I am glad to present before you the latest iPhone app for Deskera CRM, the perfect solution for your mobile business needs. We have added a whole set of new features to help you manage all customer related activities.

The enhancements are:

• You can now add and view opportunities directly from the iPhone

• Add and View Products on the go. The Products are integrated with Deskera Accounting as well

• Now you can manage addition as well as deletion of records from Contact, Account, Lead, Opportunity and Case modules

• Added capability to view and add Notes in Account, Contact, Lead, Opportunity, Case & Product modules

You may download the new iPhone app directly from Apple Store: search for iDeskera.

Keep watching this space for our soon to be released iPad App for Deskera CRM. To know more about us, please visit Deskera Open Source.

Here are a few screenshots from the new release.

We provide various points of integration between our applications. Here is another example of the tight integration that exists between all Deskera Open Source Apps.

In Deskera Leave & Attendance Manager when an employee, assigned to a task in a project (in Deskera Open Source Project Management), applies for a leave for the day of the task, the system points it out to the employee.

Similarly, when the manager is approving this leave application, the system prompts that there is a task assigned to the employee during the leave period.

Of course, do not forget to check the integration setting in the eLeave administration tab!

To know more about us, please visit Deskera Open Source.

Are you facing problems in meeting project deadlines? Is it because there is no visibility of leaves and resource availability in your project management system? Here is how Deskera Open Source Project Management can help :-

When you are assigning resources to tasks in a Project Plan, the resource drop-down will show some resources in red depending on their availability during the task period.

If you bring the cursor over these red resources, the tool-tip will tell you which days the resource is on leave. This is very helpful during the planning stage.

You can also go ahead and check Deskera Leave management. You will find that when you apply for (or approve) a leave, the system prompts if there is a project task assigned for that duration. Isn’t that neat? Of course, do not forget to check the integration setting in the administration tab!

To know more about us, please visit Deskera.

We are pleased to announce several enhancements to the Deskera platform. These enhancements include a host of new features, many based on the feedback from our open source community.

But before we jump onto that, here is our new video. Check It Out!
Introduction To Deskera

Deskera CRM:

• Hidden columns do not show up under Add Records window. So now you can enter leads into CRM a lot quicker and not worry about additional fields
• The CRM Admin can disable fields so they are not visible to users
• CRM Custom Reports can be filtered by Products
• Resource Planning feature added for faster action on leads and opportunities
• Added “Activity Reports” widget on the CRM dashboard
• Activities can be mapped to roles
• Optimized CRM Contacts module for faster performance

Deskera HRMS:

• Overtime can be recorded in Timesheets
• Implemented Multi-Company hierarchy in HRMS
• Custom columns can be added for multi-company hierarchy
• Added Reports on custom columns

Deskera Project Management:

• Integrated with Deskera eLeave for checking availability of resources (if they are on leave)
• Integrated with Deskera eTraining for checking availability of resources (if they have scheduled training)
• Integrated with eClaims (sync Projects that resources worked on)

Deskera Accounting:

• Update on “Net Book Value” under Fixed Asset Report by Categort

Deskera eLeave:

• Implemented Custom Columns
• Integrate with Deskera Project Management to show availability of resources
• Integrate with Deskera Project Management to show alert if tasks are assigned on days that leave is applied for
• Email notification to HR when leave is applied
• Calendar status (from ICS) visible (Approved, Pending Rejected)
• Multiple company restriction added

Deskera eClaims:

• Multi-level hierarchy added for Claims Approval Process
• Projects created in Deskera Project Management are visible in Deskera eClaims
• Announcements feature enhanced to include start and end date
• Added From and To dates to Reports and Claims

Deskera eTraining:

• Training and Holiday Calendars updated. Now they sync with Project Management to show availability of resources before task assignment
• Optimized  ”Training Structure” for faster performance

To try out Deskera, and these awesome new features, you can always head to our Demo site. We hope that you enjoy these new features and do not forget to share your feedback with us. A huge thanks to our Open Source Community for playing an active part in these developments.

To know more about us, please visit Deskera. If you want to join our Open Source Community, please visit http://www.reddit.com/r/deskera

TechVenture 2012, the biggest tech conference in Singapore, ended on Oct 18th. This edition of TechVenture was a special one though with Deskera Open Source stealing the show.

