Success Stories

A national know airline company based out of Dallas/Ft. Worth asked if AlaMark could meet with them about the possibility of with them prototyping a solution that would help them manage runway backups.

The issue is the extended wait times for planes to be able to take off. It’s an issue for both the passengers and airline staff. Wait times in the past have taken several hours of waiting on the tarmac to take off

Our first meeting was with the management team where they shared the various issues and explained how the scheduling of the take-off times are made. We then moved to meet with the IT team to discuss how we might create the business rules necessary to build a solution that would rate each plane and it’s ability to be moved to a different runway to reduce the back log. Some if the items to consider were the Planes size, engine type, crew, fuel, are they regional flights, etc.

After the meeting it was determined that AlaMark understood the issues at hand and would be able to contribute the necessary FileMaker experience to work on this project. For the following 3 weeks we worked to build a solution that met their needs. Giving them a process to that would determine which planes met the criteria to be moved to a different runway to lessen the backup they were experiencing. Now at the beginning of each day they send an auto generated email to the flight scheduling team to recommend which flights can be moved if a backlog is created.

When we finished that project, the project manager extended our contract to help design other FileMaker solutions that would give them a more efficient process to handle their workload.

If you have ever been the victim of ransom ware, you know how very frustrating it is and how helpless you feel. A prominent construction company was such a victim.

They contacted AlaMark to discuss how we might be able to help them to avoid that happening again and if we could also build them a solution to manage their workflow.

We discussed the FileMaker platform as a solution to help them from being a victim in the future by building a solution with FileMaker Pro Advanced and using FileMaker server along with a 64 bit SSL encryption product. That way the data is secure within the FileMaker server, also the data transferred back and forth is encrypted as well. FileMaker also has a very robust security engine where you can design various security groups to see only what they want them to see or do, all the way down to field level.

They decided to move forward with FileMaker and we had a discovery meeting to work through all the workflow items and needs they need to have as a part of the solution. After several months of designing the solution and hosting it on our Alamark server, they now have a very secure system that meets their needs of today and well into the future.

We are currently in the discovery process to start another solution they need.

A major cancer research company did not have any type of HIPAA compliance on its FileMaker Pro solutions throughout its organization. Each department that utilizes FileMaker has its own development methodologies and requirements.

They needed to have a way to become HIPPA compliant with all their current and future solutions. What they didn’t want to have to do was to build in HIPPA compliance in each solution, knowing that it would be a lengthy and costly process.

They asked Alamark to come in and see if there was a way to meet the HIPPA requirements for auditing without having to create modules in each of its many solutions. After the Discovery process Alamark was able to define the specific needs and proposed a method of integrating the required auditing features for all their solutions.

Alamark proposed a stand-alone Auditing Framework solution where they would be able to capture all the data changes from each of their solutions, current and future. By simply adding a couple of fields and a short script to each solution, the framework solution would capture all the changes as required to meet the compliance standards.

Once the Framework solution was completed it only took the organization a week to integrate all their current solutions (Over 20 solutions).

Alamark using the FileMaker Platform was able to give this company the tools and training it needed to be able to meet their business need.

A Commercial Real Estate company had a need to transition from a paper and Excel based management of their projects and customers to a more feature rich database environment.

The company did a review of their current processes and determined that they were either misplacing, looking at old data, or simply losing their information, affecting a loss of up to 15% of possible revenue.

They needed a way to manage their Properties, Brokerage info, Investment Roll, and Market Data areas. To manage those areas the solution had to have available to them the following reports for managing and tracking their properties and clients. Building Spec Sheet, Call Log Template, Investment Rent Roll, Market Availability List, and Prospect Report, and more.

Alamark worked closely with the company to identify their needs and identifying the pain points. After the discovery Alamark wrote a Statement of Work proposal that took all the details of the findings and proposed a database solution based on the FileMaker Platform.

This solution allowed the business to consolidate all their data for the various business areas so that there is only one place to go to manage their work. It also gave them the ability to have everyone in the solution at the same time. Giving them the ability to see the most current and accurate data for the client or property that they needed.

A large portion of the staff works from outside of the office requiring a way for them to access the information in the database while outside of the office. Alamark not only included interfaces for managing their work on a computer in their offices, but also gave the client the ability to use their tablets and smart phones. This gave the staff real time updating of the database as well as getting any updates in the field.

