Cloud news 22nd April 2012
Zoho Support introduce time-based actions
Zoho Support has been updated with a new feature: time-based actions. These help you to create automatic actions for your support tickets based on rules that you set. For example, you can set Zoho Support to email you if a ticket hasn’t been allocated within a couple of hours, or close a ticket a few days after it has been resolved. This brings it in line with many professional, self-hosted helpdesk applications. Macros have been moved to sit with the other automation options, and Zoho Support now includes spam filtering as an added treat.
Integrated Worklogs added to OneDesk
The latest release of OneDesk comes with Integrated Worklogs, designed to enable instant access to team members’ project data for managers. Decision makers can easily log their work on project related tasks and activities and have access to overviews of the work done in any sharespace. The Integrated Worklogs provide full traceability from assigned authors to costs and resources, and they are exportable for further analysis.
Zoho CRM announce integration with ClickDesk
Click Desk is an online chat tool which allows visitors to your website to instantly chat with you, much like Olark and Zopim. Operators can chat through Google Talk or Skype and the new integration with Zoho CRM means that ClickDesk will automatically retrieve customer details from the account you hold in Zoho CRM. A short command/note option allows you to add notes directly to the account while you are chatting. Furthermore, a transcript of the the entire ClickDesk conversation will also be saved in the notes in Zoho CRM.
Google Drive could dominate online file storage market
Google Drive is expected to be launched in the next week or so, and naturally the rumour mill is in overdrive. Whatever the specs, a cloud storage provision from Google will certainly be a source of worry amongst the competition. Google Drive is a re-brand of a chunk of Google Docs, and it’s taking on a new name to avoid confusion over what can be uploaded. With the new name comes a broader remit and hopefully more third party integration. Google are rumoured to be offering up to 5GB of free storage space, matching the 5GB of free space from Box and easily topping the 2GB from Dropbox.
OneDesk issues and tasks enhancement
Following customer feedback about the difficulties of tracking items across multiple groups, OneDesk have added an update to help make the process easier. Tracking issues from all the sharespaces that you are involved with can now be done in one view. Make sure you have selected the ‘issues/tasks’ option and the ‘all my data view’, and every item you are involved with will be displayed in a list showing which sharespace they belong to.
Cloud payment processor GoCardless trial PayLinks service
Up until now, GoCardless has been a service for techies: a promising cloud payment service, but one that required clients to roll their own applications. Now the company are trialling a user-friendly payment collection interface to a limited number of users in the hope of making their site friendlier and more accessible. It’s easy to see how GoCardless could compete easily with PayPal in the UK if things go well: their fees are low, they’ve already integrated with cloud accounting package Kashflow and are rumoured to be in talks with other applications next.
Connect to contacts on Facebook through Zoho CRM
Another week, another update from Zoho. This time, they’ve improved their Zoho CRM product. The dev team have added Facebook integration, allowing sales staff to access their Facebook contacts through Zoho CRM. Zoho users are able to respond to status updates within the application, and can look up contact information without loading up Facebook in a second window: good news for those who find social networking tools can be a distraction. The new Facebook tools are the second set of social media integrations for Zoho CRM – the first was LinkedIn, and Zoho say more are to follow.
Base CRM allows contact ‘clipping’ from LinkedIn
The second CRM to receive an update this week is Base. The team have launched a new LinkedIn extension for the Chrome browser which allows the automated clipping of contact information from the social network. A one-click interface allows sales teams to quickly harvest leads without manually creating new records. Of course, if you’re an Internet Explorer, Opera or Firefox user, you’ll need to switch your browser to take advantage of the new feature.
Xero launches new integration with TriggerApp
Freelancers who work on complex projects now have a new toolkit to use through Xero. TriggerApp is a project management add-on which helps in the creation of timeslips, invoices and collaborative workspaces. There’s an additional fee to use TriggerApp after the initial trial period, and if you’re interesting in buying, note that the prices are in Australian dollars rather than US currency.
