Heritage Collective provides independent, expert advice on the historic environment. They efficiently and effectively manage change to designated and undesignated heritage assets and their surroundings by guiding proposals through the UK planning system.
The Situation
Heritage Collective were running a legacy Access database system to handle creation of job numbers. There was also a number of complex spreadsheets in place to handle invoicing and some communications. A lot of data was being shared using email which resulted in multiple copies of documents existing on different users computers. The staff are regularly travelling to visit sites and clients.
The Solution
We specified and developed a full business database in FileMaker which captures all the required processes and data. A CRM section allows a full history of client interaction with Heritage Collective to be stored. A job management section allows all live and historical jobs and the associated information to be centralised. A financial section which handles client and supplier purchase orders and invoices as well as expenses. The financial data is integrated with Xero to greatly reduce any manual bookkeeping. Our FileMaker developers also ensured the solution had a staff noticeboard, iPad interface and Postcode Anywhere integration. The custom database is cloud hosted to allow staff to connect from all over the world.
The Results
The FileMaker solution resulted in a centralisation of all operational data which prevents duplicate data and work. Finding specific and relevant data is now quicker and easier. Automated transfer of financial data reduces human error and accounting workload. Custom reports generated from the database takes the guesswork out of business decisions.
During delivery of the project, a new set of requirements opened up based on Heritage Collective’s subsidiary company Archaeology Collective. A complete replica of the database was created and hosted for Archaeology Collective and rebranded to fit the new company. The two FileMaker databases now work side-by-side and handle cross-company projects and financials with ease.
Heritage Collective approached iSOS to develop a bespoke database system. We’ve been very pleased with the result and they’ve been a great team to work with. Methodical and approachable, they took the time to understand our business and encouraged regular engagement which led to a tailor-made product that hit the spot. The developer team did a great job communicating technical areas in user-friendly language and were positive about refining the scope as they built the system and greater possibilities emerged. When we came to launch a further business, Archaeology Collective, it was a natural choice to return to iSOS, who continue to support us. - Danielle Morgan, Director, Heritage Collective and Archaeology Collective
What we did
- Initial meeting and specification
- On-site in-depth specification
- Branded interface design
- Contact relationship management
- Job management
- Invoicing/financials
- Staff noticeboard
- Xero integration
- Postcode Anywhere integration
- Thorough testing and deployment
- Ongoing support and maintenance