With that in mind, we are excited to announce that we’ve been recognized as a Clutch leader in the software development industry. We’re also proud to be part of Clutch’s top 1000 global companies for 2021. For context, Clutch is hugely respected within the B2B space for connecting small, mid-market, and enterprise businesses with service providers that fit their needs. Clutch cuts through disorganized market research by collecting client feedback and analyzing industry data, arming businesses with the insights and analysis they need to connect and tackle challenges with confidence.

To be eligible for the Clutch 1000 award, companies must exhibit an unusually high ability to deliver top-tier work to their clients. We work hard to provide the absolute best products and working experience to our clients, and we’re thrilled that this hard work has paid off. Receiving this award is no small feat, and we’re incredibly appreciative of this recognition.

“We are thrilled to be recognized by Clutch as a leader in our industry, and look forward to future success for our team and our clients”

– Bobby Reed, Capitol Tech Solutions CEO

We are sincerely grateful to our clients for the continued trust and confidence they’ve accorded to us. Their reviews on our Clutch profile confirm that we have what it takes to deliver top-tier services and working experiences. Below is a quote from one of the reviews we received.

“They’ve been extremely conscientious about doing exactly what they were contracted to do. I can’t think of one important benchmark that hasn’t been met”

– Steve Earnshaw, Owner, Hair Guitar Haircuts.

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Every year, the Sacramento Business Journal publishes their annual “Book of Lists,” naming top local companies in a variety of individual business professions and fields. Capitol Tech Solutions was recently honored by the Sacramento Business Journal with recognition on two different top company lists: number 20 on the Sacramento list of top 20 software companies (rising from number 24 last year), and number 18 on the region’s list of largest area clean and renewable energy firms.

Published annually, the Sacramento Business Journal’s Book of Lists is the definitive resource guide for business professionals in the region. The Book of Lists provides readers with listings of hundreds of the hottest area companies in their fields, by ranking. Included in the Book of Lists are also the names of key corporate decision makers, along with their titles and complete contact information.

Capitol Tech Solutions Software Development Experience

Since 2004, Capitol Tech Solutions has strived to be a region and industry leader in a variety of digital and technology fields. CTS software development experts build products that are fast, reliable, and scalable for businesses of all sizes.

Our software development team recently completed several major projects for several prominent area government and corporate clients including the California Energy Commission, Big-O Tires, Unico, and PowerSchool.

The firm’s software experts have consistently demonstrated expertise in a wide variety of areas, successfully building customized desktop applications, cloud-based platforms, mobile applications, and database solutions for small, medium, and large business clients.

Capitol Tech Solutions’ work on a major green and environmentally friendly energy client propelled them to the number 18 slot on the Business Journal’s list of top clean and renewable energy companies. The honor is yet another reminder of CTS’ continued commitment to partnering with our clients on green and progressive energy solutions.

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Comparing the API functionality, ease of integration, and developer support for online meeting tools Zoom and GoToMeetingGoToMeeting Integration Capabilities

With the adoption of online meeting tools accelerated due to the pandemic, businesses are inquiring about using those tools for their customers, and integrating them within their existing software platforms. Recently, our software development team completed software projects integrating both Zoom and GoToMeeting. During the process, we learned about the API offerings, working with their support, and determining what can and cannot be done through their development APIs. This is a post focused for developers on the API integrations, not the features of each tool. If you are looking for a costs and features comparison, check out G2 or Capterra.

The goal of this article is to point out the pros and cons of each platform, and to help developers understand the differences between the two platforms from an integration standpoint.

Development Tools and Requirements:

Both of these projects were developed with Microsoft.NET, and utilized the C# programming language. They are both web based applications, and utilize the latest .NET framework. The end goal was also similar. Both applications required users to schedule, configure, and manage virtual meetings directly through the application without having to login to the virtual meeting platform. For each of the tools, we have broken down the integrations into 5 aspects: API Tools, Ease of Use, Features, Support, and SSO.

GoToMeeting Integration Capabilities

We started integrating an application with GoToMeeting because it was the preferred virtual meeting application for our client. They have been using it for years, but saw a need to make it even easier for their clients by integrating it into their customer portal.

