Zoho Books

Zoho Books is a solid, cloud based accounting platform that includes numerous tools, templates and features for all aspects of running a business, from creating clients and sending invoices, through to accepting payments and tracking expenses. Zoho Books has been designed specifically with freelancers and SMB’s in mind. It is a great choice for those who need an affordable, customizable solution for their accounting needs without compromising on features and capabilities. Create Invoices Automated invoice creation with easy-to-use custom branded templates is a great feature of Zoho Books. Variables such as tax and percentage discounts can be applied to the invoice, as well as custom data. With the use of Price Lists, you can input up to date information regarding current pricing for both internal and external users. As soon as invoices have been finalised, they can be emailed or printed for postage. Integrations Zoho Books app integration with 3rd party payment gateways such as Stripe, PayPal, PayPal Payflow Pro, Braintree, Authorize.net, and 2Checkout are all superb and work seamlessly, as do Zoho’s native apps such as Zoho CRM, Zoho Sheet, and Zoho Projects. Inventory The inventory module of Zoho Books includes invoices, price books, products, quotes, sales orders, vendors, and purchase orders. The ability to input and track purchase orders and sales orders is as simple as populating fields with data. The related accounts will then be updated accordingly. Pricing Zoho Books uses a subscription pricing model, with a free 14 day trial available (no credit card required). The service is available in 3 plans: Basic, Standard and Professional. The Basic plan is charged at $9 per organization, per month and for this you get features such as Invoices, Expenses, Time Tracking, Banking, 50 Contacts, 1 User and 1 Account, Multi-Currency and 5 Workflow Rules. Next up is the Standard plan, which is charged at $19 per organization, per month. For this you get the Basic Plan plus Bills, Vendor Credits, Recurring transactions, 500 Contacts, 2 Users and 1 Account, Custom Roles and 10 Rules per module. The Professional plan is charged at $29 per organization, per month. This comes equipped with all the features of the Standard plan, plus Purchase Orders, Sales Orders, Inventory, Unlimited Contacts, and Unlimited Users. With this plan you also have access to Zoho Inventory Basic Edition free. Bottom Line Zoho Books is best suited to Freelancers and SMB’s. It does have some really neat features, such as the ability to create and send trackable invoices. You can also track the status of bills, create estimates for new work, and track expenses and attach receipts. Overall, Zoho Books is a solid platform to work from. It has some useful tools, good task automation and you can gain increased functionality with several integrated apps.

QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Online is a cloud-based financial suite that has been designed for SMBs, to perform accounting, billing and invoicing tasks, from a single platform. With QuickBooks Online you can create and manage invoices, print checks, track payments, reconcile banking and credit card transactions, manage bills, and create estimates. QuickBooks Online has an intuitive and user-friendly interface to work with, along with mobile tools for iOS devices and Android powered smartphones and tablets, that provide a more flexible and time-efficient way of managing financial transactions, such as creating invoices, and tracking expenses whilst on the move. Built-In Reports QuickBooks Online has numerous pre-built reports to choose from, which can give a visual representation showing the overall financial health of your business. These reports fall into several different categories: Business Overview, Manage Accounts Receivable, Manage Accounts Payable, Accountant Reports, Reconciliation Reports, Manage Products and Inventory, Review Sales, Review Expenses and Purchases, Manage Sales Tax and Manage Employees. To create a report, navigate to Reports from the QuickBooks dashboard and simply select the type of report you need. If you need to customise the reporting fields you can do so here, if required. Next, select a transaction date from a drop-down menu or specify your target date range. Finally, click Run Report. The produced information can be printed, emailed, or exported as an Excel file. Online Banking Integration With QuickBooks Online’s banking integration, you are able to securely connect and sync your online bank feed, in order to automatically gather financial transactions. This is a great time saving feature that saves you having to manually input the data. Once synced, using the information that your bank has stored with the funds going in and out of your account, such as amounts, transaction dates, and the places where the transactions occurred, you can either accept or delete transactions. You can then categorize and assign them to suppliers or customers. Connecting your bank to your Quickbooks Online account is straightforward enough. Navigating from the QuickBooks Online dashboard, choose Transactions, and then Banking. On the upper right hand of the screen there is a blue button marked Add Account. Here is where you will be prompted to enter your bank’s name or URL. You can also choose from a list of popular financial institutions. You will also need your online banking username and password to establish a secure connection. As soon as your login credentials have been verified, simply follow the prompts to continue. Invoice Creation The layout of the dashboard is easy to navigate and will feel familiar to most users. On the top section of the QuickBooks Online dashboard, in the middle, there are three buttons which allow you to view recent transactions, search for transactions, and create invoices. To create an invoice, simply click on the plus (+) button and select Invoice from the drop-down menu. You are then shown the Invoice page, where you then populate the data, such as customer name, email address, billing address, payment terms, invoice date, and due date. You can enter product/service line items manually, or select them from a pre-defined field. Any tax calculations and discounts are automatically deducted from the invoice amount, viewable in the top right corner of the screen. Invoices can also be branded by adding your company logo, a background image, choosing your own font and designating custom fields. Usefully invoices can be sent individually or in batches. Integrations QuickBooks Online seamlessly integrates with other QuickBooks apps such as QuickBooks Payments and QuickBooks Payroll. QuickBooks Online also offers add-ons such as Bill.com, Jobber, Mavenlink, Method CRM, Shoeboxed, and TSheets. QuickBooks Online also integrates with the following apps and services; Abacus, Chrometa, Concur, Fundbox, Gusto, Insightly, NimbleSchedule, PayPal TriNet Expense, Receipt Bank, Shopify, Vend, Workfront, Zendesk, Zoho CRM, Unleashed Software, Xpenditure Expenses, Unify by Webgility, and VeriClock. QuickBooks Online also has an API available for use. QuickBooks Online is available in English, French, Portuguese and is supported on Android and iOS devices. Pricing QuickBooks Online uses a subscription pricing model that has a free trial available (no credit card required) It has three pricing plans: Simple Start, Essentials and Plus. Simple Start is priced at $9.99 per month and allows one user to reconcile bank transactions and create estimates and invoices. The data can be shared with two accountants. The Essentials plan is priced at $19.99 and includes all the features of the Simple Start plan, with an additional accounts payable feature, which allows up to three users track and pay bills. Finally the Plus plan is priced at $29.99 per month and supports up to five users. It also comes with inventory and 1099 preparation included. Bottom Line QuickBooks Online is a complete accounting solution. With invoicing, billing, estimates, and more, all available from one single platform. It has native mobile apps for Android and iOS devices, which allow you to keep track of the financial health of your businesses anytime and anywhere. QuickBooks Online is easy to set up and highly customizable. With automatic syncing tools to link your bank and credit card accounts, QuickBooks Online gives you an easy way to collaborate with your accountant or bookkeeper.

Zoho Meeting

Zoho Meeting is an affordable and easy-to-use online web conference and remote assistance app, which can provide both single users and SMBs with a rapid way to host and conduct secure, and cost effective online meetings. Zoho Meeting is able to save time, travel and resources by providing high quality, real-time virtual meetings. Although face-to-face meetings are still necessary in some circumstances, Zoho Meeting provides a powerful way to engage with clients and employees in a cost effective, virtual environment. Meet Now With the Meet Now feature of Zoho Meeting, the logistics of hosting meetings have been drastically simplified. Simply click a button and host meeting instantly. Meet Now lets you create and start instant meeting to share desktop and have remote training presentations with clients or employees in a matter of seconds. Integration Zoho Meeting is able to integrate with Zoho Chat and Zoho Show to help you provide better collaboration service to your participants. Support Zoho provides a number of different ways to ensure you are fully prepared in using Zoho Meeting to its maximum potential. The developers provide a Meeting Resource Center, which includes demo videos, a meeting wiki page, forums, and meeting blogs. These resources will provide users with the necessary tools to troubleshoot any issues they may have. Additionally, Zoho also provides support via email and telephone. Pricing Zoho Meeting uses a freemium subscription pricing model. It has a free 30 day trial available (no credit card required), which provides a fully functional service based upon features of the Professional edition. Aside from the free option, which allows a single user to conduct 1-to-1 meetings (limited to 1 hour), pricing plans begin at $12.00 per month (or or $115 per year). For this price you can have 1 host and 5 participants. If you need 10 participants, this is priced at $18 per host per month. For 25 Participants, the price is $24 per host per month. If you need 50 participants, the price is $35 per host per month, and for 100 participants, the price is $49 per host per month. Bottom Line Zoho Meeting is a quality utility that allows you to conduct web meetings and organize online training in a professional manner. With Zoho Meeting you can organize sales and marketing presentations online, arrange personalized product demonstrations, and provide online presentations to prospects. The platform is easy to use and can be navigated by users of all levels of expertise. This makes Zoho Meeting a good choice for teams that are spread across various geographical locations as they can still collaborate despite the distance.

