When I first wrote about the new customer dashboard in EstiMate 2011, we got a flurry of requests for more information.

Today I’ve made a video that shows the Customer Dashboard in action for you, and some of the new features that are available with it, such as notes, file attachments, customer metrics, and the merging of customers and their histories.  This overview shows you how this insanely powerful new tool can give you laser-like focus on your work, your customers, and their value to your business.

Have You Heard About EstiMate 2011?

If you don’t know about EstiMate 2011 yet, read the complete announcement here.

Pre-Release Sale Pricing

Read the full announcement here about our massive pre-release sale for EstiMate 2011! You can save 30-50% off EstiMate 2011 from now until October 1, 2010.

Your Feedback Is Welcome

Please leave a comment about new features as we blog about them, and let us know what you like and don’t like about where EstiMate’s new feature set is headed. Our goal is to make EstiMate the most robust pricing and shop management software the sign and graphics industry has ever seen.

The Multi-User Server is the program that allows multiple copies of EstiMate to all connect to the data files on one machine.

Due to the fact that it is an actual Windows program that must be running in the background, someone always has to be logged into that machine for it to be running.  Not only is this a pain for the network administrator, who has to log in and start the server in the morning, but it’s also a security risk because that user has to remain logged in, reducing security to a password-protected screen saver.

With EstiMate 2011 we’ve written a Windows Service version of the server that, once installed, is “always on” and nobody has to be logged in for EstiMate users throughout the  network to connect to it.

This 2 minute video demonstrates the service version of the server.

The Service Version Of The Multi-User Server

Have You Heard About EstiMate 2011?

If you don’t know about EstiMate 2011 yet, read the complete announcement here.

Pre-Release Sale Pricing

Read the full announcement here about our massive pre-release sale for EstiMate 2011! You can save 30-50% off EstiMate 2011 from now until October 1, 2010.

Your Feedback Is Welcome

Please leave a comment about new features as we blog about them, and let us know what you like and don’t like about where EstiMate’s new feature set is headed. Our goal is to make EstiMate the most robust pricing and shop management software the sign and graphics industry has ever seen.

We are very excited to announce the new EstiMate Software Customer Service Channel on GetSatisfaction.com!

For many years we have offered the EstiMate Cafe discussion group as a place for customers and friends to get together and discuss EstiMate support issues, ask how-to questions, and connect with each other.  We’ve tried forum software of all different stripes, and ultimately have found that they are mostly cumbersome to use and don’t really provide the tools we’d like to offer.

Enter Get Satisfaction!

Get Satisfaction does exactly what we believe any company support site should do – it provides a customer-driven support experience that puts the you firmly in control of your support experience.  Check out their Company-Customer Pact for an example of what I am talking about.  These are values I can believe in, and the way I’ve always tried to run EstiMate.

What About The Cafe?

The EstiMate Cafe has officially been archived here.  All the posts are now read-only, and new inquiries should be directed to our Get Satisfaction Channel.

Come On Over And Join In The Conversation!

As I write this post, the only item in our Get Satisfaction Channel is my announcement.  Come on over and help get the community started – I look forward to seeing you there!

We’ve gotten a lot of requests for sorting the drop-down lists by category inside the plugins themselves, and that’s been implemented in EstiMate 2011.

So now, instead of just looking through a huge list of items by name, you can fly down to the proper category and then select the item you are looking for.

Check out this 1.5 minute video to see how it works!

Have You Heard About EstiMate 2011?

If you don’t know about EstiMate 2011 yet, read the complete announcement here.

Pre-Release Sale Pricing

Read the full announcement here about our massive pre-release sale for EstiMate 2011! You can save 30-50% on your first year with EstiMate from now until October 1, 2010.

Your Feedback Is Welcome

Please leave a comment about new features as we blog about them, and let us know what you like and don’t like about where EstiMate’s new feature set is headed. Our goal is to make EstiMate the most robust pricing and shop management software the sign and graphics industry has ever seen.

With EstiMate 2011, the Wide Format Inkjet Plugin is getting some hardcore material waste calculation logic.

When we debuted the Flatbed Digital Printing plugin, one of it’s key features was material waste calculation, taken from art to science.  This is being introduced into the Wide Format Inkjet Plugin with EstiMate 2011.  Watch this 1.5 minute video to learn more!

If you don’t know about EstiMate 2011 yet, read the complete announcement here.

Pre-Release Sale Pricing

Read the full announcement here about our massive pre-release sale for EstiMate 2011! You can save 30-50% on your first year with EstiMate from now until October 1, 2010.

Your Feedback Is Welcome

Please leave a comment about new features as we blog about them, and let us know what you like and don’t like about where EstiMate’s new feature set is headed.  Our goal is to make EstiMate the most robust pricing and shop management software the sign and graphics industry has ever seen.

