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1. IntroductionAfter using iMIS for a number of years, through staff turnover or lack of formal on-going training, the system will appear to be inadequate, perhaps no longer useful. Initial thought will be to toss iMIS out and install a new product. The cost of this will be much more than the original purchase of iMIS. What goes into a new product purchase?
Staff time needed to define the needs and conduct a search, actual purchase, conversion, training, report writing, and the list goes on.
We have found, through staff training, whether it is a refresher course or total formal training, iMIS can be shown to be the application it should be for the organization. At a fraction of the cost of a new purchase, the staff will be happily and successfully using iMIS again.
The purpose of this paper is to show
- What can be done in existing iMIS free of charge
- Show how training can fill the holes currently perceived to be in iMIS
- Introduce some powerful new iMIS modules that have been greatly received (at an additional cost) but can quickly pay for themselves.
2. iMIS functions in Basic iMIS
What are the basic iMIS modules? They are: Contact Management with committees and activity tracking, A/R Cash with simple order entry, Dues Billing, and Events Registration.
CRM Features
We’ll start with the Customer Relations Management (CRM) features of iMIS. First, the challenge I want everybody to be thinking about during this meeting is, by the end of the overview, you should see how all the contacts at the organization can and should be in iMIS. All information pertaining to these contacts should also be in iMIS where there is a place for it. In other words, any information currently held in other databases or spreadsheets, have a place and a purpose in iMIS.
Starting with the name and address records, we use the record type to define the type of record it is, member, non-member, company, individual, sponsor, etc.
Next we have the customizer, which allows us to define additional information we desire to track these records. All types of information, including numeric, text, date, etc. can be defined. A lookup table with user-defined data can be assigned for each field.
The custom tables can be defined for use on a per record type basis. A company record may require products sold, annual revenue, staff size, etc. An individual record may require school attended, spouse name, etc.
The fields and tables are easy to setup. No programming is necessary and no affect to the upgrade path is done. The only requirement is to backup the database and get everybody to sign out of iMIS during the process.
Finding contacts
Now that we have all the records in the database we will need to find them. Using the find button at the bottom we will select the name find option. We are asked to key the characters the last name begins with. If we know the entire last name we can key it followed by a comma and the first name. We can do the same with the company name.
If we are not sure of the complete spelling of the name we can use a wild card symbol where we don’t know what else to put there. For example if I am looking for someone with the last name of Smith or is it Smyth, I can type sm_th. This will return all the last names starting with sm ending with th and one character of any value in between.
Another wild card might be used in I only know the contacts first name and only what the last name begins with. The example here is ‘l%,john’. The results will be anybody whose first name is John and last name starts with and L with any number of characters in between.
We can use the wildcard in the company name search as well. If we are looking for a company name containing ‘prodigy’ we would type ‘%prodigy’. The result would be any company whose name contains prodigy, whether is starts with it, ends with it or anywhere in between.
After each search, the records meeting the criteria will be displayed in the find panel. These fields can be display in any sequence the organization desires. Any fields related to the records will be displayed as well. Whatever makes our job easier when trying to find a record. Any column displayed by clicking on the column can sort the records.
iMIS has additional means to perform a search. Using the find the organization, we can define 4 custom searches. For example, phone number, email address among others can be added. iMIS for .net also has the IQB (intelligent query builder), which can be used to build many other searches.
Communication options
Using the iMIS letter writer system, we no longer have to export name and address records in order to merge them into a letter. At the same time, we can have iMIS create an activity records tracking all those who we sent the letter to. The letter templates are stored on the network for sharing with all staff.
Next to the email address of the contact is a small letter icon. By clicking on this we can send an individual an email. This also creates an activity record showing we sent the email.
Activities
The use of activities allows us to track all ‘touches’ we have with the contacts. iMIS automatically generates dues payments, meeting registrations, and product sales. We can also create our own activities such as media mention for those organizations who wish to track when their members are mentioned in the various trade journals, etc. We may track type of publication, name of publication, issue date, etc. We could also assign user defined look up tables on selected fields. By using iMIS to store this information we can use standard reports to list out the information, mail merge, etc.
We also use the activity table to track calls. These calls can be any type, complaints, questions, comments, etc. By assigning the call to a user with a task date we can now have activity tickler reminding us to perform a follow-up to this activity. When we complete the task we can remove it from our ticker without removing it from the history.
A/R Cash
With A/R cash, an under utilized function is simple order entry. This can be used to track all revenue not dues or meeting related such as ad sales or sponsorships or contributions. By using SOE, all revenue generated by the contact will be tracked in iMIS. We can now find the lifetime value of a contact, among other useful functions.