The three day event began with a welcome message from Mr. Teo Chee Hean, Deputy Prime Minister, Singapore. Over the course of the event, Deskera participated in various activities and Shashank Dixit, our CEO, was among the speakers (which included Eduardo Saverin) called upon to share their views on corporate innovation, entrepreneurship and technology with focus on Asia.

The Deskera Open Source concept generated a lot of interest among the participants and visitors, and the uniqueness of our integrated, open source, enterprise offering won us many admirers. The unique concept, they said, makes it possible for smaller companies to compete with the bigger organizations on executing process driven operations.

We would like to round off this post with a big Thank You to TechVenture 2012 and its organizers, and to all the participants for their insights and encouraging feedback.

To know more about us, please visit Deskera.

You may have read about the release of Deskera Mobile Apps in an earlier post. Well, here we are with the screenshots of the apps on Android.

Please click on the thumbnails below to view larger images.

Deskera CRM for Android:

Deskera Project Management for Android:

Deskera eLeave for Android:

You may view the iOS screenshots here.

To know more about us, please visit Deskera.

You may have read about the release of Deskera Mobile Apps in an earlier post. Well, here we are with the screenshots of the apps on iOS.

Please click on the thumbnails below to view larger images.

iDeskera CRMS (Deskera CRM for iOS):

iDeskera PM (Deskera PM for iOS):

iDeskera Portal (Deskera Portal for iOS):

You may view the screenshots for Android here.

To know more about us, please visit Deskera.

You are travelling and you urgently need to get an update on the current project your team is working on, or you are at a client site and need to view their previous transactions with your firm, or a team-member applies for an emergency leave that needs to be approved. Sounds familiar?

Now you can do all of the above, and more, with Deskera mobile apps. Your favorite applications like Project Management, CRM and Leave & Attendance Manager are now available on Android and iOS. So all you need is your tablet, or smartphone, and you are always on top of everything.

For Android:

Go to Google Play on your mobile device and search for Deskera, or use one of the following links:

• Deskera Project Management
• Deskera CRM
• Deskera Leave & Attendance Manager

For iOS:

Search for the following within iTunes App Store.

• iDeskera CRMS
• iDeskera PM
• iDeskera Portal

You may view the screenshots for Android here & for iOS here.

To know more about us, please visit Deskera.

We are pleased to announce that your favorite Deskera Apps are now integrated with Twitter. You can stay connected with your incoming messages from Twitter without having to leave Deskera.

Imagine a prospect is tweeting about your product or company. As soon as the tweet goes on the web, you would be able to see it in Deskera. Moreover, any twitter id could be followed via Deskera — so you could follow anyone — an important customer, a prospect, or a critic.

This is the kind of functionality that may lead to new customers and/or tackle customer grievances at an early stage.

Setting up your account to show twitter feeds is simple:

• Go to My Accounts

• Provide Twitter ID
• Save

Deskera would fetch all twitter updates related to the specified twitter id and display it under “My Feeds”.

Go ahead and give it a shot. To know more about us and the power of web based enterprise solutions, please visit Deskera.

Deskera Apps is leading the way when it comes to collaboration tools in the web based enterprise applications field. The latest release builds on the social & collaboration theme and has further strengthened Deskera’s offering.

The product now boasts of the following features following key enhancements in this release, namely:

• Twitter Integration (new)
• Like Button (new)
• Wall Feeds
• Instant Messenger
• Group Management
• Selective Sharing

To know how to integrate Deskera with Twitter, you may go here.

To know more about us, please visit Deskera.

We are glad to share with you the latest release of Deskera Accounting. This new release was focused around the mantra of integration and adaptability.

We want our users to have complete control over their data and they should be able to choose how to use it. The new enhancements reflect this philosophy by now giving users more options to choose how they want to manage their data. e.g. export options made available for various reports and accounting statements like:

• Cash Flow Statement
• Sales by Item Summary
• Sales by Item Report
• Cost Center Summary Report
• Purchase Tax Report
• Sales Tax Report

All the above can now be exported to PDF or CSV formats or you could print them directly from the application.

In addition to the above, we have added:

• Bank and Cash Payment Functionality for fixed assets
• Functionality for direct removal of assets from business

To know more, please visit Deskera.

