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3 Cost Effective Ways to Solve Metro Manila's Traffic Problem

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The Facebook page of ANC 24/7 is asking for its reader's suggestion on how to solve Metro Manila's traffic problem. This got me thinking, "what is the best way to solve Metro Manila's traffic problem?" It's easy to make suggestions, what's hard is the implementation and the cost of implementation. So what is the the best way to solve Metro Manila's traffic problem and the most cost effective solution? Punitive Fines Add caption First of all, any implementation will definitely cost money, a lot of money. The cause of the traffic mess is the people themselves so it's only right that those causing the traffic problem should be fined and the fine should hurt. That way, the fines will pay for the cost of enforcing the law. The fines should start at P500 and goes up every week if you don't pay it within 15 days. To enforce this and prevent people from ignoring the fine. It will be tied to their driver's license or car registr...
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CRM

Originally posted at Secular Change on Oct. 5, 2005

I've been looking for a CRM solution for my business for some time now. I currently use Microsoft Outlook, it's good enough to keep track of contacts and e-mails. But my needs has grown in that I needed to keep track of correspondence, quotes, updates and notes on what I did for my clients.

I tested Maximizer, ACT!, Filemaker and SugarCRM. Here is my take on each of them.

Maximizer 8

It's good enough for my needs, it's easy to use, syncs with MS Outlook, you can e-mail from within the program and attach files. It includes templates of common businesses and what data they need to keep track. You can also customize it to suit your needs.

The things I don't like about Maximizer is that it syncs with Palm OS only. I use a Pocket PC so I can't sync my data. The user interface is not the best, and it works with Windows only. It doesn't work with Mac or Linux. This is not a big deal since most people only use Windows anyway. I just happen to use all three OS so it is something I want to have flexibility in.

Overall, if you're a Windows only user, don't need multi-user to log in to your CRM database. In short, you're a one person sales or don't need more than 2 people using your database, then Maximizer 8 is a great tool. If you need more than 5 people to connect to your database, this product starts getting expensive.


ACT!

ACT! looks like an enhanced MS Outlook. The interface looks better than Maximizer and it syncs with both Palm and Windows Mobile. I like it a little better than Maximizer in terms of looks.

I didn't like that it is Windows only and when I tested it, it felt slow compared to Maximizer. Seems like there's too much software bloat. Note that I tested a free demo version. I would personally look for another solution.


Filemaker 8

I learned about this program when I bought my Mac and was looking for a CRM solution. It has both Mac and PC edition of the software, you can share databse between two platforms. Syncs with both Pocket PC and Palm OS. Includes templates for the most common database needs. You can also customize to your needs.

What I didn't like is that learning to customize the database takes some time, you need to buy separate licenses and programs if you want to use both Mac and PC version. Also a separate license to have a server edition.

I haven't tried Filemaker long enough to actually make a final recommendation. I'm going to hold off until I do. But the availability for both Mac and PC is really making it a big draw for me.


SugarCRM 3.5

This is a full blown enterprise edition CRM solution. It has a single user or a multi-user version. It's web based so it is platform independent, meaning you can use Windows, Linux or Mac with it. You can also use any browser you want, I've used IE, Firefox and Safari. It's very lightweight, the download file is below 5Mb. It installs and runs in less than 15 minutes. Best of all, it's free!

SugarCRM is an open source CRM solution. It has a commercial version as well, with full support, optimized version and modules not found in the open source version. It can be installed to one computer for personal use or to a server for multi-user use. It can be installed in both Windows Server, Mac or Linux server. All you need is a web server (Apache or IIS), MySQL (Open source SQL) and PHP. You can then connect from any computer, have multi-users and multi-platform use.

The only drawback I've seen is that I don't think I can customize the data I need. But you can program your own modules if you know how. I don't know if it can sync with a Palm or Pocket PC, I haven't figured that out yet.

If you want full flexibility, multi-user, multi-platform CRM solutions on the cheap. SugarCRM is the way to go. You can't get any cheaper than free!

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