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Thanks, really, but I don't even know the vocabulary, so that page overwhelms me with jargon.
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I would recommend using the open source version of SugarCRM to start.
Eric
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Totally missed it.
My search for the term SugarCRM led me to some bizarre pay'm site that I closed in five seconds (worried that I picked up yet another malware disaster).
A good link will be welcome.
No clue why Google, Bing, Yahoo, and the entire internet all hate me.
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I do a lot of heavy data work with enterprise CRM systems (Sales Cloud, Oracle CRM OnDemand, etc). My particular job is getting the data in/out of these systems by writing code to synchronize with other systems or sources (external lists, legacy databases, customer-facing web apps, etc.).
If I may be so bold, a couple of suggestions: First, go with a free version. I'm with the guys who suggested SugarCRM. I've never used it professionally, but I played around with it to learn how it compares with the other products I use.
Second, each of your requirements fits well into a normal usage of a CRM system. However, you're going to have to translate your data into the lingo of CRM world for it to fit well. It's not hard, but it's a basic hurdle I had to get over when I started.
This is all general, but it's kinda how CRM systems look at the world. For example:
There are two kinds of "people" according to CRM systems: "Leads" and "Contacts". Contact is someone you have some interaction with (in your case, the business cards...so they would all be contacts), while a Lead is someone that you haven't really met, so far (say, you bought a list of people who might be interested in buying your widgets).
What you are looking at is most likely a Contact record per business card, with added custom attributes for the Contact record (earlobes, initial impression), and Account/Company records that those people are associated with.
Where/when/how did I meet these guys ? --Contact detailWhat does this company do ? --Associated Account recordInto Which category[categories] does this company fit ? --Associated Account recordCompany size --Associated Account recordName, address, phone, E-Mail, website, --Contact detailInitial impression of the place/people/operation/etc. --Custom Contact detailOthers we are working with who are also involved with this/these/them --Related Contact recordHistory of our phone calls, E-mails, Dinners, whatever --"Activity" entryWhether their earlobes are attached or not --Custom Contact Detail
CRM systems are pretty flexible, once you get your brain wrapped around their world view. SugarCRM looks like a good system with all the same capabilities as the big boys, and it will probably handle all your needs without any real cost but your time and the electricity to run it.
vuolsi così colà dove si puote
ciò che si vuole, e più non dimandare
--The answer to Minos and any question of "Why are we doing it this way?"
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THANK YOU !!!
David Days wrote: ... you're going to have to translate your data into the lingo of CRM world ... it's a basic hurdle ...
Consider me to be the TWIT OF THE YEAR[^] at this moment. Forward to about 2:00 in that vid clip and you'll get a good depiction of where I am right now with my current CRM knowledge and the very hurdle you have described.
I can't thank you enough for the elementary vocabulary lesson.
Major help; ultra turbo major big help for sure.
Vocabulary is half the game.
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Glad to help--just talking from (painful) experience.
Other vocabulary mappings (you can use or avoid as you see fit):
"Opportunity": That's a sales opportunity in CRM-speak. Basically, you can use this record to store anything that would be loosely described as a sales process. For example, a sales process  , or a contract with someone, or a project, or an application for something.
"Activity": Something that happened. Activity records are the go-to for "doesn't exactly fit but is associated with other type(s)". Generally, activity records are treated differently based on their individual types: appointments, meetings, phone calls, complaints, etc. CRM coding takes care of how it's presented (based on type).
"Work flow" (or equivalent): CRM systems use a variety of backend magic to allow users to set up internal event-based changes to data. If you think of them as basically database triggers with extra bells and whistles, you're on the right track (some actually are DB triggers). So when someone adds a record, checks a box, etc. you can set up a bunch of crazy stuff to happen (change values, change Oppty sales stage, send an email, etc)
Hopefully that'll get you started, and you'll be able to ignore stuff you don't care about and concentrate on what you want to happen.
Good luck!
vuolsi così colà dove si puote
ciò che si vuole, e più non dimandare
--The answer to Minos and any question of "Why are we doing it this way?"
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We've defined 4 type of "people":
1. Prospects - People in a purchased list or a business card etc.
2. Lead - When we've actually made contact with them.
3. Client - Some who with whom we are doing business.
4. Inactive - Someone we could not reach or is someone not wanting to do business with us.
Depending one's business, I suppose you could expand the list. Although too much granularity would make it a bit unwieldy.
