Custom software development, built around how your business works

What is custom software development?

Most businesses run on a mix of ready-made tools, spreadsheets and email, and that's fine until the business outgrows them. Custom software (also called bespoke software) is made only for you. It follows your steps and your terms, and it does the jobs your current tools can't.

We don't build everything from scratch, though. Where a proven, well-tested piece already does the job, we use it, so your budget goes on the part that makes your business different.

Is this right for your business?

It's usually worth it when one of these sounds familiar:

• Your team copies the same information between spreadsheets, emails and systems every day.
• You pay for several tools, and none of them really fits how you work.
• Mistakes happen because things are tracked by hand, or only one person knows how they work.
• It's hard to see what's going on with orders, jobs, stock, customers or money.
• Customers call or email for things they could easily do themselves online.

What we can build for you

Most projects fit one of these groups. We can build the whole thing, or just the piece you're missing.

• Tools for your team: one place for jobs, orders, bookings, stock or approvals. Up-to-date reports replace spreadsheets and long email chains.
• Systems for your customers: a website or app where clients book, order, check on an order or pay, without picking up the phone.
• Connecting your tools: your accounting, online store, CRM and other systems pass information to each other on their own, so nobody types the same thing twice.
• Fixing or replacing an old system: step by step, while your business keeps using it.
• A brand-new product: software you plan to sell to your own customers, from the first version to launch.

Who you'll work with

Phoned-Tech has been building software since 2013. Our head office is in Maalot-Tarshiha, Israel. The team is small on purpose: 7+ senior engineers. We've launched 40+ live systems, and four out of five clients come back for a second project.

The engineers on your first call are the people who would work on your project, with no sales team in between. A senior engineer stays on your project from the first day to the handover.

How it works, step by step

Most projects go through five steps. The times below are typical estimates and depend on the size of the job: a small first version can take about four weeks in total, while a larger system usually takes 16 weeks or more.

• Getting to know your business (about a week): it starts with a free 30-minute call about how you work and what's in the way. You get a short written summary, even if you don't hire us. Then we send a written plan and a clear quote.
• Planning (1 to 2 weeks): we decide how the system will work. We write the main decisions down in plain language, so anyone could pick it up later.
• Building (2 to 12 weeks): we work in two-week rounds. Every week you see the real, working software and tell us what to change, so you know what you're getting long before the end.
• Launch (about a week): we connect your web address and switch on the secure connection (the padlock in the browser). We also set up backups and automatic checks that warn us if something breaks. It all runs on a cloud account in your company's name.
• Looking after it (ongoing, optional): we keep the system running and up to date, and keep improving it.

How much it costs and how you pay

There's no price list for custom software development, because no two projects are the same size. After the first step, you get a written plan and a clear quote, before any building starts.

Usually we charge per two-week round of work. Each round has its own written list of tasks, so you know what you're paying for. A small job with a clear, fixed list, like connecting two of your systems, can have one fixed price instead.

After launch: it's yours, and we're still here

You own everything from day one. The code, the cloud account and your web address (domain) are in your company's name. We also leave written notes on how it all works, so another team, or your own staff, could take over without starting again.

Or we keep looking after it for you. Our optional support plan keeps the system running and up to date, with regular checks and improvements. If you need it, we agree response times with you in writing.

When we're not the right fit

If a ready-made product already fits how you work, and its limits aren't costing you money, buy it. Custom software pays off when the gap is real and keeps coming back. We'll tell you honestly which one you're looking at.

If what you need is a CRM (one place for customers, deals and follow-ups), you may not need to build one from scratch. Phoned-CRM, our own product, is customized for each client. Each client gets it on their own, completely separate server, sized to their needs, and the price is quoted per client.

If you need advice more than software, our CTO-as-a-service (a part-time senior tech advisor) may suit you better. And if you want a big company with a huge team, that's not us.