Drawloop Blog

LOOP Document Services 3.0 went live on AppExchange today. As an active user of Salesforce, we often find ourselves looking for help within the Salesforce community or posting feature requests on the Salesforce Idea Exchange. While participating in this amazing community, we kept seeing ideas shared that related to documents (our expertise). Those ideas presented an opportunity for us to review our current document services (LOOP, LOOPlus and LOOP Reports) and see how we could incorporate real solutions to posts on Idea Exchange.

We are pleased to officially announce LOOP Merge - the answer to over thirty (30) Salesforce Ideas. LOOP Merge significantly enhances, compliments and extends the out-of-the-box Salesforce Mail Merge functionality.

Our Objectives:

Enhance the current Salesforce merge process

Improve maintenance and organization of merge templates

Support multiple browsers and operating systems

Extend merge to other applications and file types

Pricing: $4 per user/month (no minimum users)

Enhancements (11 ideas)

1. Increase File Size Limitation of 1MB: LOOP Merge allows you to upload your merge templates into the Salesforce documents tab which has a file size limit of 5MB. Like LOOPlus, you can also work with publicly accessible URL based documents which allow you to go beyond the 5MB limit if needed.
2. Date Formatting: All dates used by any of LOOP Document Service format the date using the long date format by locale.
3. Empty Fields: All fields that do not have values pass as a blank instead of “______”.
4. Ability to Select a Contact: Accounts, Cases, Opportunities and Contracts allow you to select contacts related to the object.
5. Customize the Button: You can easily deploy your own buttons and point to the LOOP Merge s-control.
6. Additional Delivery Options: You can Email, Email and Attach, Attach Only or send the Mail Merge Document to our free LOOP service where you can download or add any additional documents to the final merged PDF file.

Maintenance and Organization (7 ideas)

1. Folder Support: LOOP Merge allows you to upload your merge templates into the documents tab and store in any document folder - any security established within document folders will control access for available LOOP Merge documents.
2. Update and Tracking: Deploying templates in the documents tab also allows you to update and track templates.
3. Filter by Object: Document keyword tags allow you to limit documents by object.

Browser and OS Support (4 ideas)

1. Web Browsers: Our LOOP Document Services support Firefox, IE, Safari and Chrome.
2. OS: Our LOOP Document Services support any OS that can run Firefox, IE, Safari or Chrome.

Applications and Document Types (11 ideas)

1. Additional Application Support: LOOP Merge works with Google Docs and Spreadsheets as well as OpenOffice. Although we work with the Saleforce Office Plugin, this is not a requirement for any of our services. Any document that can be saved as an Microsoft Office document can be used with our document services.
2. Additional Document Types: Works with Mail Merge Templates or any Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel (up to 2007 versions) or PDF file.

With all the discussion about cloud computing and the recent Microsoft announcement of a cloud computing platform called Azure, we thought we would take a moment to discuss the cloud and how our customers have been automating document creation in our cloud for years. All of the talk and discussion is simply validation for what we have seen for years . . . moving document creation to our cloud drives efficiencies, lowers costs and delivers scale to any business, large or small.

The past couple of weeks have been flooded with new announcements and discussions of cloud computing coming from Salesforce.com, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and posts like Tim O’Reilly’s Web 2.0 and Cloud Computing.

So What Exactly is the Cloud?

The cloud is just a metaphor for the Internet and its underlying infrastructure. Many companies, like us, have been delivering services on-demand, now often referred to as cloud-based applications, for years. So what’s new? It can get even more confusing as many people use the term cloud in different ways. For example, some define the cloud simply at the infrastructure level (like Amazon S3). Others define the cloud as web applications running in the cloud (like Salesforce.com). Regardless of the definition, buzz word or latest acronym, the value of the cloud to a business is significant and real.

Drawloop’s Cloud: Automate Your Document Creation

We offer cloud-based end-user applications to quickly automate all of your document creation. With a web browser and the same Microsoft Office documents your company has used for years, you can instantly run all of your documents in our cloud. Our document automation service allows you to move document creation from a desktop function to a web application or what we call a Dynamic Document Package (DDP). A DDP can be deployed anywhere on the web and integrated with any web service, like Salesforce.com. Our document service provides your administrators with the added benefit of working with the documents in their normal desktop environment. In other words, your legal team will still be able to update and edit your contract terms and conditions in the same Microsoft Word application they have used for years. Our approach is a unique balance between the past and the future which is critical to effectively manage all of the documents required to help sell and service your business.

