There are many different programs that make it easier to work with a business. One of them is Bitrix24. This service facilitates team work, helps to manage staff and interact with customers.
What is Bitrix24
Bitrix24 is a cloud service for teamwork. It includes:
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system;
- Intranet portal;
- Chat room
- Task manager.
The service allows you to connect external telephony providers, email clients, face recognition systems and business cards. The program was developed by the Russian company 1C-Bitrix. The system was released on April 12, 2012, and the CRM function was enabled later. At the beginning of 2018, the service was used by 3 million customers, half of which are foreign companies.
The cloud service uses external servers to operate, in particular Amazon and others in various countries around the world. A "box" version of the service is also released, which does not use cloud-based remote servers.
The program is popular and has twice received the Runet Prize diploma. This happened in 2012 and 2017.
The company's biggest crisis occurred in 2018, when a large-scale failure occurred in the cloud service infrastructure, as a result of which 30% of Russian client services became unavailable. It was the largest accident in the history of the service.
Features of Bitrix24
In fact, Bitrix24 is a huge corporate portal that covers almost all aspects of a company's life. This is a social network, and projects, and tasks, and personnel management. Connections with clients are included here.
In the general information system Bitrix24, many different concepts are connected. You can study them on the main page of the portal. The Bitrix24 CRM system is especially popular. You cannot buy it separately, one way or another you will have to pay for the entire global product on the terms of Saas payment or in a boxed version.
Therefore, Bitrix24 is not suitable for companies that want to implement only a CRM system. Here CRM is an integral part of the entire product.
Bitrix24 tariffs
Cost and tariffs are an important factor when choosing a program for work. First of all, you need to select the option you want:
- Work through cloud servers
- Boxed solutions
- Selection of a part of services.
Cloud work means buying a Saas solution, in which you pay for access. At the same time, all work is carried out on the servers of the Bitrix24 company.
When purchasing a separate boxed solution, the software will be installed directly on its own server. The cost of each option can be viewed on the official Bitrix24 website.
The company can choose any tariff, including free. It also includes CRM. But, most likely, the free program will not be enough. You will need a huge number of other opportunities provided by Bitrix24.
CRM-system Bitrix: functions and desktop
CRM-program is installed as one of the components of the general corporate system Bitrik24. Upon entering the page, the user will see a list of tools:
- My drive
- Posts
- The calendar
- Tasks
- Tape
And also a list of other tools. All these functions are not directly related to CRM, but are needed in certain situations. At startup, the main system is installed with all the capabilities that the system has. Only through this main page you can go directly to work with CRM.
This system has its advantages. The client gets more options than planned. On the other hand, unnecessary tools make it difficult for the client to navigate and work in the system. In addition, all the additional functions require certain resources, while not bringing real value. Disk space is wasted on unnecessary additional functions.
The disadvantage of the system is the impossibility of choosing a separate product. The buyer is forced to purchase the whole thing. The disadvantages also include:
- Large volume that falls on the server
- All functions require configuration
- Difficulties in work for the user and administrator.
Such a wide list is good for people who sell the Bitrix24 solution, since a specialist will receive an additional payment for setting up each function.
This list of functions only interferes with users. Mastering various opportunities, including those that are not at all necessary for the company, the client wastes extra efforts.
An experienced specialist can remove unnecessary additional functions, but this will also require additional investments for the services of a specialist. An absurd situation arises when the client first pays for unnecessary features, and then pays extra for their removal.
When starting to work with Bitrix24, remember that this program has a lot of things, but at the same time its interface is overloaded with various features that the user does not need at all.
Bitrix24 software
Bitrix24 software is a complex and ramified system. It can only be installed on high-power computers.
Most CRM systems are SAAS solutions, easy to configure, easy to install. Bitrix24 is radically different from all of them. Bitrix24 is a whole portal. Both an ordinary user and an administrator are faced with a large number of functions that are not at all needed when working in CRM.
In the Bitrix24 system, the administrator gets access to setting up and managing functions such as document flow, photo gallery, proactive protection. The implementation of the program is significantly complicated and slowed down.
Ample opportunities are interesting and progressive. But they make things more difficult for both the user and the administrator.
The simplest solution seems to be simply not to use unnecessary resources. But in practice this is not possible. At the time of installation, it is impossible to establish exactly what will be needed and what will not. If the services are implemented by a specialist who does not yet have experience in the Bitrix24 portal, the matter becomes even more complicated.
In particular, proactive protection can cause difficulty. It seems that such protection implies the presence of some kind of danger. It is not immediately clear whether it is necessary to enable and configure it or not. The same questions apply to document flow. Is it worth the time to set up and activate it? Or is it better to immediately forget about this opportunity, because Bitrix24 will be used exclusively as a CRM system? It is possible that the function was not connected, but customers saw it on the portal and tried to use it. As a result, there is a negative about the "inoperative option", which in the future will be very difficult to remove. During the setup process, a lot of questions will arise that are difficult to find answers to.
The structure of the entire CRM Bitrix 24 system and, in particular, its CRM part is also somewhat complex. The work in this part takes place in a strict sequence and usually looks like this.
The lead is registered first. This is the name of the request received by the system, which indicates the desire to make a purchase. The request and contact details of the prospect are recorded. A notification is sent to the manager in the system or by mail about the received application. After that, a potential trade is formed. On its basis, you can create an invoice or send a commercial offer. When the client agrees, at the time of the sale or conclusion of the contract, a contact is created based on the lead. After that, the sale is made, shipment and payment are carried out, the transaction is closed.