The new Find Transactions screen in EstiMate 2011 makes it quick and easy to find any existing transactions without having to hunt and peck through your “Open List.”

Watch this 2 1/2 minute video to learn more!

Pre-Release Sale Pricing

Read the full announcement here about our massive pre-release sale for EstiMate 2011! You can save 30-50% on your first year with EstiMate from now until October 1, 2010.

Your Feedback Is Welcome

Please leave a comment about new features as we blog about them, and let us know what you like and don’t like about where EstiMate’s new feature set is headed.  Our goal is to make EstiMate the most robust pricing and shop management software the sign and graphics industry has ever seen.

EstiMate 2011 will be released October 1 – read the full announcement here.

Many folks have been asking us for a complete feature list in addition to the “feature of the day” blogs.

I’ve been struggling with how to present it, because it’s so long, and finally decided the best way would be to break it into “big picture,” “significantly helpful,” and “useful additions” features.  Then, as I write new articles about individual features, I can hyperlink the item in this list over to that new blog entry.  So… keep up with this list and you can learn as we go…

These features represent literally thousands of person-hours of effort, and I’m beyond excited to get them released with EstiMate 2011!

EstiMate 2011 “Big Picture” New Features

The following features really make a difference in the overall scope of EstiMate or how it impacts your work flow.

• A Windows Service version of the Multi-User Server so that the admin does not have to be logged in for the Multi-User Server to run on your network server machine.
• CRM (Customer Relationship Management) in the form of File Attachments (Enterprise level) and Multiple Historical Notes added to individual customer records.
• A Customer Dashboard that integrates all basic customer management into one screen.
• VRM (Vendor Relationship Management) in the form of File Attachments (Enterprise level) and Multiple Historical Notes added to individual vendor records.
• A Vendor Dashboard (Enterprise level) that integrates all basic vendor management into one screen.
• Purchase Orders (Enterprise level) – manage all your purchasing activities in EstiMate.
• Built in support for working days when scheduling jobs (Enterprise level).
• “Discount” line items that affect only the line items above them on an estimate or job.
• Waste material calculations have been added to the Wide Format Inkjet plugin using the same “best-fit nesting” engine as that in the Flatbed Digital Printing plugin.
• The last 10 Estimates, Jobs, and Purchase Orders you have worked on now appear in a speed menu for quick access to your most recent transactions.
• An easy “Find Screen” that lets you search transactions by amount, name, description, number, etc. rather than having to pop up the open list and sort through it.
• An integrated Job Timer (Enterprise level) that allows multiple logged in users to log into a job in the system and track actual work time against expected work time.
• File attachments have been added to individual Jobs and Estimates (Enterprise level) to keep all paperwork for a project in one place.

EstiMate 2011 “Significantly Helpful” New Features

These features make life with EstiMate a LOT easier, but don’t quite make the “big picture” cut (though I guess that’s in the eye of the beholder)!

• Drop-down lists in plugins now have the option to be sorted by category.
• Templates have been added to the “add items” menu for instantaneous access.
• You can now “group” and “ungroup” items on an estimate or job, so you don’t have to think ahead to which items you want in a line item group.
• Individual machines (printers, etc.) can now have a specific hourly rate rather than just using the default production rate.
• You can now set a flag in a customer’s record that causes a notification when selecting them for an estimate or a job – for example, if they have proven themselves to be a bad credit risk.
• There is now an (optional) signature line on the proof page so you can require a customer to sign off on artwork before beginning production.
• The watermark text on proof images is now customizable with your shop’s name, branding statement, or any text you like.
• Proof images have been added to the work order (Enterprise level).
• A “switch user” menu entry has been added to the main screen so that you don’t have to log out and log back in to switch users on a computer.
• Customers can now be assigned a specific salesperson, so that when selecting that customer for a quote the salesperson is automatically assigned to that quote.
• Customers can now be merged.  So, for example, if you create some quotes for a customer, and another user doesn’t realize they are already in the system and creates additional quotes for a new customer record, they can later be merged into one.
• Upcharges can now be a specific dollar amount rather than just a percentage of design or production time.
• Status flags are now available for Estimates and Purchase Orders, not just Jobs.
• Inactive or unused plugins can be hidden from the Quick Quote and Add Item menus.

EstiMate 2011 “Useful Addition” New Features

These features are super cool but don’t really fall into either of the above categories.

