BRACKETS

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am a project manager at ZITA optics

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The best optics in the coountry if not the world :) 11/10 cx, ex, frames and lenses selection.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire BRACKETS to accomplish?

• New webpage
• New eshop
• New customer profile subpage

SOLUTION

How did you find BRACKETS?

Referral

Why did you select BRACKETS over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from BRACKETS were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Scope of Work The project involved the design and development of a custom, fully integrated e-commerce and booking website. The primary objective was to build a tailored web solution seamlessly connected to our internal sales system via API, streamlining online sales, appointment scheduling, and customer data management. 
Key Deliverables:
Custom E-Shop: A fully functional online store tailored to our business model, enabling smooth product browsing and secure checkout. 
Online Booking System: An integrated reservation module allowing clients to book appointments and view real-time availability. 
Customer Portal: A secure, personalized dashboard where clients can manage their profiles and access their history. 
API Integration: A robust connection with our internal sales system to ensure real-time synchronization of inventory, orders, and customer data. 
Medical Results & History Tracking: A secure section within the customer portal where users can safely view their past purchases, scheduled appointments, and medical test results.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

increased traffic, reservations, eshop sales, retail sales, review scores

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

quick response, professional yet friendly communication, productive under and without pressure.

What was your primary form of communication with BRACKETS?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

problems, not possible and no do not exists on the other side they were not afraid to disagree with us and explain why our ideas will not work.

Are there any areas for improvement or something BRACKETS could have done differently?

idk

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder & CEO of Calma - Mental Health Clinic

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We run an outpatient mental health clinic.   

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire BRACKETS to accomplish?

• Create a unified digital platform to connect bookings, patient data, and business processes.
• Automate key administrative workflows and reduce manual work through ERP integration.
• Ensure data consistency, transparency, and security across the entire system.
• Design a scalable architecture ready for future CRM, analytics, and e-learning modules.
• Improve the overall patient and staff experience through intuitive design and smooth operations.

SOLUTION

How did you find BRACKETS?

Referral

Why did you select BRACKETS over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from BRACKETS were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The aim of the project was to crate a digital platform for our business that would allow us to streamline our internal sales and customer care processes and provide our customers with a modern customer service platform. We needed a solution that would aggregate data from various sources and allow us to work in a compatible manner with our mandatory health-care management system. The key deliverables were: 
- a funcional ordering system that allows us to manage complex programs for our customers
- a functional client zone that allows our clients to easily interact with our business, manage their appointments and orders and make purchases
- the deployment of a business inteligence tool to allow our business to generate and visualize data reports that will help us manage and grow our business further.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Decreased time spent by our support staff on tasks related to the organization and management of our client accounts.
Measured perceived satisfaction with IT tools that are supposed to help us work better and more efficiently in interactions with our customers and for the benefit of our business. 

Significant drop in booking and invoicing errors.

Faster, more transparent access to patient and financial data.

Positive feedback from staff on usability and workflow efficiency.

Platform prepared for future feature expansion without operational disruption.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The project is still ongoing thanks to Brackets being realistic about their time estimates and, thus, their ability to deliver within the defined deadlines. Brackets have invested their time to understand our business and our needs and have demonstrated their interest in finding ways how to be efficient and helpful. 

What was your primary form of communication with BRACKETS?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I've had previous experience with software developers where I did not find the same level of interest in our business and the level of care that I have received from Brackets. I find this both unique and impressive. They're looking for ways to help us meet our goals.   

Are there any areas for improvement or something BRACKETS could have done differently?

I trust that BRACKETS will continue to grow and sustain the level of care they've demonstrated to us. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a project manager at a nonprofit organization. We’re a European association of nuclear medicine and have a community of nuclear medicine professionals. We provide many different things within our portfolio to support the community. We try to contribute to the nuclear medicine community in various ways, including an annual congress and many educational activities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BRACKETS?

We had an existing e-learning platform, but it wasn’t really meeting our needs. It was one of the SaaS products that we were licensing, so we decided to build a custom platform instead.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

BRACKETS has designed and developed a custom e-learning platform for us. We’ve worked with them to define our requirements. One of the biggest challenges has been integrating the platform with our existing user database, but they’ve managed to deliver on that. The team uses Figma for design.

