The SmartSimple Blog

It’s been quite an eventful year for the SmartSimple team. In the spirit of New Year’s Eve, we’ve assembled our top 10 blog posts – in no particular order – to highlight our biggest announcements and articles of 2012. 10.  What is SmartSimple's UTA? The most ubiquitous part of any SmartSimple system, the UTA is a flexible and powerful information gathering tool. We explain the basic working parts of a UTA and how you can use it to your advantage. 9.   SmartSimple's Real 360 °  CRM Our 360° suites enable our clients to capture and manage important information. For our clients in the grants industry, we provide a handy walk-through of applicant and organizational profiles. 8.  More Than Just Software - Our First Live Video! One of our resolutions for the year was to broaden our web presence, and our first live YouTube video was a huge step toward that. It was only a preview of things to come! 7.  Smart Ways to Do Good for the ...

SmartSimple’s Support hours for next week and New Years Day will be as follows: Christmas Eve (Dec 24) 8am - 6pm Christmas Day (Dec 25) Closed Boxing Day (Dec 26) 8am - 6pm Thursday Dec. 27th 8am - 6pm Friday Dec. 28th 8am - 6pm New Years Eve (Dec 31) 8am - 6pm New Years Day (Jan 1) Closed For more information or to check out future SmartSimple events, enjoy our Event & Training Calendar . Please have a safe and happy holiday!

Philanthropy is an essential part of the holiday season, a fact that we’re reminded of every winter when the bells of volunteers in Santa hats ring through our streets. If you’re interested in doing good this season (and for more reasons than landing on the Nice list), we’ve compiled a few helpful hints and links to kick off your charitable ways. Donations in Lieu of Gifts One fantastic way of giving back for the holidays is to make charitable donations on behalf of your family and friends. Consider their hobbies and passions. What do they have vested interests in? Sports, recreation, youth, shelter for the homeless? When researching charities, be sure to confirm their statuses at http://www.charityrank.ca , http://www.charitywatch.org or http://www.charityguide.org . Not sure how to get the ball rolling? Here are a few charitable organizations to start: Canadian Tire Jumpstart Until December 31st, you can head to your local Canadian Tire retail store to receive one of ...

SmartSimple celebrated the season in style this past Friday. While our day-to-day lives revolve around software and functionality, that doesn't mean we can't appreciate some seasonal good cheer. Festivities began in our Toronto office. Our first game involved a terribly cute collage of babies who, as luck would have it, all grew up to work at SmartSimple. Who's who? The SmartSimple team attempts to match fellow staff with their baby photos. After another Guess Who-style game in which we matched staff to their interests, iPhone cases and facial hair, it was time to hightail it to the glamorous Bar Italia for dinner and drinks. While we were sharing the second floor with a family party that seemed to be invoking Mob Wives  for its central theme, a merry good time was had by all!

As an integral part of our GMS360 °  and RMS360 °  platforms, we provide our grants and research funding clients with access to third party government data. This data confirms or denies their status as a charity, non-profit, or educational institution. Additionally, this data can verify whether or not they appear on any watch lists. This vital information is gathered from the following sources: OFAC  The Office of Foreign Asset Control acts as a watch list. Any organizations or individuals included on this list are prohibited from receiving any funding. This list is updated on a monthly basis. IRS   The IRS maintains two databases: Pub78 and the Business Master File. Pub78 contains all non-revoked non-profit organizations that are required to report to the IRS. Organization types that may be eligible for grants and donations, but are not present on this database, can be found here . The Business Master File contains all exempt organizations. Both databas...

You may have noticed a few recent changes to your SmartSimple interface. As part of our new series of monthly upgrades, we’ve introduced several key features and benefits for November 2012. For a visual walkthrough of these changes, enjoy our new November 2012 Upgrade General Overview training video: Search Options  Several tweaks and additions have been added under search options including: A filter list based on records of a status, template or type List view now defaults to previously used search criteria Basic search allows searches based on type Contact Records A new middle name standard field has now been added under contact records. You can enable it by clicking User/Contact Standard Field Settings under Global Settings, then selecting the Middle Name link. You can now add a “Save Draft” button to contact and company records. This ability can be accessed through a Manager permission. Prefix/Suffix standard fields are now available as drop-down box...

