Newsletter February 2000
Success following Success
1999 was a very successful year for Ai Solutions; sales were up over 10% with many new and prestigious names added to our customer list. CDM ToolKit™ 2000 was completed to Service Release 3 and widely installed throughout the UK. Our training courses were well attended with new course material for both Basic and Advanced training. New Options were now available with the Permissions and Away From Base modules. We had completed our Maintenance Manual module thanks to input from the Building Centre Trust. Our User Days entered a 6-month cycle for the first time and continued to be well attended. And we moved offices. Yes, this was a very successful year.
January 2000 was outstanding too. Initially because we didn't have the millennium bug (!) but also because it was one of the best trading months we have ever had. This was a really good 5th birthday present for the Company. Thank you customers!
Forms Editor
The Forms Editor is a long awaited addition to the CDM ToolKit™ 2000 to allow users to control the presentation of data on documents. The user can now control both the placement of the data on documents and format that data. This means that users can not only edit the underlying forms delivered as standard in the CDM ToolKit™ 2000, they can also provide their own, bespoke, documents containing data and formatting of their own choice. In essence, users can develop the product to provide their own bespoke reports to their own design, save them as templates and use them. If you would like more information on this Option, please contact us.
HSE Office Addresses
Our list of HSE offices needs updating and we intend to do this in our next service release. The HSE now list their addresses on their web site. We have provided a link to area from the Links page of our own web pages so that you can find it easily and update your records in advance of our release if you want to do so.
Knowledge Base Update
We will be updating the CDM KnowledgeBase soon to accommodate recent revisions to the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations.
FaxMe Service
Having told you of the free facsimile service from www.faxme.co.uk in a recent Newsletter, I have to report that we have been let down recently due to some technical difficulties with the Service Provider. As a result our new fax number is: 01525 850 339.
Bespoke Software Development
One of the really exciting prospects this year is the addition of our new bespoke programming service to meet the needs of those customers who are short of internal programming resources. In addition, we are looking for new development opportunities that combine database management, word-processing, document scanning and storage. We have particular skills in health & safety and risk assessment systems. We are already well into our first project and want to hear from you if you believe we can help you.
Maintenance Manual
The new Maintenance Manual Option was developed with the help of the Building Centre Trust's combined Health & Safety File and Maintenance Manual documentation. The Option is supplied to new customers from this January. Existing customers can purchase this Option as an add-on. Details are on our web or available by phone.
User Forum
Please note that our next User Forum will be held on 31 March 2000 in Milton Keynes.
User Training Courses
We are planning 2 more CDM ToolKit™ 2000 training courses for March in the custom built Training Centre in Milton Keynes:
- Basic CDM ToolKit™ 2000 for beginners
- Advanced CDM ToolKit™ 2000 for more experienced users
These half-day sessions cost £95 (plus VAT) per person. Please call us for details.
Upgrade Pricing
Recent experiences with upgrade pricing have made us aware that a number of customers are unaware that when upgrading from CDM ToolKit™ 3.x we currently give a discount equal to the full price paid for the old license. There are a number of options for different brands with the new product that can make an upgrade very affordable. Please call to discuss these options if you are considering an upgrade.
Communicating with your CDM Partners
Do you have problems communicating with CDM Partners? Is the gathering of information for the health & safety file an issue? Many of our users share this problem and we know that the CDM ToolKit™ 2000 can help all parties to communicate better. We have already contacted a number of our customers requesting the contact names of their Principal Contractors, Architects, Planning Supervisors, Clients and so on. We have undertaken to approach these contacts to see if we can get then interested in our software solutions to improve communications. If you have not already done so, please let us have your contact lists as soon as possible.