The platform provides live webinars and on-demand online courses. It also has a storage form for e-learning materials and a video library of educational content. The platform is compatible with Zoom and Vimeo. BRACKETS has also developed a mobile app that is connected to the e-learning platform.

BRACKETS is still providing maintenance and support. If we decide to make any upgrades, they implement them.

What is the team composition?

We have a dedicated project manager who serves as the bridge between us and the developers.

How did you come to work with BRACKETS?

They approached us years ago with a general offer. We didn’t do anything back then, but we remembered their offer when we were looking for a vendor for our e-learning platform. Their offer had very good value for money, so we decided to go with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent more than €200,000 on the e-learning platform and about €40,000 on the mobile app.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2023, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We consider our engagement with BRACKETS a very important investment. Compared to what we were paying for the licensed software, which wasn’t meeting our needs, our ROI is better because we can tailor it exactly to what we need. Moreover, BRACKETS has been lovely to work with; the project manager has always spent time with us to understand what we need and make it happen.

How did BRACKETS perform from a project management standpoint?

They deliver on time most of the time and deliver on budget. Sometimes, there are delays, but they’re often caused by other vendors we have to work with. If there’s any delay, BRACKETS announces it. They’re usually very responsible. We communicate via email and video calls. We use Jira for project management. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a very responsible approach and are proactive and solution-oriented. Anytime we come up with something challenging, they try to find a good solution. We’ve never heard them say no; they always try to address everything we raise, even when it's tricky.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Spend a lot of time in the preparatory phase, so the rest is very smooth sailing. Invest in the time when you’re designing your solution because BRACKETS will address everything.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the managing director of a healthcare company. I'm also responsible for the technical development of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BRACKETS?

We needed to extend our technical development team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

BRACKETS provides us with staff augmentation services. Our projects usually involve developing a web service supported by a web application.

We start with UX requirements and engineering, then go through a series of iterations before the technical development begins. Once the project is signed off and agreed upon, we go into several sprints until the launch. After that, we provide ongoing maintenance and continuous work.

We've been doing this with BRACKETS since the beginning of our partnership. We've needed frontend expertise, especially in React and Next.js. We were also looking for backend Node.js expertise, and although BRACKETS doesn't necessarily have that, they know about database management, which has been useful.

What is the team composition?

We've worked with several developers, including Ján, with whom we've worked the longest. We initially spoke with Pavol, BRACKETS' managing director at the time. Our project manager handles resources and communication with BRACKETS.

How did you come to work with BRACKETS?

Someone referred them to me. We reached out to BRACKETS and spoke to Pavol initially.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent around €200,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in March 2023, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Compared to previous projects, we've reduced the total cost per sprint. In comparison to other vendors we've worked with before, we've achieved about the same speed but at half the cost with BRACKETS.

How did BRACKETS perform from a project management standpoint?

BRACKETS meets the deadlines. There have been hiccups, as with any project, but the team has managed the change requirements well. We use Jira and Notion for project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Two things stand out about BRACKETS. First, their culture is very customer-oriented and proactive. People like working there. It feels like they're close, and the team has good communication.

Second, the quality of their work and talent is impressive. We've worked with several people over the period, and the overall average is high regarding what BRACKETS can deliver. Even if the project is new, they contribute quickly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We have regular sessions with BRACKETS. On our side, the requirements often come with loose needs, and project managers or product owners of various experiences. That influences how well the project runs.

Moreover, with project augmentation, it's much harder for the developer to give feedback on how well we manage the project. They're loyal to the team and the company, so they don't want to undermine the business relationship. We need a bit more communication or feedback from their side.

BRACKETS needs to speak up and encourage us to provide feedback. That's the principal rebalancing we need. The team has a highly customer-friendly, customer-oriented service, and their developers work hard. I wish they spoke up and helped us better understand how we manage them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get to know BRACKETS' people personally. It's not a black box where you send the requirements and get the project back. You're working with talented developers who feel loyal to the team and will be faithful to you. Be clear about your project and what you want to build. Give them boundaries, have a goal-driven approach instead of hand-holding, and they'll work the best.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

At the time of this project, I was the digital manager at Plzeňský Prazdroj, one of the largest breweries in Central Europe. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BRACKETS by TRIAD?

