Sales FAQ

Do you offer an Affiliate or Reseller Program?

The SUMO “Boost Program” offers an Affiliate / Reseller Agreement for entities that would like to earn commission for referrals or receive volume pricing for organizations in their network.  SUMO Scheduler pays Affiliate up to 25% per sale (or offers up to 25% discounts). The commission chart below outlines how much you will receive based upon the number of sales.

Affiliate Level Annual Sales Requirements Commission Payouts
BOOST 36 25 – 36+ Affiliate clients 25%
BOOST 24 13 – 24 Affiliate clients 15%
BOOST 12 3 – 12 Affiliate clients 10%

How does SUMO support adding Web Conference to Appointments?

A Better Way: Static Meeting Links with Waiting Rooms

Over the past few years, web conference tools (ex: Webex, Gotomeeting, Zoom) received a ton of feedback from users tired of creating a “virtual meeting room” or “meeting link” for every single meeting.  In response, they realized there must be a better way and in 2018, they all started releasing a feature which provides each user with their own “static virtual meeting room”, which is essentially your own static meeting link.  The leaders in the web conference space, instruct their users to give this same link to people you would like to meet with, so you do not have to create a new link for every single meeting.

How do I prevent meeting collision?

To prevent meetings from colliding, all leaders in Web Conference space now include “Static Meeting Links with Waiting Rooms”, which allows the host to set a password on their meeting link and “ACCEPT” people as they attempt to join, so if a meeting runs late, and the next group tries to join, you can keep them in a “waiting room”, while you conclude your current meeting.  Here are more details from the leader providers:

Why not offer full integration?

Our product team has considered integrating SUMO with standard web conference tools, so every time a meeting is created a private web conference link is created.  However, for the following reasons, this feature is not currently prioritized:
  • Static Meeting Links with Waiting Rooms is the new standard, since it is more efficient and offers our customers the most flexibility.
  • SUMO therefore allows you to leverage any web conference tool you wish that offers your own Online Meeting Room, which all of the leaders offer now.
  • With over 30 Web Conference tools on the market (and the list is growing), we would not wish to limit our customers by only choosing a few to integrate with.   We also prefer our customers to have the freedom to change web conference vendors, and not feel “locked in”, because a tool integrates with our product.
  • We listen to our customers, who use our product daily.  They give us “feature requests”, which we prioritize in our next release based on customer demand, and this “we need SUMO to auto create a new Webex Meeting link for every meeting” is literally never requested (due to the reasons above), so it’s not prioritized.  Should our customers change their stance, we will prioritize it, but creating a meeting link for every appointment is the “old way”.

How To Setup

SUMO Scheduler allows each user to add their static Web Conference details on their user record, and choose to include this information in your appointments automatically.  If you would not like web conf details included in some appointments, there are configuration options to include/exclude as needed.  To add your Web Conference details:
  1. Login to SUMO.
  2. Click your user icon / face in the top right.
  3. Click your user name.
  4. Click edit.
  5. Enter in your web conf link / bridge details in the Web Conference field.
  6. On each appointment you may choose to include Web Conference details.  If you do not see this field available on the New Appointment page, go to SUMO Personal Settings > and enable “Import Web Conference Details”.

NOTE: Additionally an Admin can set Appointment Types (Services) to have a Web Conference option, so self-scheduled appointments automatically get web conference details included.

What is the SUMO SDLC process? (Security)

SDLC PROCESS FOR SUMO SCHEDULER

Our Product Engineering team enforces the following strict SDLC process to ensure high quality and secure software for our enterprise customers.  This process ensures our application is able to meet the demanding needs of our Fortune 500 customers from a security, scalability, and usability standpoint.

Click to enlarge.

Does SUMO offer Non-Profit / NGO pricing?

Yes, SUMO offers special discounts for non-profits and NGOs.  To get a price quote, contact us.

Does SUMO Support SSO (Single Sign-On)?

Yes, SSO is fully supported.  Since SUMO is built 100% native on the Salesforce platform, SUMO is able to leverage the SSO (Single Sign-On) capabilities of the Salesforce platform.

Related Information

Does the SUMO Online Scheduler have a Captcha solution?

Yes, the SUMO Online Scheduler has three different stages in the self-scheduling process that you can turn on/off the Captcha solution.

What is Captcha?

Captcha is technology that requires users to confirm they are real and not a bot.  This is important to deploy, to prevent bots from spamming you.  While it is extremely rare, if you were targeted, it could cause you to receive hundreds or thousands of fake appointments.  Therefore, SUMO includes the most powerful Captcha technology by Google.