KashFlow to appear at London exhibition
KashFlow have announced that they will be sending a team to the ExCel London Business Startup exhibition. The event is known in the tech industry as an excellent way to network and make new business connections. It is one of the biggest in the UK for new and expanding businesses. ExCel London will take place between the 18th and 18th May 2012, and will include more than 250 seminars from some of the UK’s most experienced entrepreneurs. KashFlow also have a vested interest: they’re sponsoring the event.
Xero delay the planned introduction of auto bank feeds
Xero Personal have been working towards the introduction of automated bank feeds, a feature being slowly rolled out by rivals FreeAgent. Originally planned for May, they cite the rapid growth of the company as the cause of the delay. The next Xero Personal release in May will feature improved user defined sorting rules, and these rules are necessary to prepare for the integration with the platform that will manage the automated bank feeds. The feature is now expected to be delivered by the end of 2012.
RightSignature named in the Cloud Computing Cloud 300 list
RightSignature have recently been named in the Cloud 300 List for 2012, compiled by the Cloud Computing Journal. The list names the top cloud companies that are gaining mind share in the world of cloud computing. Slightly over 300 ‘Innovators, Movers & Shakers” have been named this year. The list also includes a number of RightSignature users as well as some partner companies.
RightSignature announce new integration with Harvest
Harvest is a simple product for tracking project time, productivity and generating invoices, and it’s gaining ground in the cloud market. RightSignature has now been integrated with Harvest to make it simpler get legally binding e-signatures for any contracts, forms and estimates from customers. RightSignature also works with the contacts in Harvest to fill in a customer’s details whilst preparing documents. You can also now send Harvest invoices from within RightSignature.
Docebo software updated
Docebo has been updated to fix a few bugs and introduce a new Grade Book. The Grade Book has been styled and includes a more user-friendly interface and includes new features, allowing you to export more data from their LMS platform. The series of fixes includes the icons on the Training Courses page, uploading and resizing of logos, creating and exporting reports, the upload and visualisation of avatars and the Mozilla play button and more.
Zoho announce another job board integration
Zoho Recruit is now able to integrate with Glassdoor.com. The job site is one of the largest online career communities, and the extension marks yet another enhancement for Recruit. Workers, job seekers, employers and recruiters can share details of over 150,000 companies, including reviews, salaries, ratings and interview information. The integration allows jobs to be posted on the site from directly within the Zoho Recruit interface. The details of any applicant are also captured when they apply for the job opening.
Zoho are continuing to announce regular updates and integrations, and are expected to introduce even more new features in the near future.
RightSignature now integrates with MailChimp
RightSignature have announced a useful new integration with MailChimp, allowing users to use powerful emailing tools alongside sophisticated signature technology. The integration makes it easy for customers to sign forms, contracts or any other document required from a MailChimp mailout. RightSignature also integrates with the MailChimp contacts list to automatically fill in a signer’s name and email address whilst creating a document that requires an e-signature.
Egnyte upgrade their hybrid cloud service
As more and more companies start to trust cloud data storage services, Egnyte have upgraded their hybrid cloud service. The Egnyte hybrid cloud service syncs files between a local cloud and an off-site cloud, a service which has attracted an increasing number of competitors. The upgrade allows user accounts to store more files than before; up to 1 billion files can now be uploaded, with up to 10,000 concurrent users. The service has also been integrated with the NetApp storage appliance.
Zoho launch Zoho Commentbox
Zoho announce the launch of a new feedback management portal, Zoho Commentbox. Now when a user logs in, their details are added to your Zoho CRM’s contacts module. A simple email address can be used to post comments and replies on a forum. The product integrates with Twitter to pull comments about your product into Commentbox and a number of widgets are available to embed Commentbox into your product or website, making it simple for customers to provide feedback. Zoho Commentbox also offers easy migration from other products, making it simple to switch over if you’re already using something else.
