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FileMaker FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Although you might find a FileMaker Pro consultant who charges less than ScottWorld, hourly rates are only one indication of the total price you'll be paying and the quality of service you'll be receiving. Since 1992, we have been creating professional FileMaker solutions for businesses across the globe, so our speed in deploying solutions is sometimes 2 to 3 times faster than other developers! This means that even though our rates may be higher per hour, your overall cost may actually be less expensive! ScottWorld employs some of the fastest, most accurate FileMaker developers available, and we know the most efficient ways to accomplish what you need in FileMaker. Just like many computer programs, there's usually 4 or 5 different ways to do certain tasks in FileMaker -- ScottWorld strives to know the best, most productive, most secure way of doing it for you. And keep in mind that with our 13+ years of experience, we have an immense amount of technical knowledge, an incredible resource pool, and an outstanding customer service team! You'll notice the difference as soon as ScottWorld walks through your door. They take care of your databases as if they were their own. Furthermore, once your FileMaker Pro solution is completed to your exact specifications, your investment will last you for years to come. Your solution will become an indispensable part of your day-to-day business, which will help you thrive well into the future! Feel free to contact us so we can give you an estimate on your project. Our current rates can be found in Our FileMaker Rates section. We have dozens of clients located outside of Los Angeles, many of whom are thousands of miles away and have never met us face-to-face. We provide these "long distance" clients with the same high level of service & responsive support that we provide our local clients, and they are thrilled with the services we provide. All of our FileMaker Pro services can be performed professionally and reliably from a remote location. We use email to send you your databases while they're in the development stages, and once your databases are actively in use at your company, we use a variety of remote access technologies (such as Timbuktu Pro and FileMaker's built-in TCP/IP capabilities) to make instantaneous changes to your databases — in real time! In fact, we use these same exact remote access technologies with the vast majority of our local clients too! Instead of fighting traffic or waiting for a convenient appointment time to visit our clients, we simply "tap in" remotely into our clients' FileMaker Pro databases and make any changes that they need instantaneously. This enables even our local clients to save time and money with ScottWorld! Remember that whenever you browse the Internet to look at websites, you're actually accessing a remote computer located somewhere else in the world, and that's a good analogy for how we remotely access your FileMaker Pro databases from afar. And as an added bonus, all of these remote technologies allow YOU to access your databases from anywhere in the world as well! Think about that for a moment. We live in such an amazing time that you are no longer restricted to being in your office to access your important information. Of course, if we're providing web-based services or wireless Palm services for you, then all you need is a web browser or a wireless Palm to interact with your databases from anywhere! It truly doesn't make a difference WHERE we accomplish our amazing work for you, just like it doesn't make a difference where you are when you're accessing your data. When it comes down to it, it's really about the quality of service & the level of results that you'll achieve with ScottWorld. Rest assured that ScottWorld will take good care of you, whether you're right around the corner or 5,000 miles away.
Remember that programs like ACT and QuickBooks are NOT relational database programs. They are off-the-shelf software packages that are designed to perform certain functions for your company. With any off-the-shelf software package such as ACT or QuickBooks, you're saving money up front at the expense of flexibility, expansion, and customization down the line. For example, QuickBooks is a great accounting package but it is very weak as a contact manager. What if you need a contact manager program integrated with an accounting package? We can build this for you in FileMaker; we can even link your FileMaker contact manager program to QuickBooks! A custom FileMaker Pro database system has the following advantages:
Does ScottWorld sell FileMaker Pro? Currently, ScottWorld does not sell FileMaker Pro. If you're looking to purchase FileMaker Pro, FileMaker Server, FileMaker Server Advanced, or FileMaker Mobile, we recommend that you purchase directly from The FileMaker Store. The FileMaker Store will also enable you to configure a volume license for 10 or more users of FileMaker Pro.
