Frequently Asked Questions
I need a Database but don't know where to start
You've come to right place - we offer affordable bespoke solutions whilst helping you refine your requirements and roadmap your digital capabilities.
Our business is so busy our back office systems cannot cope
Our approach starts from simple beginnings without overspend, developing automated ways to reduce duplication and improve accuracy in your business.
I'm worried our existing system might crash
We have been rescuing databases systems for over 20 years and very used to the problems which normally happen when technology is no longer fit for purpose.
Can you computerise time consuming forms for Risk Assessments and Surveys?
This is what we do! Please contact us with your requirements and book a demo.
On boarding Customers is tedious and counter productive on our Platform
Working with Intelligent Office (IO) API and Transact we have developed lightweight solutions to speed up customer onboarding, improve the experience and reducing telephone support time.
Creating reports is time consuming and we need a way to automate
You have come to the right place! Working with you we can develop tools to automate your information into a presentable format (MS Word, PDF) for your customers.
We have over 500 SKUs to update, our website is slow and frustrating
We have a purpose built CMS designed to update large content catalogues and plenty of experience rescuing old websites to revive and modernise your existing online presence.
We need affordable solutions to improve the way we do things
This is what we do! Analysing information and flow of data is how we help our clients and still continue to work with them after 10 years.
We rely on MS Excel and need reliable alternative
This is what we do! Deciphering elaborate spreadsheets (with macros/VBA) and modernising them into practical cloud applications to integrate with your systems.
Still using MS Access and Visual Basic - What support can you provide?
We can work with your existing applications, reducing report times, database optimisations, implementing fail-safes and recommendations to help you transition to modern alternatives.
We are over paying a London Agency and need an alternative "local" provider
This is not uncommon - please get in touch, tell us your woes and we'd be delighted to offer a pragmatic alternative.
We have journals and white papers which need converting to interactive websites
Our CMS is designed to help admin teams update large text based websites, manage table of contents and effective navigation for searching. Content is exportable into interactive PDF
We have more content than our website can handle, it is slow and frustrating
We have purpose built CMS designed to update a lot of content with plenty of experience rescuing old websites to revive or modernise your existing online presence.
We need consistency with our Quotations and avoid unrealistic requirements from Sales Team
Second most popular reason for a configurator is implementing parameters the Sales Team operate within when quoting. This ensures requirements can be fulfilled on receipt of purchase order.
Our quotation process takes too long! How can we simplify it?
Number one reason for a configurator is reducing the time it takes to write a quote and calculate a price. We have a few examples of configurator/quote builder solutions we can share - please contact us to arrange a demonstration.
Looking for an interactive step-by-step Form with clickable icons to guide new User/Customer sign up process
Most online form tools do not offer a polished finish or lack detail which can make a Form Wizard or Quote Builder effective, we have a few examples of step-by-step forms with email notifications and formatted PDF report to download at the end of the process for demonstration.
I want formatted PDF report builder using our Company branding we can share with new customers and suppliers
We have a few examples we can share of form data that can be put into a neatly formatted 'branded' PDF document you can share with customers, suppliers and employees.
Why don't you build Wordpress websites?
We are a company which prides itself on build quality, performance and durability of websites. Using Wordpress as part of our solution would strongly compromise our core values as a technically proficient web application, design and development organisation.
We have fallen out with our current supplier and don't want to pay for a new website
No problem we are here to help and devise a budget to fit your immediate requirements and based on the success of that, we can help you with future web development plans.
Received an expensive quote and would like a comparison?
Happy to help, please contact us with more information or arrange an appointment with our team.
How much do you charge?
We are not the cheapest website agency but we are also not the most expensive. All our staff are experienced and skilled workers which means our hourly rate is charged on a consultative basis. We are open to negotiation and able to offer discount based on hours and days purchased upfront. We invest in the life time value of our customers therefore we are not adverse to being competitive.
Will you sign an NDA (non disclosure agreement) and/or grant exclusivity to work with us?
Yes we are prepared to sign NDA and grant exclusivity for our solutions subject to not finding any conflict of interest within existing arrangements or present a commercial disadvantage to Rapid Software Solutions Ltd.
Will you take on our website support contract from another supplier?
Yes we are happy rescue support contracts from other digital agencies or rogue developers. We have a wealth of experience in website and application development there is very little we are not already familiar with.
We guarantee to be competitive as part of our philosophy to invest in the life-time of working with you as a long term customer.
What if I want to edit my website at a later date?
Prepare a list of changes required and email to our technicians to update as part of your website support agreement. Our support is tailored to the number of updates you typical require over 12 months.
Can I upgrade to a Content Management System (CMS)?
Yes you because the design and content of your website has already been established therefore conversion to a CMS is cost effective and competitive.
I have new photos and videos to share, how can I add them?
On lightweight websites, any new photos and videos you will upload via your Instagram, Facebook or YouTube/Vimeo account to appear on your website.
How can our website attract new business?
At the start of the project, we discuss your business goals and how that relates to your website. As part of the design process we determine what factors your website needs to attract new business and ensure these are implemented as part of the project and budget.
I'm not very good at writing information, can you help?
Yes we have been building websites a long time and have become accustomed to learning about your business quickly and helping you write content to inspire your own imagination or refine the information you are trying to convey.
We work with many technical companies and after a while you develop an awareness of the language and correctness required in those sectors.
Do I own my website? Can I move it to another supplier?
Yes you own your website. We are happy to provide you with a working copy of your website files for your own editing or sharing with another party.