New version of Xero Touch approved for iTunes
The latest version of Xero Touch has now been approved for the Apple iTunes app store and is available for download. The latest iOS client has been updated to include a series of new features, including Inventory Items to help simplify the creation of invoices.
Qubity announce two new features
Qubity have added some new features which they hope will help to improve the planning, organisation and monitoring of tasks within the Qubity application. The new features include the ability to synchronise Qubity with iPhone, iPad, Google Android and Outlook calendars. You can now also edit the details of any task with a single click. They have also indicated that they are keen for feedback on the software, so give it a go and get in touch with them if you have any further suggestions.
Zoho Recruit takes integration with Indeed.com to the next level
Yet again, the Zoho dev team have news for us this week. The integration between Zoho Recruit and Indeed.com has been enhanced; users can now sponsor their jobs on the Indeed.com site from within the Zoho Recruit software. Sponsored jobs are highlighted and will appear at the top of a job search list. This helps to increase the exposure of your advertised job.
Indeed.com receives an estimated 60 million unique visitors and processes 1 billion job searches every month, and you only have to pay when your advert is clicked. This can help users to target the right candidate for your job, so it looks like this integration is a particularly useful one for recruiters.
Answerbase undergoes a series of enhancements
The Answerbase product has just been updated to include a number of new enhancements.
The first enables the bulk management of content, which allows you to edit multiple items at the same time. Questions and answer lists can now be uploaded from a CSV file. When a user answers a question, they are now prompted to add categories to the item in order to help streamline questions to the correct expert. Improvements have been made to the Single Sign-on and the documentation around it. Sitemap Verification has also been enhanced, allowing you to add you own meta tags and help integrate with webmaster tools such as those provided by Google or Yahoo.
Finally, the product has also been updated to allow more control over the elements which are displayed on your Answerbase site.
KashFlow urge banks to grant access to financial data for small business
KashFlow have sent an open letter to seven of the top banks in the UK, including HSBC, RBS, Lloyds and Barclays, warning that their failure to provide secure access to financial details for small businesses is harming the economy. They warn that it is slowing down business and putting UK businesses at a disadvantage to overseas competitors. Competitor FreeAgent has recently launched an automatic link with Barclays, allowing customers to pull in bank transactions automatically, on a daily basis.
Zoho launch three new smartphone apps
Zoho have announced the launch of three new smartphone apps: Zoho CRM and Zoho Docs for Android, and Zoho Projects for the iPhone. Each app is now available for download and helps provide access to Zoho related data on-the-go.
Updates and improvements to Xero Touch
A new version of Xero touch has been released and is available to download from the Xero site, although iPhone users may need to wait a few days whilst it goes through the Apple App Store approval process. Amongst the changes to the smartphone app is the introduction of the Inventory Items feature. After uploading your inventory items into Xero, you can now use them to cut down on the amount of data entry that is when entering invoice details and reduce the need to correct any slips when typing. Xero also indicate that there are going to be more updates to the software in the future, so keep your eyes peeled.
Zoho Assist improves connection speeds
The Zoho Assist remote control access product has been updated, and there are some improvements to help speed up the connection to a customer’s computer. At the same time, the remote image quality has been improved and makes the use of the system much quicker and easier, regardless of the operating system you are connecting to. This updates has also been applied to the Mac OS to take into account higher screen resolution and enhanced graphics capability.
AlwaysOn: RightSignature are in OnDemand Top 100 list
RightSignature have been featured in the third annual top 100 private on-demand and SaaS companies list compiled by AlwaysOn. The list names the top emerging internet companies based on their innovation, market potential and stakeholder value, as well as their media buzz. RightSignature is an innovative service which allows documents to be signed using a touchscreen or mouse.
Xero integrates with Procision+ for time tracking
Xero are continuing to expand their product with add-ons. The latest is Procision+, a project management tool that allows Xero to track time and materials and convert that information into invoice data. Like Xero, the company is based in New Zealand but is available through the cloud to clients all over the world.
