CrossComm

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an assistant professor at the School of Medicine at Wayne State University and also at the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit. I’m a communication scientist and my research focuses on identifying issues with communication, usually around patients and physicians interactions and then devising interventions to improve them.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CrossComm.

I was working on an intervention to improve how patients and physicians talk about treatment cost. I wanted to build an app for patients, where they enter simple demographic information and that populates a list of questions they can ask their doctor or other healthcare providers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed a mobile app for iOS. I came to them with a wireframe, and they were receptive to what I had and they used that to start building a basic version. We went back and forth over the summer where I would give them comments and they would revise the app until we had the final version which was completed in September. Since then, I’ve been performing acceptability testing with different participants and we've encumbered funds. Their team has agreed to wait for me to come back to them in the next month to build a revised version.

The purpose of the app was to make it individually tailorable. They built it so that if a patient enters in a value, such as if they are employed or have a specific type of insurance, then it would prompt the second half of the app for a specific list of questions. That's conditional logic and they were able to do that very efficiently.

What is the team dynamic?

I usually work with Don [Founder & President, CrossComm] who is my main point of contact. I’ve also worked with the rest of his team and we’ve spoken over the phone, but I haven’t been in contact with them in the same way.

How did you come to work with CrossComm?

I first started working on the project about a year and a half ago and met with several local development firms. They were astronomically overpriced and I couldn’t swing it. I started looking towards free resources in the area and built a basic model. I met with three other companies before I met with CrossComm, and one of them was really fantastic but also very expensive. The other two were more economically priced, but they didn’t seem to listen well.

We have a tech mentor in residence as part of the university who knew of Don’s work, and that’s how I came to be in contact with him. The first time I spoke with CrossComm was over a conference call with Don and one of his colleagues. They listened and were able to decipher what I was trying to get with the app idea, and it was very clear especially compared to the other groups. They seemed genuinely interested in what I was trying to do. They spent the majority of the phone call asking me questions, not telling me about what they can do, which was helpful. It started a solid relationship because they took the time to listen and figure out what I wanted, before asking their own questions.

How much have you invested with them?

About $30,000, however, we’ve uncovered another $35,000 to be spent in the coming year. It’s promised, but the services haven’t been arranged yet.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2017, with the first deliverable products in August. The engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I've been collecting qualitative interviews. I’ve had about 10 people review the app, including several cancer survivors, oncologists, a social worker, and a financial navigator. I sat down and have gone through every piece of it. Overwhelmingly, people have been impressed with how reliable the design, the feel, and the navigation are. I’ve gotten no comments or critiques for improvement and I have also not experienced any crashes in software at this point.

How did CrossComm perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, they’re run very efficiently. During the thick of the development, we had weekly meetings set-up with Don. He was consistent and responsive during those times; when I would send a message, I would get a reply right away. Their method of listening first and asking questions like in our first meeting continued. If they see a better way to go about something, they present it as an option, rather than changing what we’re doing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

In addition to their efficiency and having a good product, what struck me most is when I had my first face-to-face meeting with Don. He was very candid in wanting to produce work that was socially meaningful. He’s taken on my project, he’s working with two other faculty members in our group, and then we’re talking about maybe taking on another project in the upcoming months. He seems to be into the mission. It doesn’t feel like we’re customers to him, but he seems to be engaging and putting his whole weight behind the projects. I didn't expect that, and it's really made us all want to keep working with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I'm overwhelmingly impressed with them, with Don specifically. I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re just starting out, look for a company that spends more time asking you questions rather than telling you things.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a general surgery resident currently doing research in surgical education. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CrossComm?

In education research, we often do an intervention and then measure the effect afterward, but we have to be able to measure that we actually achieved our intervention in the first place.

We are looking at auditory learners who underperform when they start residency, seeing if giving them a podcast could improve their test score. The only problem is most third-party out-of-the-box solutions only count downloads, which is unacceptable from a research standpoint.

We had to build something that could track real-time usage (down to minutes) and interactions with the content to improve our understanding of e-learning and its impact on test performance. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We looked at making an app for iOS and Android, but ultimately our price point only let us do iOS. Right now, we have very few Android users in our department.

CrossComm worked from beginning to end in terms of building the app, moving the branding and interface, and working with the IT and legal teams at our institution. They set up the server on the backend, as well as all the accounts and data collection fields that I needed. They made a website where we can log in and pull those reports, load podcasts, and add metadata to those podcasts.