Can you support bespoke written code?
Yes we have encountered many technologies over the years and very use to working with code written by developers. We often help customers transition to newer practices when appropriate to do so.
Do you charge extra for bespoke code?
It all depends on how readable the code is, our billing is based on three factors : How many things you have asked for, how long it takes, what complexity is involved.
If the code is easy to read then we do not charge extra for maintaining bespoke code.
Help I've fallen out with my developer and need my website back?
No problem there are various measures we can envoke to recover your website/database. Please contact us to find out more.
I'm being ripped off but can't afford a new website yet?
Please contact us, we can take over the maintenance of your current website and devise a plan to fit within your budget.
We use MS Access/SQL Server Database can you help?
We already look after several MS Access and older ASP.NET WebForm database applications - new reports, maintaining your current system, helping to transition to new technologies is what we enjoy most
We have an old Visual Basic Application, what support can you provide?
We already look after several MS Access and older ASP.NET WebForm database applications - new reports, maintaining your current system, helping to transition to new technologies is what we enjoy most
Which eCommerce Platform do you recommend?
Most clients do not require a "catalogue" solution e.g. Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce. Quite often we use an specific basket/checkout solution and tailor it to your business requirements e.g. www.photoidcardpeople.com
Clients typically sell specific service/products where the online purchase process links into their existing in-house payment systems.
How can eCommerce sales be improved?
Starts with understanding your business goals and the customers you want to attract.
In most cases adjusting website navigation and re-organisation of categories and products will return the most notable differences in sales. Other strategies include upsell and cross selling of products/services, calls to action, pay-per-click advertising, integration with other online platforms as well as ongoing content creation and use of social media.
How experienced are you?
We have been building websites for 15 years and helped many companies adapt their websites for eCommerce. We know what works and what does not and how to make you website successful.
What makes you different from other Web Agencies?
We do not come from a marketing background and do not portray a creative, glitzy smoke and mirrors veneer. We are practical in our approach with 15 years experience working alongside successful organisation across a variety of industry and sectors, we do not to tell you how to market your business rather we introduce progressive ideas and services to bolster your existing marketing operations.
We let our work do the talking and our actions speak louder than words.
I don't understand Social media, do I need it?
This is a really common question - many of our clients are B2B and usually in manufacturing/industry where the effectiveness of social media is not clear. If your customers do not communicate or use social media then why invest into Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin.
Each customer is different where there is not a "one size" fits all - we learn about your organisation and introduce progressive ideas into your marketing mix as part of a strategy to introduce and establish a presence on the Social platforms.
Our approach helps you to manage costs and grow confidence in the tools available.
How do I get 1st page search results?
Ignoring the fact you can pay to have adverts appear on 1st page - the single most influential factor you can do to reinvigorate your website search results is to restructure your website navigation and menu structure.
This one exercise enables you to transform the focus of your products and services and the visitors you wish to attract to your business. The information you write will naturally form the keywords and search phrases which most appeal to your grade A and B customer profiles.
The knowledge and understanding gained develops ideas to promote and specifically target 1st page results with achievable and realistic marketing goals.
Backups and Recovery
All websites, applications and hosted systems are routinely backed up. Customers can request recovery of their data anytime - in most cases we can forensically retrieve individual files and database entries in the event of accidental overwrite or delete.
Security and Updates
We highly recommend the use of Cloudflare as a web application firewall (WAF) and are happy to configure as part of your hosting subscription with Rapid Solutions.
What Hosting do you provide?
Typical configurations for infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and Platform as a service (PaaS) solutions : LEMP and LAMP stacks, IIS for .NET and MEAN, MERN, and MEEN for NodeJS
Overall hosting is tailored based on your website and applications traffic, typical audience and throughput of data. The amount of storage required and default security settings are also configured into the hosting solution.
Can you host .NET and Umbraco CMS?
Yes no problem - we regularly work with .NET applications for other clients and familiar with Umbraco CMS.
Can you host Wordpress?
Yes no problem - customers who have fallen out with an existing supplier or require some level of rescue usually means we host and maintain your existing website(s).
Our over communication of email, phone and SMS creates inconsistency with Stores
Designed to solve this exact scenario Rapid Answers is a single 'go-to' place for all store information and actions. Head Office co-ordinate information to the stores via document library, managed forms for data collation, action monitoring and the resulting activities.
Our staff are on Rotas - we need a simple Timesheet system for all Stores which links back to our Payroll
Rapid Answers does exactly this - Site Managers record all of their Staff working hours, unexpected absences and shift patterns to one place. Head Office and Payroll are able to easily collate and integrate with their payroll system.
Leavers, Starters, Offer Requests, Emergency Contact, GDPR consent forms - we need a simple system
Rapid Answers provides full Colleague HR information management with configurable permissions at each workflow stage to easily process daily HR tasks across your network of Stores.
Everytime we run a promotion to Stores we experience inconsistency
By using Rapid Answers as the go to Portal for your stores Head Office can co-ordinate specific tasks, checklists and collateral across it's network
Our over communication of email, phone and SMS creates inconsistency with Catering Sites
Designed to solve this exact scenario Rapid Answers is a single 'go-to' place for all site information and actions. Head Office co-ordinate information to the catering sites via document library, managed forms for data collation, action monitoring and the resulting activities.
Give us a try?
Click here to schedule a conversation or demo with one of our team
Friendly advice, highly experienced, no sales pressure
Call +44 (0) 3330 066 280
We know you are busy - send an email with any other helpful information to
[email protected]