this is a great disappointment... there are basically zero updates that address ANY of the major requests made by the folks on the forum. This boggles my mind.

//ray

[raymond]

Re: CommitCRM 8.0

BTY, what LFITServices (and absolutely everyone else!) is talking about with Exchange integration is sync. We are now on v8... it is absolutely ridiculous that we have to open Outlook to get things to sync. Simply ridiculous.

//ray

[LFITServices]

Re: CommitCRM 8.0

Exactly Ray..but they already know that...how could they not????

[Aveyotech]

Re: CommitCRM 8.0

Came here for this. I concur that this release, as well as numerous others have nothing i have requested for the last 6 years.

Maybe its time to finally bite the bullet and spend 10k on a system that actually offers what i need to run my business!

[raymond]

Re: CommitCRM 8.0

Just some quick notes and observations (problems/bugs):

Installation
• Not sure if others are experiencing this but don't freak out if you get "not responding" windows for long periods of time! This is the second upgrade in the last year where we have looked at these seemingly hung install windows for 10 minutes at a time (one at the beginning and one at the end) -- do NOT kill the process… it's working on something. Commit has to fix this issue before someone completely kills their app or data.

Also, be sure to stop the web and server services (and RMM if you have it) but not the advanced database service -- they don't tell you this in the upgrade instructions but that's what you need to do. Also, look at open files on the server and make sure all clients have released all files in the CommitCRM share. Again, Commit should be telling us this instead of me posting it in a forum.

To-Do's
I know some of our techs are going to love this feature but it's really confusing when we have to-do's and tasks. Would love to hear how CommitCRM is defining these. BTW, the task features are so broken, we don't use them at all.
• When marking a to-do item as completed, it does not get registered as a history item -- it should!
• Hitting the "Charge All" button should resort the order so that the first item completed is at the top of the charge.

Report Scheduler
• Is not included… is an optional module! I can't believe this is even listed as a (the second at that!) feature in the upgrade if it's not included?

Web Interface
• Something about "lipstick on a pig"…

Structured Notes
• Bug: something is not working with the no/yes list. I created a test template, modified the list from "no/yes" to "1, 2, 3, 4, 5" which worked for the first template. I then changed the list back to "no/yes" however all new applied templates still show "1, 2, 3, 4, 5". I've modified this list numerous times and none of the new values will apply (it always lists "1, 2, 3, 4, 5"). I've deleted all templates/structured notes and started from scratch and the problem remains.
• It appears there is only one "no/yes" list for the entire system. Whenever this is edited, it affects the entire system.
• Can't search items…
• There is no way to add these fields to the table list for sorting.
• No way to modify an applied template after the fact and have apply across the board (if you want to add a field for instance, you must hit each and every object and update manually).

Tab Management
• Well done -- being able to sort tabs is a great help!

Default Ticket Labels for Contact
• I can see this being useful.

Truncate Ticket Description
• Minor but very nice!


//ray

[nattivillin]

Re: CommitCRM 8.0

1) As usual they tell us this is the result from user feedback. We never see such feedback. They say they get email requests from users who don't use the forums.

2) They never let us know what they are working on. We dont get to direct theses R&D resources.

3) For most things asking for in the forums they just say *noted*

As I suggested before, a simple fix would be to let people vote on features. Tell that (supposed) plethora of users who email in suggests to go vote for them instead.

Then it would be transparent and we would all see what everyone wants. Implementing a voting system in 2014 cant be hard, almost every website can take polls.

[northwestmsp]

Re: CommitCRM 8.0

Jumping on the bandwagon, still on version 6 with one company and version 7 with another division. Nothing in "8" does anything for us. Add Exchange native sync, responsive web interface and highly customized customer portal then we're in business.

[northwestmsp]

Re: CommitCRM 8.0

Oh yeah... and start listening to your active community and customers who are using this in the real world and you'll find yourself with a much better project.

[skifast]

Re: CommitCRM

We're a Google Apps shop and would prefer sync to Google Apps vs Exchange - similarly though, it really is annoying to have to use Outlook with the connector to get things syncing.

I think the only way CommitCRM can save face is to make a public means for voting features whereby Forum members are allowed to vote once they are confirmed owners of the product and the resulting list is public. I get the feeling some of the things community members are asking are outside the knowledgebase of the developers and thus we're not getting the features being requested.