• You can filter “jobs only” or “estimates only” in the QuickBooks Link export screen.
• A “status” column has been added to the QuickBooks export screen so you can quickly see what needs to be transferred over.
• If you are logged in as an administrator or a manager, then when a job is profitable the “total” field is green – and when it is not, it’s pink.  This saves you having to look at the hard numbers and tells you at a glance if you’re making a profit.
• Instead of a “blank” entry there is now an entry that says “[No Tax]” in sales tax drop downs.
• The sell rate per square foot has been made visible in all plugins where it makes sense: Vinyl Signs, Thermal Printing, Wide Format Printing, Flatbed Printing, Window Graphics, Sandblasted Signs and Vehicle Wraps.
• The line item group plugin now “unwraps” all the items inside the group onto the Job Manifest report.
• When copying estimates or jobs in the open list, you can now specify whether the new copy should be an estimate or a job.
• Laminates have been added to the thermal printing plugin.
• Numbers in the open list now properly sort in numeric order.
• Overall job discounts now show up in the hard numbers.
• The checkout file extension has been changed to “.eco” so it does not get confused with backup .zip files.
• In the Wide Format plugin, you can now charge for transfer tape regardless of whether you are mounting the print(s).
• The last updated date for all list items has been surfaced so you can see when items were last edited.
• The customer’s shipping address has been added to the work order.
• The customer history report now has subtotals.
• You can select the default status flag for newly created jobs.
• The Transactions By Date report now has smart grouping that allows you to subtotal by salesperson, date, customer, etc.
• The Conversion Report can now be run for a single customer.
• The Conversion Report can be sorted by customer or by salesperson.
• Your account number with your vendor now shows up on the Job Manifest.
• Up/Down buttons have been added to the quantity field on upcharges.
• The open list now retains its settings between sessions when you resize the columns.

Pre-Release Sale Pricing

Read the full announcement here about our massive pre-release sale for EstiMate 2011! You can save 30-50% on your first year with EstiMate from now until October 1, 2010.

Your Feedback Is Welcome

Please leave a comment about new features as we blog about them, and let us know what you like and don’t like about where EstiMate’s new feature set is headed.  Our goal is to make EstiMate the most robust pricing and shop management software the sign and graphics industry has ever seen.

Discount Line Items are a really cool new feature in EstiMate 2011.

With Discount Line Items, you can discount only a portion of an estimate rather than the whole thing.  In previous versions, there was only one discount field (for the whole quote), but EstiMate 2011 adds the ability to fine tune your discounting.  Ken asked the other day about discounting all but shipping on an estimate, so that’s the example I’ll use to show this to you.

As you can see here, the discount line item discounts the line items above it, but not the ones below.

This means that you can flexibly discount some items for your customers, but not others!

I’m Getting Really Excited

I’d just like to say here that I’m getting very, very excited about all these new features in EstiMate 2011.  I’ve worked day and night for months to bring all this together, and it’s really pretty amazing how everything just flows together in EstiMate now.  Counting down the days until release… look for more new feature announcements soon!

Pre-Release Sale Pricing

Read the full announcement here about our massive pre-release sale for EstiMate 2011! You can save 30-50% on your first year with EstiMate from now until October 1, 2010.

Your Feedback Is Welcome

Please leave a comment about new features as we blog about them, and let us know what you like and don’t like about where EstiMate’s new feature set is headed.  Our goal is to make EstiMate the most robust pricing and shop management software the sign and graphics industry has ever seen.

We’ve been getting this as a steady feature request for years – the ability to create purchase orders the same way Estimates and Jobs can be created.

EstiMate 2011 brings this feature to the Enterprise edition!

Once you click the “new purchase order” menu item, you can begin filling out a purchase order just the same way you would create a job or an estimate, with all of the items you purchase in the “add item” menu.

Vendor Details Included

Vendor part numbers are included on the printout, as well as your account number with the vendor.

Easily Add Items To Your Purchase Order

You can just scroll through the add items list, and select any item you purchase from that list.  It will be added to the PO and be ready for faxing or emailing to the vendor.  You can even add blank items and just type in what you are ordering.

Status Flags For Purchase Orders

EstiMate 2011 brings status flags (like the ones available for Jobs in EstiMate 2) to Estimates and Purchase Orders, so you can track their lifecycle.

Using these tools makes it easy to manage your ordering process!

Pre-Release Sale Pricing

Read the full announcement here about our massive pre-release sale for EstiMate 2011! You can save up to 50% on your first year’s subscription.

More Feature Announcements Ahead

Keep your eyes peeled between now and October 1 for detailed blogs about the new features in EstiMate 2011, such as Purchase Orders, Vendor Management, and an integrated Job Timer – just for starters!

Your Feedback Is Welcome

Please leave a comment about new features as we blog about them, and let us know what you like and don’t like about where EstiMate’s new feature set is headed.  Our goal is to make EstiMate the most robust pricing and shop management software the sign and graphics industry has ever seen.