We just reached deployment, and they’re going to be helping us for the year as we troubleshoot the product. Knowing our educational interests, they also invited our education group to try virtual reality products, which was nice.

I mostly worked with Sam [Senior Developer, CrossComm] and Justin. The owner also attended our meetings from time to time.

How did you come to work with CrossComm?

Our contracting person solicited proposals from different companies, including our own internal proposal. We wanted someone who was able to deliver all the things that we needed, but being local to us was really the biggest factor.

How much have you invested with CrossComm?

I think we’ve spent close to $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in either August or September of 2016. We still are working with them because we haven’t rolled out the product yet due to some issues. They handed over the code to our IT people, but we still need help with hosting. When the app goes live and I have all the data, they’ll make sure everything runs smoothly. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or impact of the engagement?

Other than the actual product’s completion, I can’t think of any statistics or metrics. As far as qualitative feedback, people think the user interface is seamless. The app is able to capture the data we want, but it’s also user-friendly. We’re able to post the podcasts and organize them in a clear way.

Also, the website they made was really simple and had all the features we need. I can get the data I’m looking for, which is the most important piece.

How did CrossComm perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent. CrossComm is flexible enough to work with busy surgeons, which isn’t easy. They were willing to do a conference call, meet us, or do anything that we needed outside of their normal hours to accommodate us.

Everything went smoothly. They usually were waiting for us to finish our pieces, but they never seemed pushy. They just gave us gentle reminders to move the project along. Sam kept us informed and moved everything along.

What did you find most impressive about CrossComm?

Their owner is actually pretty hands-on and seems invested in this project. Many people at my institution aren’t really tech savvy, so having an end product that they can use easily is an achievement.

Are there any areas CrossComm could improve?

No, everything went well. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

‎Our company is a broker of credit card insurance products and services for every major bank in the country, as well as some worldwide institutions. We handle auto rental insurance, concierge services, purchase protection and security, and many services which people don't realize are present on their credit cards. We also provide backend resources like third-party administration for claims, customer service inquiries, and so on. We manage anything related to the life-cycle of credit card benefits or enhancements.

I am the head of the marketing department for the company, handling traditional marketing efforts like research analysis and development. I am also in charge of product development, having a technological background. I work in a variety of different capacities, building technological platforms, from the reporting tools used by our clients to front-facing apps for card holders.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CrossComm?

We wanted to create a couple of initiatives, including some API-type solutions that our customers could access. We had the database, information, and methodology for migrating from traditional wired processes to easily-accessible environments, but the development itself was outside of our internal team's scope.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

CrossComm has been a part of our organization through 7-10 major projects, over the course of our relationship, including mobile app and website development, rebuilding our entire page in a way that allowed us to continue modifications through a custom content management system.

How did you come to work with CrossComm?

We were first made aware of CrossComm through a referral. They were up against 3 other companies for which we did our homework. CrossComm's team was able to beat out people I'd worked with for years.

In the commodity-driven business in which companies like CrossComm operate, the distinguishing factor isn't just the ability to code. Having been a coder myself, I know that the partner's ability to listen and understand what the client wants is essential. This was the distinguishing factor for selecting CrossComm.

Our particular perspective was important in assessing the things that were important for the choice. From an operational perspective (being able to hit goals and stick to our budget), CrossComm's principal demonstrated that they could handle our project. We wanted to be challenged and have different perspectives brought forth so that we could be pushed in a successful direction. During the interview process, CrossComm asked detailed questions and made sure that we knew what we wanted. I wanted to hire a partner with an idea of what's going on in the market, one who would challenge my own theories, practices, and beliefs—CrossComm did this.

We also looked at their portfolio, assessing the things they'd done in the past which could be considered relevant to our case. While CrossComm had never worked in the insurance space or with banks, there were many other examples of the challenges they'd faced, and how they overcame those. There are many good programmers out there, but I wanted to have the right communication in place.

How much have you invested with CrossComm?

We've had a wide range of projects with CrossComm, from $3,000 to $10,000 ones, as well as projects with a minimum cost of $30,000. Our highest project is close to $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

CrossComm has been developing products for our company for the past 10 years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

CrossComm has built a mobile app which allowed our customers to review their benefits and interact with that information directly. It was an enormous success within all the banks we work with. Our biggest goal was to present ourselves as innovators.

Insurance can be extremely boring, so in order to elevate the appeal to consumers, we needed to build an API that would showcase their benefits, allowing them to make better consumer choices. We created a nice customer-loyalty environment for banks as a result.

