E
-
Newsletter
Property Management
Solutions since 1978
Volume
II, Number 2
Published occasionally
by
FullHouse Software, Inc.
August 1, 2008
5415 Lake
Howell Road, Suite 207
Winter Park, FL 32792
technical.support@fullhousesoftware.com
Welcome!
This edition marks the 30th
anniversary of IPM. We're celebrating the past with an article about the
origins of Realty Automation, and we're looking to the future with the
prerelease webinar of IPM 10.0
Just as an aside, if you just can't get enough news about IPM and FullHouse, read the president's letter (in the About Us section of the website). It's updated monthly and has candid observations and rants.
Consulting!
Your company's changed.
You're carrying a lot of properties you don't have any more, or
even checkbooks. You know you
should split your data into two checkbooks, or two databases. There are
all sorts of challenges with your data you've been putting off for
years, or just didn't know how to address. Now there's a solution.
Due to popular demand, FullHouse Software now offers
professional Database Consulting services.
We can split databases, remove obsolete properties, units and
tenants, and generally streamline your IPM operations.
Each project will be detailed in a comprehensive consulting plan to
ensure that we know exactly what you want, and you get what you expect, at
a price you can afford.
As part of this service, we offer a FREE database analysis. We'll review your data, make recommendations, and even talk about your backup and disaster recovery plans. Contact us today for this FREE analysis, and see what we can do you!
For more information, visit our training and consulting page or email your questions or requests to training@fullhousesoftware.com
IPM
2007 forever?
Everyone
currently on our Maintenance Plan will get IPM 10.0 when it's release at
no cost, just as you get all our program updates. Most IPM users will be very happy with this amazing
value.
However,
we recognize that some IPM users are entirely happy with IPM 2007 and
don't want to be forced into making the change to IPM 10.0 and
beyond. This presents a quandary for us; we want to provide everyone
with the latest and greatest software possible, but we don't want to force
our users into something they don't want.
To that end, once IPM 10.0 is released, we will offer a "Legacy
Maintenance Plan" for users of IPM 2007 to receive basic support -
unlocks, "how tos" and new installations. Database
services will be available at consulting rates for Legacy Plan members,
and of course there won't be any more updates, but we'll keep you up and
running as long as you still want to use IPM 2007.
IPM
turns 30:
A
Retrospective
Like most great
things, IPM got started by someone being at the right place at the right
time. That someone was Bob Maxwell. Bob was an ex-stockbroker
selling disk drives for Memorex, trying to break into the emerging "minicomputer" market.
He had finally
made inroads to a programming firm that needed the massive storage of his
disk drives for a new project . The programmers were going to create an
accounting system for a large property management firm and they'd need
every byte of his 30 megabyte disks for development. He'd
been called in and was expecting to close the deal. Instead he found
out that the programmers had lost the contract and his disks were no
longer interested. The property management company had decided that
the project was just too expensive, with the hardware, software,
maintenance and training; they'd stick with paper.
In
passing, however, one of the programmers mentioned that there was an
electronics swap meet in the parking lot of the TRW offices held on the
2nd Saturday every month. Bob thought it might be worth his time to drop
by. This was supposed to be the place the programmers, engineers and
electronics hobbyists would hang out. Just the place to make some
contacts; maybe some wealthy hobbyist might even need a disk drive
But this Saturday, no one was talking about disk drives. The buzz
was the Altair 8800s on display there. In 1975, Forrest Mims' came out with the
"Altair 8800" touted on the cover of Popular
Electronics as the first "minicomputer kit to rival commercial
models." 1978, it had grown in popularity and usefulness with add-ons
like keyboards, printers, and displays. The Altairs at the swap meet were
actually doing something useful - tasks normally the providence of the
mainframes like "word processing" or "accounting."
That's when Bob put
two and two together, and realized that the microcomputer might be just
the solution for that property management company. Bob bought a book
produced by Los Angeles County listing all the area property managers, and
started calling. Eventually he came across a guy who understood Bob's
idea, and was game. Bob told him "I'll provide you with a
turnkey solution for $10,000". The manager said they had a deal,
and IPM was born.
Bob
formed Realty Automation, bought the basic general ledger from a guy
in Whittier who moonlighted as a programmer for $650 and starting raising
capital. He bought used 8" disk drives and resold them at $100 each to
build the capital for development. Soon enough, he was installing
the first version of what
became IPM under the C/PM operating system on an Altair.
A couple of others followed, and by the time the Altos microcomputer came
out later that year, Bob and company were poised to jump to the new
technology. It was fast, powerful and expandable, running at a scorching 4
megahertz, with 32K of RAM. (By comparison, a new PC runs at 2 gigahertz
with about 2 G of RAM - 500 times faster, with 62,500 times as much
memory.)
Here
was a computer that someone could buy and run right off the shelf! That
cut installation and training down to just a day or so. Realty Automation
spent a whopping $4500 to "port" their program so that it would run on
the new machine. Bob hoped this gamble would make the business take
off. He had a one lead who had strung him along for a while; finally
the lead said he'd buy if Bob made some enhancements. Bob got the
programmer to make the changes, and flew up to San Jose to make the
presentation and close the deal. Unfortunately, the guy said "You did
exactly what I wanted, but I'm not going to buy. It's too
complicated." Bob's eternal optimism failed him. He had
debt up to his armpits, and a product no one wanted. Time to pack it
in and go back to selling for someone else. What was he going to tell his
wife, Edie?
Click
here to read more...
FREE
IPM 10.0
Webinar
Meet the
next generation of IPM!
FullHouse Software
will be hosting two FREE webinars to show off IPM 10 (Formerly known as
IPM 2008).
This webinar will introduce you to IPM 10.0 and walk through the features
and functionality. We'll also run through the monthly cycle with IPM 10,
and compare it to IPM 2007, screen by screen and function by
function.
The first webinar will be held on Tuesday, September 16 at 2 pm Eastern time. The second will be offered on Wednesday, October 8 at 2 PM Eastern time.
If you cannot attend either presentation, one will be archived and free to view on our website thereafter.
Space is
limited in both webinars, so email
sales@fullhousesoftware.com today with your name and which webinar you
will attend!
IPM
2007.15 Released
IPM 2007.15 includes fixes for an elusive posting error for NSF checks, a
couple of new reporting options, new support for additional Deluxe check
types and a few other small enhancements and fixes.
The service pack to update any previous release of IPM 2007 is available free for everyone on the maintenance plan at here. If you do not have IPM 2007 installed on your PC, follow the link above and select the "full installation". If you've got any version of IPM 2007 on your PC, you can update it to 2007.15 by running the service pack. No unlock code or download password is required for the service pack.
Yet one more reason why our maintenance plan is a great value!
Copyright © 2008 FullHouse Software