OnCALL Micro Inc. was started back in 1988 - our initial focus to was to be the inhouse IT resource for smaller companies who were moving into the PC environment.

Our focus has changed more towards developing new stand-alone and web based applications from scratch using the Microsoft development toolset.  We're also involved in helping our clients maintain and upgrade existing applications.

Our goal is to be close to our clients, know their business and be as flexible as possible in providing the technical services they need to help their business succeed.

We'd welcome the opportunity to discuss the projects that you have on the drawing board.

Company Background:

OnCALL Micro Inc. was started in 1988 to work with smaller companies who were just getting started putting desktops in their office but who didn't have the internal staff to manage the new technology. The basic idea was to be an extension of each company's staff providing basic IT services and support on an as-needed basis, researching computer purchases, maintaining equipment, installing software and driver upgrades, troubleshooting and whatever was needed to minimize downtown and keep the buesiness operations flowing.  At the same time the company also offered custom software solutions with such development tools as PARADOX.

The company is now more centered around providing project management and stand-alone and web based custom software solutions to our clients, using Microsoft development tools for the various Windows platforms.  Over the past 23 years we've worked with a variety of big and small companies in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area either directly or through hardware and software rellers.  Although the word "partnering" has been overused in describing a business relationship, the idea was always to be close to our clients both physically so we could be nearby to stop by on short notice and make the occasional visit to make sure that everything was going well - and "emotionally", to have a mental stake in the success of the company.  Although some relationships have been short lasting the length of a given project, some others have lasted over a decade.

We've also tried to maintain a flexible attitude in the work that we undertake.  If a project has a timeline or skillset that is outside our range, we'll work with our clients to find resources that provide a better match.  If there's a longer term need that would require some additional training on our part we've worked with our clients to bring ourselves up to speed in those areas.  If a company finds itself in an immediate bind because an employee has left, we've worked to fill the gap until a new hire could be located and have helpfed to find that new employee. Although we are involved with developing custom applications, we've also worked with our clients to maintain and support their existing applications - and in many cases have helped them migrate those older applications into newer technologies. 

In short we've worked with our clients to help them meet their needs and deadlines.  It's part of the commitment to our clients to be there whenever we can to help them however we can.

SKILLSET:

We've been part of the Microsoft MSDN program for over 10 years and we use the Microsoft development toolkit to do most of the applications that we create for our clients.  These include:

• Visual Studio 2010
• Microsoft Expression Web/Design
• C#.NET
• VB.NET
• ASP.NET
• Microsoft Office Automation including Microsoft Access
• Microsoft SQL SERVER
• SQL Server Reporting Services
• Crystal Reports
• ...other

The reference to "other" includes a whole host of products and tools, Microsoft and non-Microsoft that we've used throughout the years.  Some are fairly fresh in our minds, many are not.  We've worked quite a bit in document imaging and management in FileNet.  Have done some marginal work in other databases such as Oracle and MySQL.  We're also very familiar with some of the older development tools such as Visual Basic 6 and can reach way back to the days of FORTRAN, C and COBOL (if forced to).  Having worked with so many development tools over the years, we've been able to transition to many unfamiliar development environments.

We're also in the process of moving more into open source development - particularly in the area of mobile applications using JAVA and the Android operating system.  Another area we're investigating is how to best utilize cloud computing.  The fun and learning never stops.

 

VERTICAL MARKET APPLICATIONS:

There's really not one particular industry that we've focused on over the years.  We've developed applications for stock trading, medical, commercial real estate, biometric identification, federal/state taxes, accounting, commerce, title searches, education - essentially it comes down to understanding the business specific needs of an application and marrying those with what makes a good solid, maintainable piece of software that can easily used and grow as the client's needs change over the years.

 

LET'S TALK:

It really comes down to finding a good match between the services we can provide and what the client expects.  There are lots of variables to consider and it's best to just sit down and talk through the pros and cons - something we'd certainly enjoy doing.