• Facebook-like functionality: The website is easy to navigate because elements of it work like facebook, which most users are familiar with. Classroom and teacher pages are similar to facebook profile pages, and teachers can make posts on pages like a newsfeed. The bonus is that you avoid actually putting your information on facebook, and instead have your own website controlled by you.
• Parent Subscribe: Parents can subscribe to have all posts from their child’s classes sent to their email address so they don’t have to search the sight each day to see if new information is posted.
• Student Log-in: Each student has a log-in. When they click “My Classes” at the top of the page, they see a list of their classes so they don’t have to spend time searching for each class. Also, students can download worksheets and turn in homework for assignments posted to a classroom page.

]]> http://www.fivetechnology.com/blog/2011/12/21/providing-a-communication-link-for-k12-the-delano-school-district-website/feed/ 0 http://www.fivetechnology.com/blog/2011/08/25/custom-web-app-digital-forms-and-signature-capture-for-ipad-or-tablet/ http://www.fivetechnology.com/blog/2011/08/25/custom-web-app-digital-forms-and-signature-capture-for-ipad-or-tablet/#comments Thu, 25 Aug 2011 17:54:05 +0000 Eric Mobley http://www.fivetechnology.com/blog/?p=1133 Read More]]> After launching their website last year, Excel Mechanical contracted Five Technology to streamline their approach to filling out invoicing & billing forms.

Problem

Before the project began, like most companies that do onsite work for their clients, Excel Mechanical had to haul papers with them wherever they went. Not only that but they had several steps to complete the form and send it to the customer or client. The process went something like this: 1) Fill out a paper form 2) Enter data into computer 3) Generate PDF 4) Email to client or customer. You can imagine how much time piles up weekly, monthly, and yearly to complete this process everyday.

Solution

We streamlined their approach by taking their paper forms and creating digital forms fit for their Ipad or tablet. Not only did we digitize their forms but we also created a signature capture field that can capture signatures using a stylus. This allows Excel Mechanical’s team to fill out a form, capture a signature, and then the form automatically generates a PDF version which it sends to the client’s email. Not only that but we built an administration interface utilizing the Site Management Console to view a history of each and every form submitted.

Web Apps are the Future

In the time it took to write this blog post, Five has already completed its second project with this custom web app for another client. We have always had a strong foundation of web design and internet marketing but we also believe the future is to discover new ways to leverage web apps to make time consuming tasks simple.

If you have an idea for a web app, give us a call at 763-972-5933 or visit our contact page.

]]> http://www.fivetechnology.com/blog/2011/08/25/custom-web-app-digital-forms-and-signature-capture-for-ipad-or-tablet/feed/ 3 http://www.fivetechnology.com/blog/2011/07/14/facebook-has-provided-the-blueprint/ http://www.fivetechnology.com/blog/2011/07/14/facebook-has-provided-the-blueprint/#comments Thu, 14 Jul 2011 18:13:39 +0000 Jason Landa http://www.fivetechnology.com/blog/?p=1114 Read More]]> Facebook has put social media on the map, and there’s no sense in debating whether it is here to stay.  I think we can all agree that it’s not going away anytime soon, but what is debatable are the benefits social media marketing and Facebook can offer your business or organization.  For some, the negatives of bringing Facebook into the work day far outweigh the positives, while others are using the medium to effectively communicate to their current and potential customers.   Personal networks are a double edged sword!

I’d like to go outside that box somewhat and discuss a corollary benefit Facebook and other social media platforms have introduced to application designers and developers.   Social media is starting to show-up in the design of custom web applications we build to help business to be more efficient (I.e. CRM, Customer Portals, Project and Task Management, Sales Management, etc.).

When a new technology is introduced, Five Technology will figure out the best way to utilize that technology and make your business more efficient (I.e. profitable).  The mobile phone or tablet PC is the device.  The Cloud is the new storage facility for all your business critical data.  The 3G, 4G, and wireless networks provide the infrastructure and access to this data anywhere at anytime.  And finally, the software developers create apps to make the interaction with this data easy and secure.  Facebook has provided the blueprint for the web developer to accomplish this.