API tools

They have an API per product (Meetings, Webinar, Training, etc.). We integrated with the Meetings API. They supported trying out API calls via the documentation. They have a .NET SDK, and we used that to integrate with their API. The value of using an SDK rather than calling the API directly is having to spend less time writing code, since the code is written for you in the SDK. In order to use the API, you have to create an app in their developer center.

Ease of Use

Integrating with the .NET SDK was difficult. There were few examples and little documentation on the SDK itself. The API was better documented. The biggest challenge was if an error occurred using the SDK, it did not describe what the error was. The largest chunk of time spent integrating with GoToMeeting was troubleshooting what was wrong with our calls in the SDK.

Features

Meetings has a limited range of features. Our business requirements were fairly simple though. We wanted the ability to schedule meetings in the future, and they supported that option. Other features they have are scheduling instant meetings, changing how people can connect to the meeting, like phone or video chat, adding a password, and scheduling recurring meetings. At least via the API there was not much more you could customize for the meeting.

Support

They have documentation for their API endpoints. The documentation was useful and helped with integrating with the SDK. From the styling, my guess is they used Swagger to autogenerate the API documentation. It was descriptive enough to use, but it contained very little insight on how the fields are validated.

SSO

They support SSO, but we did not use it. Using it would require the user to have to log into GoToMeeting to make API calls. Our business requirements required the user not having to log in to GoToMeeting, so we used a different approach. The other option is direct login, which is how we did it. The difference here is we store the account username and password securely with the configuration and log into the API for the user, so they do not have to.

Zoom Integration Capabilities

We started integrating with Zoom for a client after they researched 3 platforms, and determined Zoom best fit their needs. API integration was a must for this client.

API tools

Zoom has a very extensive API supporting many of their different features, but for our business requirements we integrated with the Meetings and Users API. Like GoToMeeting, in order to access the API, you had to create an app in their marketplace. Their API supported trying out API calls, which was helpful. One very interesting tool they have is the ability to automatically generate code in whatever language you are working with. Unfortunately, this tool was not very useful for C# since it did not autogenerate the request body and response body models as classes. They did not have a .NET SDK.

Ease of Use

Since they did not have a .NET SDK, we had to write the code ourselves to connect to the API. Writing the model classes was a little time consuming since their models are fairly in-depth, but there was significantly less troubleshooting and debugging compared to integrating with the GoToMeeting SDK.

Features

Zoom has a wide range of features, far too many to cover in this article. Our business requirements for integrating with Zoom were a little different. We wanted to automatically register certain users, so they have a unique URL to attend the meeting, in addition to other minor features like muting participants as they join. Zoom supported these capabilities and much more. In fact, there are so many options it can be a little bit overwhelming.

Support

They have documentation for their API endpoints. Their API documentation was very descriptive, especially regarding the valid values of the body parameters.

SSO

They support SSO, but we did not use it. Instead, they allow creating a JWT token with a Client ID and Client Secret generated from the app in the marketplace. This does not require storing sensitive data like usernames and passwords.

Pros and Cons of GoToMeeting and Zoom Developer Integrations

Overall, both platforms have an API, and allowed for integrations with 3rd party software. Both of the platforms met our client’s requirements from an integration standpoint, although our client’s requirements were not terribly complex.

Zoom Pros

• Very customizable.
• Easy authentication.
• Great API documentation.

While each platform was able to meet our needs, we found the following items to be lacking

Zoom Cons

• No .NET SDK or NuGet package.
• Requires more dev work to integrate with.

Conclusion of Zoom and GoToMeeting from a developer perspective

The integration with each platform met our client’s requirements. With most software projects, now that we have completed the first phase of our integration, our clients are asking for more features and capabilities. We will continue to develop features for integrating both with Zoom and GoToMeeting, and update this document accordingly.

Capitol Tech Solutions is a digital agency that builds software solutions that helps businesses optimize their operations using the Microsoft.NET platform. Our team of developers is standing by for your project, so contact us today to get your project started.

