With so many choices it is no wonder people are confused.  One company wants to sell you iGoldMine, another wMobile, or CompanionLink, and now there’s the new GoldMine Mobile.  And, then there is the option of synching your GoldMine to your personal Outlook and letting Outlook communicate to your device.  Then again, you might consider doing the synch through Exchange using another solution.  It’s easy to get confused and lost and never get to your destination!

With so many ways to go there are also pros & cons.   The best choice for one firm, and even the different groups of users in a firm, depends on several factors such as the device, what you’re trying to access, what you’re willing to spend.

wMobile – mature solution with extremely rich functionality and a client for mobile phones and workstations.  Offers two user interfaces to suit the screen size differences.  Works with most major devices.  Will support email tracking in the GoldMine contact both from within the wMobile client or directly from the device.

iGoldMine – a mature solution, based on OEM technology, the publishes GoldMine and many other applications to remote workstations and tablets.  Provides the full client experience without the install or administration on the device.

CompanionLink – the most mature solution that supports synchronization to store data on the device or to your Google account so you can access the very limited data and calendars remotely.  Will synch automatically from your workstation up to Google.  Great for quick and simple access to limited contact information and calendar.

GoldMine Mobile – the new kid on the block.  FrontRange’s third attempt at a phone access solution.  Some nice features but still to early to tell what the issues are.

First Direct is happy to demonstrate all these options and discuss your needs an offer a recommendation.  CompanionLink is the least expensive and the other three are priced alike.  First Direct sells them all – so all the matters is what’s best for you!

Universal Search is not your "everyday" search engine tool because it delves very deeply through your database and will find many more results than you'd want to return for when you were simply searching for one of your Primary View fields.  In other words, if you just want to pull up a GoldMine Record based on ordinary fields like the Company, Contact, Phone1, etc., you'd be much better off using the Contact Search Center.

When you want to do a more thorough search of your GoldMine database to find an obscure value, or something that you may not know where the information is exactly located, Universal Search is perfect.  It can be a real time and "life-saver."

To learn more about using Universal Search there is a very helpful video you can watch.  Click here watch this training video.

First Direct can assist you with deploying or configuring your Universal Search.

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Bob Ritter, President of First Direct Corporation, states "This award and the many others First Direct has earned over the years demonstrate our ability to deliver the GoldMine solution to meet the CRM needs of organizations across the USA and Canada.  What's more,  our success goes to show the potential for the products, which we use ourselves, to achieve award winning results and ROI."

To learn more about First Direct Corp. visit About Us.

This release will be made available to all GoldMine Premium Edition customers that are current on the annual FrontRange Maintenance.  If you are not current on your maintenance and you need costs and assistance you may contact FrontRange customer care or First Direct Corp. at (845) 221-3800.

Below are the release notes: (updated 6/8/11)

WHAT'S ENHANCED IN GOLDMINE PREMIUM EDITION 9.0.2

Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 is now supported.

Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 SP1 is now supported.

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 is now supported.

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP4 is now supported.

Windows Internet Explorer 9 (IE 9) is now supported.  Note:  When using IE 9, Word documents currently cannot be previewed inside GoldMine if there is another Word document open in your operating system.

There is a new option to control the preview of document templates within the Document Management Center.  Disabling the preview may increase application performance while working with templates and improve reliability when merging documents.  To use this option, check or uncheck “Show preview for documents” in the lower right pane in the Document Management Center.

Updates to user records can now be synchronized between sites, using a new option in the GoldSync Site Group Member Wizard.  To synchronize user records, expand the Customizations node on the Send Options screen by clicking the “+” sign, and then check the box for Users.

