At first glance it looks like everyone is getting what they're paying for. Higher pricing for one-stop-shopping, lower for piece-it-together-yourself-and-make-it-work.
IMHO, the v8 (old) Powercode pricing was WAY too low. It was something like $225/mo for 700 subs. They needed more $$ for the amount of effort that would be needed to make Powercode a great product. Now that said, the Powercode v9 pricing is pretty high. It has me continually questioning its worth. I don't like feeling that way. I have to really come to terms with it and remind myself what it does for us...in a nutshell...it saves people time. I'm not that involved in my business anymore other than financially. My first 300 subs I installed myself. Merged with a partner a couple years ago to gain a couple hundred more customers. Last 2 years we've put a few hundred more on. Stepped out of it last year to take the cash flow burden of my income away to allow it to thrive. Best decision I've made in awhile. Now we have several thousand dollars available for fast growth. Powercode is definitely pay-to-play. However, it gives me peace of mind to know that we have a system that is commercially supported. I don't want one employee having a strangle-hold on me because he's the only one who knows how to do "X", "Y", or "Z". I'll likely not stray from that philosophy, but if there's another competing product I'm all ears... ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck Hogg" <ch...@shelbybb.com> To: "WISPA General List" <wireless@wispa.org> Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2010 3:59 PM Subject: Re: [WISPA] Call Tracking / Customer management software > We are using the Platypus database directly. Since it is only the first > month, we are still learning the tricks of it. I would say asking me > that question in 3-6 months would be more appropriate. > > Regards, > Chuck Hogg > Shelby Broadband > 502-722-9292 > ch...@shelbybb.com > http://www.shelbybb.com > > > -----Original Message----- > From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On > Behalf Of Mark Nash - Lists > Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2010 4:58 PM > To: WISPA General List > Subject: Re: [WISPA] Call Tracking / Customer management software > > Chuck, how problem-free is your solution? > > One of the things that I was afraid about a custom in-house solution, > even if it's just modifying a base platform, was the recurring cost of > having someone dealing with its issues, things getting out of sync, etc. > > The pricing for Powercode is steep, absolutely 100% no question about > it...so you have to wrap your mind around what it's saving you to fathom > a value. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Chuck Hogg" <ch...@shelbybb.com> > To: "WISPA General List" <wireless@wispa.org> > Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2010 1:29 PM > Subject: Re: [WISPA] Call Tracking / Customer management software > > > Wombat/Plat has a radius integration that will do that, and we have some > of > our own custom things that we are working on to make it do some other > things > we want it to do. It's not very much work to get it implemented if you > know > what you are doing... but if you are wanting a drop in solution maybe > Powercode will do what you want. I know I wasn't going to pay more than > > .10/customer/month. It also integrates well with IPPay. Honestly, the > money I am saving over a traditional merchant account by switching to > IPPay > is more than paying for Platypus. > > Their API is very open and they will let you do about anything with the > software. I don't know if Powercode is all web based or not, but having > a > client32 application is pretty nice to have for my techs/billing people. > In > addition, it tracks our sales commissions, customer referrals, and more. > > I'm not trying to sell it, but just giving an explanation on why I'm > using > it. I reviewed powercode, and the price blew me away. 1400 customers > was > almost $2000 per month. Almost in one month I pay for Wombat/Platypus > for a > year. > > Nothing did everything we wanted, so we looked at cost and how do we > customize it to our needs. Platypus/Wombat fit the bill. They even > came > out and did a two day training seminar for my whole company, made sure > the > software/system was completely setup correctly for $1k/day. I probably > could have figured it out, but I wanted to make sure someone was > training my > people correctly + I didn't have the time. > > Regards, > Chuck Hogg > Shelby Broadband > 502-722-9292 > ch...@shelbybb.com > http://www.shelbybb.com > > > -----Original Message----- > From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On > Behalf Of Josh Luthman > Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2010 4:14 PM > To: WISPA General List > Subject: Re: [WISPA] Call Tracking / Customer management software > > If you have a developer to make things work together, that's a great > option. > > Powercode's alternative is to shut the customer off and have them pay > their > bill. I'd rather that then a phone call. Just my opinion. > > Chuck - does your Wombat/Platypus shut customers off, track equipment, > etc > or is it simply a billing system? > > Josh Luthman > Office: 937-552-2340 > Direct: 937-552-2343 > 1100 Wayne St > Suite 1337 > Troy, OH 45373 > > "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to > continue > that counts." > --- Winston Churchill > > > > On Tue, May 11, 2010 at 4:12 PM, Chuck Hogg <ch...@shelbybb.com> wrote: >> Wombat/Platypus does it as well... $250/mth for under 5k customers... >> >> Regards, >> Chuck Hogg >> Shelby Broadband >> 502-722-9292 >> ch...@shelbybb.com >> http://www.shelbybb.com >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] >> On Behalf Of Sara Gray >> Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2010 3:24 PM >> To: 'WISPA General List' >> Subject: Re: [WISPA] Call Tracking / Customer management software >> >> How much does powercode cost? >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] >> On Behalf Of Mark Nash - Lists >> Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2010 1:39 PM >> To: WISPA General List >> Subject: Re: [WISPA] Call Tracking / Customer management software >> >> I use Powercode. >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Sara Gray" <li...@jcwifi.com> >> To: "'WISPA General List'" <wireless@wispa.org> >> Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2010 11:35 AM >> Subject: [WISPA] Call Tracking / Customer management software >> >> >>> I'm looking for software to tract customer calls, trouble tickets, >>> appointments, and customer information. Can anyone suggest a good >>> software that can do this. Id like to have web access. I've looked >>> at a few >> but >>> have never heard of most of them so I'm looking for suggestions of >> what >>> others have used and like. Thanks for any input. >>> >>> Sara >>> >>> >>> >>> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> -- >> ---- >> ---- >>> WISPA Wants You! Join today! >>> http://signup.wispa.org/ >>> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> -- >> ---- >> ---- >>> >>> WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org >>> >>> Subscribe/Unsubscribe: >>> http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless >>> >>> Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ >>> >> >> >> >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> -- >> ---- >> ---- >> WISPA Wants You! Join today! >> http://signup.wispa.org/ >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> -- >> ---- >> ---- >> >> WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org >> >> Subscribe/Unsubscribe: >> http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless >> >> Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ >> >> >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> -- >> -------- >> WISPA Wants You! Join today! >> http://signup.wispa.org/ >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> -- >> -------- >> >> WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org >> >> Subscribe/Unsubscribe: >> http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless >> >> Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ >> >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> ---------- >> WISPA Wants You! 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