I need some sort of computer system created for my business, but my company is totally unique. My company runs completely differently from any other business. That's the beauty of FileMaker Pro! It can be customized specifically for your particular business, no matter how much or how little you have in common with any other company. FileMaker Pro lets us start with a blank slate and create the perfect system exclusively for you from the ground up. With FileMaker Pro, your way of doing things doesn't have to fit anyone else's idea of how to run your business, because you're the one in control when it comes to creating your system. We have created dozens of FileMaker Pro systems that are so specific to that individual company's way of doing things that the same results could not have been achieved with any other program. To read more about some of our satisfied clients and their unique FileMaker systems, read our FileMaker Success Stories. Do you have any references? Yes, ScottWorld has crafted hundreds of wonderful FileMaker solutions for businesses worldwide. We have listed just a few of our satisfied clients in our FileMaker Success Stories section. Feel free to contact our clients and ask them about the astonishing results they have achieved with ScottWorld. You can also view some screenshots of our work in our Gallery of Screenshots. Is ScottWorld recognized by FileMaker Inc.? Yes. ScottWorld is a proud member of the FileMaker Solutions Alliance, an elite group of the best FileMaker programmers in the nation, hand-picked by FileMaker Inc. Also, FileMaker Inc. was so impressed with one of our recent success stories, that they wrote a story about ScottWorld on their web site! We are also thrilled that many of our writings have been published in the the nationally-acclaimed FileMaker magazine, FileMaker Pro Advisor. What version of FileMaker Pro does ScottWorld develop in? All of our FileMaker Pro work is done exclusively in FileMaker Pro 7 (and later versions). The hundreds of improvements in FileMaker Pro 7 over earlier versions of FileMaker Pro make it easier and quicker for us to support you and develop solutions for you, and in turn will save you hundreds of dollars in billable time from us. We're ready to use your services! How do we get started with ScottWorld? Simple! Just contact us and let us know what type of FileMaker services you're looking for! Once you start the communication with us, we'll ask you all the questions necessary to give you a cost estimate (based on our current rates) and a projected timeline for your project. We may also ask you to email us a sample of your existing databases, or to fax us a copy of any notes you have for the future direction of your FileMaker databases. The more information that you can provide us, the better! (Due to limited space on our servers, however, please hold off on emailing us your databases until we specifically request them.) Please note that we require all of our clients to have high speed Internet access, so that we can provide outstanding technical support to you at all times. Unfortunately, we cannot accept clients who only have dial-up Internet access. How long will it take for my custom FileMaker solution to be built? Depending on the size and the complexity of your solution, it can take anywhere from 4 weeks to several months to complete your FileMaker project. When we provide you with the cost estimate for your project, we will also give you an estimated timeline as well. Can I speak directly to my ScottWorld programmer? Absolutely. One of the benefits of working with ScottWorld is that you never have to deal with a "middle man" or a "salesperson." You will always have direct communication with the actual person who is working on your FileMaker project. This sets us apart from the competition by giving you more control over the development of your system. Do we own the copyright to our custom FileMaker Pro databases? No. Under copyright law, the actual programmer of custom software retains all rights to that software. Therefore, ScottWorld retains the rights to sell, distribute, and modify your custom solution for other uses. You own all of your own proprietary data that is entered into your database system, and you are granted a non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use your database system without the right to sublicense. If you're looking to sell the custom software that ScottWorld builds for you, please contact us to make other legal arrangements before we begin creating your system. What kind of technical support do you provide for FileMaker Pro? We provide FileMaker technical support for ScottWorld clients only. If you are not a ScottWorld client, and you have a technical question about using FileMaker Pro, click here for FileMaker Technical Support. If you are a ScottWorld client who has hired us for a custom FileMaker solution, we provide excellent technical support via telephone, email, and remote access. Our technical support is charged at our normal FileMaker rates. How do I know your company will be around to support our FileMaker databases? Since 1992, ScottWorld has been building & supporting FileMaker database solutions. Since 1995, we have been a proud member of the FileMaker Solutions