The two things Facebook does extremely well are Communication and Easy.  You post to your wall, and everyone that needs to know about that post (your friends) is notified of a new post.  A comment is made, and all involved (your friends) are automatically invited to the conversation.  An effective communication platform that is easy to use at all levels (i.e. my grandfather has a Facebook account).  Is a post on your Facebook wall really all that different than a task or conversation relevant to a work order?

Facebook makes online communication easy!   If they only offered a “private” or “business” version of their software that could be customized to fit the needs of an organization, but that’s a whole other conversation.  :)

Quick Side Note:  In addition to platform, Facebook is also doing a majority of the training for us.  Change is difficult for any organization, particularly if there is a huge learning curve to this change.  Everybody knows how to use Facebook, so if can design a system that looks and acts just like it, the adoption rate of the new system becomes a whole lot higher.

Five Technology is an online marketing company whose solutions primarily involve some web design, web development, search engine marketing , and a powerful content management system (CMS).   Most solutions address pretty straight forward marketing agendas and don’t require a ton of customization, but there are customers that are doing a lot more online than just marketing.  As a result we are involved with mapping out business processes, and it’s critical we determine the most efficient, secure, yet user friendly way to utilize technology to accomplish the task.

Five has recently implemented this methodology into a project management system as well as a portal that K12 Schools will use to communicate classroom activity with a student’s parents.   Details of these projects will be revealed as they become more mainstream.  I’ve also noticed others have come to the same realization, as I was recently reading an article in Fast Company magazine detailing what Glam Media is doing for their authors.

Facebook, thank you for providing the blueprint for successful online communication!

The site features a custom web design, e-commerce store, wordpress blog and a custom web app.

E-Commerce

The website features a store by which Surviving Mold is sold as well as other books and presentations by Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker. A shopping cart is utilized to easily guide customers from the moment they add an item to their cart until the checkout process is complete. This site has been live for a few months and the results have been impressive.

Web App

The VCS (Visual Contrast Sensitivity) Test is a web app allowing people test for a neurological deficit associated with biotoxin-induced illnesses. It tests the user’s ability to detect visual patterns by taking the test once with each eye while the other is covered. This web app ties in with the e-commerce feature. There are different pricing options based on how many tests you want to take and you can track your results over time. The results can be printed out so you can take it to your physician.

View the site: http://www.survivingmold.com

New Web Design
The old web design for COMPAR was out of date, lacked proper navigation and content structure.  The new web design focused on aligning best web practices with a design that represented their brand today and where they are headed in the future.

Content pages, like their technology solutions page, were enhanced to make the user experience easy and successful.

New Website Features
COMPAR wanted to not only update the web design feel of their website, but they needed to add new functionality to the site.  Five developed a customer portal app that allows their clients to securely log-in to order products online, view account history and other information.

We’re excited about the release of COMPAR’s new website design and custom features.  Not only can we make things look pretty, we make them work better as well.

Visit website: http://www.comparinc.com

A Complete Web Application
Rear Window Media runs their business right from their website.  The back-end is a web application that allows advertisers to manage their ad(s) showing, their ad budget and other campaign details.  This application (screenshot below) is the hub of their client interaction and gives complete control to their advertising clients.

Incredible Tracking
RWM advertisers also get to view detailed maps on just exactly where there ads are showing.  How’s that for tracking?  By integrating Google maps with their web application, an advertiser can see what block in downtown Minneapolis thier ad appeared or what mile market on Interstate 35W.  Real time advertising, real time tracking.

Here is a screenshot of the map tracking report.

Web Design Project Overall
Five completed the front end of the web design and as well for their marketing interface.  This project really shows our ability to handle both the marketing front of a project and the complex web application backend, far past our great CMS features.

This project included:

• Web design
• Search Engine Friendly build
• Custom WordPress blog for RWM news
• Advertiser account & log-in
• Web application management for advertising
• Custom Google maps reporting
• Content management platform (SMC)

If you haven’t yet, visit the site:  http://www.rearwindowmedia.com