Out of the v8 change list, I can't imagine any of the features were at the top tally-wise for votes. Most of these features came out of left field and I think most users would say these features could wait in favor of any number of other features. I get the impression CommitCRM doesn't really track votes and anyone who has been around the Forums for a while would likely say they've never heard of half of the new features being asked by customers but couldn't count the number of requests for a Google Apps or Office 365 sync.

I've said it once and I'll say it again, I'd gladly pay a little more on my renewal to have requested features implemented (direct Google Apps/Office 365 sync, deeper RMM integration, mileage tracking, secure password storage, modern web portal, etc) instead of features that are superficial.

[Stanley Ng]

Re: CommitCRM

My feature request is similar to "skifast" mentioned..

[Support Team]

Re: RangerMSP

Thanks to everyone! We love your feedback even when it is not always music to our ears. You care and we highly and truly appreciate that.

Features you ask for are features you need and we're never ever going to argue that.

It's our role to juggle between the numerous amount of great feedback we receive through all channels and decide what to implement.

The #1 prioritization factor of new features to implement is customer feedback.

Version 8 is no exception.

While we receive the vast majority of requests by email, the forum is a great resource too.

Trying to lower the flames here a little, we complied a forum reference regarding v8.
We ran a quick and not scientific forum search and found the following requests for features that we have implemented in version 8:

To-do Lists - New in Version 8 (checklists)
This forum thread.

Report Scheduler - New in Version 8 (automated reports)
This forum thread and also this one.

Set Contacts as Default Email Recipients - New in Version 8
This forum thread.

Tab Management - New in Version 8
This forum thread, this one and this one too.

File Uploads by Customers - New in Version 8
This forum thread.

Truncate Ticket Description - New in Version 8
This forum thread.

Default status for the Purchased From Us - New in Version 8
This forum thread.

Etc. Etc.

We know, the forums also list other requests that have not been implemented yet. We appreciate these and have everything on file.

We love your feedback, appreciate it and understand the frustration that some features haven't yet made it into the system. With plenty of users and a numerous number of requests it is hard to satisfy everyone, rest assure that we're trying and definitely listening.

Thanks!

[skifast]

Re: CommitCRM

I know Support reads everything and they're great on the forums. The feedback they receiving is meant to be constructive criticism because we care - not to tarnish your product.

It's not to say that the items introduced in v8 aren't helpful or not worthy of being in the product - I am sure people will use them. At least I will likely use several of them. However, I think most of us view these features as minor compared other requested features. My top vote is still for a direct sync with Google and I think a look at your votes would show the same:

Report Scheduler Requests
Counted Total: 12
Users Counted: always4225, chumbert, nattivillin, Coalescent, JoshuaB, jtfinley, ebuhrendorf, innervis, racassel, linkupco, lpopjoy, rmkc512

Sources:
here
here
here

To-do Lists (checklists)
Counted Total: 4
Users Counted: lbrickpe, Mister-c, YourIT, FunctionOne

Sources:
here
here

-- Compared with --

Google Apps
Counted Total: 24
Users Counted: skifast, SNECSllc, JuernTech, lassenpc, sudogreg, JoshuaB, belliez, PowerOn, NZCOMMS, clickcomputers, Mister-c, dytechs, YourIT, SkinnerTech, joshie4ever, nattivillin, vermonter, trent73, Federico, retailaid, ccsilex, Bright Future Computers, WTIQuest, asmbit

Sources:
here
here
here
here


In the above, I have been very generous and only counted people who specifically asked for Google Apps integration - not people who say they use Google IMAP, etc. And think of it this way - some of your client base needs things like checklists and to-do lists but every one of them has and uses e-mail and calendars. While Outlook can be made to work, no one is using IMAP/POP accounts in 2014 - especially not IT shops. We push Exchange, Office 365 and Google Apps to clients. This means your entire client base would likely benefit from a central sync for each of these 3 platforms.

And really - maybe you are right, maybe the features you added really were top of the voted list or close to it. But without seeing that data, I can't tell and it makes me feel like the top items are cherry-picked because something I see more (likely because I care more about my feature) isn't in the release.

My fear is that our shop outgrows your product someday because features like these don't exist which is why I try to gently push in a direction that would avoid that. As we grow, not having centralized ability to sync these sorts of items will eventually lead us to have to drop the product, something I don't want to do.

I look forward to v9 - I have my fingers crossed, Commit (I'm just not holding my breath).