We wanted to drive customers to our pubs and restaurants where our beer was served — the project targeted the Czech and Slovak markets.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At the beginning of the project, we provided them with a brief that highlighted the solution we’d come up with for the business opportunity. We also gave them the list of the locations that served our beer. Also, since we’re selling alcohol, we gave BRACKETS by TRIAD rules to follow during development that are part of the regulatory requirements. 

Then, BRACKETS by TRIAD developed the UX for the mobile and web applications. The design was more than just about driving people to the locations where we serve beer; it was about making users happy. So, their team incorporated games and other activities into the app. 

Then, they developed the apps, which they maintained. The app was available in the Czech, Slovak, and English languages.  BRACKETS by TRIAD also regularly updated the app’s database, which had information from our pubs and restaurants. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with 5–10 teammates, including a project manager, the chief developer, and UX and graphic designers. 

How did you come to work with BRACKETS by TRIAD?

We worked with a digital agency that created BRACKETS by TRIAD as a sister business. So, we decided to work with BRACKETS by TRIAD as well. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $200,000–$500,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

This project was from January 2018–January 2022. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We had thousands of app downloads. However, we eventually ended the partnership because the app wasn’t bringing in enough customers — the market wasn’t ready for our app. 

How did BRACKETS by TRIAD perform from a project management standpoint?

BRACKETS by TRIAD had perfect project management, which I believe could’ve been particularly attributed to our work with their sister company. Their team always delivered on time. 

I appreciated that we didn’t have to think about the project management because it was so smoothly handled. We always knew what was happening, when it was happening, and what we could and couldn’t expect from them. If there were any issues, BRACKETS by TRIAD immediately rectified them.

We used emails to communicate. I believe their team also used Trello to manage the project. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Outside of their project management, BRACKETS by TRIAD’s adaptability was amazing. Their team was always willing to adjust to fit our needs or fix problems.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Personally, I would’ve appreciated not being as involved in the development aspect of the project. I wasn’t expecting to be heavily integrated into the project process. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Business Development Director for Bulgaria, Macedonia, Poland and Ukraine with Winners Group company. We focus on providing our customers with high quality services in all areas of the financial world and building their financial portfolios.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire BRACKETS by TRIAD, and what were your goals?

We hired Brackets by TRIAD to develop online money investment platform – the first phase is supposed to serve customers in Poland, but we would like to scale up on different markets afterwards. Our goal is to provide our clients with easy way to invest online and to help our clients reach their financial goals by regular investment.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We considered expertise we needed to handle quite challenging integration with third party vendor.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

The project is still ongoing, but we will be launching soon. The platform is PHP based and it has API integration with third party financial services vendor. We contacted BRACKETS with a specific idea and asked for quote, which they prepared as well as the specification. Afterwards, the project consisted of the following phases:

1. Design – they prepared custom design in Figma for desktop and mobile versions
2. development of platform – the main sections are onboarding process with contract creation and private zone with portfolio overview.
3.  API integration – the vendor provided technical documentation and they connected the solution with vendors API
4. Testing – they tested the solution and they provided us with testing environment, so we were able to check progress on regular bases and to test ourselves developed solution
5. Support – we are about to launch soon and they ensured us, that we can count on them with support as well

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We were in touch with CEO of BRACKETS and dedicated project manager, who engaged other specialists (designer, developers, system architect) when applicable.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

They created online the platform that meets our needs and we are launching shortly.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

They are always available for video call and they had very clear and transparent communications via emails.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

We experienced the change of financial services vendor during the development process. They showed great flexibility and could adapt to the situation and modify API for new vendors seamlessly.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I don't have any recommendation.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work as the Head of Digital and Diversification department at the main commercial TV broadcaster in Slovakia (located in Bratislava). My responsibility covers the leadership of the digital team, which besides server/website oriented projects includes also mobile app development.

As the biggest commercial television on the market we are heavily focused on News and Video delivery solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire BRACKETS by TRIAD, and what were your goals?