What did you find most impressive about CrossComm?

CrossComm's principal and team follow a culture of listening to and interacting with clients. There has been a number of people who've participated in our project. Every one of them has taken the time to listen, ask questions, and thoroughly understand what we were trying to accomplish. In doing so, they became comfortable in challenging any positions we may have held. This was done not in their own interest or success, but for the success of the project. The mantra of CrossComm's principal is that our success is his, which is not a cliché for him. Having worked in development for 30 years, I've come to the realization that how well a person can code matters less than their ability to understand a project, bring creative solutions to it, and think differently. CrossComm's team can certainly work in a robotic manner if needed, but it would be a shame if an organization was to hire them just to code. They're smart people.

Are there any areas CrossComm could improve?

There's nothing that comes to mind that CrossComm would need to work on; they've done an excellent job. I wish CrossComm could come to Chicago more often, given that I enjoy our interactions, but this is more to do with our budget.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a professional services firm. I am in charge of business development for our data science and survey research group.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CrossComm?

We had developed a database for systematic literature review. It was a tool that we were using and we wanted to take it and turn it into a web-based application. We contracted with CrossComm to turn it into a web-based tool for systematic literature review.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did all of the development work. We served as the business manager in the design work to give them input on what was needed and to verify the solutions that they proposed.

How did you come to work with CrossComm?

We did a competitive bid process. The bids we received were all within a competitive range. It wasn’t a matter of money; it was a matter of finding a team that we felt comfortable with, and knowing it was going to be a small team that was dedicated to working with us and knowing that they had an interest and an aptitude to understand the science and the logic behind systematic literature review. For us, the application is really complicated. It was critical that they be willing to dive in and learn about systematic literature review and that they really understand it so they could help us develop the best tool.

How much have you invested with CrossComm?

We have invested $200,000 to $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We’re still in the testing phase.

What did you find most impressive about CrossComm?

We worked primarily with Sean Doherty, and his ability to understand really complicated things and then to implement them quickly has been awesome.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Forbes Media is a news publisher with a print magazine and an online site. I am the head of products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CrossComm?

We worked with them several times over the past several years. They were brought in to build custom native apps for us. We were building a new app and they built it for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They worked on our native iOS apps. I know they’ve worked on two projects for sure and potentially a third.

How did you come to work with CrossComm?

We’d been working with them for four years, so their relationship with Forbes predated my joining Forbes. I met them through colleagues here at Forbes.

How much have you invested with CrossComm?

We have invested $200,000 plus.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The app they built served as a basis for other knockoffs of that app. It played a very foundational role in our whole mobile product group.

What did you find most impressive about CrossComm?

They were always very forthcoming and straightforward with any challenges. I felt they were always being candid about what was and wasn’t possible and when they could and couldn’t deliver certain things. We had developed a real level of trust. I never had to second guess their estimates. I never felt like they were trying to string us along or extract more fees out of us. Especially with a contracting developer and company relationship, you feel like you’re always kind of on the defensive side and looking for areas where you’re being gouged. They did not do that at all. Their role in keeping us up to date, communicating at just the right level, and being very transparent was refreshing.

Are there any areas CrossComm could improve?

No. I think they did a great job.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re in the healthcare space and we provide software that helps patients connect with their doctor’s offices across the United States. I lead the product teams on our mobile applications and our APIs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CrossComm?

We spent time getting ready for an annual conference that’s a big deal in our business and in the vertical that we serve. We wanted to get something prepped for the Apple Watch, which was just being released. We didn’t have the extra resources and capacity to go approach it, so in order to help meet our conference deadline, as well as some of the internal commitments we had on the calendar, we reached out to them to help us fill that gap for our product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were focused on mobile apps for both iOS and Android, and the Neon Apple watches for iOS. We engaged them to help us expand some of the notification messaging resources that we wanted to put in play and have show up on the hardware. We were able to engage them on short notice and ask them to take on new technology as well as a new piece of hardware that hadn’t been released yet, and really get up to speed with our team very quickly. It was around a week. They stepped in and acted as a complement to our team and they helped us write some additional extensions to our product so we could integrate with the watch and drive certain education workflows around the user experience. All in all, it was full stack integration of a third party agency and they got up to speed really quick and worked really well with our team, which was solid.

How did you come to work with CrossComm?

