What if my manufacturer isn’t currently supported by Solatech?
With the thousands of fabricators in the industry it is not feasible to support all of them, which is why we focus on those most used by our customer base. Additional products & manufacturers can always be added to your Solatech software for either an individual customer or in conjunction with a particular manufacturer. Manufacturer who come on board as a member of the Solatech Partnership Alliance (SPA) receive the added benefit of having their product information distributed to the entire customer base nation wide.

Can I integrate it with QuickBooks, Peachtree or MAS90?
Yes – this requires the purchase of the Accounting interface module for the accounting program you are using. This can save as much as several hours of data entry each day.

What information is sent to QB/Peachtree?
Customer information, Invoices (sales journal), Purchase Orders and Deposits (Cash Receipts) can be sent to your accounting software.

How do I receive updated products/pricing?
Product & pricing updates from Manufacturers are maintained by Solatech at our offices and distributed to our customers via the web. Updates to your products can be downloaded and your data will be updated much like the definition files that are updated by the anti virus software on your computer.

How do I update my software?
Software updates provided by Solatech are distributed to our customers via the web. Your software will be updated periodically with the Solatech Update utility that is provided with your software.

Is there an instruction manual and/or documentation available?
A getting started Users Guide is provided when your software ships and can also be downloaded in PDF format from the web. Additional and more detailed assistance is available via the online help and our knowledge base articles which are available from our technical support department.

Is technical support available?
Technical support is available 8:30 AM – 5 PM Eastern time at (336) 889.2455 and via e-mail at Support@Solatech.com. Registered users can also access our user support pages on this web site.

Can I send orders to my vendors electronically?
Purchase Orders for manufacturers can be submitted electronically using the Solatech Online Order Processing (OOP) system. This is available to any manufacturer supported by the Solatech system. The capability to accept these orders as an e-mail or to be electronically integrated into the vendors' system is ultimately their decision. Contact Solatech to see if your manufacturer is connected.

Can I e-mail quotes and order confirmations to customers?
Certainly. The Order Entry E-Mail module gives users and sales reps the ability to send any customer quote, confirmations, invoices, etc. directly from their Solatech software. If an internet connection is not available at the time, the e-mail waits until one is available.

How do I setup different pricing for my customers?
The pricing provided for the manufacturers supported by Solatech or for your own products is the standard published retail pricing. Each user of the Solatech software would need to setup their vendor / product specific discounts in their software after it was installed. Discounts are put into groups and these groups would be assigned to customers. This way you can have several groups for different types of customers. i.e. – standard, commercial, wholesale, etc. This allows your system to be unique to you and your customer base.

How long has Solatech been providing software for the industry?
Although the principles of Solatech have been providing software for the industry since 1992, the Solatech software system has been used across the industry since 2000. It is the most extensive and comprehensive system available in the industry.

How do my sales reps. get their quotes and orders to the office when they are in the field or at home?
Additional users to your Solatech software can be added as either local network users who work in the office connected directly to your network or as Roaming Workstation users who can either work in the office connected directly to your network or in the field as a stand alone unit without the need for an internet connection. At the end of the day a Roaming Workstation user can upload their quotes and orders for the day via the internet to a database server where the order is held until downloaded and processed by the main office at their convenience.

What if we sell a custom product, or a product that’s not on your master product list?
Products that are not currently supported by Solatech can be added to the system for an individual customer or for a specific manufacturer. Click on Manufacturers We Support to see a complete list

Can I price compare multiple products at once for a whole house?
Yes – as a matter of fact, you can compare and present to a client 4 unique configurations for an entire house in less then 5 minutes. This can save the 30%+ drop in closing ratio that is attributed to the need to quote multiple products for a client after you leave the appointment.

How much time do I need to setup the software before I can use it?
This is a good question and the answer seems to vary with each user. Some new users take awhile to get setup while others are able to get up and running over a weekend. Like implementing any other improvement in the way you do business, a focused effort needs to be made initially to get comfortable before it becomes second nature. We recommend taking a few weeks to get comfortable with the system before using it in the field.

Is the software web-based?
The Solatech system is PC based which allows you to work anywhere with out the issues of internet connectivity. In addition, all your data is stored on your computer instead of on someone’s server located who knows where.

Does your software handle soft treatments?
We have basic soft treatment selling capabilities included in our retail system. We support the soft treatment sales and pricing methodologies developed by JoAnn Brezette.

I don’t know much about computers. Can I still use your software?
If you are comfortable using computers, then you can implement one of the Solatech systems to make your business more profitable. Our technical support department is VERY knowledgeable about computers and we are here to help you. If you were the technology expert, you wouldn’t need us.

What is Price Compare?
Price Compare is a feature of some of the Solatech Retail systems that allows you to take a specific window configuration and to quickly compare it against as many products as you would like to price and just as quickly, update the other line items in your quote to offer your customer a quick price comparison of the products you are presenting. You can quote an entire house 4 different ways in less than 5 minutes while in front of your client! How long does that take you to do after you leave the client? How does that affect your closing ratio?

What is Product Designer?
Product Designer is the tool that is used by Solatech and our customers to build and maintain their own product data. For example, with Product Designer you could add and maintain products within your system that are not provided by Solatech. This is the tool that Solatech uses to build the products we support. This is available in the Professional versions of our Retail & Fabrication products.