Your SmartSimple system is more powerful than you think. Take, for instance, the flexibility of our custom fields. So what's a custom field?  Well, it’s a unit of data  that you attach to an object such as a contact, role, company, or activity type. Want to know more about how custom fields can benefit your UTA s? Keep reading. Types of Custom Fields  Custom fields are essential for the completion of a Level One entity (such as a project or case). SmartSimple supports over 50 types; they can be as simple or as complex as you need them to be. Simple custom fields include: Check boxes  Website or email address links  Text or system objects  Contact search fields  If you want to significantly enhance functionality, more complex custom fields are available, including: File upload boxes  Password text protection  XML data  Microsoft Word Merge  Adding Custom Fields to Level Ones  You can create your own cu...

SmartSimple Software is delighted to announce our new implementation partnership agreement with Cornastone. With them, we’re able to extend the reach of our product to a brand new client base in South Africa. We’re pleased to be working with an organisation that shares our values and commitment to excellence and customer satisfaction. Cornastone’s implementation expertise and our product excellence will greatly benefit South African organisations in the grants and research marketplace. Please visit the Cornastone website to learn more about this exciting new collaboration.

More and more universities and research facilities across the UK are implementing asset and equipment sharing services as a result of changes in equipment funding from Research Councils UK (RCUK). SmartSimple is keeping in step with this trend by developing an asset sharing module for our research management system RMS360°. Key benefits of asset and equipment sharing include: Increase of work efficiency and effectiveness within research management Easier, quicker access to equipment Encourages collaboration to fully exploit equipment across the UK research industry A more intuitive exchange of knowledge and ideas with multiple research teams SmartSimple is activity seeking UK-based universities to implement this module with. Please contact Joe Briggs at jbriggs@smartsimple.com to learn more. For more information about RMS360º, please click here .

SmartSimple is excited to announce that we are currently developing a module for RMS360º. This project costing and financial management module will allow research organisations to determine the full costs of projects as well as the cost to the funder. Other benefits and features of our upcoming module include: Management of internal authorisation of grant application costs  Personalised templates to support rule changes in framework  Formulate estimates and costs associated with your projects  Support for multiple funders/sponsors on the same project  Full immediate real-time integration with all other RMAS lots We are currently looking for UK-based research organisations in need of a dynamic and effective way to manage their project costs Please contact Joe Briggs at  jbriggs@smartsimple.com  to learn more. For more information about RMS360º, please click here .

Here at SmartSimple, we’re more than just a vendor. Getting involved at the community level is an integral part of our company, and we strive to provide invaluable resources for all our clients. An important aspect of the research community has always been the collaborative nature of its organizations across North America. We’ve compiled a helpful list of research organizations who strive to empower and advance the nature of the research industry. CASRAI The Consortia Advancing Standards in Research Administration Information is a non-profit organization that develops standards for the research community. They aim to simplify the research life-cycle across the entire industry by maintaining a common data dictionary. CASRAI continually examines and advances the best practices for data exchange between interlinked organizations including research teams, institutions, and funding agencies. Their first annual international conference, ReConnect12 , was held in October unde...

On Wednesday, October 24, we here at SmartSimple opened our office doors to welcome clients, colleagues and collaborators. We spent the day discussing important company news, unveiling new software features, and exchanging ideas in open group conversations. For those who were unable to attend or are interested in a rundown of the sessions we hosted, we've compiled helpful briefings of each discussion to bring you up to speed. Our engaged audience. (Don't mind the cobwebs - they're only Halloween decorations.) Opening words by Michael Reid Company co-founder Michael Reid detailed the eye-opening history of SmartSimple, from its humble beginnings as a lean startup to its current standing as an international company with 40+ employees across Toronto and Dublin. As a humourous way to illustrate just how far SmartSimple has come, Michael unveiled the very first server the company used. A rusty relic, compared to today's technology! Arcadia: SmartSimple’s Ne...

As a frequent user of SmartSimple, you may have come across the term ‘UTA’ multiple times. Chances are you use several UTAs as part of your customised system. But what does it mean, and what makes it integral to your SmartSimple experience? UTA stands for Universal Tracking Application , which is a customisable application used by SmartSimple as a powerful information gathering tool. They can be used in a variety of ways, including case management, grants management, programs management, helpdesk applications and contract tracking. Level 1 Each basic UTA consists of an entity, which is something that is being tracked. In SmartSimple terminology, the thing to be tracked is called the  Level 1 entity . For example, this can be a project or a case. Once you define the Level 1 entity, you can create any number of activities associated with it. The Level 1 entity defines how the application should be structured. You can create different types of Level 1 entities wi...