Zoho Support

Zoho Support is a scalable help-desk solution for businesses of various sizes. By utilizing Zoho Support, businesses are able to build feature-rich help-desks that include ticket management, automation, and reporting tools. Businesses are able to engage with their customers across multiple channels, including various social media solutions and email. With robust workflow automations and request management tools, help-desks are able to manage and maintain large amounts of traffic. Mobile Support A really useful feature of Zoho Support is the ability for agents to answer tickets from anywhere using Zoho Support for iOS and Android. From within the app, users are able to view a feed that displays any recent updates in tickets. They can also choose to follow specific tickets, contacts or accounts. If any developments occur, it will show up automatically on the feed in real-time. Response times can be critical in dealing with customers, therefore the Zoho Support mobile app makes good use of push notifications, ensuring agents maintain rapid response times to tickets. Multi-Channel Request Support The ability to gather customer service requests from multiple channels is a superb way to build great customer satisfaction. Support from email, phone, social media, chat, self-service help center, forums and web forms are all supported on this platform. Zoho Support can be configured so managers can setup and maintain service-level agreements (SLAs). Tickets are created with a due date and time based on the pre-defined SLA. The software can automatically alert users or even re-assign the ticket to another agent. Automations Automations are a great way to improve productivity. By utilizing time based actions and macros, agents are able to maximise their time spent on activities. Zoho Support makes implementing flexible automation rules an easy affair. In this way, customers can be kept up to date regarding changes to their tickets, and any inactive tickets can be closed without wasting time and resources. Pricing Zoho Support uses a freemium, subscription pricing model, with a free 15 day trial available. The Free plan includes email ticketing, knowledge base, community forums, web contact form, default canned responses. This is useful for small businesses, however if you need integration with Zoho CRM then you need to move onto one of the paid plans. The Professional plan is priced at $12 per agent, per month. For this, you receive everything in the Free plan, plus workflows, time tracking, social media monitoring, custom reports and dashboards, custom canned responses, and phone integration. Zoho integrations and mobile versions are also available with this plan. Finally the Enterprise Plan is priced at $25 per agent, per month. At this level you receive everything that is available in the cheaper plans, plus scheduled reports, integration for multiple phone numbers, more workflows, and built-in live chat. Bottom Line Zoho Support is a good solution that can give businesses a clear, unified view of their customers’ requirements. With multi-channel ticket management, and custom reporting tools coupled with Zoho CRM integration, Zoho Support is a solid customer service solution that is best suited to SMBs, but as it is scalable can be used by larger organizations.

Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM is a solid customer relationship management platform that provides a complete CRM solution. With it you can manage sales, marketing, customer support and service and inventory management via a single system. Zoho CRM is based in the cloud, so no setup is required. It can be accessed from anywhere, using both desktop or mobile device. Zoho CRM allows you to generate and track leads, manage tasks, and follow the entire sales pipeline directly from within the app. By utilizing the power of mobile applications utilizing the cloud platform, Zoho CRM allows team members to work collaboratively by giving them access to the most current information available. Workflows Zoho CRM’s customizable workflow management tools allow true automation of regular tasks. This is really useful because every time a new event occurs, Zoho CRM can be configured to automatically deploy a new task and assign it to a specific user, who will then be notified accordingly. Zoho CRM’s Workflows lets administrators set up actions to be executed when certain criteria are met. This, in turn, gives you greater control over how leads are handled. Email Integration A key feature of Zoho CRM is that it can integrate with your existing email environment. This is useful because it provides users with a universal platform of communication across your organization. By integrating an existing email system, users will be able to access new messages and reply them from directly within Zoho CRM. Mobile Integration The Zoho CRM mobile app on both iOS and Android, allows you to access contact details, edit accounts and leads, and view and work with reports. Zoho CRM also supports offline access, which is another extremely useful feature. Alongside the aforementioned email integration, Zoho CRM has the ability to connect to many third party app: including Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Office, PhoneBridge, and QuickBooks. Zoho CRM for Google Apps also takes the software beyond simple email integration. It also integrates with MailChimp and Constant Contact for email marketing, Evernote for note-taking, ClickDesk for Help Desk service, Outlook for email and calendaring, Microsoft Office for documents, Quickbooks for accounting, and VWorkApp for job dispatching and tracking. Using Zoho's API, developers can customize Zoho CRM as required. Pricing Zoho CRM uses a subscription pricing model that starts at $12.00/month with a free trial available (No Credit Card required). For up to three users, a free plan includes all of the basic features of Zoho CRM, with up to 5,000 records. A standard plan that adds sales forecasting, reporting, and more, is available for $12 per user, per month; while a plan that includes email integration costs $20 per user, per month. An enterprise version for multi-level organizations is available for $35 per user, per month. Bottom Line Zoho CRM is particularly effective for organizations that already use the company's other products, such as Zoho Projects or Zoho Books. It makes good use of Google Apps integration, which also makes it a natural choice if your organization uses those tools for email and calendaring. It has comprehensive reporting tools, advanced CRM features, and good email marketing tools. It has seamless integration between pre-sales and post sales activities via the Inventory Management tool and great integration between Sales and Customer Support processes via the Cases and Solutions feature. Overall, Zoho CRM is a powerful solution for small and medium-size businesses that is available at an affordable price bracket.

Zoho Projects

Zoho Projects is a feature-rich project management solution that has an good array of collaboration tools, coupled with useful bug tracking utilities. The platform is packed with functions that improve team collaboration, making project monitoring an easy affair. It is able to provide users with a multifaceted view of a project, as it happens in real-time. Zoho Projects can be used by a varied range of businesses and is especially suited for SMBs. The bug tracking features make it particularly relevant to the software development industry. Interactive Forums A great feature of Zoho Projects are the interactive forums. Within the confines of Zoho Project’s interactive forums, users are able to post topics, discuss important ideas, and share knowledge. Users are able to upload images or links as well as text to discussions. When you post a new topic in a forum, Zoho Projects will notify any team members who may be interested. The forums are organized into categories, and users can watch specific topics, which are applicable by using Zoho Projects’ 'watch a topic' feature. Gantt Charts Gantt charts are a superb way to give teams a visualized representation of a project. Whether that be by means of task progression, list progression, or individually reached milestones within a project. Zoho Projects’ Gantt view has two charts to choose from; Chronology charts and Milestone charts. The Chronology charts present tasks sequentially, whilst the Milestone chart shows a users’ milestones, the task lists those milestones contain, and any related tasks. Editing any part of a task, for instance the start or end date, or moving a whole task for that matter, is very straightforward; a user simply needs to drag a bar to the appropriate space. Task dependancies can also be set and filters can be added to Gantt charts based on set criteria. The link between tasks and Gantt charts are seamless; as you manually update a task's completion level, the Gantt chart will also update automatically. Pricing Zoho Projects uses a freemium/subscription pricing model with a free trial available (no credit card required). Plans start from $20 per month for the Express plan. The next tier is the Premium plan, which is charged at $35 per month. The Enterprise plan is directed towards larger teams and is priced at $80 per month. Bottom Line Zoho Projects is a really well designed solution to project management. Managers can get a complete overview of events as they occur in real-time, or have the ability to drill down to track the progress of individual tasks. With Zoho Projects, teams have the ability to collaborate how they see fit, utilizing various tools such as interactive forums in order to work together in a more productive way. Zoho Projects has a simple user interface for creating projects. It allows you to set up tasks by project or by milestone within a project. You can also set up predecessor tasks and dependency tasks. With calendar views, team chat features and a great selection of third party integrations, Zoho Projects is a great platform to consider if you run a SMB.