We didn’t know about them. We had engaged another agency that we were familiar with and were in the process working with them. However, they ended up having a change in plans relative to their schedule and resources. As a result, I asked them for recommendations. They got back to me with a couple of recommendations and CrossComm was the top one. I reached out to them and was incredibly thankful for them. We connected much better from a principal standpoint and how we wanted to work. So it was a fortuitous situation for us to get in contact with them. They’re great individuals to work with. They’re very principled, thorough, and direct, they get the work done, and they do quality work too.

How much have you invested with CrossComm?

A little bit under $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We were fully engaged for about eight weeks. They helped us get what we needed to be delivered within a six-week timeline.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

A lot of the focus for us with the watch was really less about being metric driven and more about storytelling and having a more cutting edge look. For us, it was that we were really at the availability of the hardware and that it was an extension of our application in the healthcare space, which is traditionally not thought of as very innovative. It was a way for us to have a better story around the technology and the problem that we were solving in the industry, and showing that this was now available from our company.

What did you find most impressive about CrossComm?

They’ve got good people. They listen really well. What I appreciated most about working with both of them was that they knew what they were good at and they were very forthright in saying, “Here’s where we can be complimentary to your business and your team and why we’d be a good fit, and here’s where you should not use us.” Being up front with us on the tight timeline helped us get to an agreement very quickly and I think, had it been another opportunity, we could’ve gotten a no very quickly. I valued that they did not waste our time. When we got to a yes very quickly, and they moved very fast to figure out exactly how they would fit into our process and into our team. That was what was awesome. Their words were matched by their actions. You can’t beat that. It was great overall and in general a very solid experience.

Are there any areas CrossComm could improve?

I’ve given this feedback to both Justin and Sean. It wasn’t always obvious where they could be super strong. They tend to be a jack-of-all-trades. We wanted them to tell us what they love and what they’re passionate about. It’s one thing to have the tool in your toolbox, but what do you really like to do and where can you be most effective can be different. By having that dialogue with them, they were able to share what they love to do. When we can dive into these opportunities and these kinds of technologies, we feel like we excel a whole lot further than in these other areas. It was really diversifying to see where they can be most effective with their clients and the problems they can help solve, which is quite a bit. But it’s about having that upfront attitude and being available when they discuss those type of opportunities with customers.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Reveal Mobile collects location data for mobile devices. We integrate with mobile applications to help them better understand their audiences by using location history of those audiences to attribute different audience attributes . I am the chief product officer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CrossComm?

In order for us to collect data that our data scientists can analyze, we need to be integrated with the applications on the mobile device. In order to do that, we needed an SDK [software development kit] that works with Android apps as well as iOS apps. And we need that SDK to detect Bluetooth beacons as well. That’s some pretty cutting edge technology that requires a lot of research and investigation in order to build. We have development talent in-house that operates on the backend for us - kind of a full stack engineering team, but they handle more the collection and curation of the data once we’ve collected it from the devices. So, we didn’t have any talent that developed applications or SDKs for applications specific to Android or iOS.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We use CrossComm to develop the SDK for both Android and iOS.

How did you come to work with CrossComm?

They are in the area. They were working with Reveal prior to my joining here, which was over a year ago.

How much have you invested with CrossComm?

It’s around $100,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The SDK they created is solely responsible for collecting location events from mobile devices. Today, we collect events from over 1 million unique devices each day. In aggregate, that’s close to 400,000 to 500,000 million events per month.

What did you find most impressive about CrossComm?

We have scheduled weekly video calls with them just to make sure that everybody’s on the same page with regard to priorities. We talk through any problems or any upcoming stories to work on. We also have integrated HipChat and we have them available whenever we have a quick question. Right now, they’re working with our engineering team to make sure the SDK is going to communicate with the server side. So in order to do that, we need to make sure both sides are using the same format and things like that. They’re continually communicating which makes them a great partner. They’re also in the area, so they’re available if we want to do face-to-face meetings, but more often than not, it’s a simple video chat that works well.

Are there any areas CrossComm could improve?

Early on, we had some challenges due to lack of process on our side, which lead to some disconnects. We had not focused enough on how to integrate an outsourced engineering team with our in-house engineering projects, especially since we’re working off of different priority lists. So they worked really closely with us to find a process that worked, and that’s actually how we got to the point where we’re doing weekly video calls that last anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. We use their Trello board, which helps us keep a priority list that their engineers work off of, and we’re also able to contribute to and comment on as needed. By working with us on those processes, it cleared up any issues.