Managing your organization’s companies, departments and users can be tricky. That’s why SmartSimple offers a built-in Relationship Management program: to help you organize the hierarchical structure of your staff and contacts. Setting up New Branches Under the Organization menu, click Internal Users to display the hierarchy of users within your company. Enter a new branch by selecting the New Branch tab and filling out the information. The system will check for duplicates, at which point you’ll be asked whether you want to merge with an existing branch or create an entirely new one based on the information you wrote.  Users & Groups The relationship manager supports an unlimited number of contacts, which you can enter manually or by exporting from your Microsoft Outlook account. Creating groups for your users greatly simplifies how you manage your contacts. Simply select Roles & Permissions under the Configuration menu and click User Groups to...

If your company requires you to contact and book third party transportation and interpretation services, SmartSimple has the solution for you. We've made the easy step-by-step process even easier with our online video guide: Transportation Services A drop-down list of service providers will be made available to you upon completion of the claimant’s information and referral sources. From there, you will be able to fill out trip information, appointment details, duration of transportation, and billing. Translation Services Under the Interpretation drop-down list, you will find a selection of available translation service providers. Upon choosing your service, you will be able to customize details such as gender of interpreter, language, special needs, wheelchair accessibility, and billing. You will receive a confirmation number after successfully submitting your request for either type of service to your selected provider. For more of SmartSimple’s online...

You have questions, we have answers. Here at SmartSimple, we’re excited to introduce our online training videos to better help you understand our services. Whether you want a quick overview of our latest update, or the best tips and tricks to set up a new program, our videos cover all bases. Want to get started? Check out our comprehensive video guides now: SmartSimple’s Cloud Calendar Learn how to manage your online calendar by changing your calendar type, adding events and tasks, and associating different contacts and users. Getting Started with SmartSimple Relationship Management Maintain users for your business with our easy organizational hierarchy tool. Structure your organization by company, branch and division, as well as your staff by department and role. You can also associate external contacts with your company. Booking Transportation and Translation Services with SmartSimple If your business needs to access transportation and translation ...

Join us on Wednesday, October 24, 2012 to learn about new features, opportunities for collaboration with SmartSimple partners and ways to enhance your SmartSimple experience. We will be hosting 8 concurrent sessions, running from 9:30am-4:00pm at our office location (111 Peter St.). Feel free to join us for the full day or for the sessions that peak your interest. There will also be prizes and raffles for attendees who participate in the Open House! Please note that all sessions are first come, first served and run for one hour. Please visit the events calendar on our website to learn more about the sessions and to register. Your last day to register is Monday October 15, 2012. Please feel free to bring along any colleagues whom you think might benefit. If you have any questions, please contact us at 416-591-1668 x100. Looking forward to seeing you there!

SmartSimple is excited to attend CASRAI’s first annual Reconnect conference, taking place form October 10-12 at the Delta Centre-Ville in Montreal We look forward to learning from some of the top minds in the research community. What is Reconnect12? The theme for Reconnect12 is Occupy Impact. Speakers will be addressing a growing issue within the research community: impact measurement. What is the impact of a system this wide and diverse, and how can it be improved? While the main purpose of Reconnect12 is to tackle the difficult issue of impact measurement, it also offers an opportunity for CASRAI’s peers and colleagues to reconnect, hence the name. This two-day conference will be attended by researchers, scholars, evaluation officers, and other stakeholders with an interest in finding informed solutions to these impact issues. Who is CASRAI? CASRAI is the Consortia Advancing Standards in Research Administration Information. In other words, they’re a non-profit organization that ...

You may have noticed that all of SmartSimple’s product suites are named 360°. The reason is, SmartSimple provides an authentic and holistic approach to tracking and managing what's important to you. For instance, you can ensure that all information captured in your contacts profile is meaningful to your actual relationships. Grants applicants can upload meeting minutes and financial statements, and you can easily identify those who belong to a given organization (i.e. employer), and those who are associated (i.e. volunteers and board members). In the end, life is simplified because everything you need to capture is done as a by-product of your contact’s interaction with the system. Further to this, all relevant information is readily available in an integrated system and is online-accessible at any time. And, perhaps the most important aspect of our 360° product line is how an applicant’s profile and organizational profile are accessible at any time from within a grants ap...

