Zurmo sets out to enchant the open source CRM space

Gamification features are aimed at creating competitiveness among users
Source: Zurmo

Being "fed up with the existing open source CRM applications", the team at Zurmo have released their own open source customer relationship management (CRM) software – Zurmo 1.0. The CRM software, which has been in development for two years, includes deal tracking features, contact and activity management, and has scores and badges that can be managed through a built-in gamification system.

Zurmo 1.0 has been translated into ten languages and features a RESTful API to further integration with other applications. Location data is provided by Google Maps and Geocode. The application's permission system supports roles for individual users and groups, and allows administrators to create ad-hoc teams. The application is designed to be modern and easy to use and integrates social-network-like functionality at its centre, which functions to distribute tasks, solicit advice, and publish accomplishments.

Describing what led the company to create another CRM system, Zurmo Co-Founder Ray Stoeckicht said: "We believe in CRM, but users continue to perceive it as a clunky, burdensome tool that wastes their time and only provides value to management. This space needs a major disruption and user adoption needs to be the focus." He goes on to describe the application as "enchanting" and says that a major focus in the development of Zurmo 1.0 was the gamification aspects, which are designed to get the users to follow CRM best practices and to make correct use of the system more enjoyable. One example of gamification is "Missions", where an employee can challenge another in exchange for a reward.

Zurmo 1.0 is written in PHP and its source code can be downloaded from the company's web site. Installation guides are available for Windows with an Apache server, with IIS and for Linux. The application is licensed under the GPLv3.

(fab)