WHAT'S FIXED IN GOLDMINE PREMIUM EDITION 9.0.2
ID #    Issue Description
146660    Sync process stalls at gathering completions/deletions for CALDEF and eventually fails
144943    Unlinked recurring activities for another user will sync to Outlook when syncing only My Calendar using filter or group
144651    Accented characters cause wrong contact to be returned from search of GoldMine Address Book in Outlook
144554    Activity created in Outlook, recurring on a particular day of every month, creates large number of calendar items when synchronized to GoldMine
144317    GoldMine crashes when using the scroll bar while composing an e-mail message with IE 9 installed
143862    E-mail message is sent to wrong address if recipient’s address is added as new address via the select e-mail window and several e-mail addresses for the contact are available
143817    Outlook e-mail messages are not linked to GoldMine when NOCOUNT setting is applied in SQL Server
143322    Undocked user cannot access the One-Button Sync tab to import a One-Button Sync Profile sent through Outlook, if there is no existing One-Button Sync Profile for the user
143281    E-mails retrieved at remote location are not shown in E-mail Center at server when using year/month folder structure in synchronizing across time zones
143152    Wrong Opportunity opened for editing in Opportunity Manager when column filter is active
142090    Error message appears when merging a Word template in the Document Management Center after launching Word followed by Excel
141549    Error in building transfer set for database with name ending in letter C
140561    On Windows 7, an attachment will be linked incorrectly after attempting to move it, and then canceling after receiving notification that the file already exists on the destination
140244    The 'Create Forecasted Sale' button in Opportunity Properties is grayed out
139784    Linking HTML e-mails from Outlook corrupts certain characters when the e-mail uses Western European encoding
139181    Assigning a report to an Automated process Print Report event does not save the correct report
139169    Outlook Add-in shows as 'disabled' and cannot be enabled
138821    Custom toolbar item to Merge Tagged Records improperly merges records if toolbar button is clicked while no records are tagged
138528    Case number is not listed on e-mail notifications when reassigning a case
138815    JavaScript code removed after editing GM+View template
137913    E-mails using UTF-8 subject lines are corrupted
137407    Resolving a case will replace the name of the linked contact with the contact displayed on the contact tab
136765    Single user-defined field is not being imported during WebImport
136763    WebImport unable to populate user-defined fields when NewRecord section of lookup.ini updates a user-defined field
136705    Time Stamp Format setting is not saved to service center mask customizations
135999    E-mail message manually linked from Sent folder in Outlook is displayed as an inbound message on the History tab
135983    On a server OS, dashboard checkboxes and radio buttons are not displayed
135555    When using a database that does not include a LEADDIST, LEADFILE, or SYNCLOCK table, clicking the “Read GoldMine Settings” button in Outlook produces an incorrect error message.
135545    The "Enable Outlook Sync" option under Tools > Users Settings > Properties > Outlook does not synchronize from the server to undocked machines
132578    Multi-contact activity is deleted for all contacts when attempting to delete a contact-specific instance from the calendar
132456    When editing an AP event that prints an envelope template, the template selection is corrupted (reset to the first item in the list)
130823    Relationship tab does not refresh properly when expanding a section
129836    New detail record includes copied CONTSUPP header data for column position from an extended detail
128853    Zip code reverts back to original selection after selecting another city or reverts to the first city
128841    If a field is accidently duplicated in a System View, it cannot be removed
128584    When using IMAP, e-mail sent via mobile device links from Sent folder in Outlook to contact record with sender’s e-mail address
127909    Cursor focus goes to the subject line instead of the e-mail body when replying or forwarding
126359    Tab order positions are not being respected when creating new GoldMine contacts, skipping ZIP
124508    Daily DayTimer Summary report only shows times with activities scheduled
124394    Contact information in the history record is for the customer viewed in the Contacts tab
122618    Sort works inconsistently in Task area of Activity List
119811    Print Pages action in e-mail reading window does not provide option to print selected text within message
119647    When exporting contacts from a large database using a filter based on Contact2 fields, there is a long delay between the Select Filter/Group screen and the Field Mappings screen
111851    Customized labels are not shown in project window
108957    Case History tab shows no data after upgrading from version 8.0 with customized case tabs
108891    Wrong activities displayed after activating rollup on Relationship tab, selecting History or Pending tab, and clicking column header to sort results
108648    Private Activities are not visible for other users in Calendar
108579    Completing an activity for a selected contact will cause active contact to refresh to the contact on calendar when Calendar is in Outline view with an activity scheduled for current date selected and Sync Contact enabled
107197    “Pop-up when selected” option causes F2 lookup screen to be intrusive in the contact search center when clicking on different tabs and clicking back to CSC
101909    When scrolling between cases, the notes from the last case are displayed
70271    Time column does not sort properly when used for priority

As with all GMPE service packs, the biggest driver for GMPE 9.0.1 is product quality.  This release contains over 50 fixed issues for improved product stability and quality.  For a complete list of fixes and improvements, refer to the GMPE 9.0.1 release notes.  GMPE 9.0.1 also supports Microsoft Office 2010 (32 bit version).