Anyone who has followed the grants management software market over the last few years knows that in today’s marketplace, there are more vendors than you can shake a stick at. While increased options are appealing, they make the challenge of finding the right fit even more burdensome. When organizations seek out a solution to meet their specific needs, they should be aware of the following warning signs, which show potentially spell danger: " Sure, we can do anything " – This is a familiar statement from a software vendor who can provide functionality without any real understanding of the intricacies of grants management. Generally speaking, many software vendors produce products with great functionality, and can try to apply them to the grants management space. Unfortunately, they may not be aware of what they don’t know, and in this instance, their customers become guinea pigs. In time, they may realize that removing paper from the process and assigning roles are mer...

When looking at grants management and research management system vendors, one might believe that the differences between grants and research management are strictly semantic. Both systems are used to manage the funding lifecycle, which begins with the establishment of an award and often ends with a post-award report. Whether an organization uses a very simple approach, or conversely, a very sophisticated method for each type, there are indeed fundamental differences between the two systems. Integration with academic systems as well as third party databases like Pubmed, are frequently needed in research management systems and not grants management systems. To learn more about the differences between these two systems, visit our product page: http://www.smartsimple.com/product-guide.html .

Recently, SmartSimple was an attendee and exhibitor at the informative 2012 ARMA Conference in Southhampton, England. ARMA (the professional association for research managers and administrators in the UK) is an indispensable association which encourages professional development and networking in the realm of research administration. Members of the association—who work in universities, funding bodies, the NHS and independent research organizations—came together for the annual conference to network, gain insight about recent developments and exchange pertinent knowledge. Over 400 colleagues from across the UK and around the globe attended the informative 3-day event, which included plenary presentations, workshop sessions, discussions with sponsors and exhibitors, and a gala dinner. Each event contributed to this year’s theme of ‘Making a Difference’—an appropriate topic, as research continues to be identified as the essential link to rebuilding the economy. The conference provided ...

The Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) has issued new HCAI Guidelines for submitting OCF-21. According to the guideline, the OCF-21 invoice must indicate the OCF plan number to which it is associated. Please see the attached document release by HCAI and the HCAI May 2012 Update Release for a detailed description of changes effective July 1 2012 . HCAI System Unavailability The HCAI system will be unavailable from 5:01 p.m. (EST) June 29th, 2012 and is expected to resume active status at 8:00 a.m. (EST) July 3rd, 2012 . Every integrating Insurer and Health Care Facility must have all of their transactions successfully processed by 4:59 p.m. (EST) June 29th, 2012 if they are to be processed under the HCAI December 2011 Guideline. Summary of Changes HCAI key OCF21B_Plan_Document_Number is no longer in use. This key must be blank at all times. HCAI mapping to this key must be removed. HCAI Key OCF21B_PreviouslyApprovedGoddsAndServices_PlanNumber must be use...

SmartSimple was founded in 2003 with a vision around what B2B collaboration might look like in the future – the future being about now actually. We certainly got something right but when all is said and done it is our clients who turned our concepts into a viable business – thanks everyone ! As more people around the world have become interested in what we are doing they want to know who we really are so we’ve put together a small video – who we are :) Take a peep.

Healthcare providers and Insurers often find they need Transportation and Interpretation services to provide that extra level of care to their claimants and clients. SmartSimple Inc. is pleased to announce our new partnership with Rapid City Transportation enabling clients using SmartSimple's Claims Management system to arrange for Rapid City's services. SmartSimple recognizes that scheduling assessments is a difficult process. In addition to the assessment, supplementary services such as patient transportation and interpreting are also often required. Using multiple systems to arrange all of these services is inefficient and simply adds time and costs to your process. Developers at both SmartSimple and Rapid City collaborated to simplify the process, allowing providers to arrange for all services at the same time, through the same familiar system they already know and use! "We are very pleased to add Rapid City, a leader in their field, to our roster of Value Added P...

When our clients talk, we listen and as a result, we are embarking on one of the biggest enhancements to SmartSimple… a new User Interface! Interface Objectives: Easier to use Accessible metrics Improved experience Reduced deployment time Features: Optimized working space Simplified configuration Landing page with status counts hyperlinked to list views for ease of access Summary section (Aggregates custom fields associated with UTA) Context based report visibility (See available reports based on role, status and UTA) UTA tools tab (Invoice, batch update and other UTA actions all in one place) Quick search (Single field or advanced) Share and personalize your list views In-line editing Learn More Starting in late May we will be presenting some Web-based information sessions to give our clients a heads up on what is coming. Be sure to register for these exciting events . Click here for screenshots and more info .

