As the holiday season approaches, Angel City Data is proud to partner with The True Blue Foundation to honor the brave men and women of law enforcement and their families. This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to supporting those who serve and protect our communities.
A Shared Commitment to Service
The True Blue Foundation: More Than Just Tragedy
The True Blue Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, goes beyond traditional law enforcement support. They recognized that while many charities support officers who fall in the line of duty, there’s a gap in support for their overall well-being. True Blue focuses on helping officers achieve their goals and dreams, both on and off the job.
Bonnie Lucas CEO of Law Enforcement Specialists
The Heart of True Blue
The driving force behind True Blue is Bonnie Lucas, who wasn’t born into law enforcement but was raised by parents who instilled in her the value of service. She witnessed firsthand the importance of giving back through her parents’ volunteer work in their community. True Blue allows Bonnie to continue that legacy of service on a larger scale.
Angel City Data’s Contribution
Angel City Data is proud to contribute a portion of our annual profits to The True Blue Foundation. This donation will directly support law enforcement families, ensuring they receive the care and recognition they deserve.
How You Can Help
We invite you to join us in making a difference:
By working together, we can make a lasting impact on the lives of law enforcement officers and their families.
Happy Holidays from Angel City Data!
Hey there, champions of custom solutions and digital evolution! Are you ready to turbocharge your business operations with Claris FileMaker 2024? Let’s explore why this upgrade isn’t just an update—it’s a quantum leap forward.
FileMaker 2024
Claris recently unveiled FileMaker 2024, and it’s packed with game-changing enhancements designed to elevate your business operations to new heights. If you’re still rocking the same FileMaker app from years ago, it’s time for a serious upgrade. Here’s why FileMaker 2024 is the game-changer you need.
What’s new?
Developer Advancements & Security Enhancements
Developers will love the new AI script steps and calculation functions, including embedding management and semantic find capabilities, which enhance AI integration within FileMaker solutions. Moreover, advanced security features such as automated SSL processes and comprehensive admin controls ensure robust protection against unauthorized access and data breaches.
Integrated Workplace Platform
FileMaker 2024 isn’t just about upgrading; it’s about embracing evolution and innovation. As an all-in-one workplace platform, it integrates seamlessly with the entire Claris suite, including Claris Connect and Claris Studio, enabling effortless development of public web apps and automation of digital workflows.
Join the Innovation Revolution
You’re not alone in this journey—join a community of trailblazers who are redefining success with FileMaker. From slashing sales process times to centralizing massive datasets, businesses like Exclusive Cars and ESPN Netherlands have transformed their operations with Claris FileMaker.
Ready, set, transform.
Ready to rewrite the future of your FileMaker app? Dive into FileMaker 2024 and unleash its full potential. The future starts now—let’s make it epic!
With Claris FileMaker 2024, the power to innovate is in your hands. Don’t just meet expectations—surpass them. Let’s build the future, one custom app at a time. Ready, set, let’s innovate!
Claris has been busy.
There has been a lot of talk and hype centered around the Claris Platform over the past few years. Recently on September 8th, Claris Studio, a new Claris product, was made available to the public. Yes, that means you! Okay, okay, but why should you care?
Pull up a chair.
First, you might be asking yourself what is Claris Studio? If you are not familiar, it is a cloud-native development environment that integrates with Claris Pro, Claris Go, and Claris Server. This means you will be able to collect, view, and analyze all your business data in a single space. With this functionality you will get a better view of your operational processes.
Claris Studio can benefit your business.
On Display.
Display your data that best suits you and your team, including reports, charts, forms, spreadsheets, lists, Kanban boards, and dashboards.
Organized Hubs.
Create hubs where you can organize collections of workflows by job function, business process, or task to easily and meaningfully share your data among your team.
ONE ID TO RULE THEM ALL,
ONE HUB TO FIND THEM,
ONE PLATFORM TO BRING THEM ALL TOGETHER AND BIND THEM!
Okay but in all seriousness, with Claris Studio you will just need a single login with your Claris ID to navigate between Claris Studio, Claris Pro, and Claris Go. Signing into multiple accounts will be a thing of the past. There are key differences between the legacy FileMaker and new Claris Platforms. You may need help untangling the benefits that best serve you. As a Claris Platinum Partner, Angel City Data can help you navigate and target which components will best fit your business.
We’re excited to see Claris continuing to push through with new products and features. We have seen a lot from them over the past year and we look forward to working with them and solving problems for our customers along the way.
If you have questions about Claris Studio or the rest of the Claris/FileMaker product offerings and if it is a good fit for your business, we’re here to help.