NOTE FROM BOB RITTER, PRES. FIRST DIRECT CORP:
I know existing Premium Edition 8.x/9.0.0 users are going to ask whether First Direct is recommending they upgrade at this time.  This release is as new to me as it is to you!  So, while I do believe this is a big and needed improvement over ALL prior releases of Premium Edition I still need a week or two with it to form a solid opinion.  I will post that opinion as soon as I have it right here!  So please check back if you care to know.

If you have any questions regarding this release or anything GoldMine related, please contact First Direct Corp at (800) 935-4386

WHAT'S ENHANCED IN GOLDMINE PREMIUM EDITION 9.0.1

GoldMine Premium Edition now supports Microsoft Office 2010 (32-bit version).

GoldMine now can access Windows certificate stores to authenticate digitally signed e-mail messages. This option is available via Tools > Options > E-mail > More Options > Security > Digital IDs > Trusted Certificate Authorities > Import.

Users can now minimize the details pane that shows fields in the Opportunity Manager, Project Manager, and Service Center.

Note: GoldMine Premium Edition 9.0.1 also provides the fixes and enhancements included with GoldMine Premium Edition 9.0.0 and GoldMine Premium Edition 9.0.0 Hotfix 2.

WHAT'S FIXED IN GOLDMINE PREMIUM EDITION 9.0.1

Product Features include:

• Configurable CRM Dashboards
• Compatible with the latest Microsoft® technologies, including in-depth integration with Microsoft® Outlook®
• Modern look and feel makes GoldMine Premium Edition easier to learn and use
• New Customer Service and Support module improves customer satisfaction
• Universal Search and Contact Search centers enable users to find GoldMine information easily
• Additional business process support to manage your CRM needs more effectively
• Complete CRM customer lifecycle management!

GoldMine Premium Edition 9.0 helps improve product stability and performance with hundreds of product enhancements, as well as administrative, security and installation improvements.

The upgrade to GoldMine Premium Edition includes Microsoft SQL Server® 2008 for better performance as your client information, users and database grows. Plus, since it is native SQL, it is more reliable than ever, and GMPE is Windows VISTA® and Windows® 7 compatible!

To learn more:

• Read the manufacturer’s Release Notes
• View “What’s New”
• Find out about special promotional offers
• Sign up for a personal demonstration or online webinar
• What I Like - comments about what people like in GMPE 9.x

Note to Existing GoldMine Users:

If you are already on the Premium Edition and current on annual maintenance you are entitled to receive the update at NO CHARGE. You may wish to consider holding off just a bit to give First Direct and others a chance to “test the waters” so you can better plan for a smooth update experience.  Click here to see a post about findings on the upgrade.

If you are on an older edition of GoldMine speak to First Direct Corp. about special pricing offers and other details involved with an upgrade. If you would like to have a salesperson contact you click here.

Considering GoldMine for the First Time?

Whether you need 3 users, 5 users, 10 users, or a hundred users, First Direct Corp. is a great source for your system. And, now is a great time to introduce GoldMine CRM to you organization! Speak to us today!

Here's a list of helpful documentation that is handy for you:

GoldMine 9.0 Release Notes

GoldMine 9.0 API Integration Guide

GoldMine 9.0 User Guide

GoldMine 9.0 Install Guide

GoldMine 9.0 Administrators Guide

GoldMine 9.0 Compatability Matrix

Would you like First Direct's assistance?  Call us at 845-221-3800 or email info@1stdirect.com



1. Dashboard Infrastructure

• Real-time, graphical, and interactive view of your CRM data provides you intelligent understanding of your business results and processes
• Benefit from intuitive and easy to read perspectives of you organization's activities and the happenings with your prospects, customers, customer service issues, and more
• Includes many predefined dashboards along with the flexibility to modify and create your own powerful dashboards
• Because you can "drill-down" into the data and contact records associated with the tables that the dashboards are based on, unlike other competitive CRM solutions, GoldMine's dashboards are superior tools for users and management and can contribute to greater productivity and effectiveness