Alliance, an elite group of the best FileMaker developers in the nation, hand-picked by FileMaker Inc. We are renowned for our excellent databases and our outstanding technical support. Feel free to read about some of our success stories that we have created throughout the years. Even if ScottWorld were to magically fall off the face of the earth, there are hundreds of FileMaker developers nationwide and a top-notch technical support team at FileMaker Inc. In other words, you always have a large support backbone that goes far beyond ScottWorld. Do you lock off your databases like some FileMaker developers, preventing me from getting into the "programming mode" of my databases? No. ScottWorld will always provide you with the master password to your databases, enabling you to go into "programming mode" whenever you want. Please note, however, that ScottWorld will charge you to fix any bugs that you create by going into programming mode yourself. We strongly urge you to refrain from altering the programming structure of your databases unless you are absolutely 100% certain that you know what you are doing. Does ScottWorld know anything about FileMaker Server and FileMaker Server Advanced? Yes! We are experts at the entire family of FileMaker products, including FileMaker Pro, FileMaker Server, FileMaker Server Advanced, and FileMaker Mobile. We are also experts at hundreds of the plug-ins, conduits, and applications sold separately for FileMaker Pro. We have also web-enabled gigantic FileMaker solutions, creating everything from online retail shopping cart systems to online registration systems for large universities. Can ScottWorld make my databases relational? Yes. Making your databases relational is one of the cleanup services we provide. Can you network my databases? Of course! One of the primary advantages of FileMaker Pro is that it is a multi-user database program, which enables your databases to be shared locally, remotely, or over the web. We are experts at setting up and maintaining your multi-user databases for any sort of sharing that you'd like to do. Do you have any pre-made templates that I can download? Not right now, but in the future. We are working on building a software library which will contain ScottWorld-created FileMaker templates that you can download for free. If you'd like to customize them further, you can pay to unlock them. When the software library is complete, you'll be able to download, experiment with, and even customize our database solutions for yourself! I've never used FileMaker Pro before. Can ScottWorld help me? Of course! Not only do we offer FileMaker Pro training classes for groups and individuals, but we can also give you tutorials on FileMaker while we are developing a custom FileMaker solution for you! Simply contact us and we'll get your FileMaker skills up to speed in no time!
FileMaker Pro is the client version of FileMaker. If you've used FileMaker before, this is what you are used to using. FileMaker Pro can share a limited number of databases to other FileMaker Pro users as well as web browsers. This software must be installed on anyone's machine who needs to access your databases through the FileMaker Pro software. FileMaker Server is a multi-threaded server program that hosts FileMaker databases for other FileMaker Pro users (but not web browsers). It provides much quicker performance for hosting up to 125 databases, allows up to 250 simultaneous guests, and many more important network functions. FileMaker Server should be run on a dedicated server machine. The FileMaker Pro client still needs to be installed on anyone's machine who needs to access your databases through the standard FileMaker interface. FileMaker Server Advanced is exactly the same as FileMaker Server, except that it allows an unlimited number of guests to connect through a web browser to your FileMaker databases. FileMaker Mobile is the Palm OS version of FileMaker Pro, which allows you to synchronize your single-user, flat-file databases with your Palm device. For more information on the differences between these FileMaker products, visit this product comparison page on FileMaker's website. What is the difference between using FileMaker Pro software to access my databases and using a web browser to access my databases? Sharing your databases via a web browser enables anyone with Internet access to interact with your databases. This is a wonderful way to use FileMaker in a wide variety of common business situations, which we discuss in our Web Integration section. You can also view examples of how companies are using FileMaker Pro over the web. However, due to the limitations of HTML, CGI's, and web browsers, there are limitations when using a web browser instead of FileMaker Pro software to access your databases. You can read about some of the differences in this PDF document, which was last updated by FileMaker Inc. for version 6 of their software:
Where can I purchase FileMaker Pro? If you're looking to purchase FileMaker Pro, FileMaker Server, FileMaker Server Advanced, or FileMaker Mobile, we recommend that you purchase directly from The FileMaker Store. The FileMaker Store will also enable you to configure a volume license for 10 or more users of FileMaker Pro.