Angel City Data, headquartered in Burbank, CA, has a simple mission: we use beautiful business software to improve people’s lives. Through our three tenants (Design, Business, and Support), we strive daily to maintain a set of high standards that consistently align us towards this mission. It’s important to us that with every step we take through the development process we are consistently guiding our clients to success.
Our benchmark for success however, isn’t limited to the design and delivery of a system. At ACD the goal is to provide consistent improvement to the overall company health. And we do this by designing solutions that solve the short-term challenges of today in ways that help support our clients’ long-term plans for tomorrow.
For 18 years clients have been able to rely on ACD’s consistent process of supporting their current and future needs. Akin to the triage approach an ER doctor uses when assessing patients, our experienced team of developers know how to analyze and prioritize a client’s issues. While accomplishing long-term solutions is always the goal, if a “patient” is bleeding out on the table, a long-term health plan doesn’t mean much! Fortunately, ACD is adept at shepherding our clients through the short-term survival mode into the long-term thriving mode. Because once immediate needs are addressed, the real work begins.
Our customers aren’t the only ones who’ve appreciated our level of support. Our consistent impact on the overall health of our clients’ companies has earned us the Software Hall of Fame Award for being the “Best in Burbank” for seven Consecutive Years. And Claris created the “Excellence Award” for Technical Support for us, the only award of its kind given in 25 years!
As we approach our second decade of service we continue to help raise the bar for our entire industry through our continuous dedication to our clients’ success. These are the consistent efforts that will pave the way for the successes of tomorrow and years to come.
iTransport4U
A fine piece of art or cherished antique is not something to be mistreated. These rare and valuable items need great care in their handling, especially when being transported over thousands of miles of bumpy roads. Bob Sorrentino knows a thing or two about handling fine art. In his previous career, he worked at a packing and shipping company in the Palm Springs area. He was often approached by numerous area art galleries to see if he could help carefully pack expensive and delicate artworks for transport to their final destinations in other parts of the US. He quickly gained the skills and following of local galleries, eventually forming his own company. iTransport4U is one of the premiere companies for packing, shipping, and installing fine artwork across the contiguous 48 states, with their fleet of state-of-the-art vans and highly skilled technicians.
Sleek Payloads. Clunky Workflows.
As iTransport4U’s reputation began to grow, its business began to scale. However, many of the existing processes that worked fine for a tiny business caused gridlock as the staff and traffic grew. Office staff tracked orders, quotes, insurance, and invoices via email. Delivery techs were driving around with 2-3 inches of paper orders, invoices, and installation notes on clipboards. It was hard to enforce quality control measures, plan van routes, and communicate delivery times, when so much of the data was floating around in disconnected documents.
A Digital Transformation.
Hearing all this, the Angel City Data team quickly sized things up and stepped in to help. First up, was a digital CRM and Work Order System, so the entire team could create, edit, and view all the jobs they had, without scrolling endlessly through emails. ACD built this with FileMaker Pro, which was the ideal platform for iTransport4u’s growth and rapid changes. We later added invoicing, insurance tracking, and other logistical information so that all the details surrounding a job were in one place. This new centerpiece served as the perfect staging area for what came next.
Hit the Road, Jack.
The new system helped the administrative staff be more productive, and the change was immediately noticeable. However, the road warriors in the delivery vans were still relying on clipboards and stacks of paperwork for each of their trips. That’s when the team at ACD crafted a mobile version of the system for tablet use, designed specifically for the road. The technicians now have live access to where they’re going, what they’re picking up or delivering, and can even collect signatures from the recipients when a delivery is complete. The live access also means that the office staff can update the drivers in real time with any new pickups or schedule changes.
The Road Ahead.
iTransport4U continues to grow. They continue to add more vans to their growing fleet as Bob and the team continue in their nationwide expansion. ACD is continually working with them to discuss new innovations and enhancements to their system, like customer web portals, integration with accounting, automation, and other efficiency improvements. This dynamic company has surrounded themselves with world-class tools and has open road ahead of them for even more growth and prosperity.
Want to see more happy customers?
Good things come in threes.
Three primary colors, three-part harmony, a great film trilogy.
Angel City Data is positively transforming the lives of people and their businesses with custom desktop, web, and mobile software through three core principles: Design. Business. Support.
De·sign: a plan produced to show the look and function of something before it is built.
Before anything is built, we focus on software designs that will accommodate and improve user workflows. A good software design is not just beautiful to look at, it also delivers multiple benefits:
Fierce attention to design is a cornerstone of ACD, and it has earned us the recognition of a Claris “Excellence Award” for outstanding design. Angel City Data’s Director of Design, Jake Johnson, reveals the hidden payoff in great software designs, “We believe in putting people first, with efficient, human-centric designs. Users who enjoy their software get more work done, quicker. It’s as simple as that.”
