The user's perception of the capabilities of an application has grown dramatically with the success of Microsoft's Windows - not only does the application need to perform its own area of functionality - it also needs to be able to integrate this information making it accessible to different applications within the desktop.
For fifteen years companies have benefited from the use of TRANMAN, a comprehensive Fleet Management system. In its simplest form the system assists in administering a problem area of a company's business, but in its fullest capacity it helps run the business for you.
As leaders in their field TRANMAN Solutions are aware of the need to keep one
step ahead of the competition - with a long-term strategy including new product
development a Windows version of TRANMAN has been successfully launched into
the marketplace.
Research showed that a number of TRANMAN Solutions' customers would benefit from being able to access both the character and the Windows application simultaneously from the same application. From this point of view re-writing the application would have been inappropriate - in addition to taking time which market pressure would not allow. Having considered a number of development tools the Soft Option for Windows integration tool from Soft Option Technologies Ltd was chosen.
Soft Option for Windows enabled the TRANMAN System to have the appearance, features and functionality of a Windows application, in addition to allowing users the choice of working with either the windows or character style front-end. The interface was added to the existing application without major changes to the source code. Existing data is untouched and there is little disruption to the user.
Importantly, the features available in the Windows version have been extended to allow easy access to specially developed Windows software for Image Viewing, Report Definition and Batch Data Entry, by using the DDE linking facilities through the interface.
TRANMAN Solutions' sales opportunities have increased with the launch of their Windows version - it has maintained their existing customer base, who have in addition purchased further modules - and given TRANMAN Solutions new opportunities within their prospective marketplace, where they would not otherwise have had the chance.
"We are excited by the response of the market to the latest Windows version of our product and pleased to announce recent new business successes in all our key market sectors. We see our business growing in the future especially with the increasing number of users of competitor's systems upgrading to TRANMAN."One customer who has been working with TRANMAN for a number of years are Staffordshire County Council. TRANMAN is used for the management of the County Councils own vehicle fleet, together with the maintenance of vehicles belonging to Staffordshire Police. The system holds information on areas such as vehicle inventory, service history, accident management and monitoring efficiency in the workshop.
George Webb, TRANMAN Solutions Managing Director
"The package is much more attractive - and moving between the various elements is much simpler. We are now able to transfer information from TRANMAN into other packages such as Lotus."
Angela Bradbury, Fleet Administrator