Zoho Reports

Zoho Reports is a reasonably priced, robust BI (business intelligence) solution that can help SMBs gather and utilize new insights on their businesses data. The service has been designed in a way that allows users to easily gather analytical data, and create and share powerful reports in no time, all without the need for a dedicated IT team. With Zoho Reports you can upload or synchronize data from spreadsheets, web services such as Google Docs, or traditional apps. The interface is easy-to-use with drag and drop functionality, so there is virtually no learning curve with this solution. Reports The lynchpin feature of Zoho Reports is powerful and yet easy to master. To create a report, you simply have to select the type of chart you desire in the report and then begin adding fields by dragging and dropping them in the required axes. To help you along, Zoho has included a small how-to video to assist you in the chart creation process. Options to edit the colors and text are available. Pricing Zoho Reports uses a freemium, subscription pricing model with a free trial available (no credit card required). The free version of the service is for 2 users, with 100,000 rows. The pricing structure begins at the Standard plan, which consists of 5 users, and 500,000 rows for a cost of $50. next up is the Professional plan. This is for 10 users and 1,000,000 rows, priced at $90. The next level is the Professional Plus, which has been designed for 20 users, with 2,000,000 rows at a cost of $140. Finally the Enterprise plan id for 50 users, and 25,000,000 rows costing $495. Bottom Line Overall, Zoho Reports is a great BI tool that is perfect for SMBs. The pricing structure is reasonable and the learning curve is shallow. It does have some limitations, however on a whole, it ticks nearly all the boxes for managing business information, and it even offers dedicated mobile apps, not forgetting the quality integration with other ZoHo Modules from their productivity suite.

Zoho Docs

Zoho Docs is a comprehensive document management solution, which can be used for creating, collaborating, storing and sharing a variety of documents. With support for Zoho CRM, Zoho Projects, and Zoho Mail as well, Zoho Docs provides a comprehensive and flexible way to share files, and edit and track documents. Not only can you store all your files securely in a centralized location, Zoho Docs also becomes the homepage for all your documents, spreadsheets, presentations, pictures, music, and videos. Zoho Docs acts as an online collaboration tool, where you can share documents and files with team members. Shared files are easy to access and it is straightforward to collaborate with colleagues who are situated elsewhere. With Zoho Docs; you can also undertake numerous tasks with stored files, such as archiving, attaching files to email, and importing/exporting documents etc. Document Sharing and Collaboration Sharing files with Zoho Docs is very similar to Google Drive. Here, you can enter email addresses and set permissions by selecting a file and sharing it (documents have perma-links for sharing outside of Zoho Docs). Entire folders, as well as individual documents can be shared with whoever you choose; from single users to multiple groups. A really great secure feature is that you can share a document, password-protect, and set an expiration date as well. This ensures all users who have access, will be denied access upon its expiration. Mobile Apps Zoho Docs also provide an Android and iOS app to enable mobiles access for users. The app has a matching interface and users can access, create, and edit files in the same manner you would via a desktop computer. The app also allows you to view all of your folders, sort them by name or date, and search for files. Pricing Zoho Docs uses a freemium, subscription pricing model, with a free 15 day trial available (no credit card required). Zoho Docs provides three plans to choose from; Free, Standard, and Enterprise. The Free plan allows you to have 25 users, with 5GB free per user. The Standard plan is priced at $5 per user, per month, with 50GB storage per user. Finally the Enterprise plan is priced at $8 per user per month, with 100GB storage per user. The free plan includes unlimited file and folder sharing, desktop sync, editing tools, user management, and version history. The Standard plan adds tasks, password-protected documents, and role-based access. The Enterprise plan includes all Standard's features plus the ability to email documents directly to a Zoho account, restore deleted documents, and transfer ownership of files. Bottom Line Zoho Docs is geared towards SMBs, however it is scalable and can provides businesses of any size an affordable solution to their document management needs. The platform us is very easy-to-use and offers a professional suite of features for business users. These include file sharing and collaboration, project management, and document retention. Getting started is relatively easy, and the learning curve is shallow. Demo videos and start up guides are also available in case you need them and support is also available by phone and email.