 

Can SUMO require people to accept Terms during the online scheduling / booking process?

Yes, SUMO includes the option to turn on/off a “Terms” checkbox in the Online Scheduler process, which people must check to provide electronic consent to the terms in order to proceed forward with the online scheduling / booking process.  These Terms are, of course, 100% customizable.

Related Article

 

Can SUMO allow people to use filter criteria to find a match?

SUMO Desktop

Your employees will use the SUMO Desktop experience, which is essentially logging into Salesforce CRM to manage scheduling.  Here you may use Advanced Search to find employees who:

  • Custom Criteria – Meet any custom criteria, such as meeting a certain skill, having a certain certification, or literally any custom field attribute you define.
  • Work At or Near – Enter a city, state, postal code or select a pre-defined location.
  • Are Available At – Choose any day of the week, AM or PM.

SUMO also has a Find-a-Time feature, which allows additional options to find employees with availability.

SUMO Online Scheduler

Your customers or partners may use the SUMO Online Scheduler to self-schedule appointments with your staff.  If you would like them to choose who they will meet with, you can provide any filters you like, such as meeting a certain skill, having a certain certification, or literally any custom field attribute you define.  However, you also prefer to not allow people to choose who to meet with, and let the SUMO Assignment Engine perform intelligent match making based on location, availability, skills, round-robin, priority, and more.

Does SUMO support multi-language / multilingual?

Since SUMO is built 100% native on the Salesforce platform, our customers are able to use the Salesforce Multilingual Tools, such as Translation Workbench, to support multi-language in the employee / desktop experience.  See Salesforce Help for details.

NOTE: The SUMO Online Scheduler allows editing the labels for every page in the process, so it is possible today to create multiple Online Schedulers, one for each language you would like to support.  In addition, an administrator could clone our email templates and work flow rules, and create sets for various languages.

NEW: Ask about SUMO CEP (Customer Engagement Platform), for more details on multi-language support for both the customer and employee experiences.

Does SUMO Support Event & Class Scheduling?

SUMO currently supports Event & Class Scheduling from the SUMO Calendar:

  • Create Events / Classes
  • Add/Remove Participants into Locations and Rooms
  • Mark Participants as No-Shows
  • Auto-Send Email and Text Reminders to Participants
  • And more…

NOTE: SUMO has additional support for Event / Class already scheduled on the SUMO roadmap (TBD).  Ask about SUMO CEP (Customer Engagement Platform).

What is the difference between SUMO and FSL (Field Service Lightning)?

Field Service apps generally are not considered competing products to SUMO Scheduler, since they cater to mobile experts who provide dispatched “field service”.   This article helps explain the differences.

SUMO Scheduler

SUMO is designed specifically to:

  • Automate web conference, phone, and in person meetings across thousands of offices, retail locations, bank locations, and more.

How do SUMO and Field Service Apps differ?

  • SUMO’s core feature set enables your customers and prospects to self-schedule with your employees, using our powerful Online Scheduler.
  • Whereas, Field Service Apps do the reverse, by helping you dispatch (schedule) your employees to go meet with your customers.
  • So if you have a dispatch team, that schedules your mobile work force to travel to meet customers in the field, typically on a Work Order basis, then Field Service Apps may be the best fit.
  • However, if your goal is to allow your customers or prospects to self-schedule with your employees 24/7 from any device for web conference, phone, or in person meetings, then SUMO Scheduler is likely the best fit.
  • Both solutions allow for customizations to extend their functionality to achieve more, but it’s important to understand the fundamental reason you would choose one over the other.

Field Service Apps

Field Service Apps include: Salesforce FSL (Field Service Lightning), ServiceMaxSkedulo, and more found on the AppExchange.

Field Service apps are designed for dispatching field service reps into the field to host “on location” appointments at homes or businesses, such as:

  • Home Inspection
  • Home Internet or Cable Installation
  • Home Repair

These apps, especially FSL, generally cost 3X-4X+ more upfront (and to maintain long-term) than SUMO, since it includes work order management, gps map routing, dispatcher, and more.

What cloud does SUMO support? (Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Financial Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Non-Profit, Community)?

SUMO is compatible with the following Salesforce Clouds:

  • Sales Cloud
  • Service Cloud
  • Community Cloud
  • Lightning Platform Cloud
  • Marketing Cloud*
  • Financial Cloud*
  • Health Cloud*
  • Non-Profit Cloud*
  • Other*

*Limited functionality, please provide us your specific use case, so we may confirm if it is supported.

Does SUMO run in the Salesforce Console?

