TeleMagic is the name of the first #CRM Customer Relationship Management software product for personal computers designed for salespeople and entrepreneurs for the purpose of keeping track of customers and prospects. Originally, the software was sold into the telemarketing marketplace and quickly evolved into mainstream sales applications. Subsequently there were many competitive products that came to market to perform these functions and this category eventually became known as Contact Management Software, then

Sales Force Automation Salesforce management systems (also ''sales force automation systems'' (SFA)) are information systems used in customer relationship management (CRM) marketing and management that help automate some sales and sales force management functions. The ...

software, and ultimately Customer Relationship Management software.

History

TeleMagic was invented by

Michael McCafferty Michael McCafferty (born September 7, 1942) is an American serial entrepreneur, inventor, and programmer. He is known as the "Father of CRM" for having invented and coded TeleMagic, the first #CRM software product for PCs. After graduating from ...

in 1985 and marketed by his company Remote Control International. On October 2, 1992, the company was sold to The Sage Group. As of 2023, TeleMagic continues to be sold and supported by a network of Value Added Resellers (VARs) and consultants.

Features

TeleMagic is unique in several ways: # From the earliest versions of the software, TeleMagic was designed to be interfaced with other manufacturer's software, such as Word Processors (for letter writing), and accounting for Order Entry, enabling users to fully record sales without exiting the program. # A Developer's Kit allowed the product to be tailored to the specific needs of various vertical markets. # Add-on products became available using the built-in customizing features, the Developer's Kit, and completely standalone products. # TeleMagic is sold through a network of VARs

Value Added Reseller A value-added reseller (VAR) is a company that adds features or services to an existing product, then resells it (usually to end-users) as an integrated product or complete "turn-key" solution. This practice occurs commonly in the electronics or IT ...

s who provide on-site support, integration services, training, etc.

Market reception

The product received praise around its release as well as beyond its lifespan. In 1995, "

PC Magazine ''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and have continued to the present d ...

" applauded its customization stating "TeleMagic is hard to beat". '' The Baltimore Sun''s Patrick Rossello called TeleMagic the "hot software for this effort and is reasonably priced at many software stores." including from a writer for Forbes.com who stated that TeleMagic felt that "had seen more robust solutions 20 years ago in TeleMagic, than were readily available on the Salesforce.com platform." Other websites such as CMO.com.au gave TeleMagic credit for "marketers to consolidate, manage and track customer information." Not all reception was positive however; according to '' The Guardian''s Guy Clapperton, Jane Harrad-Roberts, the consultant director of the company Marketing Projects, chose to drop TeleMagic after The Sage Group purchased it, feeling that they had made it a worse product.

Timeline

* 1985, January – DOS version created for first customer Coffee Ambassador, San Diego, CA * 1987 – Apple Macintosh version created * 1987 – Unix version created * 1988 – expansion into Canada, UK, Ireland, France,

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, Netherlands,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, South Africa, Singapore,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and Russia * 1991 –

Inc. 500 ''Inc.'' is an American business magazine founded in 1979 and based in New York City. The magazine publishes six issues per year, along with surrounding online and social media content. The magazine also produces several live and virtual events y ...

Fastest Growing Company (#79) * 1992 –

Fastest Growing Company (#348) * 1992, October 2 – TeleMagic company sold to The Sage Group * 1993 –

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

version released * 1994 – Company name changed from Remote Control International to TeleMagic, Inc. * 2007 – (Feb 14) – Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California accepts donation of many TeleMagic-related artifacts & software

References

External links

*
The TeleMagic Adventure: "Software For Success In Business"Current TeleMagic Sales and Support Resources
{{Sage Group Customer relationship management software Sage Group