SmartSimple is an enthusiastic supporter of innovation and open standards and as a provider of research management systems to member organizations the company is excited to formally join the Consortia Advancing Standards in Research Administration Information (CASRAI) as an implementation associate. This partnership ensures that SmartSimple is well positioned to support the market’s desire for meaningful common standards and interoperability David Resnick from SmartSimple notes that: “The value of research is only enhanced through the ability to disseminate findings across communities. In order to do so in a manner that is effective and efficient, technology must act as an enabler and not a barrier. To this end we not only intend to facilitate the implementation of CASRAI amongst our clients, but hope to leverage our international presence to contribute to an open but secure network of researchers, research funders and research institutions”. We are very pleased to have SmartSim...

We’ve been busy preparing for our first open house format user group and want to let you know that it’s not too late to register. This time around we’re packing a bunch of sessions into a single day, so you can participate in whatever interests you. We have some market specific sessions, some technical sessions and opportunities to meet SmartSimple staff and some of our partners. Attendees can expect to learn what’s new and exciting with SmartSimple and will have ample opportunities to provide feedback and engage in some great discussions. Of course it’s also a great opportunity to network with others in your industry. To register click here http://www.smartsimple.com/calendar Time Boardroom 1 Suite 405 Boardroom 2 Suite 405 Conference Room Suite 106 9:30am 10:30am SmartSimple is there for You - SmartSimple Support New Features Insurer 360º Demonstration 10:30am 11:00am Break -...

We are releasing our Service Provider Integration API this week! This feature supports our customers in the Medical Claims Management market by providing the ability to automatically schedule third party services, including transportation and interpretation, directly from within a case in SmartSimple. For customers it means less admin work and faster turnaround when scheduling.For providers it creates the ability to directly integrate their services with the SmartSimple network of insurers and their medical partners. The technical details are all in the SmartSimple wiki http://www.smartsimple.org/wiki/index.php/Service_Provider_Integration but give your account manager a call if you need to walk through what this new functionality can do for you!

On April 19th, 2012 eleven eager and enthusiastic SmartSimpletons and SmartSimpletons2 are climbing up all 1776 steps of the CN Tower. They are doing this in support of WWF- Canada. WWF-Canada is part of the global conservation network (World Wildlife Fund). Its mission is to stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature. Donations are being accepted online: SmartSimpletons (Oliver Lo, Mark Bridger, Ciaran Donnelly, Steve Lafortune, David Resnick, Eric Lauer) SmartSimpletons2 (Chin Chuah, Serkan Bilgi, Lorena Ruizm, Madhulika Sharma, Ioan Williams) The goal is to raise $250.00 per team member. Thank you in advance for your support.

Shared Services, Open Standards and Collaboration are some of the biggest buzzwords in technology today. Of course every so often buzzwords are given weight when action is taken. This is certainly the case for the Research Management and Administration System Project (RMAS), an initiative launched by several UK universities to provide a procurement framework for Research Management and Administrative Systems under 9 distinct lots: Lot 1 – Workflow Lot 2 – Electronic Document Management Lot 3 – CRM Lot 4 – Academic Expertise Lot 5– Funding Sourcing Tool Lot 6– Proposal Management Lot 7 – Costing and Financial Management of Projects Lot 8– Post Award Management Lot 9– Outcomes and Outputs With considerable experience under our belts SmartSimple is excited to be a qualified vendor in 7 of the 9 lots. In addition to assisting research funders and researchers we are particularly excited to assist with the wider adoption of CERIF standards with the introduction of the Sma...

The Rotary Foundation selects SmartSimple for grants management under new Future Vision Plan Background Through its grants program, The Rotary Foundation – the charitable arm of Rotary International, a global, club-based humanitarian organization – enables Rotary clubs to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through projects that improve health, support education, and alleviate poverty. The Future Vision Plan is The Rotary Foundation’s new grant model to support Rotary clubs in implementing humanitarian and educational projects in the communities they serve, both locally and internationally. The ultimate goal is to use Foundation resources more strategically by supporting projects that will make a greater, more sustainable impact on communities worldwide, affect a significantly larger number of beneficiaries, and enhance Rotary’s public image. To achieve Future Vision’s goals, Rotary recognized the need for an online grants management software platform to streamline...