We hired Brackets by TRIAD back in time when the mobile audience gained a major role in reaching our content. We needed apps, which would serve as additional tools to delivery of our News related and Video-on-Demand related content.

Additionally it allowed us to deliver increased revenues through these new content channels. We also knew we have only one chance to succeed if we don't want to miss the train and stay as market leaders and trend setters.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We've met Brackets by TRIAD at a marketing conference, where they truly blew us up with a unique mindset and creative approach. They were just incomparable to other development companies at that time. We had experience from foreign markets about different companies with big promises in theory, but not really well executed results and, at the end, even unsuccessful apps, incl. our own case of 2nd screen app (from Romanian vendor).

Brackets were different, since the beginning they knew exactly what they could promise and deliver. And they did. We also had few recommendations from other players in the online field, which have later been fulfilled beyond our expectations.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

News app - HTML reader of a dedicated responsive website specifically made for the app. Additionally using native elements, supporting GPS location to report incidents directly to our News department, weather forecast, dedicated menu, push notifications, video playback incl. advertising, etc. Made for iOS, Android, incl. tablet versions.

AVOD app - fully native video-on-demand application, fully supports video playback (JW player integration), video advertising VAST/VPAID, TV channels live stream playback, EPG guide, content search, user account creation and login function, incl. profile management & account deletion.

In terms of content, it gets content from our main VOD platform through API. Made for iOS, Android, Android TV, incl. dedicated tablet versions. Scope of work has been similar for both apps.

1. Kick-off meeting, discussing ideas, requirements and technologies used. Price offer is delivered within days. 
2. The vendor prepares for each round of approvals the following - wireframes, mock-ups, graphics and testing version. Well made UX is always our priority. Usually wireframes are delivered within 2 week period, full graphic mock-ups in additional week and working and tested pre-release version within 2 - 2,5 months. There was a separate version for tablets and Android TV in case of AVOD app, which better suited the bigger screens.
3. Testing of applications - Brackets always provide very well tested and bug-free test versions. Other vendors we coop with do not show this practice and usually we as client need to test their apps.
4. After testing, the apps are been submitted to the stores and published. In case of any additional requirements from Apple or Google, the response and fixes are immediate.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

The main point of contact is our account / project manager, however what is quite valuable, in case of need to discuss technicalities in complete detail, we are able to speak directly to the developers.

Usually 1-2 developers are working on our apps, however their team is bigger, based on the frameworks used. Also the managing director of the vendor is available to us in case we needed to discuss other topics and business decisions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The AVOD app, in the scope of its existence, reached over 1 million downloads (iOS, Android, incl. redownloads) and soon after release become nr. 1 trending app in video category in Slovakia. Thanks to the News app we were able to deliver push notifications about breaking news on daily basis and reach our users (also TV News TV viewers) in an instant.

We gained additional audience in case of both the News as well as AVOD app.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

The project management is always thorough and flexible. Wireframes and mock-ups are delivered in Invision, thus are very easily discussed and shown to our top management and CEO. In the TV media field the changes come very unexpectedly and quickly. In this case Brackets shows extreme flexibility and dynamics. Any type of app changes needed are usually implemented within 3-10 days based on the complexity.

We never experienced a situation we had to wait for their availability. Many times their responds and replies came during weekends or late evening hours. This is very much appreciated especially during strong TV seasons.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their reaction times to our needs, the attitude of their employees, being able and willing to help us even during weekend or evenings. The overall flexibility, extremely skillful developers, graphic designers and project managers. In my past 12 years experience in the field of digital and online projects development, there were only 3 vendors, which truly fulfilled and even exceeded all our expectation. Brackets are one of them.

The other two are our current AVOD/SVOD/News & TV web CMS platform provider and our HbbTV provider.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

With the deepest honesty, I think that this vendor is so very well internally organized, structured, managed and externally presented, it is quite difficult to find any negatives labelled as possible areas of improvement. Well, they just could've been less reliable ;-) so we wouldn't have to shed tears each time we compare them to other vendors (not only in the field of app development) in terms of attitude, precision, results, customer care and overall experience. We truly love to work with these guys!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm an executive at an SMM platform. We do software services and help marketing agencies and brands with our productivity software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BRACKETS by TRIAD?