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SugarCRM (Played with, never officially used).
But I have 3 clients who love Act! It is a heavy windows client. (www.act.com)
But it has been around forever, and it works fairly well and is mature.
For me, I would rather pay for stability than deal with installation issues.
I prefer thick clients over web interfaces, and I love things that export to Excel.
HTH
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I played with SugarCRM about a year ago, because "Act!" was such a beast to manage from an IT standpoint. Random template corruption, database file access problems, database backup failures, database restore failures, and poor customer support. Management didn't want to change how they did things, so we "upgraded" to Act! web-based two months ago. Still had the random template corruption two weeks ago.
I wouldn't call buying Act! "paying for stability".
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Alderin,
Thanks for the information, I will keep it in mind.
I have never had to restore the DB other than Moving to another machine.
I did have some initial configuration issues, all of which were firewall type issues.
But once running, I had never had the problems you mention, but admittedly, these were 1-2 person companies.
More users might mean more problems.
For this OP It sounded like he is a one man shop for the time being.
Finally, my experience is a few years old, admittedly. So, as always, buyer beware!
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Found THIS[^] article.
ICANN working for our good again.
- ...Content industry wants "new tools" to umask site owners to sue for infringement...
- ...accuse of copyright and trademark infringement, preferably without a court order...
- ...the antithesis of transparency...
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Too late[^] 
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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Oooops, what do I do now ? Delete my post ?
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Nah, it was just a "tichy" joke. It is not a crime. Not all people look in the insider news.
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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Went on a trip.
Packed a second battery and small daily recharge gizmo for the cellphone
Trip out there, no problem.
Trip back, I heard some sort of announcement about Lithium Ion batteries.
I thought, "No problem; NiMH". Oooops, I lied, it was indeed Lithium Ion.
Arrived home; no battery. Okay, if I broke the rule, they are the authority, they enforce the rule.
Now, a bit too far guys: they also confiscated the charger; no lithium, no ions.
It was one of THESE[^] sorts of things. I'm guessing that the total money lost was about $10, maybe $15. Still, there was no reason to take the charger.
Has this happened to anyone else ?
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"- Bob, I lost the charger of my phone !"
"- Come on, Oliver, that's the third time this month !?"
"- Yeah, well, bad luck I guess, must have dropped it on the band again..." *to himself: it's only $13, but I won't buy another one. Let's check a few bags... *
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Not to me. But it probably depends where you are going to or returning from, your general demeanour, and whoever TSA is or are.
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Not yet, but I would like to mount a camera on my RC heli and go flying at some worthy places like the Grand Canyon. Taking along the heli is not a big deal, but I would also need a few flight batteries. Those would be 5000 mAh 22.2V lithium polymere batteries, weighing only little less than 1kg each. They are even more explosive than lithium ion batteries and are not in a protective case to save the additional weight. The only solution probably to buy the batteries when I arrive and not take them back home. What a waste, those batteries are not really cheap. Just google for '6s 5000 mAh' and you will see some nice prices.
The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a f***ing golf cart.
"I don't know, extraterrestrial?"
"You mean like from space?"
"No, from Canada."
If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.
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If I took my old RC heli they might make more fuss - it used to run on nitro-methanol which was a mixture of methanol plus a few drops of nitroglycerin. This was a few years back of course; around the mid-70s when you could still buy nitroglycerin over the counter.
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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I would not take any fuel with me and simply buy some whereever I go. At least it's less wasteful than buying batteries for a few hundred bucks and then using them only a few times.
The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a f***ing golf cart.
"I don't know, extraterrestrial?"
"You mean like from space?"
"No, from Canada."
If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.
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Oh yeah! There's just nothing like the smell of this stuff mixed with castor oil. Oh for the memories of childhood - with the exception of the clean-up after a flight..
Forogar wrote: it used to run on nitro-methanol which was a mixture of methanol plus a few drops of nitroglycerin.
Not that it matters, though for what it's worth - it's actually nitro-methane and methanol.
You still can buy nitro-methane with relatively little fuss. Even if it is 50 bucks a gallon.
http://www.amazon.com/Torco-RC-100-Nitro-methane-gallon/dp/B00655PVAI[^]
"When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'happy'. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn't understand life." - John Lennon
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