The company has now realized their goal of managing the business with a solution where they can update, add, & report on all their business activity in one place, where everyone has access when they need it.

A major Dallas/Ft. Worth area service company was reaching their limits attempting to manage their workflow, billing and staff using traditional paper and spreadsheets.

After trying several database solutions from a wide variety of vendors, they found themselves dissatisfied with the lack of flexibility of the products and the need to shift their business model to fit the solution instead of the other way around.

After discussing their unique needs with Alamark, an all-encompassing business management solution was designed. The criteria for this solution were formidable. What was needed was a way to manage customers, work sites, scheduled inspections, service and new system installations. Further, the performance of the sales staff, efficiency of the service teams and infrastructure management such as inventory control, billing and fleet management were necessary.

What has emerged is a total business management package that handles customer inspection and service scheduling of fire sprinkler and alarm systems, extinguishers and even security and CCTV systems. The solution allows inspections to be custom created in official state required formats. These inspections can be stored and recalled as needed. Each of them are conducted in the field using iPads and then the results automatically compiled, graphed and formatted for presentation to the customer as a slick, professional PDF document. Correspondence with customers are also created and emailed within the solution as well as inter-office messaging and employee task scheduling.

The system provides a rich accounting sub-system handling purchasing, invoicing and billing which includes full integration with their in-house accounting software. Employee tracking, time reporting, licensing and payroll is provided. Extensive control over inventory movement, utilization and restocking has been addressed including direct import for inventory restocking and direct ordering export to their largest vendors. Their entire truck fleet is managed and monitored with tracking of maintenance, repair and per-truck and fleet-wide cost analysis.

One of the customer’s primary concerns was the ability to manage his business through the application. In response, extensive sales performance tracking, costing and profit analysis dashboards have been created using charting and report generation so there is always a clear view into all aspects of the business.

Seeing this project as a “living” entity, the customer frequently requests the adding of new features and the refocusing of current modules to continue to grow and refine the solution.

Alamark works closely with the customer to make sure the full vision of this system is realized and thus maximizing its resale potential.

A Law firm was using an older system for storing documents did not integrate with the client and case management data directly. Their current system had become inefficient, requiring the data to be entered at least twice.

The system did work but was fragmented and not database driven. The Law firm needed a central database system to manage clients, case data, and documents as well as having templates for generating documents automatically. They also wanted the ability to use tablet devises (iPads) and smart phones (iPhones) when working in the field, away from the office. The final requirements were having the ability to have their calendar events / appointments synch with their Outlook calendars.

After a Discovery process with Alamark it was decided the CaseDirectorPro (CDPro), AlaMark’s retail solution for law firm case management would be best for this situation.

CDPro is built around three core modules, Contact, Cases, and a Calendar. Several supporting modules dedicated to specific areas of database function can also be included.

The modules are all link to each other. For example, looking at a client’s case in the Case module, with one click the user can be taken to the client’s personal record in the Contact module, then in one click to the client’s upcoming hearings in the Calendar module, and then again in one click to a different client’s case back in the Case module. Although each module is separate, their links provide rapid navigation between modules

Using the base version of CDPro, Alamark developers added the capability to manage all their documentation regarding a client and case. Creating a process where each document is tied to the client and case. Also Alamark developers added features to synch the internal CDPro calendar with their Outlook calendars.

CaseDirectorPro is a relational database solution that can be modified to meet the specific needs of the client. Additional modules for such areas as finance and synching calendars are available.

Custom modules can also be added to the CDPro solution based on your needs.

AlaMark was approached by a prospective customer in the Oil & Gas support industry that was having trouble tracking their equipment and billing their customers.

The request was for a Field Ticketing solution.

It quickly became apparent that appropriate infrastructure would need to be developed. In order to properly bill for equipment an Inventory Management System would have to be developed, and in order to bill for labor a Personnel system, including Time & Attendance as well as expenses would need to be created.

The customer was thrilled with our grasp of the overall project and needs, and with our plans to integrate all these pieces together and awarded us the job. As development progressed our system helped the customer define business policy, practices, and even parts of their employee manual.

Several inefficiencies in the customer’s existing billing methods were uncovered that projected to have the expense of the project pay for itself within months.

The customer now intends to expand their business solution to include more personnel tracking (including security credentials), a full, integrated customer database and appointment system, records keeping and compliance documents, and safety training.