Knowles Company trusts OGO Sense to keep their website running smoothly
Project Year: 2014 - Present Project Timeframe: Ongoing About: KnowlesCo.com is #1 rental and real estate company on the Mount Desert Island, a popular East coast vacation destination including the town of Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. Company Size: 10 Company Location: Northeast Harbor, Maine Founded: 1969
Introduction
The Knowles Company has found OGO Sense by searching online for a local company with Joomla and MLS experience. After the initial contact by phone, the Knowles Company spoke with a local reference Nicole Ouellette, the owner of Breaking Even Communications, who further praised OGO Sense staff for their work.
Problems
When Knowles Co. initially contacted OGO Sense, they had a cumbersome, half completed and nonfunctional website sitting on the development server. The initial requirements called for finishing the website key functionalities, releasing the site and helping with maintenance. OGO Sense faced several problems in that there was no meaningful documentation, the website code looked like maze of dead-end streets with a lots of unused and confusing files meant for experimenting and testing. On top of it, the website information architecture was not done in a way that is standard for a Joomla website, and it only made things more difficult. The communication with previous developers was broken as well as the project focus was on all the wrong things.
Solution
The project was focused on getting key elements on the right track. This involved completely rewriting IDX/RETS synchronization, database functions, front-end search and filtering, notification workflows, design tweaks, performance optimization as well as efficient project management. One of the key focus points of the project was also to make the site easier to maintain, since Joomla often releases security and functional updates. After setting a reasonable timeframe for the website release, the site was published with the key elements very well tested. In the following days, OGO Sense developers and support worked on addressing minor usability issues that were reported after Knowles Co. staff had some time to work with the new system. With the website published and operating as intended, OGO Sense IT support staff created automated tests that periodically check key workflows and report any bugs.
Results
The current website is a result of a lot of hours spent into optimizing, testing and addressing any issues that may come up. It is a solid foundation and it is reasonable to expect significant returns in the long run. Because the Knowles Company staff does not need to worry about website performance, updates or security issues, they have time to dedicate to brainstorming the next improvement that yields the best ROI. Our IT Support staff prides itself on their unprecedented response time and flawless customer support feedback.
