Crystal-Access has quoted many projects, large and small and have a standard process in place to provide you with all the relevent information you require to make an informed decision about securing our services. All our quotations and completed projects include: Analysis of your present methods/systems and future needs. A detailed description of your requirements and how we can acheive the results for you. Pricing Installation, testing and user training (where available) System Documentation/Help Ongoing technical support On-Site support (where available) What does our quote include? Our quotations are completely free and with no obligation to you whatsoever. Our quotes are essentially a two step process. Once we have made contact with you and discussed your requirements we will put together a brief quote which will outline the following: Your requirements, as discussed. The overall functionality of the database. What input screens will be required. Method of data input i.e. Data entry, data import (.xls, dbf, .csv etc.) Reports required. Data export (if required) Email automation (if required). Automation with other MS Office product or other systems (if required). System and user documentation to be included. A 'Fixed cost' total cost for the completed project. Suggested additional items/functionality. Estimated build time. Quote 'Acceptance' form. The information contained in the initial quote will provide you with enough information to decide if any further items should be included, if any items should be excluded and will give you a figure to work with and compare. If you are happy with the quote we can then discuss the next step in the process which is to prepare a detailed project design. This includes all the information we require to design and develop the project and includes items such as input fields, data types, field lengths, report fields, report criteria etc. etc. This information is crucial to us to design the project, not only to include every item requested but to perform all the functions you require. Because we have built so many systems we will normally pick up on any items or functions that you may not have thought about and will include these under 'Suggested additional items/functionality' in the initial quote. For smaller projects such as additions or modifications to an existing database and even many of the smaller databases, provided we have enough information supplied to us initially, the complete design will be included in the initial quote. How long does this take? Normally we can have an initial quote to you anywhere from a few hours to 24 hours depending on the size of the project and the information supplied. The design quote will take anywhere from 24 hours to a few day to prepare for you as this includes all aspects of the database. Why do we spend so much time on the design? Because the design is critical to building a decent, reliable database, not only so it performs how you want it to perform but so it is fast, reliable, can be worked on by anyone with a decent knowledge of VBA and so changes/additions can be made easily with less cost to you. All too often we receive projects requiring what should be a simple modification or addition but becomes very time consuming because the original designer simply 'made it work' with no design knowledge or forethought. How long will the project take to complete? This depends completely on the size of the project. Unless the database requires something quite obscure we will have a very good idea of exactly how long it will take to complete and will include this information on the quote. What if there is a bug or problem at any time? Prior to handover of the project we carry out extensive testing on every aspect of the database. From time to time we have had bugs surface days, weeks or months after handover basically because a sequence of events occured that we simpley didn't foresee ever happening. If there is ever a problem simply let us know and it will be repaired immediately at no cost to you whatsoever. The person assigned to your project is the person who can assist you with any fault as they are are the developer. They can be reached 24/7. As principal, I am also available 24/7 for any issue. I need the database during business hours, can you work on it outside these times? Yes. We do quite a lot of work overnight or on weekends for this very reason, so our clients do not have to have downtime. For smaller repairs, additions, modifications we will ask you to send us a copy of the dbase at COB and will have the work completed and back to you by the following morning. For larger jobs we may ask to have it sent to us by COB Friday night, giving us until Monday morning to have it back to you. Do you charge for assistance/help? No. We provide technical support 24/7 free of charge. At any time, you can email, phone or complete the form provided on this site for assistance. With every project we also provide a 'help' file which covers all user details. If the question is regarding an error we may require a copy of the database to be sent, this will normally only be required if the error relates to a data problem, which is an unlikely event to occur.

I want to request a free, no obligation quotation? To request a free, no obligation quotation please enter your details into the quotation form provided or contact us directly. Our contact details are listed at the bottom of each page. Our business is hundreds of kilometers away, is that a problem? Possibly 70% of our clients are remote i.e. not located in the same city, state or evein in the same country. This is not a problem at all, infact there are many of our clients we have not met face to face. With the use of email and telephone and our experience in database development it is not usually a problem. If we decide it would be better for us to visit with you to go over some details face to face then we will arrange to do so. How can you quote such a good price? We can quote a very competitive price because we work from a home office with virtually no overheads. We don't employ secretaries, marketing people etc. etc. we are programmers and all about writing code. 'Fixed cost' or 'hourly rate'? For new systems we, and most of our clients, prefer a fixed cost but we can also work on an hourly rate. For modifications, additions etc. to existing systems and for additions outside that already quoted we charge an hourly rate. We will always give you an estimate of hours required prior to starting work. You provide a 'fixed cost' quote, can this amount change? In a word.... NO. Our quote will include details on every aspect of the database and the total cost. Having said that, we also include Suggested items/functionality in our quote. This may change the price if you choose to include these, but you will be provided with an updated quote complete with the additions and fixed total cost. At no time will you not know what the final cost will be.