We needed to integrate a couple of software solutions and they were in charge of integration.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

BRACKETS by TRIAD did cloud integration for us. We sent them a brief with the goal and what we needed to do, and they gave us time and budget estimations. Consequently, they started working on it and delivered it within the given timeframe.

In terms of features and functionalities, they built the software solution on the AWS cloud, focusing on the backend using Laravel and PHP and doing some DevOps activities.

What is the team composition?

We worked with around five people from their team, and our main contact points were their project manager and Pavol (CEO).

How did you come to work with BRACKETS by TRIAD?

A friend who had a previous experience with them referred them to me.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent more than €100,000 (approximately $96,000 USD) with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2020–January 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They delivered everything within our expectations.

How did BRACKETS by TRIAD perform from a project management standpoint?

They stayed on the budget we agreed upon and used tools like Jira and Asana for communication and project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their most outstanding attributes were their backend development expertise and understanding of our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think there's anything they can improve on — we were delighted with their work.

Any advice for potential customers?

Prepare a good brief, fully understand the problem and the challenge they need to solve, and clearly define the end goal.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of Allfred, a finance and project management platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BRACKETS by TRIAD?

We needed help to develop our platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

BRACKETS by TRIAD prepared our mobile application's architecture, backend, and frontend; they built the backend in Laravel and PHP and the frontend in React.

What is the team composition?

We've worked with project managers, developers, and Pavol (CEO).

How did you come to work with BRACKETS by TRIAD?

We found them online. I knew about them because I used to work with them in the past.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we've spent €400,000 (approximately $398,000 USD) with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2019, and the engagement is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We're getting very good feedback on their work. We have more than 200 customers, and one consists of 40 users, so we're delighted with the results.

How did BRACKETS by TRIAD perform from a project management standpoint?

They meet deadlines and stay within budget. Regarding communication, we use Jira.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're a smaller company that can focus on helping us succeed in our market.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think there's anything they can improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust them because they know what they're doing.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am an IT director and project manager for a digital solutions company. We issue meal vouchers, fuel cards, and meal cards and provide other services to employees and employers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BRACKETS by TRIAD?

We established our company in 2018 and wanted to build our corporate website, mobile applications, and contact management system. We also needed help building out our project management infrastructure.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

BRACKETS has provided us with several informatics services; they’ve built our websites and mobile applications using Java, .NET, and React Native. Additionally, they’ve consulted with us to establish our project management processes. 

They’ve continued hosting the sites and providing additional development services as needed. 

What is the team composition?

We primarily work with a director and project manager from BRACKETS, who typically liaise with the development and testing teams soon. 

How did you come to work with BRACKETS by TRIAD?

Our projects department identified BRACKETS. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested €350,000 (approximately $350,000 USD) in the partnership with BRACKETS.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with BRACKETS in 2018, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

BRACKETS has successfully delivered the new website, which we’re happy with. We’ve established additional KPIs for our other related technology initiatives, which the team has also met. We’ve measured our Net Promoter Score (NPS) throughout the partnership, and BRACKETS’ efforts have increased our NPS by 10 points, which has been nice.

How did BRACKETS by TRIAD perform from a project management standpoint?

The BRACKETS team has managed projects well; they typically provide their outputs quicker than our team. They've executed deliverables within 2% of the time and budget estimates, which has been great. 

The team has also been responsive and professional, and I’ve enjoyed our cooperation. We hold daily stand-ups, demos, and scrum meetings with the team and use Jira to manage tasks and review outputs. We also meet with the director of BRACKETS monthly to brainstorm, review operations, and recognize team members; we refer to our monthly meeting as the “steering committee” because we have many operations.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve been most impressed by their professionalism and communication. We’ve worked with other service providers who’ve failed to communicate effectively, but BRACKETS has exceeded our expectations. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be great if BRACKETS could grow their staff. Our company is growing, and it would be beneficial if they could grow with us to continue supporting our needs.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I advise maintaining the lines of communication open with BRACKETS.