A major challenge that any organization faces is integration of the various collaboration tools (instant messenger, chat, email etc.) with the various enterprise applications (crm, project management, HRMS etc.). A side-effect of fast growth is often reliance on disjointed systems that do not talk to each other. Research shows that this becomes a problem once an organization reaches a critical size (usually >50). Collaboration and communication are the two things that take a major hit with growth if integrated collaboration tools are not available to the workforce.

With the new enhancements to Deskera Apps in the February release though, these issues would cease to exist. The collaboration tools that are now going to be a part of standard Deskera offering would ensure that IT managers no longer have to worry about integration between collaboration and enterprise tools. Deskera has integrated collaboration tools with enterprise applications in a web based environment to bring to you a most robust enterprise solution. Let us take a look at the new enhancements then, shall we:

• Instant Messenger with one click access
• Wall interface to share, communicate and discuss
• Groups to control communication
• Calendar
• Personalize your profile page
• Easy access to enterprise and collaboration solutions from one interface

To know more, please visit Deskera.

Ensuring that automatic notifications for important tasks go out on time to the respective stakeholders is an absolutely necessary feature for  any project management application. Delays often happen in a project due to human error. There are certain human errors that could be avoided by clever use of auto-notifications by a project manager during the planning stage.

The February release of Project Management by Deskera, among other things, makes the process of setting up and implementing notifications a lot easier for project managers. Let us take a quick look at the new features which are now a part of the project management application:

• Updated daily notifications to include overdue tasks as per project management timeline. The project manager can decide if these would be automated or require subscription from the team-members
• Notifications for overdue tasks can also be sent manually from the project by the project manager. A team member need not necessarily be subscribed for the project manager to request updates
• Now project managers can get daily notifications as well as milestone updates for various projects created within the project management application
• The milestone feature now highlights any overdue milestones

Deskera Project Management has got loads of other existing features (in addition to the ones mentioned above) which make it the best choice for managing all kind of projects and related activities (and it is completely web based). To know more, please visit Deskera.

We saw in this post how a CRM should incorporate lead management capabilities. Since a successful sales-force would convert many leads into accounts, account management is of paramount importance in the sales cycle.  It is accounts that generate revenue for any organisation. The logical next step therefore is to take a look at the account management capabilities that should be an integral part of any CRM.

Accounts are converted leads where business has been closed or an opportunity for business closure exists. Accounts will have details of existing (or prospective) products or services, expected and generated revenue, key contact details and existing opportunities. In addition, all customer cases, queries, complaints etc. should be tagged to the respective accounts and acted upon. It should also allow quick access to relevant documents (if any) associated with the account.

Consequently an effective CRM should have robust Account Management capabilities to help track and manage all accounts along with product, opportunity, activity, contacts and case details. Moreover, a document management system that allows you to upload, tag, store and search relevant documents is essential.

Deskera provides the complete account management solution with its CRM. Key benefits of using an account management through its CRM are:

• Maintain Comprehensive Account Details
• Provide Extensive Account Support and Customer Service
• Add an Activity, Opportunity, Contact or Case to any Account
• Add Documents to any Account
• Easy spreadsheet functionality

Please go through the following short video demonstrating how to use Deskera CRM to manage accounts:

Tracking time of employees on various projects could be a painful task for organizations. If not managed properly, it could lead to anything from widespread confusion to inaccurate financial accounting. Errors in adding time, projects, WBS elements etc. could lead to issues as stated above. In addition, delays could happen if timesheets are not filled or approved on time, or are rejected but not acted on by the employee. Thankfully, Deskera provides, as part of its HRMS , a timesheet software that does away with all the problems.

In our December ‘11 release, new features have been added to timesheets that allow an organization greater control over how time is tracked and provide them more flexibility in setting up timesheets. Let us take a look at these new features in detail-

Configure Projects & Default Durations

Now you can pre-configure job/project details like name, default duration etc. in Master Configuration. Also, an option can be provided to the employees to add/edit job/projects manually from the timesheets. This is useful if a large chunk of employees have similar projects with default duration that need to be tracked.

This can be easily done by going to Master Configuration, selecting Timesheet Job and adding/editing sub-fields there. Please refer to the image for details.

Notifications for Approval/ Rejections

Now immediate notifications would go to the employee upon approval or rejection of  timesheets by the supervisor. This is in addition to the existing alerts for employees to fill timesheets and for supervisors to approve timesheets.

To know more about how to use timesheets for your business, please visit Deskera.