Zoho Recruit

Zoho Recruit is a cloud-based recruitment platform, which has highly customizable features in order to help your business locate the correct candidates and fill your job openings quickly. Zoho Recruit has automated recruitment tools to help source and contact candidates, manage resumes, and create and publish job openings. Job Advertisement Advertising job openings is key in recruitment processes. With Zoho Recruit, you can post active job openings to job boards such as Indeed, CareerBuilder, and Glassdoor.com. You can also take advantage of your business’ social media presence on Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter, by posting job opening links on your social media accounts you can reach a far greater audience. Zoho Recruit can also automatically share new job postings on your business’ career website page. Candidate Management A great time-saving feature of Zoho Recruit is its ability to track all prospective candidates job activities from a single portal. Simply login to your Zoho Recruit account and click on a job applicant’s name to review the related information. From here, you can track the source of the candidate, and see where they are within the hiring process. Any candidates that catch your attention can be ‘favourited’ and you can then submit candidates to your clients if you so wish. Integrations As you would expect Zoho Recruit is linked seamlessly with other Zoho products. However, the integration with other, third party apps is also first rate. Zoho Recruit supports MS Outlook (via a Microsoft Outlook plug-in), other third-party apps from Google, and various social media sites. The social media integration is a useful feature, as it can be used to source protective candidates through LinkedIn, and connection can be made using Facebook and Twitter. Pricing Zoho Recruit uses a freemium subscription pricing model, with a free 15 day trial available (no credit card required). The Free edition offers a single recruiter with basic applicant tracking features. This is followed by the Professional edition, priced at $25 per recruiter, per month. Finally, the Enterprise edition is charged at $50 per recruiter, per month. Bottom Line Overall, Zoho Recruit is a superb cloud-based recruitment platform. It has numerous customizable features, automated workflow processes and recruitment tools to help your business recruit the right staff, the right way.

Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 is Microsoft’s cloud collaboration suite (formerly known as Office 365), which provides a secure space to store, edit and share files and documents. It has a vast array of tools that can help to connect dispersed teams using shared calendars, messaging and conferencing tools. The business class email provides 50 GB of storage per user, and is able to send messages up to 25 MB in size. This is great for sending images and applying custom formatting. With Microsoft 365 you can customize inbox rules and notifications, and update your calendar and to-do list, in order to help you prioritize your tasks. The online chat and instant messaging tools let you communicate with colleagues more effectively along with one-to-one, or one-to-many voice and video calling. Some great features of Microsoft 365 are the collaboration and knowledge sharing tools for both internal and external purposes. Documents can be accessed and viewed by clients, and you can also create project-specific mailboxes and websites that can be tailored for specific teams, complete with automatic policies. Instant Messaging With Microsoft 365 you can use your computer for video calls and are able to conduct online meetings or connect with your co-workers via instant messaging. File Sharing The ability to share your work with others, and be able to collaborate together, is a must-have feature of today’s modern office. Microsoft 365 lets you store and organize your most important documents easily, with 10GB of overall storage to work with, you'll never run out of space to store what you need. Calendars and Email You no longer have to be tied to your desktop in order to view emails and organise your calendar. With Microsoft 365 and a smart device, you carry your email and calendar with you, wherever you go. Calendars and Email can be accessed from any supported computer or smart device that has an Internet connection. Multi Language Microsoft 365 supports the following languages: Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, and Ukrainian. Supported countries include Australia, Canada, Europe, India, Latin America, Middle-East and Africa, United Kingdom, United States. Pricing Microsoft 365 uses a subscription pricing model, with plans starting from $4.00 per month. Microsoft also provides a free trial to test out the software (no credit card required). Bottom Line Microsoft 365 is a secure way to create, store and edit your documents online. Using Microsoft 365 you can run your business with powerful cloud services that don´t require any in-depth IT expertise. You can access your emails, and attend meetings virtually, along with sharing files or creating a professional website. No matter what it is you need, Microsoft 365 helps you be productive on the go. It works with mobile devices such as Windows Phone, iPhone, iPad, Android, Symbian and Blackberry, and can be accessed via Mac OS or Windows OS.

