TeliApp Corporation

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Integrate Tech Inc., an education technology company focused on K-12 schools using laptops in the classroom.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TeliApp Corporation?

We're trying to help schools eliminate the fragmentation of multiple software systems in the classroom. We decided to outsource developers because we’d had trouble finding a competent CTO to join our startup.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

TeliApp Corporation is developing for a custom Google Chrome application. They’re doing all of the front- and backend development. We provided some rudimentary screenshots of a software prototype that we outsourced two years ago.

In terms of functionality, the software includes automated management features so teachers can focus more on teaching. It will also provide comprehensive data to users. Students will be able to see their own data, and teachers will be able to see the data of their students.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact is the CEO, but we’re also able to communicate directly with the developers.

How did you come to work with TeliApp Corporation?

Through networking, we met somebody who vouched for TeliApp Corporation.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $90,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together for about six months, and the project is on track to be completed at the end of this month.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re doing alpha testing—having teachers and administrators critique the software—and we’ve gotten some really good feedback. They said it's one of the most comprehensive software that they've ever seen in the education space.

In general, education software has a lot of functionality but not necessarily a lot of usability. TeliApp Corporation is doing a really good job of making software that is modern and usable.

How did TeliApp Corporation perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team is doing a fantastic job. The software is massive, yet they set a very competitive deadline for completion. So far, they've met all their deadlines. The final deadline is coming up at the end of this month, and I’m confident that they will deliver on schedule.

Since we've developed a good relationship, we’re able to directly text with the CEO or the developers. We also sometimes just stop by their office to meet in person.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality they deliver for the cost is excellent. They’re a small company, but they provide high-quality developers. It makes them really competitive in the market.

Any advice for potential customers?

You're in good hands with TeliApp Corporation.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of SawYouAtSinai, an online matchmaking site that serves the Jewish community. Our differentiator from other dating sites is our live matchmaking service. We have our own brands on the site and 11 other private label sites that partner with us.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TeliApp Corporation?

We wanted to introduce an app as an option for users to access our servers. We wanted to allow singles a little more control, with the option to see profiles before approaching our matchmakers to finalize meetings and matches. We didn’t have the team to create the app, so we decided to outsource a team to build it from scratch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They really helped with the whole process, from beginning to end. At the very beginning, we sat down and built out all the business specifications. For weeks, we sat down each day and examined each page’s graphics, backend, and functionality. Then we had to integrate all the existing links from the legacy system. Not only were we creating a new app, we wanted to link back into the current system to keep of our 50,000 active users from building completely new profiles for the app. They were instrumental in making the process look seamless and work effectively. They made the app and the site work together to let users switch back and forth with no difficulty.

Once we finished all of the upfront business logic, we worked together to lay out screenshots and create the app itself. They built native iOS and Android screens and all the backend logic that went with them. They set up the chat capability with a Google database platform and made sure we were compliant with Apple and Google. Then, they helped us tweak the overall system. Once we got the system to a point where we had useful user feedback, we made sure we could increase the scale over time.

What is the team composition?

We interfaced with three individuals on their team, and there were between three and five people in the background. The total group was between six and eight team members. Josh (CEO, TeliApp Corporation) was our main contact for this project; we interacted with him for five or six months.

How did you come to work with TeliApp Corporation?

A colleague referred them to us. They were willing to sit down and help us through the entire process. We hadn’t set up the business specs yet and only had a basic idea of what we wanted. They were comfortable collaborating from beginning to end and never took advantage of us. They worked on dating apps before, so they knew how to set up the functionality we wanted. Their understanding and familiarity gave us confidence in them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2014 and completed the project in March 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of the work was very good. They delivered on everything they said they would. We had to make some major changes because of linking issues with social media and upgrades to iOS and Android platforms, but they could pivot to accommodate these changes and maintained themselves well. They never overestimated their capabilities and were able to fix glitches with usability or backend compatibility.

The flow of the dating process is well-received. We have the extra step with the matchmaker, but TeliApp helped us give the right messaging and notifications to keep the end user informed, which reduced our attrition rate and earned good feedback from our users.

How did TeliApp Corporation perform from a project management standpoint?

They basically sat with us through the process. They had their own project manager and we collaborated on a daily basis to keep things progressing properly. If something was delayed, we calculated the impact and ways to make up time. We discussed scalability and they brought their expertise to bear for any technical issues.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We had the opportunity to work with them directly. They’re a small, nimble organization with some really smart people on their team. They’re big enough to have the right resources and small enough to keep us from getting lost in their pipeline. They were also local to us, which was a huge advantage for storyboarding and made the whole process faster. They were honest and followed through on everything they promised.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. The challenges that arose in the project weren’t related to them. All our issues were caused by outside factors; we had a very positive experience with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and CEO of PMOtraining, LLC. We do project management office consulting and training.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TeliApp?

