Threshold Case Study



Threshold was founded in 1978 and is a not-for-profit organisation whose aim is to secure a right to housing, particularly for households experiencing the problems of poverty and exclusion.

Threshold approached dbase technologies in 2006 to design, implement and deliver a customised CRM solution that would meet the requirements of their daily operations.

On the design phase we looked at the existing system being used by Threshold, this had surpassed its original requirement and did not meet the rapidly expanding contact base.

Our solutions design team worked very closely with Threshold management and held a number of design sessions with the system users. We were able to ascertain the exact requirements of all levels within Threshold and combine them into a single solution design document. In this way all users had an input into the solution design and through our sessions we were able to define and refine user expectations.

We designed the solution from start, building a new database in MS SQL 2005 and designing the application layer in Microsoft .Net 2.0. Our main objective was to streamline the old system and reduce the number of screen interfaces; we achieved this by combing fields and making use of an extensive list of drop down menus. As the system involved data entry one of the main customer requirements was to ensure data integrity and consistency across the user base, we applied data rules and word exclusions to some of the fields to meet this.

The customer also required an extensive search facility to search for contacts by key fields, we incorporated the search facility into the main data entry interface meaning records can be entered and searched within one interface.



The customer had a 3 stage workflow process; we segmented the solution to reflect this and divided each of the constituent areas. In this way a consistent workflow can be maintained within the solution.

One of the key requirements of the project was the design of a comprehensive suite of reports. Threshold required a real-time reporting module that would update as data was being entered into the system. They also required multi-tiered reporting in which data would be presented from the highest level right down to the end level, contact names. We achieved this by leveraging the dbase technologies teams extensive Business Intelligence (BI) and reporting knowledge.

Our creative design team also incorporated our BI Toolkit into the solution which includes an extensive suite of graph types. We also built a real-time reporting calculating matrix, which measures actual figures derived from the database against SLA, service level agreements defined by the customer.



Since the solution go-live in January 2007, there have been no major incidences. dbase technologies successfully stabilised the Threshold CRM environment with a customised solution. The customer has said that we did not just meet expectations, rather we exceeded them. All users have reported consistently that the new solution far exceeds anything they have used before and also has delivered huge efficiencies to their daily workload.

The project was delivered on time and within budget in early 2007. Please see our customer endorsement below:
"dbase technologies provided Threshold with the ideal database solution to capture detailed and evolving information about our 20,000+ clients. dbase took the time to really understand how our organisation works and this made all the difference. They developed a sophisticated browser based application incorporating an extensive reporting system that enables us to pull out detailed research statistics and management reports at the click of a button.
We found the dbase team to be very professional and easy to work with. The project was delivered on time and within budget. The back-up support has been second to none. I have no hesitation in recommending dbase to any business or not-for-profit organization."

Bob Jordan
Director of Threshold