2. Greatly Expanded MS Outlook Integration

• View related GoldMine record information, including record fields, notes, opportunities, cases, and more from your Outlook calendar, address book, and even linked emails
• Quickly and easily associate your Outlook calendar, addresss book, and even emails with records in GoldMine
• Apply GoldMine email templates when composing emails in Outlook
• Automated synchronization with many ways to control the transfer of data between Outlook and GoldMine
• Leverage Outlook as a conduit for communicating your GoldMine information with your Smartphone
• Many other benefits as well

3. Numerous Administration Improvements

4. Hundreds of User Interface Changes 

Many of us who have seen the new GoldMine Premium Edition 9.x as BETA testers and Solution Partners are very excited about what this latest update has to offer.  Personally, I believe this is a "game changer" for the entire GoldMine community, including the users.  Just when firms are beginning to appreciate the high ongoing rental costs and disadvantages of software as a service, GoldMine with its affordable one-time purchase price, and the many feature benefits that are native to the application is becoming a more attractive solution than ever!

Click here to see flash slides including the 8.5 Upgrade and the new GoldMine 9.x.

Click here to attend a live demonstration of GoldMine 9.x with First Direct.

GoldMine Premium Edition owners with Current Maintenance are entitled to this upgrade at NO software charge.
Older edition users can upgrade - contact First Direct for special pricing.

With many of the new Windows applications today the demands have never been greater on your computer and network resources.  If you want to enjoy the robust functionality of GoldMine Premium, let alone your new Microsoft Office and other Windows applications give them adequate resources.  Just meeting the minimum system requirements of one application is self-defeating if you plan to run multiple applications simultaneously like everyone does.   More computing horsepower will give users the high-performance they need to perform more highly for you!

Finally there is an economical and ready to go way to integrate these two popular solutions by giving users many benefits, including but not limited to:

• Creating and linking records in either system from the other
• Viewing QuickBooks invoice history from GoldMine
• Launching from GoldMine to QuickBooks Account or Invoice
• Reporting & analysis possibilities
• Fast and flexible data integration
• Limit access to your QuickBooks data

Our customers are happy with the results and First Direct Corp is adding new capabilities for purchasing managers. Because of the built in flexibility of QB2CRM we are able to do customized implementations, tailored to specific customer requests such as a tie in with sales orders and opportunities and a way to roll-up to Quickbooks jobs. Given how we are accessing the data the possibilities for custom reporting and analysis and unique use of your accounting data from within GoldMine is possible. Aligning your CRM with your accounting helps your organization operate more effciently and smarter. It's another great way to move from "Survive to Thrive" in the new year. We invite customers to share their needs and ideas.

If you'd like to learn more click here to request more information or register for our upcoming online webinar presentation.

If you are not using QuickBooks contact us for other integration options.

When management is in the system and comfortable with how the information they manage is collected, they are much better able to collaborate with the sale force and their support staff.  Just because a race car driver doesn’t change their car’s tires, doesn’t mean they don’t understand the mechanics of their car.  To the contrary, it is through this understanding of the engineering of their car that they are able provide their pit crew and race team engineers with input that empowers them to achieve greater performance!

Management that begins with clear goals & objectives can then devise coordinated strategies & tactics.  Having done this, then the next vital step is to align these with the design and usage of your CRM system.   When this is all done the users of your CRM will have a more intuitive workflow and produce better results for you.  What’s more, your reports will provide you with more helpful information to help you manage smarter.  And, because you’re tied into the same system as the people whom you manage, as managers you have a ready means for communicating with one another and delegating and tracking follow-up.

Managing how we handle customer service, from the back-office administrative aspects to the tracking and managing of customer service requests, is as important as any area of your firm.  While no technology on earth will replace the “human touch” including but not limited to the instincts, common sense, and good nature of your staff that handles your inquiries, these people can be aided by CRM.  Your administrators and customer service staff will only fully embrace the use of CRM if they are shown how its features can be applied to their day-to-day situations and help them to work in more efficiently in concert with others.

They need to know you’re watching!

I hate the phrase, “do as you say not as you do.”  Besides the fact that I don’t believe it works that way, it says the wrong message on a of couple levels!   This is true in many areas of your life, including your CRM system.  Management needs to get in to the system and the sales force needs to know you’re watching.   When management is on GoldMine, tracking and interacting with prospects and customers and the reps on those accounts it has a profound impact – providing both direct and indirect benefits!