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Qualified IT CMAS Contractors

In order to become a CMAS contractor you have to demonstrate a level of experience and knowledge within the provided CMAS application format. Successfully securing our IT CMAS contract validates the knowledge and experience our software, and IT team have to work on state projects within the following areas:

• IT Consult – Database Design
• IT Consult – Software Development
• IT Consult – System Analysis
• IT Consult – Website Design
• IT Consult – Website Maintenance
• IT Consult – Project Planning
• IT Consult – Mobile App Design
• IT Consult – Mobile App Maintenance
• IT Consult – Programming
• IT Consult – Project Management

Qualified Contractors for Non-IT CMAS Projects

Along with our IT CMAS contracts we also secured our CMAS for Non-It related services. Becoming a certified CMAS contractor for Non-IT services was a pivotal step to leverage the experience of not just our software and IT team but also our user experience team. As Non-IT CMAS contractors the CTS team can obtain state contracts in the following areas:

• Business Consult – Program Design
• Business Consult – Program Develop
• Business Consult – Program Implement
• Business Consult – Project Management
• Marketing Consult
• Writing Services
• Graphic Design Services
• Multimedia Consulting
• Social Media Publicity Services
• Business Consult – Strategic Planning
• Video Tape/Film Production

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SVP Fast Pitch Providing Vital Support to Local Nonprofits

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Continued Support of Our Clients During Social Distancing

We are taking the following measures to ensure that Capitol Tech Solutions is there to serve you, our clients, every day during these uncertain times.

• As of last Wednesday, we have given our employees the option to work remotely from home in a secure network environment. Our team is experienced at managing projects and deadlines with our clients at a distance. Despite this change, we will continue to deliver excellent service to our clients and meet our project deliverables and deadlines.
• For the websites that we maintain, create content for, and host, nothing will change. Our secure servers and backup systems are in place to ensure security and protection of your online presence.
• We are continuing to follow the latest guidance and advice from the Centers for Disease Control and our local Department of Public Health to protect our team and avoid the spread of this virus.

What CTS Can Do to Help Your Business Maintain Normalcy

As COVID-19 brings disruptions to our normal daily lives, we are working to assist our clients in utilizing their digital online presence to communicate important business information such as:

• Adding a Coronavirus-related banner notification message to the top of the website
• Sending out timely business updates on their various social media platforms
• Updating website FAQ’s or social media pages with any COVID-19-related business updates

As always, we urge all of you to contact us via email or phone with any questions, concerns or issues that you have. We are here to help you succeed during these unprecedented times.

For more information on COVID-19 within the Sacramento area visit the Sacramento County Website.

Get the latest COVID-19 updates and best practices from the CDC Coronavirus (COVID-19) website.

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Sacramento region clean tech leader spotlights CTS client Capitol Energy Systems

Capitol Tech Solutions has long been dedicated to creating innovative strategic software solutions for a variety of clients across many industries. Our energy management client Capitol Energy Systems was recently featured by CleanStart, a leader in the Sacramento region clean technology sector. Capitol Tech Solutions’ software team has been working with the team at Capitol Energy Systems to develop cutting-edge smart energy management systems for clients across the country. Capitol Energy Systems’ smart technology provides energy management solutions to schools throughout California, generating cost savings in the range of 20-40% for those that used the software that Capitol Tech Solutions developed.

Our software team is helping position Capitol Energy Systems for its next phase by building on its track record and expanding the applications of some new software, new sensors and new communicating smart thermostats to any building under 25,000 square feet.

Capitol Tech Solutions has also done work for the California Energy Commission producing tracking systems for renewable energy projects qualifying under the Renewable Portfolio Standards rules.

CleanStart has been working to build the clean tech hub in the Sacramento region. We have been supporting local growth through education, networking, and promotion. Their work has helped 85 local companies in the core clean tech sector, which generate $3.1 billion in revenue and 5,065 jobs.

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Is Your Website Working For or Against You?

How important is a website to a law firm? Today, three out of four people needing the services of an attorney will turn to the internet first to begin their search. A website enables a lawyer or law firm to provide important information as to why they are an individual’s best choice for providing legal services. But considering that a website is most likely the first introduction a person will have to your firm and services, the content and design is critical to making the right first impression.

Essential Legal Firm Website Design Features

Inform, Educate and Activate Potential Clients

In addition to written content graphic components are critical to the overall appearance of your website, but they should be skillfully placed without being distracting. Ideally, photos should be taken by a professional photographer. If you want to include videos, these should also be professionally done. However, be mindful of how long your videos or hyperlinks take to load. A prospective client may lose patience and move on to another site if the load time is slow.

Visitors to your website should also see a call to action with a clearly posted means of contacting you. This could be a phone number, or a form for a visitor to enter their contact information. Consider offering a free consultation as enticement for potential clients to contact you.