Happy, productive users.
Good for your staff, great for your business!
Busi·ness: an organization or entity engaged in commercial activity.
- Streamlined data entry
- Slashed paper use
- Streamlined data entry
- Reduced application switching
- Invisible automation
- Data sharing between systems
- Projecting trends with reporting and analytics
These are just a few of the many upshots you can expect when working with Angel City Data.
It’s not the code, it’s the conviction.
We partner with our clients to create software that lowers workflow friction and raises client profits. We define our success by THEIR success.
It’s what our many ACD clients already know:
We mean business.
Sup·port: to give encouragement; to keep something going.
For ACD, success doesn’t start and stop with the completion of a system. Our commitment to support includes both short-term challenges of today, and long-term plans for tomorrow. It’s why so many of our clients have been with us for a decade or more.
We see businesses often undergo significant growth, industry upheaval, or directional changes that require adaptation of their processes and systems. ACD customers know that when they reach for support, they will be connected with someone:
This close partnership with every customer leads to an accumulated “shorthand”, which allows us to move quickly with them and support any needed changes. Our customers aren’t the only ones who’ve noticed. We’ve received a Claris “Excellence Award” for Technical Support. It’s the only award of its kind given in 25 years.
Come for the software.
Stay for the support.
Plat·form: a raised level surface on which people or things can stand.
Our three principles serve as an excellent foundation upon which we work to support other companies and platforms.
One of our favorite platforms at Angel City Data is Claris FileMaker. Claris is an Apple company that helped pioneer low code business software years ago. Low code platforms have seen a strong resurgence today, as more businesses strive for digital transformations that allow them to stay efficient and flexible. “Modern businesses should stay nimble. The same should apply to their software systems.” says David Knight, Angel City Data President. “The Claris platform has always enabled our team to build amazing systems for today that quickly adapt into amazing systems of tomorrow.”
Angel City Data is a hand-picked “Platinum Partner” of the Claris platform, placing us in the top tier of all Claris consultants worldwide. Imagine combining a top-notch software platform with expert craftsmanship.
No need to imagine.
You can see examples here
Dirty Jobs
A clean kitchen is not only a healthy kitchen, but a safe one as well. Although keeping an industrial kitchen clean can be a dirty job, dirty jobs are often the most important jobs. Such is the case of Bryan Exhaust Service, and their commercial kitchen cleaning and repair services. There are thousands of commercial kitchen fires annually, and many stem from poor cleaning and substandard maintenance. Enter Bryan Exhaust Service. They help keep our favorite restaurants and eateries sparkling clean, and safe from dangerous fires. Cleaning grease traps and removing oven build-up may not be glamorous, but any job that helps save lives is a beautiful job indeed.
Bryan Exhaust Services
Bryan Exhaust Service is a veteran-owned, family operation that has been in business for over 40 years. They continue to thrive by offering highly-trained experts along with state-of-the-art tools to ensure that kitchen hoods and exhaust systems are clean and operating at maximum efficiency. Their lead technicians average over ten years of experience in the industry. They are a dedicated team that services restaurants across Southern California and they take pride in the impact they make on a daily basis.
Exhaust-ing Habits
When Angel City Data met Bryan Exhaust, they had some workflow build-up of their own. They needed to improve their processes when it came to providing estimates, scheduling, work orders, and more. They relied heavily on printing work orders throughout the day, utilizing mounds of paper and loads of ink. They struggled with many things that other businesses struggle with:
Drowning in paper.
Redundant data entry.
Minimal automation.
Inadequate reporting.
The cost of doing nothing was actually costing thousands.
At Angel City Data, we’d heard this all before.
Fresh From the Oven
After listening and learning about Bryan Exhaust’s challenges, Angel City was able to provide a digital transformation. Not only did we reduce their reliance on paper with a custom-built Claris Pro app, but we also automated their processes and streamlined their services. A key ingredient of this effort was the tailored mobile app for their technicians, allowing them to acquire their work orders in-app without physically driving in to the office. All those hours previously spent in LA’s famous rush-hour traffic, are now spent as (billable) time working with clients.
Less gas and paper.
More time and revenue.
Why, Hello Cash Flow!
Like in other ACD systems, we created a job log dashboard, that allows the home base team and field technicians to be on the same page. Using simple taps in their mobile app, techs can now view contact information, effortlessly review work orders, get turn-by-turn directions to service locations, and review crucial job details from one, centralized place. Once onsite, all work is now processed in real time, saving everyone hours throughout their week. Fewer calls, emails, and texts between staff are happening, because updates happen everywhere in real time. Their newest mobile feature extends these benefits to their customers, allowing for the immediate receipt of completed work orders via email and SMS/MMS text message. Detailed deficiency reports are generated automatically upon the completion of every job. These reports are quickly filed and the work performed is now billed within 24 hours – compared to weeks using their previous workflow. These simple changes can dramatically improve a small business’ cash flow.