We have a physical game that we've tested in person over the years with clients from around the world. Some clients expressed interest in using a digital version of the game, so we hired TeliApp to convert it into an app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our first step was to run our game in person using their team so they could understand how it worked. I wanted the digital version to resemble the live experience as much as possible in order to maintain its effectiveness. We referred back to that experience many times throughout the design process as we converted from live to digital.

One of our biggest challenges was figuring out how to keep the game flowing without an in-person trainer to guide the audience through the process. We went back and forth tweaking the design to get our app as accurate as possible.

My initial budget was limited, so they started with just an iPad app, as that was the best fit given the game’s complexity and need for a larger screen. Our game is meant to educate users about the Project Management Institute, and they were coming out with a new version of their book while our app was in development, so that was also a complex undertaking. I wanted TeliApp to create the fifth edition and put us in the position to be the first organization ready when the sixth edition came out. For our current project, they're upgrading the app for that new edition, and they're also rolling it out for Android tablets in addition to iPads.

What is the team composition?

We had a primary contact who served as both our project manager and a business analyst, and then we worked with a designer who joined the project partway through. Their CEO and their head developer, who co-leads the company, worked with us as well. There may have also been additional developers helping, but I didn't meet everyone.

How did you come to work with TeliApp?

I found them through the New Jersey Tech Council, which hosted an event where multiple vendors were available to meet. I vetted a number of talented options, but TeliApp's professionalism immediately impressed me. Their CEO brought part of his team along, so we got to meet right away and discuss their involvement. They also had a good track record and offered a lot of expertise that would make them viable long-term partners.

How much have you invested with them?

Our last project was $25,000 and it came in on budget. This one is $10,000 and I expect it will be on budget as well.

What is the status of this engagement?

I first started working with them in April 2017 and we’re still working together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everyone who's given me direct feedback about the app has had great reactions so far. We also haven't had any crashes, so I think that speaks to the quality and professionalism of their work.

They set high expectations, they're honest and hard-working, and they really care about customer satisfaction. I'm looking forward to working with them again on this next project, which isn't something I've experienced with many other vendors in the past.

How did TeliApp perform from a project management standpoint?

When we first started, we met in person a few times, but that grew less necessary as we went along. They use Jira to manage our projects, so I can log anything that we need to be changed as they're testing it, which has worked pretty well. Beyond that, we'll exchange emails and discuss things over the phone. I've found phone calls really effective, but they're responsive across every platform and will answer our questions even when it's late at night.

Their CEO was very engaged with our project and had a lot of great knowledge about how the app store works and what the process is like. He was very patient walking us through since it was our first time creating an app. Their designer also did an excellent job revising some of our older, outdated screens. He came onto the team a little late, but we delayed our timeline just so we could incorporate his creations because they were beautiful.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They've developed a formula to anticipate how long projects will take and how much they'll cost, and they've come in exactly at their estimates every time. That's very hard to do in the IT world, so it's impressive that they're so accurate. It was critical for me to stick to the budget because I paid for this project out of pocket with no venture capital or outside grants.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

As I planned this project, I outlined my priorities and then vetted prospective vendors against them. When you do it that way, you're less likely to go in a wrong direction because someone proposes a shiny, distracting idea. I'd also recommend meeting with people in person whenever possible so you can get a better sense of what they're about. I realize that can be time-consuming, but it's worthwhile. We've developed a great partnership with TeliApp and have even spoken jointly at several conferences about gamification, app development, and project management. Once you establish that relationship, you'll find a lot of mutual benefits.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.  

I’m the Executive Director of Parents Anonymous of New Jersey Inc., a family strengthening organization that provides free parent support groups, a 24-hour parent helpline, and free training and support for organizations working to engage parents. We also offer a unique fathers-only support group called Father Time. We are a small company with 10 employees and a board of directors. Our target market is all parents and those acting in a parental role in New Jersey.

My job is to identify funding sources, oversee projects, and direct the operation of all programs. I report to our board of directors. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TeliApp Corporation?

As a small nonprofit, we struggle to fill all of our staff positions without adequate funding. For years we have operated with volunteers providing tech support for our website. This has come with a significant price tag, as we weren’t able to have input or the ability to make changes to the website when needed. We operate 2 online parent support groups on the website, so constant updates are necessary. Our last volunteer quit without notice, and our online groups went down.