Yes, SUMO runs in the Salesforce Console, which works with both Sales Cloud and Service Cloud.


RELATED ARTICLE

Does SUMO Sync with Google Calendar, Outlook, Exchange, Office365?

Yes, SUMO has robust solutions for all of these available.  SUMO relies on the standard *free* Salesforce sync tools to sync appointment data.  The recommended solutions are:

  • Salesforce Lightning Sync for Google Calendar
  • Salesforce Lightning Sync for Outlook / Office 365
  • Salesforce for Outlook (older solution, being phased out)

In addition to the above, we also recommend the following 3rd party tools available on the AppExchange:

Does SUMO Support DST (Daylight Savings Time)?

Yes, SUMO supports Daylight Savings Time.  Appointments created before or after DST will be reflected properly on the SUMO calendar.

Does SUMO support Classic and Lightning Experience (LEX)?

Yes, SUMO supports both Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience.  Most of our new features are being built into lightning, so we recommend our customers begin to transform to lightning experience when you are ready, and we’re confident you’ll find the new enhancements beneficial.

Does SUMO integrate with NPSP (Non Profit Starter Pack)?

The good news is, SUMO Scheduler is the only scheduling solution built 100% native on the Salesforce platform.  SUMO is built on top of standard salesforce objects, specifically accounts, contacts, events, and more are optional (leads, cases, etc).  We do have customers using SUMO with NPSP and we believe, so long as you are using Accounts & Contacts (or Person Accounts), you should be fine.   To be clear, however, SUMO does not maintain rigorous testing to ensure 100% compatibility with the latest version of NPSP (Non-Profit Starter Pack),  and we encourage you to install SUMO into a sandbox environment and run some simple tests first.

Does SUMO require a Salesforce license? What is SUMO Stand-Alone?

The short answer is, No, SUMO Scheduler does not require a Salesforce.com license.  The following options are available:

SUMO Add-On

Add-On licenses are designed for users who have a Salesforce CRM or Platform license (Enterprise Edition or greater).  Since SUMO Scheduler is built native on the Salesforce platform, these users will receive seamless access to both SUMO Scheduler -and- the world’s #1 CRM application -or- the platform.

SUMO Stand-Alone

Stand-Alone licenses are designed for users who do not have a Salesforce license. In addition to SUMO functionality, like the SUMO Calendar, Self-Scheduling Sites, Work Shifts, and more… a SUMO license also includes the following platform functions:

  • Salesforce Chatter
  • Mobile Apps (iOS, Android)
  • Accounts
  • Contacts
  • Reports
  • Dashboards
  • Content Libraries

NOTE: A SUMO license does not include access to Salesforce Leads, Opportunities, Quotes, Cases, etc… This will require a Salesforce license.  However, if you have users that do not require access to Salesforce Leads, Opportunities, Quotes, Cases, etc… then they will only require a SUMO Stand-Alone license.

Combo

  • Generally it is not possible to have a mix of add-on and stand-alone licenses in one (1) salesforce org.  Inquire for more details.

Is SUMO HIPAA compliant?

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) is United States legislation that provides data privacy and security provisions for safeguarding medical information.

SUMO is built 100% native on the salesforce.com platform, which maintains a comprehensive set of compliance certifications and attestations, which includes HIPAA compliance.

HIPAA compliance is a complex matter, however.  Salesforce can be configured to meet HIPAA/HITECH compliance mandates.  Salesforce uses 6 distinct data security tiers including roles, profiles, permission sets, data types, custom layouts and field level access, to manage and control HIPAA mandates related to Administrative and Technical Safeguards.  Strategic configuration and applied controls in focused areas will allow the organization to comply with HIPAA and HITECH mandates.

What is the pricing for SUMO?

SUMO is priced very competitively.  Pricing depends on your requirements, if you require volume pricing, and other attributes.  To get a price quote, contact us.

Can I get a Free Trial of SUMO?

Yes, our sales team offers a number of ways to evaluate SUMO Scheduler.  Contact us to learn more.

  • 5-Minute Product Demo – Watch this video to get a quick overview.
  • Product Demonstration – Contact us to get a custom demonstration of SUMO Scheduler.
  • Test Drive – Inquire about getting access to a sandbox account to play around with.
  • Free Trial – Inquire about getting a 15-day free trial.

Does SUMO support Salesforce Communities? What are Community License requirements?

Yes, you can allow your community users to self-schedule appointments from within a Salesforce Community.

The following table outlines SUMO Scheduler’s support for the various Salesforce Community license types.

Click the enlarge.