Ensure Your Law Firm’s Website is Mobile-Friendly

Invest in SEO to Get Found for Your Legal Services

Get Your Website Done Right and Hire a Pro!

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1. Create an informative Website
2. Using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) & Key Words
3. Create an active Blog
4. Leverage Social Media
5. Build your online authority

Create an informative and Engaging Website

The digital world has opened a host of new opportunities to promote and build the business of your law firm. Certainly, foremost is having a website, but how your site is designed, the written content, and visual components such as graphics and video all contribute to how people searching for your legal services will find you.

Your homepage is the visitor’s first impression and it’s important that it capture their interest within a few seconds to entice them to explore your site further. Good design, white space, font selection, and color schemes are all important, but content is king. A visitor to your website wants to know if and how you can assist with their legal issue. A headline, with perhaps a sub-headline and two to three lines of text should give them a memorable and concise summary of the services you provide.

Your practice specialty or specialties should be clearly defined in a few words, or with an image, or both if appropriate. A broader and more detailed summary of your expertise should be reserved for another page. Avoid overloading your homepage with too much information as it can create confusion. If a visitor cannot find a link to additional information easily, they will likely move on to another site.

Your company logo should appear prominently at the top of the home page. Your navigation feature should be clearly marked and well-defined as to the additional content on your site, making it easy for your visitor to explore further, but also give them a quick overview as to what type of information is available. A call-to-action is another key component of the home page, with two different links in two locations on the page to catch their attention.

Additional pages of your website should tell a story, about you, your practice, your expertise, and your successes. Frequently Asked Questions or FAQ’s are key to answer likely questions your prospective clients may have and are also beneficial for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Graphics such as images, photographs, videos, graphs, or drawings should also be components of your webpages. The saying “A picture is worth a thousand words” is very applicable to websites, making them more visually appealing, breaking up blocks of text, and creating an emotional connection or imparting significant data.

How do you know if your website is working for you? If you are not already using it, Google Analytics is a free service which will give you important insight into what is working on your website and what isn’t.

It measures traffic to each page and reflects the content that is of the most interest to visitors, how long they’re spending on an individual page, and how visitors found your website in the first place. It can tell you the geographic locations your traffic is coming from and what search engine they’re using. If you’re already doing online advertising, Google Analytics will identify which keywords are pulling the best results. It will also provide data on operational issues such as site speed and how long it takes for a page to load.

Increase Traffic with Search Engine Optimization and Key Word Utilization

What types of content in your website will increase the likelihood that your site appears in the search results? The pages on your website should be optimized with keywords and meta tags. Search engine algorithms evaluate the content of webpages to determine whether the page contains information that might be relevant to what the searcher is looking for. The most basic signal that information is relevant is when a webpage contains the same keywords as the search query. If those keywords appear on the page, or if they appear in the headings or body of the text, that information will be determined to be relevant. Of increasing importance to search engines today are descriptive key phrases, known as long-tail keywords.

Meta tags don’t appear in the actual text of your website, but rather they are short snippets of text that are placed in the source code of each page. While there are several types, the most important and most often utilized is the title tag, and secondly, the meta description attribute. A title tag has a direct impact on search rankings, while a meta keyword or tag is a 155 to 160-character summary of the webpage included in the HTML of your website. It will show up in the search results if it includes the keywords that are being searched, and while not a ranking factor, meta tags can contribute to the clickthrough results which in turn can enhance your SEO rankings.

Since search engines cannot “read” images, graphics should have an alternative text tag so that they are included in the components utilized by the search engines. Alt text is also an important element of accessible web design for visually impaired readers.

But beyond the verbiage and images, there are many other factors that also contribute to good search results including functionality such as how fast a page loads, whether a website is easy to view on multiple types of devices, the relevance of your content to the words used in the search query, and even the previous results the person searching has already clicked on.

Consider engaging a professional SEO company to first evaluate your site, and then optimize it to improve your firm’s standings in search results by prospective clients. You may also want to consider a paid campaign of Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising. You should also take advantage of the free exposure that comes with registering your firm on Google My Business, Yelp, LinkedIn, Yahoo, Microsoft, and MSN. When posting your firm’s information, make sure it is identical across all directories.