Real-time jobs list gives technicians one-tap access to customer outreach, sight location and directions, and deeper job information. Progress bars indicating job completion status give technicians confidence in knowing where things are, all the time.
Job detail screen offers technician insight into only the information they need to get their job done. Easy-to-use checklists keep track of what needs to get done, and are synced to the back office in real-time.
Easy-to-use checklists give technicians lightning fast access to document system issues. This prevents the need for typing, and enhances data integrity.
Back at the office, job status and data is seamlessly updated in real-time, so that everyone is on the same page all of the time.
In the words of the Bryan Exhaust team, having their system integrate with Claris Pro has made their entire team “…more efficient and more productive”.
Ask us how we can help remove workflow build-up from your business with a sparkling clean system from Angel City Data.
``To look into the eyes of a wolf is to see your own soul`` - Aldo Leopold
Old Dog, New Tricks.
Our own Joe Gold made us aware of Apex’s mission, and how their impact was diminished not only due to the tracking and paperwork associated with any non-profit, but also with the care and management of live animals. Detailed tracking was needed to specify each animal’s diet, medications, exercise schedule, etc. Unlike many non-profits, Apex is also a 24-hour operation, with a lot of coordination and handoff between various volunteers. A volunteer may come in to work and immediately need to be updated on an injury or change in a wolf’s condition or dietary requirements.
Our Pack Helping Theirs.
A Pawsitive Impact.
The past few years under the cloud of covid-19 have made running any business more difficult. Smaller budgets, higher inflation, and fewer in-person events have caused many non-profits to struggle more than usual. Apex has experienced many of these challenges and others. At Angel City Data, we decided further help was ours to give. We decided on a three-pronged approach to assist Apex:
Donations.
The money we normally dedicate to year-end corporate gifts has been re-directed to Apex in the form of a donation. Swapping a few extra holiday sweets for life-saving medications seems like something all of our colleagues would happily agree with.
Amazon Smile.
ACD’s corporate Amazon Smile account has designated Apex Protection Project as our chosen non-profit. This means that for every purchase ACD makes through Amazon, a portion of those sales receipts will be donated to Apex.
Our voices.
We plan on including Apex in a series of social media postings throughout 2022, to drive even more awareness to their mission and help inspire donations and volunteerism towards their goals.
Throw Them a Bone.
In 2022, the staff at ACD plans to do go on a field trip to Apex, where we can engage in a “Meet the pack” experience between our team and the wolves. We look forward to sharing pictures and memories from this experience with our many friends here. We ask that any of you that can, please consider a monthly contribution through Apex’s “Adopt a Wolfdog” program, or other forms of gifting on their site:
Have a Happy Howlidays.
We hope 2021 finishes happy, healthy and successfully for all of our clients, staff, vendors, partners, and families. And remember, if you happen to be driving through the back roads of Acton and hear wolves howling in the distance, don’t worry. It’s a good thing.
Happy Howlidays!
David Knight | President, Angel City Data
Watch how Claris tells the story of how Apex uses their FileMaker app.
What do Staples Center, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the Hollywood Bowl all have in common? They all have spruced up their events with lights from Kinetic Lighting, in Glendale, CA. Kinetic is an award-winning leader in lighting technology, sales and rentals, where clients can choose from a wide variety of lighting gear to brighten up their next endeavor. From television and film, to live events, to illuminating an architectural masterpiece, Kinetic has everything you need.
Lights.
Camera.
Action.
Faster, More Robust Web Applications & Integrations
Let us know if you’d like to see some in action.
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FileMaker Server Compatible with the Latest Mac M1 chips
<cracking knuckles>
Yeah, we got game. Contact us if you’d like to see more performance from your applications.
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New Linux Capabilities
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Better Server Administrator Logging & Controls
p.s. Let ACD know if you’d like us to review YOUR server logs. It’s wise to review your logs every so often to spot good (and bad) things that are happening on your server.
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Security Enhancements
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Bugs-B-Gone!
“When sharing via ODBC/JDBC was enabled, clients incorrectly received error 805 (“File is damaged; use Recover command”).”
<eyes glazing over>
What evs. But fewer bugs at our picnics or in our software is always a good thing, right? There are dozens of these geeky issues, but trust me things like a faster/better installation process, better performance, and fewer unexplained crashes have all been addressed. A full list of all changes in this release is <here>.
In short, this version is simply,
“Mo Better!”
Let Angel City Data know if you need a deeper understanding of any of these, or if you’d like to address any of the capabilities or improvements mentioned above.