Zoho Social

Zoho Social helps marketers in SMB’s to increase the social media presence of your brand with actionable insights that are focused on content and engagement. The platform provides marketers with pre-publishing insights, based on the engagement level of previous posts and the activity of their audience. Zoho Social also shows users the percentage of your audience, that are likely to see your post now, suggests the next best time to post and lets them schedule a post to be distributed at the same time of the day in different time-zones. Zoho Social has a real-time monitoring dashboard, which helps marketers listen to what’s being said about your brand. With Zoho Social, users are able to search and track a keyword; and then respond when you need to. Instant notifications ensure quick reactions and ensure that no relevant conversations slip between the cracks. Within Zoho Social there is also a dedicated reports tab that provides detailed analytics, and social-network-specific statistics that enable you to understand more about your target audience and see exactly how people engage with your content. Key Features Zoho Social’s key features include a wide array of tools, including social network marketing, social media metrics, multi-channel marketing, automated scheduling, social media integration, feedback collection, real time reporting, activity logging, keyword tracking, brainstorming, a search functionality, real time monitoring, and real time notifications. Integrations Zoho Social integrates with the following social media tools: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. It supports Android and iPhone devices, but unfortunately it doesn’t have an API available. Pricing Zoho Social uses a freemium subscription pricing model, with plans starting from: $10.00 per month. There is also a free trial available (no credit card required). Zoho Social’s plans consist of the Free plan, the Standard plan, and the Professional plan. The Free plan gives you 1 User, 1 Brand, 4 Social Networks, Publishing, a Default Zoho URL shortener and a SocialShare Browser Plugin. Next up is the Standard plan, which is priced at $10 per month. For this price you can have 2 Users, 1 Brand, 5 Social Networks, Publishing and Scheduling, a Default Zoho URL shortener + Bit.ly integration, Smart Q, Basic Reports, Collaboration, Monitoring (Up to 5 saved keyword searches + Twitter lists), and a SocialShare Browser Plugin. You can also have various Add-Ons if you need as well. These are priced at $10 per user, per month for Users, and $10 per brand, per month for Brands. Finally, the Professional plan is priced at $50 per month. This gives you 5 Users, 3 Brands, 5 Social Networks, Advanced Publishing and Scheduling, a Default Zoho URL shortener + Bit.ly integration, a Bulk Scheduler, Smart Q, Advanced Reports, Custom Reports, Sentiment Analysis, Collaboration, Monitoring (Up to 15 saved keyword searches + Twitter lists), and a SocialShare Browser Plugin. Again, you can also purchase Add-Ons if you need to as well. Bottom Line Zoho Social lets you publish and schedule an unlimited number of posts. You can track how your posts are performing and calculate what works best for your audience with detailed statistics, which are available for every published post. With in-depth visual reports and analytics you can understand your audience, and measure and improve the impact of your content. Overall, Zoho Social is a great way to helps marketers increase the social media presence of your brand.

Zoho People

Zoho People is a useful HRIS solution for freelancers and SMBs. It can manage information such as company assets, training records, and leave applications. The self-service portal provides employees with access to their own information, thereby helping businesses maintain accurate, up to date records, whilst relieving administrative pressure on HR departments. Employee Self Service A great feature of Zoho People are the self-service tools. By utilizing these utilities employees are able to access and update their own records, based upon established rules. This is a superb way to maximise the time used by your HR staff, as they no longer have to manually enter updates for employees. Employees using the self service portal are capable of undertaking a number of different tasks including viewing attendance reports, leave reports and leave balances, along with having the ability to maintain their own records. Mobile Apps Zoho People’s ability to connect and collaborate with colleagues on the go, is easy thanks to mobile apps. By using the feature-rich mobile employee directory, employees can conveniently check in and out of work using their iOS and Android mobile devices. For managers, the ability to set IP restrictions is a great way to control when and where their employees can clock in. Pricing Zoho People uses a freemium, subscription pricing model with a 15 day free trial available (no credit card required). The software is free to use for up to 5 employees. Paid plans start from $19.00 per month for the Basic plan, which covers 10 employees. Next up is the standard plan, which is priced at $39 per month, for 25 employees. The Premium plan is priced at $75 per month, for 50 employees, and finally the Enterprise plan is $99 per month, for 100 employees. Bottom Line If your company is looking to streamline your inter-office communications and give your employees direct access to their personal information and more control over how they ‘check in’ with the office, Zoho People may be a good choice. The platform isn’t for everyone though. If your business is looking for a complete HR solution then this probably isn’t for you.

Zoho Invoice for Web Apps

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