"We benefit from implementing Eulogica"

During the early phases of Eulogica development in the UK, Eulogica Ltd was fortunate enough to benefit from the acceptance of its invitations extended to several respected members of the Profession who gave generously of their time and expertise. Their insights and feedback were invaluable in a development process designed to create leading and innovative software, training and support products. Here is the story of how F. A. Albins and Sons Ltd contributed to the development.

Eulogica Ltd is based in 5 Regent Street in central London, although the company’s roots are to be found further north – in Norway, where their history with the Funeral Profession goes back almost a decade. Currently the company’s software is involved with some two thirds of all funerals in Norway. In addition to general funeral management, the products include a flexible diary system, advanced task management, networking and synchronisation options, customisable screen and report layouts, management analysis and more.

“We have worked very hard over some years now, to develop an intuitive and totally customisable software concept for British Funeral Directors”, says Svein Mytting, the Managing Director. “We are most grateful for all the help we have received from the Funeral Directors and the staff who have participated in our User Involvement Group.

F. A. Albins and Sons Ltd is one of the funeral companies to be involved. ”It has been a most interesting experience for us to be a part of Eulogica’s User Involvement Group”, says Barry Albin-Dyer, known for his books and TV series and currently President of FIAT-IFTA. ”They are acting with professionalism, and their new software certainly offers a degree of customisation and an easy learning curve that we have not seen anywhere else. I am no expert with computers myself, but my son Simon is very good with this and has been enthusiastically involved. My company will definitely benefit from implementing this concept.”

Jonathan Fletcher, responsible for finance and operations at F A Albins, continues; ”This software will revolutionise the way that I work with financial management and create reports. It is very easy to configure the analysis part, and to create exactly the reports I want”.

“Every Funeral Director has their own way of arranging and conducting a funeral”, says Gary Bakke, Marketing Director at Eulogica Ltd. He believes in spending time with clients to fully understand their needs.

“Our experience and our in-depth analysis of the Profession makes it clear to us that every Funeral Director has their own way of arranging and conducting a funeral”, says Gary Bakke, Marketing Director at Eulogica Ltd. “Additionally, there is a trend that the actual funerals are becoming more tailored to each client’s needs. Our software has been developed as a framework in such a way that we can work closely with a Funeral Director to custom build it in accordance with traditions and needs in their company and their area. Of course long term support and maintenance are also essential parts of our business.”

“We want to take this opportunity to give special thanks to all the members of our User Involvement Group”, says Svein Mytting. “We have learned so much from them during our product development process and they have been the focus of all our efforts. Dozens of people from all over England have contributed in one way or another, but especially we need to mention Michael Kenyon, Peter Kenyon, Michael

Roscoe and the other staff at Arnold Funeral Service in Buckinghamshire; Barry, Simon and Jonathan Albin-Dyer, Jonathan Fletcher and others at F. A. Albins & Sons Ltd in South London; Peter Demetriou at Demetriou & English Funeral Directors Ltd in North London and of course Derek Gunningham, Austin Williams, Philip Alderwick and the other staff at Alderwicks and Thomas Davis in Bristol.

”It has been a great opportunity for us to share our views in the development of Eulogica’s bespoke funerals package”, says Derek Gunningham. The Bristol Funeral Directors have been involved with the project from the earliest stages and they were the first company in the UK to have the new system installed.

A brief overview of Eulogica’s product development process looks like this:

1. Established the User Involvement Group
2. In-depth analysis of Funeral Directors’ work, needs and wants
3. Initial software development (prototype)
4. Initial concept testing
5. Development and installations of beta versions
6. Detailed software testing
7. Presentation of version 1.0 (NAFD Conference 2005 in Nottingham)
8. Continuous maintenance, support and further development

”It has been a most interesting experience for us to be a part of Eulogica’s User Involvement Group”, says Barry Albin-Dyer, the Funeral Director known for his books and TV series.

The new software was ready for delivery to the general market from September 2005, after an official presentation on Friday the 13th of May that year, at the NAFD Conference in Nottingham.

Barry Albin wants to finish with a story and says, “You know, at one occasion, as I discussed the software with Svein, I claimed that no piece of software could possibly be as versatile as our old paper based system. Say, what if I wanted to arrange a speed boat funeral, I bet your software would not handle that, I insisted. Soon after, Svein came back and demonstrated how the software would handle a speed boat funeral, complete with the pier details, captain’s information and a reminder to check the tides… So there is no doubt we have had some fun along the way too!”

Eulogica Ltd may be contacted by calling 0845 3519935 or sending e-mail to enquires@eulogica.co.uk.