Software to manage customer jobs

[Milo]

Anyone know of (preferably free but not essential if it does the job) software to manage my customers jobs. These are not software jobs though, instead they are manufacturing/printing jobs like business cards, etc. Would prefer to run on my own server (preferable) than 3rd party website. Basic criteria for the software would be:

1)Ability to download files
2)Ability to upload files
3)Visible timeline for job ie maybe a progress bar. Ability to enter delays or on time notes for customer to see
4)Secure area to pass on sensitive data eg credit card info in case of needing to charge more or ftp details
5)Area to view files like a jpeg or pdf

Thanks in advance for any help.
Regards.
Miles

[rfuess]

Try dotproject.net

That is the one I use... It is a free PMS (project management system) you can set up. It is built in PHP. You can create users and set permissions... view grant charts... log daily work.. see percentage completion of tasks.

[Milo]

Thanks rfuess,
I looked at that, but its more software related and too in depth for my cusotmers. I was looking for something a little more simple (ie not as many functions) so not to confuse my customers, as most are not too tech savvy. Thanks for the responce anyway though.
Regards.
Miles

[Web Res]

I'm also looking for a good way for my small team of 3 to work together. One thing we want is to be able to look at tasks and when there is a free moment pick something and close it. These tasks might have been started by someone else, but we need to work it as a team. Also, as I try to get one guy to sell more and another to do more admin, then we have the issues of how to pass on tasks and still be in charge of them so that we know everything is getting done.

We usually work in the same building, so we have been using a networked program called ACT! It helps us manage contacts, activities and communications. I started thinking we might be better off with a web-based application like http://www.toodledo.com that we could integrate to something like a PageFlake or iGoogle desktop via widgets, but in the end it looks like just another silo of information. Unless there was a good export function, we'll probably just end up with more work. So, in reality we'll probably get everything we need from ACT - just need to get back to procedures and determine what we want to share.

ACT has the ability to create activity series, which means that if you get a new customer that buys a website, you could start a series of check list tasks that would start with a single click. If you want to schedule single tasks that's easy as well. You can also track prospects and customers with notes and reminders as well as schedule appointments. You can set up e-mail templates for letters that will take info from the customer record and create personalized e-mails that can be edited as needed. ACT isn't perfect, but so far it has been good for us.

My biggest problem now is just keeping all the contact info centralized so that I don't have to repeat it over and over in multiple systems, which naturally causes problems with data getting out of date.

Maybe programs like Sugar are getting better now and could replace ACT. You also have ones like SalesForce as well. Some get pretty expensive.

[Milo]

I'm going to try and modify a help desk system as there are a few freebies out there and they have most of the requiremens I desire. I can change the name from help desk to customer area, put it on a https (secure) part of my website for sensitive data and I can post and receive files (jpegs and pdf's) through it. Just need to figure out a couple of things like a nice timeline image that changes with the status of the job (eg received, booked in, nearly finished, finished, etc). All the other solutions I've found are software management tools.
Hope this helps anyone trying to do similar.