PestaRoo Pest Control Software

Amy Workman

mikewson — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:31:44 +0000

PestaRoo swept me off my feet! …. It meets our needs and it even helps us to know how to grow our business…

Design Philosophy

mikewson — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:26:11 +0000

March 2010. Many people have commented on the visual attractiveness of PestaRoo. They have noted that the carefully designed screens are easy on the eyes, and that the design actually makes the software easier to use. We are grateful when people notice this. Design and structure are the key foundation behind PestaRoo. Good design starts at the structural level. It is not merely a veneer. I feel that simplicity, elegance and restraint are perhaps that top three criteria that define our design philosophy at PestaRoo.

Why a design philosophy for the building of software? (Does it sound silly? Its not. Its critical.) Great software develops from very carefully thought-out design. If you design software without a clear design philosophy, you get hodge-podge software that does hundreds of disjointed things, and none of them done well. And frequently the software gets bloated with features such that no one can use them without lots of pain and suffering. This is why many people ‘hate’ computers. They have been forced to use software without a clear design philosophy.

PestaRoo has been completely designed, from the ground up, based upon our design philosophy of simplicity, elegance and restraint. We don’t DO everything. (Thank goodness) But we work hard to meet the essential needs of the typical pest control company, and we try to do them extremely well. And that is good design.

Searching Everywhere Anytime

mikewson — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:43:01 +0000

March 2010. PestaRoo is unique among pest control software packages in that it lets you search nearly anywhere anytime. Wherever you are at, 1) Enter Find Mode (Control-F on Windows and Command-F on Macs) 2) Click into the field you are interested in. 3) Type the first few letters of what you want. 4) Press ‘Enter’ key. Wow! It is that easy. Each of these tasks are easy: finding every address with a certain street name; finding a customer for phone number on your caller ID; finding all customers whose balance due is the amount of a check you got in the mail with an unfamiliar name; finding all customers who have had no work in the last 12 months; or finding every customer with an email address. To learn how to search several fields at once, see our support article on ‘Finding Records’.

PestaRoo has another search function that is incredibly useful: the ability to search every note field in every record in every table at the same time. From Home Page click on “Search All Notes”. PestaRoo has about 15 different note fields that are very helpful in tracking data for your customers. For example, each work order has three different note fields: one that prints on the work order, one that prints only on the route sheet, and one that prints nowhere, but shows on your screen. There are similar sets of three fields in PreScheds, Invoices, and Locations. And there are several not fields in Customers. ”Search All Notes” was created to help you quickly search in ALL of these at one time. Once you use this function once, you’ll quickly use it routinely because of its amazing power.

PestaRoo’s searching ability is absolutely unmatched by any other program. More power and yet incredibly intuitive and easy.

Expanded Alerts

mikewson — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:35:20 +0000

February 2010. Alerts have proven to be one of PestaRoo’s most-loved features. From nearly any screen in PestaRoo, you can create an Alert for a customer with one click. Each Alert has a date due along with its text. So, when any Alert is due the button on Home Page ‘lights up’ with your Alert Count due. Very nice. And a great way to enhance the quality of your customer service.

But now, we have added Alerts to three new areas: Staff, Agencies, and Vehicles. With nothing new to learn, you will find that these work exactly like the traditional Customer Alerts. This is a perfect illustration of our development philosophy: every release of PestaRoo will be more useful for our customers, but just as easy (or easier) to use.

If you are eager to try this out before that next formal release, give us a call and we’ll prepare a custom update just for you.

Feedback Request- Alert Triggers

mikewson — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:23:03 +0000

February 2010. We are currently building a new component for PestaRoo: Alert Triggers. Alert Triggers will allow PestaRoo to create Alerts for you on a scheduled basis. Some examples: Birthday reminders for critical customers; Oil Change Reminders for a specific truck every three months; Annual letters to Agencies thanking them for referrals; and Staff Alerts for annual relicensure.

Can you help us with other possibilities? We are looking for ideas on what you would like to have. What type of Alert Trigger would help you grow your business, or save you time? Since we are building this new piece right now, this is the perfect time to send us your ideas! Thanks in advance.

Favorite Feature – Poll

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 02:31:14 +0000

Do You Use Macintosh OS X?

mikewson — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 01:19:49 +0000

February 2010. Most Mac users are pretty strongly committed to Mac OS X. (For many this is an understatement!) Well, with PestaRoo, we have good news for you. PestaRoo is designed and created first on the Macintosh. Yes, PestaRoo is a Macintosh program! So if you want to see PestaRoo in all its glory, launch it on a Mac. But by careful design, PestaRoo also runs perfectly on Windows (XP, Vista, 7) computers. You should know that PestaRoo is the only major pest control software package that runs natively on both the Mac and Windows PCs. So, if you have a Mac, PestaRoo gives you the highest quality software for your machine, and you don’t need to worry about viruses and spy ware like our Windows friends do. And, PestaRoo supports mixed offices, with both Mac and Windows computers.

Are you a Switcher?

mikewson — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 01:01:52 +0000

February 2010. If you are ready to switch to PestaRoo from another program, we are ready to help you! We help people every week switch. We are committed to helping you get through the process with as little pain as possible. And we will work into the evenings and weekends to ensure your success! I don’t think you’ll find any other pest control software companies willing to provide this level of support. Our intent is to make sure you don’t lose a single day of business. If you can use your existing program to create an Excel style export of your customers, we can easily move this data into PestaRoo for you. The normal charge for this service is $200. When complete, we will send you your copy of PestaRoo with your data already installed. You’ll love it! We need you to start using PestaRoo so you can start accruing the incredible benefits that PestaRoo offers.

New Tutorials for Trial Users

mikewson — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:48:56 +0000

February 2010. We have just finished building a full set of 60-second tutorials with sample data. All new downloads (as of Feb 20) include these tutorials. These tutorials make it easy to quickly get acquainted with PestaRoo. If you have downloaded PestaRoo in the last month or two, feel free to go back to your original download email, and download PestaRoo again. You’ll find the tutorials are easy, fun, and fast. The tutorials can even be used multiple times so you can show PestaRoo to others in your company. Enjoy!

Where Does Excellence Come From?

mikewson — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:58:46 +0000

February 2010. It is a real privilege to visit with new users to PestaRoo. I have heard many comments recently about our visually clean screens, the ease of navigation, and the little neat surprises everywhere is the software. Thank you, everyone for your comments. So, where does excellence come from? A focus on the details. We work every single day to improve PestaRoo. We constantly strive to make each screen cleaner, and visually more attractive. Perhaps we are the only pest control software firm that spends so much of our efforts on appearance issues. And we listen to our users. New users bring in fresh perspectives that are essential. So, thank you, everyone for your feedback.