VTRAD Ltd has built an extensive portfolio of custom software solutions for clients including server software products for Windows NT and UNIX servers, web software for advanced Internet functionality and client software applications for Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT. With a focus on electronic commerce, database integration products, notification systems and secure systems, our wide range of skills and experience has made a difference for everyone from small companies to large corporations.

The Internet is a powerful sales and marketing channel. With the low cost of a simple web presence, it is now almost unacceptable for a business not to have a web-site and electronic mail facilities. The issue now for businesses is how they can set themselves apart from their competition on the Internet. By providing database search functionality, information on products and services becomes more readily accessible to customers. To maintain interest companies must continually update their information and change their news, profiles and service features. Without site management applications this is costly and almost unfeasible. Turning browsers into customers is key. Subscription to mailing lists, online forms for data collection (with appropriate security) and automatic "lead chasing" e-mail when a browser visits your site, can all assist in this process. Online transactions open new revenue streams but without intelligent integration with existing systems much of this new revenue is lost. Let the power of the Internet work for you automatically, without you having to work at it!

Intranet applications can help you in every area of your business, from time sheets for your employees to management of your web presence. The inherent familiarity of HTML means you can give staff new applications without the worries of retraining. By ensuring that your staff have the tools and information that they need at their fingertips, you can dramatically increase the productivity of your work force. Internal information services can keep employees abreast of the latest developments. Customer information databases allow everyone from help desk staff to business managers up to date information on your clients. Intelligent Intranet applications ensure that employees only have access to specific levels of information, allowing management efficiency and appropriate confidentiality.

With custom designed graphic user interfaces our stand-alone applications can allow you to distribute programs with customised functionality whilst maintaining your branding. From communications packages for restricted FTP to proprietary mail encryption/decryption programs to interfaces for custom built CDs, VTRAD provides advice and construction for applications tailored to your specific needs.

Many electronic commerce and advanced information provision systems work by constructing an Internet-Intranet bridge. Usually this bridge takes the form of a database with Intranet side management software to control which data becomes available Internet side. Data obtained from browsing customers on the Internet can be passed seamlessly in to Intranet applications with interaction between staff and customers, including messaging and control of page display and flow, is possible. Limitation of access to private networks from public networks permits staff to work off-site and utilise company facilities securely.

With VTRAD applications with messaging systems that extend beyond the Internet are possible. From our extensive experience in building SMS messaging systems for the GSM network to our document or message Fax out systems, we can reach further. Voice out systems using third-party telephony software allows construction of "voice over IP" to telephone system gateways and pre-recorded voice messaging. We can also provide "Voice-in e-mail boxes" (currently only with certain U.K. and German telephone numbers) enabling phone messages to be seamlessly routed to e-mail accounts and "Call-points" where browsing customers enter their telephone numbers and a telephone connection between them and your switch-board is automatically established.

VTRAD can assist your company with credit card transaction clearing using both APACS-30 protocol, which hooks funds and then clears at the end of the banking day, and APACS-40, an instant clear protocol, on the X25 network. A bridge server with links into both the Internet and the X25 network makes clearing funds for third parties over the Internet possible. VTRAD has contacts with U.K., U.S. and Off-shore banks which are approved with Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express to facilitate your banking and clearing needs. Our agreements with existing third-party clearing houses means that we can also advise you impartially and negotiate preferential terms on your behalf, if you require only use of a credit card relay.

Notifications systems can generate e-mail, SMS messages, faxes, entries into Database Systems or real-time responses to other systems. These notifications can perform any number of functions from delivering order information for suppliers and customers to alerting technicians to hardware or software failures. With facilities for instantaneous response to inquiries or problems your business can better to a situation as it arises. Interactive messaging turns casual surfers into interested customers and generates business leads.

Confirming certain customer actions via e-mail is an essential business practice. Completion of web forms, subscription to mailing lists and updating of information available on a web site all merit notification of customers. Without automation these tasks can place a huge drain on resources. With Electronic commerce facilities placement of an order by a customer should generate formatted e-mail to the customer, the facility manager and any relevant product suppliers.

With auto-refresh web pages real-time information can monitored by staff. With live information customers can be tracked as they browse through a web-site and interacted with as required. System processes, such as progress on an order or contract, can be observed allowing deviations to be corrected before they become problems.

Much of the e-mail received by your business could be handled by an automatic response. Rule based applications that analyse subjects or messages for key words can dispatch documents, add (or remove) names on mailing lists, generate e-mails with information to answer queries about products and services, send press releases, register votes for polls, process survey information and perform other custom tasks. With intelligent automatic responder systems the power of e-mail is dramatically increased without consumption of human resources.

Electronic Point of Sale systems are now increasingly common in the retail and services industries. E.P.O.S. systems differ in their complexity and level of integration with other business systems. Integration reduces business overheads by allowing more processes to be handled automatically with a transaction trigger. Electronic cash registers can scan bar-codes for pricing information of products and this in itself reduces the time taken to for a customer to pass through a checkout facility, but by integrating the cash register system with stock and supply systems the benefits are increased many fold.

An Internet E-commerce facility can be integrated into conventional E.P.O.S. systems allowing stock sharing between physical and virtual customers. Common processing of transactions through a single system reduces the set-up costs of a new facility and can roll over the management overheads of suppliers, accounting and product delivery into existing systems. With correct integration the new virtual shop front can be seamlessly added and very few new management tools are required.

E.P.O.S. systems are produced by a large number of manufacturers and vary massively in their hardware and software. The extent to which an E.P.O.S. system can be integrated with other systems depends largely on the manufacturer's software and adherence to industry standards. Often real-time access to data generated by E.P.O.S. systems is possible and this allows full integration, however, some systems may require human initiation of a batch process to share data and this limits the potential of any new system. VTRAD's can advise you on what is possible with your system and help you to make an informed choice if you are purchasing a new system.