Update: November 2018: Base has joined with Zendesk Support. Their new name is Zendesk Sell. Their pricing structure has changed as well. It spans from $19, $49, $99 and $199 per user. I use the words Base CRM in the article below, written in 2013.
Base for Teams
Base CRM, from Future Simple, recently made a few more changes to their desktop and mobile applications. The latest feature they are calling
Base Teams. You can read their blog article about Base Teams
here. A few of the features are noted below and are available for those who have the Enterprise version. Most of my small business clients are on lower plans and will not need these new changes. This update is for larger organizations. Here are the latest updates:
- Multi-level hierarchies let you organize your team how you want to — teams, groups, you name it
- User-level permissions control who sees what quickly, easily and visually
- Advanced reporting means you can filter all your reports based on user levels you set
Tweaks to the UI of Mobile
The iOS app also got a few user interface (
UI) updates. The updates are barely noticeable to most of you using the App. However, I did find them necessary and useful. The
UI update I liked the most is the search function. It is more intuitive and easier to access. I now use the Search function to type in a key word (i.e. Contact) to find what I want.
Mobile Update
The other big change last month was for the iOS and Android devices. This new feature is called Base Voice. You can now make calls within the
iOS & Android application. This is a nice business feature to not have to leave the mobile App. A salesperson can open up Base, find the contact, click on the phone number and then is given a screen that looks like the picture on the RIGHT. He or she can click on “Call with Base.” Once the call is finished, it will log that a call was made and I believe it actually records the call (don’t quote me on that as it might be an enterprise feature).
My Feedback
The Base Voice feature is
not free. You pay for a certain amount of minutes to use. I find this a little disappointing. Users are already paying a premium fee for Base
CRM. Their new price features are getting close, and in some cases more, than Salesforce
CRM. I am a big fan of Base
CRM, but they do not offer as many bells and whistles as Salesforce. Therefore, I hope they keep their pricing reasonable and their product bug free. The $
45 a month features are worth it for those who will use it. I have sampled the Base Voice and the person on the other end could not hear me very well. One person heard a lot of crackling noises. I think this is because Base is using a VoIP call system that is not as good as using the cell or landline service. So at this time, I’m not going to pay for minutes and won’t use this feature until I know the call clarity is almost perfect. It is embarrassing to be on a call with a prospective client when he can’t hear me. The Base support is very talented, and I am sure this is a feature that will only get better in time.
Base CRM has told me they are now working on updating the Task features within Base. This to me was more important than the tweaks they have been making lately, but I’m not part of their adviser team…and maybe their recent updates were the most requested. I just find that the task function is lacking and a little buggy at the moment. It is a must needed
CRM feature that needs to work and work beautifully. All in all,
Base CRM is still a very powerful and easy to use
CRM. It is not for everyone but does offer some great mobile and desktop features. Their
graphs & reporting features are still not as easy to use as
Pipeline Deals and, exporting data for mailing is painful. It can be done…but requires a few extra steps. There is still not a perfect
CRM out there, but I’m sticking to endorsing
Base and
Pipeline Deals for small business owners primarily (not large corporations).