Josh, TeliApp's CEO, volunteered to build a new website and updated much of our technology. Since we don’t have a tech person on staff, TeliApp has had to do much of the work themselves while educating social workers to use the new web design. They have been wonderful, always responsive, and patient.

Parents Anonymous has been serving families for 40 years in New Jersey but is often described as the best-kept secret in the state. TeliApp plans to change that.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We rarely have funding, and we have no salary to keep a tech person on staff. We have used different funding sources to piece together a website using different vendors. When I met Josh, we chatted about the many challenges we had with our website and how it wasn’t working for us. We discussed the project informally, and he gave me ideas on how the website could be cleaner, easier to use, and more effective. For example, he didn't think I realized the importance of having an active, updated, live website when moving our agency forward and expanding the audience. What we had before was a static website that basically sat there. When we had money for a redesign, I contacted Josh and asked if we could set up a meeting with my director of operations and a board member to discuss their company reinventing our website. 

One complicated aspect of our website is that we operate 2 online groups. We host a facilitated chat that had actually been removed from the old website because it no longer worked properly. We felt that the malfunctioning chat feature was doing more harm than good because if parents were anxious enough to go through the login process to get into the chat, the last thing we wanted was to have them think the facilitator threw them out when actually the software had failed. 

Josh took on that challenge, which wasn’t easy. We spent weeks testing and making changes. He did a lot of research on other websites with live chats and what they used to facilitate them. He worked directly with our volunteer facilitator, who has been handling the online chat for years, and got feedback from her. 

How did you come to work with TeliApp Corporation?

I met Josh at a fundraiser in October 2016. As soon as he explained what he did, I knew we needed to talk. I started the process of trying to convince him to work for not much money. We were successful in that. Our company has a philosophy that allows us to work with other big companies, but we also need to help out smaller companies that don't have the same kind of funding but also have an important mission. That’s been the most important part for me. Josh really considered the mission of our organization, not just what we’re able to pay him.

I got a proposal from Texas that said they would design the website for $40,000 but without implementing it. We couldn't afford that.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve probably spent around $20,000 with TeliApp.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around late October 2016. The project is ongoing, and we’re happy to continue working with this generous, community-oriented provider. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our volunteer who facilitates the online group said that the new website has changed her life. Our facilitators are volunteers, so when they’re volunteering 2 hours and nobody logs on, or if they do log on and get thrown out, the volunteers get frustrated. She was ready to quit. Now, when she donates an afternoon and a night a week to facilitate the groups on the website, she doesn’t feel like she’s wasting her time anymore. People are able to log on easily, and they stay in the group for the duration.

We also service parents who are court-ordered by protective services to attend our groups. Josh set up the chat so that people who are court-ordered or have to prove they attended the group can check a box. Then, we can go to the website and actually provide feedback to the case workers of how many times the individual attended the online group. That has been a big plus for us because we’re always working with child protective services to get more individuals sent to our group. In many urban areas where people have fewer resources, they don't have access to transportation and can’t get to our house-based groups, but they can log on twice a week and show their case workers the documentation we provide. That has been extremely helpful.

We do 2 major snail-mail appeals a year for contributions. During those periods, Josh has been able to mirror on the landing page the importance of those appeals. People can donate online, and we get a record of who they are, where they are, and how to stay in touch with them. Donors like to see what their money does. If people have donated money for the Father Time group, for example, we can send them email updates about what their money has done. We could never have done that before.

Since we’ve had the new website, our last 2 appeals have brought in more than the previous appeals, and we are getting more online donors than ever before. That’s not only because of the website, but the site has changed the way we do a lot of business. It’s helped us considerably.

We’re just starting to gather evidence that demonstrates TeliApp’s effects on our business. With our old website, we could only count hits. We couldn't tell if people went anywhere else on the website besides the landing page. Josh has been talking with us about all the different ways we can track how people are coming to the website and what they’re doing once they arrive. That’ll cost more, so we’ve postponed it for a bit, but we’re talking about it now. We’re hoping to get more sophisticated with the tracking this year if I can find some more money for that project.

How did TeliApp Corporation perform from a project management standpoint?

Our director of operations and I have scheduled a date to meet with Josh. Sometimes, he comes here; sometimes, we go there. We try to have an in-person meeting with TeliApp on a quarterly basis. In between those meetings, we communicate via emails and phone calls. If we need an immediate update to the website and aren’t able to do it ourselves, we’ll email Josh, and he’ll update the item by the end of the day, even though he’s not billing us to do that. We’ve been very happy.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Josh went above and beyond what anybody had ever done for us before. He has a real passion for making sure that our website’s chat feature not only worked but was also something that we could be proud of and publicize. Before, I was reticent to put a lot of marketing on the website because I knew it wasn't good, but now that it’s running smoothly, I’ve ordered all new materials to promote it.