What is the Business Value?

Automating document creation in our cloud will drive significant business value . . . increased productivity, increased revenue, faster sales cycle, and a significant reduction in the expenses associated with traditional document creation (man hours, software, versions, updates, networks, training and the list goes on and on). Our customers realize an immediate return on investment while reducing costs associated with document creation.

“Drawloop allowed us to dynamically package our documents to meet the needs of our unique and specific outgoing document requirements.”
AVP of Licensing Business Analysis
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers

“My reps love this solution, and I love the fact that it frees-up more of their time to spend with customers rather than filling out paper work.”
Sales Manager
Dun & Bradstreet, Canada

With Drawloop, your documents become the application. Contact us today and let us help you move document creation to our cloud.

LOOPlus and DocuSign Mashup on AppExchange

We are pleased to announce our latest DDP integration partner - DocuSign. DocuSign has combined its e-signature service with our LOOPlus document creation service within Salesforce.com. A Salesforce.com user can now deliver DDPs for e-signature with enhanced features like dynamic placement of initials and signatures, powerful routing, workflow options and data capture back to Salesforce.com at the time of signature.

“The combined power of Drawloop and DocuSign on the Salesforce platform enables companies to achieve efficiencies, reduce costs and speed time to revenue like never before,” says Bob DeSantis, Vice President of Sales & Business Development at DocuSign. “Our joint solution completes the vision of straight through processing (STP) in a cloud computing environment with zero upfront capital expenditures. The combined solution enhances our customer’s ability to increase pipeline velocity, achieve greater agreement visibility throughout the sales lifecycle, and realize massive efficiencies from the reduction of paper, shipping and data entry costs. LOOPlus with DocuSign agreements will be consistent and remain digital during the entire sales process. In essence our joint customers will immediately execute leaner, greener, faster and more profitably.”

“Our partnership with Drawloop Technologies represents a very strategic relationship and tremendous value for Salesforce users,” commented Ken Cavallon, Business Development Manager, DocuSign. “Together we offer a powerful solution that provides the ability to originate, manage and complete sales contracts through a single work space, which in turn simplifies and expedites the entire contract execution process and helps businesses close deals faster, increase revenue and improve productivity.”

Please visit our LOOP Document Services on AppExchange.

We are pleased to announce the beta release of LOOP Merge, our latest document automation service within Salesforce.com on AppExchange. Our service significantly extends and enhances the Salesforce Mail Merge. LOOP Merge automates your existing Salesforce.com Mail Merge Templates, any Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint file or any PDF file. We have streamlined the user experience to allow a user to click a button and then determine how to deliver the merged file as a PDF. You can Email, Email and Attach, Attach Only or send the Mail Merge Document to our free LOOP service where you can add any additional documents to the merged file.

Easily incorporate Salesforce data in Word, PowerPoint, Excel and PDF documents. Use all of your sophisticated mail merge templates in Salesforce with LOOP Merge!

FEATURES:

Mail Merge Templates: Works with any Salesforce Mail Merge Template.

Web Browser: Works in any web browser (Firefox, IE, Safari and Chrome), you are not limited to IE.

LOOP Merge Process:

1. Merge Document: Merge your document with Salesforce data. This includes any Mail Merge Template as well as any Word, Excel, PowerPoint or PDF file.
2. Converts to PDF: The merged document automatically converts to a PDF file.
3. Delivery Options: You control the delivery options for the merged document. You can send the merged PDF document to (i) email, (ii) email and attach (goes to email and automatically attaches the PDF file to the object), (iii) attach only, or (iv) LOOP It (our free document service to add any additional documents, page order and then deliver as one combined PDF).

Additional Document Types: Works with Mail Merge Templates or any Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel (up to 2007 versions) or PDF file.

Security: Any security established within Document Folders will control access for LOOP Merge documents.