As you’d expect, there is an additional cost involved if you want to use the service beyond the trial period: Procision+ service plans start at NZ$10 per user per month.
Automatically fire off birthday greetings through Zoho CRM
Next on the ‘integration’ list we have Coconect, the latest new feature to be added to the Zoho suite. The Zoho CRM development team have been busy again, but this time the new integration is more of a ‘nice-to-have’ than a ‘must-have’.
Customers who use Zoho CRM can now pull through client birthdays from Coconect and send messages on special occasions, anniversaries and holidays. This new feature set isn’t likely to be a dealbreaker for most people, but if your clients value the personal touch, Coconect and Zoho will help you to ensure you never miss an opportunity to reconnect with them.
Acer on Apple’s tail with new AcerCloud service
AcerCloud is a new Acer service for Android users, allowing data to be shared across any brand of handset or tablet running Android. The service works in a similar way to iCloud, but an unusual extra is the ability to share documents from a Windows PC in real time. Should the PC be asleep, AcerCloud will wake it; if it’s switched off, you’ll need to physically visit the PC and switch it on before you can share.
Zoho Invoice and Zoho Books now supports PayPal Payflow Pro
Zoho Invoice and Zoho Books have now been updated to support payments through PayPal Payflow Pro. This allows customers to pay online without have to be redirected to another site first. Payflow Pro is able to handle credit card payments and also provides extensive reporting. Zoho still supports regular Paypal as well as Google Checkout and Authorize.net.
Zoho Recruit add Candidate and Client Contact Sync function
Zoho continue to update their products with a new update to the Zoho Recruit software. The new Client and Contact Sync function allows you to track the entire activities of a candidate that is also held in the system as a client, saving time on duplicating info in the two different sections. An additional Merged View is also now available to see both candidate and client contact details on a single screen.
Capsule Mobile Update
Capsule are working hard to make improvements to their mobile phone user interface for their software. A new update to the mobile app has been released and is publicly available. The update has brought the opportunities section to the Capsule mobile app. The Pipeline button on the main menu of the app gives view access to your open opportunities. These will be listed under the notes and emails for individual contacts and tapping on it will reveal more information about the opportunity. Be on the lookout for more updates in the settings section of the app as further changes are expected.
KashFlow slash free trial period
Many of the most popular cloud accountancy packages offer long trial periods in the hope they can entice users to commit accountancy data before asking them to pay. But KashFlow have taken the unusual step of pruning their 60-day trial period back to just 14 days. Why?
KashFlow’s CEO, Duane Jackson, cites a lack of urgency among clients: a tendency to leave trial accounts languishing until new members just forget about them altogether. Duane also points out that many people make a purchasing decision within a few days, and two months is therefore overkill for the vast majority of trial users. Presumably the overall goal is to increase conversions and apply a little pressure to clients who are on the fence.
Mystery of Azure outage solved
The massive outage that took down Microsoft’s Azure platform has been diagnosed, and the cause was deceptively simple: it was a Leap Day bug. The service went down in the early hours of February 29th 2012 because a security certificate was auto-generated which would expire on a non-existant date: February 29th, 2013. As Microsoft systems attempted to automatically reboot themselves to fix the error, the bogus expiry date was duplicated throughout the system, bringing the whole lot crashing down. Anyone affected by the outage should receive compensation from Microsoft in the form of an extension to their service contract.
FreshBooks celebrate 4.5 million users
Cloud accountancy company FreshBooks have announced that they have signed up 4.5 million users to the FreshBooks network. The team made their announcement during their visit to SXSW Interactive in Texas, an off-shoot of the legendary annual SXSW music festival.
Category: News & announcements
About the Author
Claire Broadley is a technical author and SEO copywriter. She reviews cloud applications and SaaS products for Rated Cloud.View Author Profile