The use of refunds within iMIS allows us to process credits to be refunded. The write-off function allows us to write-off invoices we will never collect or refund.
Dues/Billing
In the Dues/Billing module, many don’t know about the manage expired members function. This allows us to change all unpaid member to an ‘inactive’ status code or a non-member records type.
Events
The event module has a process to close meetings. During this process an activity record will be created for all registrants. We can define what additional information we want tracked in the activity record.
An under utilized function in meeting definition is the planning portion of a function setup. Here we can define the resources needed for each function including food and beverage needs, seating setup, etc.
3. iMIS Add-on Modules (cost $ but saves $ too)
Service Central
Service Central is one of the most popular and well-received modules for iMIS. This product allows multiple items, (dues, meetings, orders, etc.) to be paid with one payment. It also allows the use of credit cards and it will get the credit cards authorized before the payment is accepted. Using Verisign, the dollars are deposited into our back account on a daily basis. By clicking on the email icon you can email a receipt of the payment to the member.
Relationship
The relationship module allows contacts to have multiple relationships with other contacts in the database. An example would be someone who is on the board of multiple companies in the database. Another use is if we wish to track who knows who in the database and what is the relationship type.
WebComponents
The WebComponents consist of:
e-Customer Management - allows users to manage their personal information. e-Events - offers online event registration and management.
e-Communities - offers online communities with discussion forums, document archives, and news announcements.
e-Donations – enable donors to give to your organization online. e-Orders – sell products and services online.
e-Billing – allow online dues or subscription payments.
e-Content Manager – create, publish, and manage web content.
Communications
Informz for iMIS – leverage data in iMIS to create targeted e-mail communications Communicate – deliver email, fax, and postal mail communications
iSync – synchronize information between Microsoft Outlook and iMIS. iView – query, access and export data.
4. Summary
We believe that iMIS, when installed, setup and used correctly, is the best membership product on the market today. I hope that this has provided you with some insight on what can be accomplished in iMIS.
BSCI has many training programs available, including onsite, in house, custom and one-on-one training.
If we can answer any questions for you, please contact us at (312) 553-1253, email us at bsci@bscichicago.com or visit our website www.bscichicago.com.
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Appendix Walkthrough examples for:
Adding a new activity type with lookup fields. Customizer with look-ups
A. Creating a new activity type to track media mentions
Problem: Marketing is tracking all the media mentions of their members in various trade magazines. They will use this information to write letters to the mentioned members about it and print periodic reports analyzing the mentions.
Solution: Create a new activity type allowing for input of this information. The result will be the ability to print standard reports showing the media mentions as well as mail merge with word through iMIS to produce letters.
To create new activities go to customers/setup module/ activity types. Click on new.
Fill in the fields as shown: Type-media
Description-media mention Subtype-publication
UF_1-topic
Check the box for ‘allow user edit’ and create history tab. Key into history tab ‘media’. Next we shall create lookup tables for subtype of publication and topic.
Go to customers/setup tables/general lookup/validation.
Scroll down to find the (new table) and select it. Key in the new table name – ‘publication’. Click on new and key in values and descriptions.
Next add the tab to you tab preferences. Go to any tab and press right click. Select the history tab and move the new media tab from the right to the left.
Click on save and restart iMIS.
You will now see the new tab at the bottom with the rest of the history tabs.
This is an example of adding new activities to iMIS. To reiterate, any data stored outside of iMIS pertaining to an iMIS contact can be added as an activity.
B. Creating a new table to track additional fields.
Problem: The marketing department wants to start a new campaign. In order to do so they need to start tracking information about the membership, which wasn’t tracked in the past.
Solution: Create a new table with the fields and lookup assigned. This will allow the additional information to be tracked in iMIS and used to produce reports and word mergers.
To create the new table go to customers/setup module/general/additional windows.
Click on define tables and new. Key in the new table name – ALA. Tab down to start keying in fields as shown.
First the field name, next the field type (select from the drop down), the field length, number of decimal positions if numeric, user prompt, and last validation table if any. Continue for all fields required. When done click on save. Answer yes to update server table. Click on Auto-create window. Close when done.
Next, go to customers/setup tables/general lookup/validation.
Scroll down to find the (new table) and select it. Key in the new table name – ‘ala_primary_activity’. Click on new and key in values and descriptions. Continue for all validation table required.
Next, right click on any tab to edit tab preferences. Select the new window on the right and move to the left. Click on OK and restart iMIS.
You will now see the new window in iMIS with the lookup tables. Additional functionality available in iMIS:
Refund processing Write-off of A/R
Word/merge directly from iMIS Customizable exports
Advanced intelligent query builder if iMIS for .net installed (no additional charge) Direct link to excel or word through ms/query
