An Interview with Bruce Ritchie

President, NetStorm Technologies, Inc.

askSam Offers an Array of Business Solutions

Reprinted with Permission

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askSam: Which askSam product(s) do you use?

BRUCE RITCHIE: askSam DOS, askSam Windows and the askSamWeb Publisher.

askSam: Can you tell me how you use askSam?

BRUCE RITCHIE: askSam plays a major role in many areas of our operations.

askSam DOS

We have used askSam DOS for everything from internal contact management to a Missing Children's Photographic database, to law enforcement Intelligence Analyst programming, to publishing a variety of business, commercial and community directories and medical

/ educational publications. Using the DOS version, we wrote the programming for a major directory publishing firm. The business and residential directories for 43 Canadian cities are published using our askSam programming. Our Intelligence Analyst system, using the

askSam engine, is used in a wide range of investigations, including narcotics, kidnapping, homicides and institutional sexual abuse, among others. The system can extract and organize information from a wide variety of sources.

We use the read-only runtime module to publish community services directories for a number of Community Information Centres in Ontario as well as the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Educational diskettes. Sales of the diskettes help fund those organizations.

askSam Windows

Except for areas requiring askSam's special DOS programming capabilities, we have moved most of our work to Windows.

Given the wide range of activities in which we are involved, askSam is used heavily to manage our contacts and a wide range of information.

Most companies have archives of valuable information hidden away within the word processed letters they produce. That is often dead data. However, we import copies of our letters into askSam, one document for each letter. This lets us instantly search all our past correspondence for useful information. We "impose" field markers on the mailing address. The letters file becomes another "Contact Manager". It is a prospecting gold mine. It is easier to re-sell a happy customer than to find a new customer.

We have developed an extremely comprehensive law enforcement system for Case Management, Document Management, Forms Management, Mugshot System and Intelligence Analyst. The applications are being expanded to cover most operations within a police force.

The community services directories are available in both DOS and Windows versions. The Wellwood Cancer Support Resources directory provides crucial resources for cancer patients and their families.  

askSam Web Publisher

We publish the All Canada Business Registry on the Internet. The database is prepared using askSam Windows 3.0f and is published on the Internet using Web Publisher on a Windows NT server. There are 2 million records, 1.1 million companies and 400 MB of data. Every

company gets a free basic listing and can purchase enhanced display listings.

The community services directories and medical / educational publications are also published on our Internet site.

These are only a few of our current applications.

askSam: How has askSam made your job any easier, or faster or more efficient?

BRUCE RITCHIE: askSam helps make my job possible. I am not a particularly organized / structured person. I am highly creative and find myself involved in an incredible variety of pursuits. I hate filing paper or other information. Highly structured information managers are straight jackets, 10 sizes too small. askSam lets me work MY way, not how some computer programmer thinks I should work. I can still instantly find information I began entering in askSam 9 years ago.

In addition to helping manage my companies, askSam has become the "raw material" in many products and services that I sell.

askSam: Can you tell me about what type of customer support you have received as a user?

BRUCE RITCHIE:  Incredible!  Please don't stop. Your customer support is without doubt the finest in the industry. I get to a live person every time I call, not some &%*&^% electronic call director. The call is answered within 6 rings and I am talking to a technician within seconds. Your service has been outstanding for the past 9 years and puts most other companies to shame. This service support means that I have no hesitation in recommending askSam to my clients. Your service gives me a good reputation.

askSam: Would you recommend askSam and Why?

BRUCE RITCHIE: Absolutely, for all the above reasons. You continue to lead the industry with your quality products. You do a job the other companies have not caught onto. askSam manages text better than any software I have seen in my 17 years in this industry.

askSam:  What applications do you plan for askSam in the future?

BRUCE RITCHIE: askSam will continue to play a major role in both our internal company management and in products we develop. I am certainly looking forward to your next product. Keep up the terrific work.

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Bruce Ritchie

NetStorm Technologies Inc., PhotoByte Ltd.

376 Eaglewood Drive, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8W 3C4

Phone: (905) 575-4567

Fax: (905) 575-4567

Email: netstorm@acbr.com        

http://www.acbr.com