Merge Documents by Object: You can tag documents to limit “merge templates” available per object. For example, a document tagged as a Lead will only show up as a merge template within Leads.

PRICING:
LOOP Merge is available for $4 per user / month (Enterprise and Unlimited only) - no user minimum. We will be announcing a LOOP Merge promotion for existing and new customers in early November.

Contact us today to learn more about LOOP Merge.

We are pleased to announce the release of our Silverlight 2 embed code for Dynamic Document Packages (DDPs). Our Silverlight embed functionality for DDPs allows our enterprise customers to quickly deploy document automation anywhere on the Web.

Install Microsoft Silverlight 2

The ease of use and flexibility of our Silverlight application has allowed our on-demand document automation service to accommodate the deployment needs of our customers. It is reported that one in four consumers worldwide now have access to Silverlight. Silverlight penetration is quickly approaching 50 percent in some countries.

Drawloop remains committed to continuing our development to allow anyone to deploy document automation in seconds anywhere on the web.

Learn more

If you encounter any problems, please uninstall Silverlight and then reinstall. To uninstall, go to add/remove programs under your control panel.

Today, we’re rolling out two important changes we thought you should know about.  We attacked these upgrades aggressively to enhance our end user experience. The first of these changes is an upgrade to our javascript libraries. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s now a simple way to consolidate, report and analyze Salesforce.com data right on your mobile device. With LOOP Reports Mobile, powered by Webalo, you can schedule any standard or custom Salesforce.com report to be delivered to your smartphone or wireless PDA. Just create the required reports, configure them using the step-by-step wizard, and Webalo transforms them instantly for your BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Pocket PC, Palm, Symbian, or Java-enabled device. Delivery is immediate, you can set any schedule you want, and you can be sure of having the latest information right at your fingertips.

LOOP Reports Mobile does not deliver reports to the browser. Therefore, off line capability exists and the ability to drill down into the data goes far beyond anything available today. LOOP Reports Mobile requires an install by your Salesforce.com administrator of LOOP Document Services on AppExchange.

View Product Data Sheet

Google Chrome allows you to use LOOP PDF without opening your browser. LOOP PDF will launch in its own streamlined Google Chrome Window. LOOP PDF is an on-demand document service allowing a user to convert and combine files to PDF. LOOP PDF also provides powerful features that are generally only found in paid software. We allow the user to convert to PDF, combine multiple files to a single PDF, select specific pages, determine page order, add bookmarks and add PDF security. In other words, LOOP PDF is more than just a PDF converter.

To create a the LOOP PDF application with Chrome, following these simple instructions:

Navigate to LOOP PDF for iGoogle.

Click on the Page menu next to settings.

Select Create application shortcuts.

Select where you want the shortcuts to be placed.

Click the OK button.

Start using LOOP PDF to convert, organize, and combine your files to PDF. When you double-click the new shortcut icon, the LOOP PDF application opens in a special streamlined window. Click here to learn how to use LOOP PDF.



 
Google Chrome Application Shortcuts:

You may have noticed over the past week that we have instituted a number of changes to improve the usability of our applications, along with giving us more flexibility when developing new services and enhancing existing services.

The primary change this past week was a separation of our corporate content pages and our document services.  With our new cleaner code base, we can be more agile in our response time and ensure the highest quality of service.

Read the rest of this entry »

We have recently added our LOOP to PDF and LOOP Exchange (document automation service) to the Etelos Marketplace™. Etelos (OTCBB: ETLO) provides on-demand browser-based applications. The Etelos Marketplace™ gives businesses a wide selection of fully customizable, on-demand business applications to license and deploy to the hosting environment of their choice. Drawloop is one of six new partners who have gone live with applications on the Etelos Marketplace™. The applications range from Email management to business intelligence to CRM.

“As more and more businesses come to the Etelos Marketplace™ looking for Web applications, having partners such as Drawloop is essential to giving them the quality solutions they want,” Etelos President & CEO Jeff Garon said. “We are excited to have these apps in the Marketplace and we are confident that this momentum will continue as we expand the Marketplace to bring in even more application solutions for our customers.”

We are pleased to be working with Etelos and look forward to increasing our customer and user base through the Etelos Marketplace™. Click here for the press release.