Web interface "face lifting"

[robzen]

Web inteface module is quite obsolete, basic simple tables, far from modern web forms. Do you plan, in your roadmap, to renew, both look and functionality, of web interface?

[Support Team]

robzen, Thanks for your feedback.

RangerMSP Web Interface lets employees perform a wide range of actions via the web - add/update service tickets, assets, appointments, tasks, account information, history notes, manage time charges, parts, expenses and much more.
You can also use RangerMSP Web Interface for customers and have your customers add/update service requests, history notes, see scheduled on-site technician visits, their assets, billing information and more.

Yes, new features and options are constantly added. As for the look and feel, I agree that we can make it look nicer and I believe we will, anyway, we currently try to focus more on providing new features and options as a respond to users feedback, and probably only then make work on a nicer look.

BTW, you probably know it already but anyway - you can add you own header and footer for all pages, add you logo, photo, company name etc. (using HTML code).

Doron

[brills]

I agree, I too would like to see a new web based interface.

We're a small shop and are in the field 80% of the time. Clients often see us toggle over to enter information, the site looks OK but the popup to a new screen is akward and the interface is a little clumsy but still useful.

It would be nice to get a site that allowed you stay on one screen while working with a client and working between assets, documents, history etc. I would think a good place for CommitCRM to get ideas would be to look at what Autotask, SalesForce and others are doing. I'd be willing to pay more for this.

[dkawnik]

Brills would you mind telling why you have not looked at Connectwise then? I noticed you are using Zenith Infotech and I am thinking of moving to them from Level Platforms and would like to keep using CommitCRM however Zenith's staff can only enter support tickets directly into our system if we switch to Connectwise.

Have you looked at Connectwise and would you mind sharing your experience/observations about Zenith with me? Dom at websdepot dot com

As I too think CommitCRM could improve the web interface for customers and technicians modules.

[Support Team]

dkawnik - Thanks for the feedback. We plan to integrate with N-Able, Kaseya, Level Platforms and other MSP products our customer use (BTW, can you tell us, by email, why you do not want to continue using Level Platforms).

We have received a few requests to integrate with Zenith and we may do so. I am sure Zenith would like to integrate as well.

Actually, creating new Tickets in RangerMSP based on alerts from MSP systems shouldn't be hard to implement, especially with the new Email-to-Ticket module we will be launching soon (currently in beta). This lets you convert incoming emails to service Tickets inRangerMSP.

I personally do not know Zenith that well, however, if you they are open and offer alerts customizations at the account level it shouldn't take long (I guess 15 minutes or so) to send alerts in the format RangerMSP will parse and create new service Tickets upon. We use standard XML format, even in case they do not use XML but let you customize the alerts formats you should still be able to use it and RangerMSP will know how to parse the incoming email and create new service requests based on the incoming alert.

HTH

Eitan

[Support Team]

dkawnik - as for this thread - I noticed that at the moment you are not using RangerMSP Web Interface for Technicians. We've added many new features and options to it since the last time you tested it so I think you may be quite happy with the features and options already available (a new ones will be released as well). Please contact our support if you want to try this out.

Eitan

[brills]

We have not looked at ConnectWise, because we really like Commit, and don't want a hosted solution with a monthly fee. We believe that CommitCRM is customer oriented and with it's constant prompting for user feedback I believe they'll get where it is we're needing to go.

[dkawnik]

Thanks Eitan, I'll gladly try out the technicians web interface. Don't get me wrong I like Level Platforms but they all have their pros and cons....the only reason I am considering Zenith is the patch management their help desk can do for us along with basic remediation/troubleshooting that would require them to create service tickets and they either do that in their interface or ConnectWise. I don't want to manage 2 service ticket databases. I don't think Zenith will offer enought value for me to move from CommitCRM to ConnectWise as everyone here loves using CommitCRM and we are waiting for the Level Platforms integration with lots of anticipation. Keep up the good work.

[raymond]

Let me say that I really do like the CommitCRM program and I can appreciate that it is still evolving but I feel that I really need to chime in on this web interface discussion... yes it's usable but very clunky and very frustrating! Things I can do in the program take 5 times as long to do via the web interface and will get worse as the size of the database (records) grows.

Simple things like being able to find an open ticket for a particular issue involves: going to accounts, find the correct account (which can be a problem if there are hundreds or thousands of accounts and because the column is labeled "Contact" but lists both contacts AND accounts...), click the account name, find the proper ticket (which is a HUGE task as the number of tickets increases... given that it shows ALL tickets whether they are open, closed, etc. without any way to sort or filter...), finally select the correct ticket then enter your charges... The response might be "go to tickets and look at your open tickets" but what if the ticket is actually registered to another tech OR there are a hundreds of open tickets...

Also, I can't tell you how frustrating it is that the standard toolbars (with all the back/forward, print, stop, refresh, etc. buttons) have been removed! This makes the entire interface 10 times more difficult to use (yes, a back link has been included but this is only 1/10 of the functionality that we need... please leave the web browser alone so we can use all the tools we need...)

Basically, I'm using the web interface at the moment but only when I absolutely have to... I'm not looking forward to the time where have to rely on this as our only way back into the system while in the field. Bottom line is that the web interface needs a SERIOUS overhaul!

thanks for listening!

//ray

[chrisits]

I actually like the web interface. It is very easy to use and covers everything I need while being out of the office. I agree it is does not completely replace the installed client though. I can see how some new features may help and I trust that the guys at CommitCRM will take care of this.

[wsandwith]

I also believe the webinterface needs some help, something i would like to see is the ability to customize the default service forms.