Generate Traffic with an Informative Blog

Though it requires an investment of time and energy, having a blog and contributing frequently is an important professional and marketing tool. According to an AM Law 200 Blog Benchmark Report in 2015, blogging has become a staple in the majority of firms with over 80% of AM Law 200 firms regularly contributing to at least one active blog. Blogs may be even more essential to the sole practitioner or smaller firm as they provide the perfect forum to showcase your expertise and insight into issues relevant to your practice area or your community. Blogs postings do not need to be lengthy and getting into the habit of writing down your thoughts on a topic can help improve your communication skills. If you are active in social media, posting your blog will expand the reading audience and add credibility to your profile. And if YouTube is part of your social media toolbox, consider making videos using the theme of suitable blog postings to broaden the audience. Perhaps most important, new content that is updated regularly is an attractive draw to search engines.

Leveraging Social Media Marketing for your Law Firm

While having a presence on the internet with a website has become essential for a business, social media has also emerged as a viable resource for promoting one’s business. There are numerous platforms – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, and YouTube – and Business News Daily estimates that about 70% of Americans are on social media.

From simply a professional standpoint, LinkedIn makes the most sense for attorneys as it is considered the “benchmark for professional networking social media platforms.” It provides a medium for you to connect with peers who can be a source of referrals, and potentially also new clients. If your website includes a blog, which it should, you can publish your blog posts on your LinkedIn profile, which can lead to them being shared and broadening your exposure, reputation, and network. You can also join groups that share personal interests or topics relevant to your practice and contribute to conversations which can also be helpful to your business.

If you choose Facebook as a social media vehicle, you need to have a personal profile first and then you can see instructions for creating a Facebook business page. From there, you can create an about page, post articles, blog postings, and information on events or seminars you might be hosting. Clients can post testimonials to your handling of their case, photos or videos. While perhaps not suitable for all practices, a search for legal issues such as surrogacy, estate planning, drunk driving defense, sexual harassment, or personal injury can often start with inquiries to friends or colleagues for recommendations.

Twitter has also become a mainstay in the wheelhouse of many professional organizations to build their brand and company profile. As with other social media platforms, the benefit here is not only setting up your own Twitter feed, but also engaging with other users to see their posts and contents, and with over 300 million monthly active users, the knowledge and content pool is vast. While some people use it simply for information gathering, if you decide to be a contributor, keep your tweets professional in nature, providing quality commentary on issues that are relevant to legal issues related to your practice or information that would be of interest to a broader audience.

If you use videos on your website, then YouTube is a logical social media vehicle to share that video to a broader audience. However, if you choose YouTube as a marketing tool, optimum best practices are to post a video regularly – once per week or every two weeks – with varying topics of interest to your target audience. While it does not necessarily need to be professionally done, keep in mind the image you want to portray and make sure that the video and sound are both of high quality.

Increase Your Online Visibility Using Media Outlets

Also consider registering as a source with Help A Reporter Out. Media outlets are often looking for third party legal analysis for background information and quotations on stories they are writing. Queries are sent by reporters and media outlets from around the world via email three times daily at 5:35 am, 12:35 pm, and 5:35 pm EST. If a topic falls within your area of expertise, you can contact the reporter through the email address provided with the source request and provide a relevant response and a short bio. If you are selected to be interviewed, the article, television clip, or radio story can then be posted on your website, adding tremendous value to your reputation as an expert in your field.

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Capitol Tech Solutions is now able to offer our high-quality PowerSchool customization and training services at a new lower rate. Our team has over 30 years of combined experience providing services for PowerSchool products, with the in-depth knowledge to simplify your PowerSchool experience.

Our experience included Custom Report Cards, PowerSchool Implementation, CALPADS reporting, state compliance reporting, SIS Migration Gap Analysis, 3^rd party integrations, automated reporting, custom data exports, PowerSchool SIS, and PowerTeacher Pro Training, and more.

We are offering the PowerSchool services at $150 per hour! With fast turnarounds and high quality of work, we know our customers will be thrilled to work with our team.

CTS has over 30 years of PowerSchool experience!

Providing services for PowerSchool products has been a core part of our business since PowerSchool was owned by Apple back in 2007. We look forward to helping customers navigate PowerSchool with services that are up to 35% less per hour than other options. Contact CTS today to get your PowerSchool optimized.

Contact CTS today to get your PowerSchool optimized today.

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