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 | | http://www.crmmanager.net/magazine/news_h23580_centric_crm_releases_open_source_centric_crm_41.html |
Centric CRM announced the release of Centric CRM 4.1, featuring a number of improvements that add both power and productivity to enterprise CRM. Centric CRM 4.1 introduces Action Plans, a new tool that allows a company to quickly establish workflow best practices, as well as expanded support for a total of eleven database systems by far the largest number of any open source CRM product.
Other new features and upgrades in Centric CRM 4.1 include:
- Support for both Geronimo and IBM Websphere Application Server- Community Edition J2EE application servers
- A new Web Content Management System (beta) that users can leverage to build and manage a fully functional external Web site that is seamlessly integrated into their CRM system
- Web 2.0 collaborative capabilities such as discussion forums and project management
- Asterisk for VoIP voice capability, enabling appropriate customer contact personnel to be notified by screen alert whenever an account calls in as well as outbound calling to account contacts at the click of an icon
- Portal access to account information for external customers, allowing customers to access their account details, trouble tickets and project plans via the Web
- Certification on the entire line of IBM hardware and processors up to and including mainframes
- And various performance enhancements making the product faster and more secure than ever
Centric CRM has become a major open source CRM product due to its enterprise-class dependability, its long list of user features, and its exceptionally user-friendly licensing model that is unique even within the open source community. The Centric Public License, a "one version, one license" model, enables the user to freely download the entire system and use it forever, as long as the source code is not redistributed. Developers own any improvements they make. The company also sells an annual maintenance contract to customers wishing professional service and support for Centric CRM.
"Centric CRM 4.1 is well suited for the realities of today's business environment," said Robert Fiveash, founder and co-owner of Brand Fuel. "In addition to its flexible and affordable licensing model, Centric CRM is supported by a strong user community as well as the company itself, which is constantly adding features and capabilities to keep the platform at the forefront of the industry."
Action Plans
Unique to Centric CRM in version 4.1 is its new Action Plans tool that allows users to quickly build, deploy and enforce best practices for specific CRM tasks such as lead management or trouble ticket resolution. Action Plans coordinate many complex, disparate actions involving multiple CRM modules into a single, seamless and user-configured process.
By establishing best practices through Action Plans within Centric CRM, enterprises can not only dramatically reduce employee training time, but also give management visibility into routine workflows.
Database Support
Centric CRM 4.1's support for MySQL, IBM DB2 and Oracle 10g databases is a significant step forward. It brings the total number of supported databases to eleven (others include PostgreSQL, EnterpriseDB, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM Cloudscape, Apache Derby, Interbase, Dafodil and Firebird), giving Centric CRM 4.1 the broadest number of accepted databases of any open source CRM system.
Adding even more value to the platform's database capability is its object-oriented backup and restore function, which allows users to seamlessly backup/restore any Centric CRM 4.1 system from one supported database to any other.
Flexibility
Companies of all sizes in today's business climate require sophisticated CRM capability. With that in mind, Centric CRM was designed from the ground up to be scalable for companies of all sizes. Its Java/J2EE architecture, enterprise-class security, low cost, and open source code makes it the solution of choice for the most rigorous CRM deployments.
16.03.2007, Centric CRM
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