Josh also educated our staff on the importance of having a dynamic website that was interconnected with our social media accounts. We learned that a website shouldn't be static and sitting alone on the web somewhere. Instead, it needs to be an integral part of all of your programming. As soon as anyone opens our landing page, the first thing they see is the annual appeal process that’s taking place. It’s also easy for visitors to find the donate button, which is now in the proper place. With the old website, no one ever taught our staff person how to make changes on the website. That’s how backward we were. We had to email our consultant and ask them to make changes, and they were sometimes reluctant to make them. Because our previous consultants were separate from us, they didn't understand the culture of our organization, whereas Josh and his team made a point to visit us and talk to our board of directors and staff members about what was important to them. He had multiple conversations with me about what we liked, what we needed, and what aspects we liked on other people’s websites. He was honest with us about what would and wouldn't work on our website. He’s been involved in a way that I have not experienced with any other web person.

Josh also has been patient and understanding about our fluctuating finances. He hasn’t said, “You paid the money, we provided the product, and now we’re done.” Instead, he said, “Here are some different places that might be interested in supporting this idea. As soon as you get the funding, we’ll be prepared to move forward.” That has been really helpful.

Dealing with a vendor like TeliApp has been such a relief. They’re willing to work with people like us who have no idea what makes a website good.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of any. Our website is sleek and modern now, which isn’t my style, but my board loves it, and the feedback from consumers has been positive. I sent Josh an email last week asking to talk about updating the landing page. He agreed to discuss making it brighter. Unlike some of my other consultants who just said “no,” Josh is willing to hear my concerns. After that meeting, I may be convinced that the world moves in a different way now. He’s open to criticism and often explains why the website works better a certain way. 

BACKGROUND

Could you talk a bit about your company?

We are a LED supplier, and one of our largest customers is the federal government, but now we have sold AT&T. We are still currently doing projects for them. Within the government, we’ve done to various administrations, the army reserve and, as our manufacturing capabilities increase, we will be engaging other departments of the federal government even though also excels maybe local.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your objective for redeveloping the website?

The site we had was attacked, and it crashed. After talking and dealing with a variety of various website builders – well, let me put a little caveat on that. The reason I contacted Josh is I’ve had a long business, and personal relationship with Josh and that’s business level personal. So I’ve seen his work for a number of years and a number of various technology-related areas. I needed his ability, which was very broad and very deep. It wasn’t simple like another website builder.

SOLUTION

Could you tell me a little bit about the scope of the project? 

It’s not just the website platform that we’re looking for Josh and TeliApp to do work for us. Now, from the mobile application aspects, what he is going to do is configure the site specs that when if someone is seeking information from their cell phone, PDA, or smartphone. It will mimic as if it is a mobile app location. It will be a classy mobile app site. It will mimic one.

For the website, how long ago was the redesign completed?

We’re actually still in the redesign process.

When do you expect to be completed by?

This week. Our chief operations officer really as a center point or a number of projects including this one, so we typically talked to Josh. We didn’t even have a call yesterday because of other demands, so it’s not their inability to get it done. It’s more our response to where we are. We’re finishing up the project.

Could you give me just a very general cost estimate for the project?

No, because I have a stacking companies Josh has been a part of what he handles, so the pricing structure would not be consistent with what he would charge someone else. It was a unique set of circumstances. What I tell you are my experiences. There’s no preferentials in terms of my comments.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Looking back on the project, how happy are you with the results?

The project has been terrific, and his engagement has been very strong.

Compared to other developers you may have worked with in the past, is there anything that stands out that’s being unique or special about TeliApp?

Their engagement is outstanding. The answer is the same because of, and I’m not the one to talk about other Web builders because our COO who I said earlier is the person driving most of this. He’s actually built in himself, he has a large range of both experience and friends and associates in the business, so that’s why I made my earlier comment. I’m not the one to talk about the tentacles, but certainly the guys we’re having is the one that we were seeking.

Do you see any area that TeliApp can improve or do slightly better in?

I’m not the one to ask about that. We gave Josh a small window a client response on this because our site crashed. Now, unlike many who driving paper aside is critical to their business model. Really ours as not but we still did not want to know that not having that. He’s been bending over backwards to try to satisfy our time requirements. That’s, in my mind, very important.