Project of the Month - July 2008

SynoGeoloc

Description of project

SynoGeoloc is a Geolocation Module based on the GoogleMap API. This module allows you to quickly find your accounts and contacts (v5 only) on a map. You can even localize many contacts or accounts on the same map.

Trove Info

Why are you a leading contributor in the SugarCRM community? What are the benefits that you experience from your involvement?

We have been involved with SugarCRM since the first days because this application was and is a revolution in the CRM microcosm. Since the beginning we assumed responisibilty for French localization serving the community and our customers. Our strong experience with the French CRM market and our experience with SugarCRM enhancements and development led us naturally to take a part in SugarCRM modules development. This involvement allowed us to become a SugarCRM specialist and gave us a great recognition in the French CRM Market.

What other projects have you been involved with on SugarForge.org?

We first were involved in French localization, and then we developed some SugarCRM extensions like the calendar dashlet, an address helper which allows for quick filling and normalizing of address fields for the US, France, and Italy. We also have some new modules now available like an invoicing module and UbiGroup, which allows linking a contact with multiple Accounts.

What inspired you to create this project?

Our customers of course! Even though SugarCRM releases more features with every new release, there is always room for innovation and extensions for the insatiable! ;)

Salespeople have greatly benefitted from the geolocation abilities of this module. It is really interesting to be able to quickly locate the customer you have to meet in the next hours, or to get a map of your customers'. As a Sales Manager you can easily detect new and interesting areas, unexplored markets or simply identify where your customers are.

What business pain points were you solving specifically?

There were two main objectives:

- Adding the geolocation capability enabling users to plan an itinerary. These days being 2 hours late to a customer meeting because you were unable to find your way is unacceptable.

- Our second objective was to offer a graphical tool able to help enterprises make decisions about their customers. Where are our customers? Is it more interesting today to invest in a local communication campaign to target a specific audience? Do we have interest tomorrow to implement a new agency in a specific area unexplored by our sales force.

Of course this recognition encourages us to improve this module, making it more powerful and getting more information about our customers.

Is there anything that the users should know about? Something hidden/new in this project? Think of this as an opportunity to describe how it works to a user.

Our code is fully SugarCRM compliant and is uninstallable. It is very easy to extend it to new modules. You will find a lot of information inside the complete documentation available on the project: http://www.sugarforge.org/projects/synogeoloc/

What would you say to encourage additional community participation?

Developing specific modules for a great system like Sugar is often a reward in and of itself. It's a great satisfaction to create modules that help improve this great system and this is an active way to help improve CRM software as a whole. SynoGeoloc is now used all over the world and it is a great feeling to see our tool used by users the world over.

What do you want to build next for Sugar Suite?

We have many projects around SugarCRM. We'll continue to develop specific modules and we are also working on a book to help people to get better understanding of CRM and SugarCRM projects' stakes. We also have a full offering which enables e-commerce activity through SugarCRM. This E-commerce and CRM solution could lead us to open a specific project on SugarForge.