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Homes to Let in Bristol. 
Accommodation Unlimited (AUL) is a busy property agency based in the heart of Clifton, Bristol. 'Five years ago we had an ageing website but it wasn't very good,' says AUL boss Peter Ellis. 'Our specialised property management software wasn't integrating well with our original website so we made the decision to start again. Evergreen were recommended to us. The rest is history.'
Freeing our consultants
'We match professionals and students from all over the world to properties across Bristol. Did you ever try to arrange rented accommodation? You don't want to waste time; the last thing you need is a slow, complicated website. Evergreen designed our new website to work seamlessly with our daily office functions. It was also important that the site should automate as many tasks as possible to free our consultants for more important tasks.'
The main parts of Evergreen's brief were as follows: a mailing list to match prospective tenants with newly listed properties; online landlord and tenant registration; an online database of properties with the capability to handle multiple photographs; and an online 'shopping basket' so potential tenants can choose properties to view.
Broad experience of e-commerce websites
It was a perfect task for Evergreen. With their experience of e-commerce websites and online databases, the PHP site (PHP is a versatile scripting language that is compatible with many databases and great for working across networks) quickly took shape, complete with administration pages for easy uploading of properties from the Soulman software and spreadsheets of student property details. Photographs and news items can also be simply updated by Accommodation Unlimited's staff.
Everything functioned perfectly
Despite the challenge of populating the new website with a mass of existing data, the whole project was completed within one month. 'Virtually overnight, continues Ellis, ' we had this amazing new system. We'd expected difficulties during commissioning, but it wasn't like that at all. Evergreen worked closely with Soulman to ensure the integration of the two systems and everything functioned perfectly. Before that, 20 percent of our business came through the website: now, it's more than 75 per cent. We still give clients plenty of personal attention, but the website has made life much simpler.'
The team can update the system with a few clicks
A major benefit has been the proactivity of the new website. Now, when new property becomes available, applicants are notified automatically. And at the end of each working day, the team can update the whole system with just a few clicks. 'It just works,' says Ellis. 'It's painless.' Do clients notice? Apparently, at a time when their attention is focused on getting a new home, many visitors are sufficiently impressed to email AUL and praise the website.
'Evergreen has been great;' concludes Ellis, 'you know exactly what's going on all the time; you can understand what they're saying and there are never any nasty billing surprises. When Evergreen quotes a price, that's what it costs. I'd recommend them to anyone - except perhaps my competitors!'
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Just a note to say that the web site is brilliant. Thank you for all your help. 