[wsandwith]

Another thing that would be a nice feature is the ability to email a copy of the invoice from the webinterface in case you are notable to print a copy and hand it to the AP person

[protocol1]

We have both the Technicians and the Customer web form - most of our clients don't like to use the Customer web tool - they feel it is too restrictive. Our techs hate using the web tool in the field as it is clunky and they have no option to open attached documents - which we use a lot. It's a shame because I think it could add revalue to the system - just needs to be more user-friendly :o)

[novacomputersolutions]

The two things I would like to see changed are the ability to send 'internal' messages from the web interface as well as actually open documents.

The documents part is HUGE because what's the point in having documentation available within the account, if you can't get it?

[wsandwith]

Yes, the opening of documents is a very huge thing!

[brills]

Hello All,

I too initially thought document access via the web interface was necessary. But having used CommitCRM for over a year now, we've adapted to make the web interface work for us.

One major concern with the web interface, is the inability for dual authentication. We can't have technicians logging into the web interface on rogue PC's where key loggers could be installed.

So we store ZERO passwords/usernames in Commit! Instead for any confidential data; one, the CommitCRM document folders are located on Windows Server 2003 with access granted only to specific users, two, we use Adobe Professional for our forms design so any firewall forms, backup forms and any other form containing potentially confidential data we use Adobe's password security.

How did we adapt: our client assets i.e. servers and PC's we used the notes section for the specific asset to record key features i.e. O/S, Office version, CD drive type, video card, wireless card model, sound card, raid or no raid, raid card. For for firewall assets we record the IP, subnet, gateway, DNS1, DNS2 in the notes section. We use a standard protocol for username/passwords to the firewalls on client sites, so we don't need to record that in the notes section. We create assets for the ISP under each client, we create assets for the mobile phones (Microsoft mobile), we create assets for the GoDaddy certs, assets for domain names, the list goes on and on.

With all that said I still would like a more modern, non-popup, clean web interface. Knowing the CommitCRM team, they've heard us and probably quietly working on this already. CommitCRM is great, they listen to us.

Brian Williams
Advantech NW

[Billy Gareth]

For what it is worth...
We also found the web interface clunky and not as useable as the main interface which was a shame. Technicians just got sick of using it.
We resolved the issue by setting up CommitCRM on a Terminal server and the techs log invia their laptops or at a pinch from a known PC on the client network and do what they need to do. Works a treat.

We have just signed up with Kaseya so will be keen to see the integration.

[Support Team]

Thanks for the additional feedback. In fact, we are about to release some cool enhancements for the web interface in version 4.4 (which should be officially released in a week or two). This includes many features which were requested from our customers, such as document download, instant access to adding new records from anywhere, easy access to recently viewed items, and more.

Stay tuned.

Sherry

[aaspeer]

I am coming from AutoTask to Commit, which is totally web based. I really feel that the CommitCRM web interface should act and look as close to the desktop software as possible. I think the features that the web interface has are nice, but it seems like a totally different application. It doesn’t seem to use any of the same reports or username/password combos that the actual application does and that is frustrating in itself.

I purchased the SQL license from CommitCRM so I can have the ability to access it via our terminal server, but web based is the way to go.

Thanks,

Austin Speer
Onward IT Consultants
www.OnwardITC.com

[Support Team]

Hi Austin,

Thank you for your feedback. The Web Interface is something which constantly evolves and we try to enhance its capabilities with each version we release. The current Web Interface lets customers and employees to view and update almost any piece of information they need. The user interface has been adjusted for the Web and this is why it different form the Windows client program. However, the principals are the same and once one gets the logic and ideas behind the RangerMSP client, it should be quite easy to use the Web-based interface.

Thanks again for the input.

Neta

[lpopejoy]

aaspeer, another Autotask to CommitCRM convert! I thought I was probably the only one. I'll have to say, I've never looked back!

[stsanford]

Hey, hey, I am as well! (well, I'm still trialing)

[lpopejoy]

I think you will love it. Great support, great company. Features... They are getting there! :) You learn to work within its limits.

[aaspeer]

I have to say, after using CommitCRM for a month in production I am quite happy. Despite the recommendations, we edited the web interface login files on the server and now, we dont have to worry about the extra pop-up windows, etc... You just go to login and stay within the same window while working, just like standard applications. :-)

Austin Speer

[lpopejoy]

You did WHAT? lol! I did the same thing myself a few weeks ago. Actually makes it feel much better for some reason...

[aaspeer]

yeah, its more fluid now... I did learn that you have to LOCK the HTML files otherwise when you restart the CommitWEB service, it changes all of the fonts on the pages.

[lpopejoy]

How do you lock them?

[AN-Tech]

Would you mind either posting what changes you made here or emailing them to me directly? I love to see how others are usingCommitCRM.

Thanks in advance

[aaspeer]

you have to right click the HTML files in the directory on the server, then select properties. In the window that comes up, select Read-Only. (Should have said Read-Only in the earlier post, sorry)

Austin

[aaspeer]

ascendnet, email me at austin.speer@onwarditc.com and I will forward you what I have done.

[racassel]

I have been watching CommitCRM since 2008, every year hoping to see something done with the web interface. It is amazing, I know what $1 or $2,000 in programming dollars could buy using overseas developers yet CommitCRM will not invest in their product to make it more modern and functional. Its just javascript and css and add some ajax to make it cool and more valuable. What is the problem here? Why this company does not care it has a 1990's look to it, and can't even filter on assets or search multiple fields or anything.

[hayden]

I must say that we have stopped using the web interface and stopped giving customers access as we find it useless now. Get a few tickets/history notes for a customer and it becomes unusable.

Try finding assets or a history note - nightmare.

[aaspeer]

We definately do not use the web interface anymore. We just RDP into our terminal server to use CommitCRM. It is sad looking back at this thread as something clearly should have been done with the web interface by now.

Austin Speer