Does SUMO offer GDPR Compliance Tools?

Yes, you may read this blog article to learn all about our support for GDPR:

Do you offer phone support or 24/7 support?

Basic Support

Basic Support is included standard and includes email support, which is initiated by logging-a-case.

Premium Support

Most customers purchase Premier Support, which includes:

  • Email and Phone support Mon-Fri 8:00am to 5:00pm EST
  • Designated Rep
  • 24/7 Urgent Care Support
  • And more…

How much storage do we get and what do you charge for more?

File Storage

  • Your SUMO Platform will include 11GB of file storage.  For each user, you will receive 2GB of file storage.
  • You may purchase an additional 1GB of file storage for $20/org/mo (not per user).

*11GB will store over 1,000,000 web images or 10,000 avg. PDF files.  So, you have a long ways to go before you ever have to worry and you can always delete old files to avoid purchasing more storage.  In addition, the AppExchange marketplace offers competitive storage options, should you wish to explore these.

Data Storage

  • Your SUMO Platform will include 1 GB of data storage.  For each user, you will receive an additional 20 MB of data storage.
  • You may purchase an additional 500 MB of data storage per SUMO platform, for $125/org/mo (not per user).

SOURCE: Data and File Storage Limits

Are there any one-time setup fees required?

This SUMO Support Center includes tons of helper videos to teach you how to both administrate and use the software.  To get up and running quickly, we offer four implementation package options:

  • Quick-Start Implementation Package (*We train you as a SUMO Admin to self-implement.)
  • Commercial Implementation Package (Best for 60 users)
  • Enterprise Implementation Package (Best for 60-120 users)
  • Custom Implementation Package (Best for 60+ users with custom requirements)

All customers may email support@sumoscheduler.com anytime for free ongoing support.

What are the general contract terms required?

SUMO requires an annual commitment. We also offer generous concessions for multi-year commitments.  Our Master Subscription Agreement may be reviewed here.

Do you charge for every appointment we schedule?

Unlike most scheduling software, we do not charge per appointment scheduled from the SUMO Scheduler Calendar. Your team can schedule as many appointments as they like.

Do you charge additional for Mobile Access?

No.  Every SUMO user license also gets access to our mobile applications (iphone, android, tablet), which gives you full access to all accounts, contacts, activities, social feed, and more.

How much do email, text, and phone reminders cost?

  • Email reminders are free. You may send an unlimited # of email appointment reminders.
  • Text message and automated phone reminders start at $.10 per.  Bulk rates are available.
  • EXAMPLE: On avg. a service provider may have 120 appts/week (6 appts a day). If you have 5 providers, this would be roughly 600 appointments per month, costing roughly $60/mo to send a text message reminder to each customer.

What are the fees for self-scheduling, so our customers can automatically schedule themselves?

Self-Scheduling packages start at $125/month for up to 1,500 appointments/month.  Please contact us for details.

Does every employee need a SUMO license?

Every person whom you would like to have access to login to SUMO will need a license.  However, depending on your situation, you will decide who needs access to SUMO.

EMPLOYEE LICENSE

Most of our customers purchase a full SUMO user license for all employees who need access  to schedule or be scheduled, so they may all login, manage calendars & appointments, create & update info, manage team tasks, collaborate in groups, documents, and more.  This typically includes schedulers, employees, service providers, administrative staff, management, and more.

GHOST LICENSE

However, you may request a partial roll-out, where some users may never access the system, but they may be scheduled on behalf of and receive email confirmations.  For example, dental offices often have a team of front-office schedulers (or a call center) book appointments for the dentists.  In this scenario, the dentists may not need to login to the system.  The dentists simply communicate with the front office schedulers through-out the day to understand which appointments are upcoming.

In this scenario the “Ghost Licenses” are available for the dentists at a significantly reduced fee.

WARNING: SHARING USER LICENSES IS PROHIBITED

It is a violation of our terms of service to have two users continually login with the same login and create or update records — to avoid purchasing another user license.  In fact the system may permit two simultaneous logins with the same user license and terminate the other session randomly.

This is also not good for the business, as you will soon have an issue where you wish you knew WHO deleted something or made an error in an update, but if people are sharing a license, you will not be able to know who did it.  Therefore, for audit and accountability purposes, it’s critical.

NOTE: It is permissible to re-purpose a user license, however.  For instance, if an employee is no longer with the company, you will inactive their user license and re-assign the user license to the new person you hire to replace them.

How do I order more SUMO licenses?

Easy, just contact us and help us understand how many more licenses you need.  We can typically enable them within 24 hrs.