Actinic Interfacing requirement

[bizweb]

Hello people,

We have a client who sells product to existing customers using 4 sales reps. I've spoken to Actinic who tell me there would only be one license required to run Actinic Business on their domain, and also on the 4 salesmens laptops.

The requirement would be to allow the salesmen to use their offline laptop copy to fill up the customers shopping cart. They would visit several customers a day and then to export a bespoke csv file containing the order details to send to head office via e-mail. Head office would use this csv to put the orders through their master copy of Actinic. Head office would then repeat this process for each of the salemens orders. Having completed all the days orders, they would produce a bespoke csv file containing the current stock figures which would be e-mailed to each of the salesmen so they could import and start the next day with up-to-date stock figures.

The online catalog would allow the customers to log-in and make ad-hoc orders at any time between salesmen visits - head office would download these in the normal way each day before producing the bespoke stock level update export.

What do you think, it sounds straightforward to me, but I'm not familiar with Actinics import/export capabilities?

Thanks in anticipation

Alec Moss
Business Webpage Limited

[Mike Hughes]

I haven't used actinic in this way so can't really comment on how easy this would be.

The things I would want to tie down though are:

1. There seems be a lot of 'bespoke' going on here which I read as 'customised'. Who's going to be doing the bespoking?

2. Can actinic import orders from a CSV file? I know it can import product data but importing sales/orders is new to me. This would be key as you wouldn't want head office to have to re-enter the orders.

Mike

[bizweb]

Clarification

Thanks for your response,

I use the word bespoke, because I cannot find such a file export as standard within Actinic, so I assume someone would need to customise the output in some way. The use of the file(s) would be to automate order input to the Head Office Actinic and subsequently stock/product updates back to the Salemen's copies of Actinic.

I just wondered if anyone had tackled a project like this using Actinic in the past. I would be interested in commissioning the work if it is feasible and cost effective.

-Alec

[wjcampbe]

To do this, each laptop would need server software such as apache installed and configured so that the shop is running in standalone mode (explained in the help files), as otherwise there is no checkout.

Might be easier to get a internet service configured on satellite, wireless or using their cellphones and just access the one running shop like a regular internet customer. That would bring you back into 'normal' Actinic operation and much reduce the liklihood of things going wrong.

[bizweb]

Laptop server software

Thanks wjcampbe,

I can install/configure Apache on the laptops without too much trouble. It's getting the orders taken on these remote copies over to Head Office, and then the stock levels/product updates back to the remote copies on a daily basis.

I don't think it would work using cellphone access to the 'proper' hosted copy of the shop. The products are very dependent on the images and we're looking to speed up the salesmen visits.

Alec

[wjcampbe]

OK - try this, set up two of your laptops with running copies of the shop ensure the security settings are the same for all copies. Set up different order prefixes for each laptop and create a couple of orders on each.

Use FTP to copy the generated order files from the laptops up to your hosted shop and then run the standard Actinic 'download orders' from your home office installation.

The closer you can get this concept tuned to standard operation the better it will work.
(Just thought, the commercially oriented helpers will be getting well p---d off with me for this)

[chris ashdown]

Would the network version of actinic work out cheaper and simpler with the reps logging in through a wireless device be it in the office or over the net, that way all data is always up to date and each rep could use the manual order process.

Must admit I have little knowledge of the network system but assume it can do this and the high price would easily be recovered from the work you are talking about doing and the time keeping all systems in sync