What operating systems does FileMaker Pro run on? FileMaker is completely cross-platform, running on both Mac OS X and Windows 2000/XP. Any FileMaker databases will run seamlessly & identically on both platforms. However, please note that ScottWorld does NOT endorse, support, or work with any Windows-based computers at all. There are far too many inconsistencies, problems, and security issues with Windows. ScottWorld only works with Mac OS X: a reliable, secure, dependable, virus-free, spyware-free, hacker-free, trouble-free, intuitive, logical, productive, uncluttered and beautiful operating system designed by a company that wants to make you productive instead of confuse you. If you are using Windows, please consider Mac OS X for your business. Yes, ScottWorld can help switch your business from Windows to Mac! Is version 7/8 of FileMaker compatible with earlier versions of FileMaker? FileMaker Pro 7/8 creates a completely different file format than earlier versions of FileMaker. FileMaker Pro 7/8 will convert older FileMaker files into FileMaker 7/8 format, but older FileMaker clients will not be able to access any databases created in FileMaker Pro 7/8. FileMaker Pro 8, however, is compatible with FileMaker Pro 7. What are the system requirements for the different FileMaker Pro packages? Choose from the following: System requirements for FileMaker Pro 8 Why should I choose FileMaker Pro for my business? There are dozens of reasons why FileMaker Pro would make an excellent choice for your business. Please visit our Why FileMaker? section for more details. Is FileMaker Pro popular? FileMaker Pro is extremely popular. It is the #1 best-selling standalone database for both Macintosh and Windows, and has won dozens of awards in the computer industry. It's easy to see why FileMaker is so popular! FileMaker enables us to create a complete user-friendly solution for you in the fraction of the time that other programming languages require, yet FileMaker's full diversity enables us to easily change your customized program for you as your needs grow over time. Who uses FileMaker Pro? Everyone from Fortune 500 companies to home business owners are using FileMaker Pro to run their businesses. We have more details in our Why FileMaker? section, and FileMaker Inc. has listed many of the diverse companies that are using FileMaker. Where can I get the latest updaters for FileMaker Pro? ScottWorld highly recommends that you keep your copies of FileMaker Pro up-to-date with the latest updaters available, as they fix bugs and add important new features. Can I password protect my databases? Absolutely. FileMaker Pro has built-in security that can prevent unauthorized users from getting into your databases locally, remotely, or over the Internet. We can also help you set up different passwords for different users, each with varying levels of access. Can I send email from FileMaker Pro? Yes. FileMaker Pro has integrated support for key Internet technologies such as sending customized emails and opening URL's. Additional third-party plug-ins extend FileMaker's Internet capabilities by adding even more Internet functions, such as uploading & downloading via FTP. Is FileMaker Pro relational? Yes. FileMaker Pro is a fully relational database program. Is FileMaker Pro expandable? Yes. FileMaker Pro is powerful enough and flexible enough to grow with your needs over time. And because ScottWorld does not lock off your systems like some developers do, we can always go back into your programming code and make changes to your system, allowing FileMaker to expand alongside your business. FileMaker also provides support for third-party plug-ins, which means that the advanced customization possibilities for FileMaker are almost endless. There are dozens of developers who are constantly creating new plug-ins for FileMaker to extend its functionality beyond what it can do out-of-the-box. Can I web-enable my FileMaker Pro databases? Of course! That is one FileMaker's greatest strengths and greatest selling points! Read more about this in our Web Integration section. Can I use my FileMaker databases with my Palm? Yes! Read more about this in our Palm OS & FileMaker section. Can FileMaker use SQL queries to send & receive information from ODBC-capable applications? Absolutely! FileMaker comes with ODBC drivers and supports standard SQL queries, so you can use FileMaker to talk with any of your ODBC-capable applications. This makes FileMaker Pro a very popular player in large enterprise settings, and it also makes FileMaker Pro one of the most versatile databases available on the market today. Here's an example of how you might use FileMaker's ODBC drivers. Let's say you have a Pitney Bowes mailing system that ships out all of your packages for you. But each package is linked to a customer order taken in your FileMaker Pro database. By using FileMaker's ODBC drivers, you can automatically send your customers' shipping addresses from FileMaker into your mailing system, and then automatically send back the shipping costs from your mailing system into FileMaker! And best of all, this process is completely invisible and seamless to you. For more information on the built-in ODBC drivers that ship with FileMaker, please read FileMaker's ODBC Backgrounder. What can I create in FileMaker Pro? Just about anything that you can imagine can be created with FileMaker Pro! Read more about this in our Custom Databases section.
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ScottWorld is the leading Certified FileMaker Developer, FileMaker consultants, FileMaker consulting, FileMaker website web development, Mac consultant, Macintosh consultant, and Mac consulting business in Los Angeles. |
