درباره سازنده
About Microtest
Microtest provides flexible IT support solutions across the UK. Established in 1955, we have built up a loyal customer base that depends on our integrated solutions and excellent customer service and we are now one of the largest IT employers in the South West with an ever expanding team. With headquarters in Bodmin, Cornwall, we are passionate about the services we provide.
Our client base extends throughout the UK, in many industries and market sectors. Microtest has over 30 years experience in developing and supporting clinical systems for GPs and we also offer a wide range of services to retail, business, educational and government agencies. Our bespoke solutions and systems are developed and maintained in-house by our highly skilled team of Software Developers and Engineers, providing effective remote and onsite technical support as and when required. We are constantly improving our facilities and skills to ensure we can offer the best solutions and meet the changing needs of our clients.
We understand that keeping your systems working without interruption is vital for your business activity and our highly skilled engineers provide an excellent range of support packages to suit any type of business. Our large customer base across the UK continues to choose Microtest based upon the quality of our customer service and the value for money we offer.
For more information on our home and business services please visit the Microtest Home and Business Solutions page.
Our Background
1980, Microtest (based at Bodmin, Cornwall) was primarily developing test equipment for the fast emerging microwave industry (thus the company name). However, Microtest had astutely also acquired the rights to be a regional reseller of BBC Microcomputers. Another company, G+G Software, had embarked upon a collaborative project with Dr Crawshaw of Mevagissey surgery, to develop some software to help run his medical practice. This software was initially limited to handling repeat prescriptions but, over time, it grew to address many other aspects of surgery operation.
G+G’s Software was written in BBC BASIC (a leading programming language of that era) and ran on the very same BBC Microcomputers for which Microtest had become a reseller. As more and more Cornish GP practices began buying copies of the software (by now named “Practice Manager”) they also bought more and more BBC Micros to use it on. The logic for a merger between G+G software and Microtest eventually grew irresistible. The Microwave business was floated off (and became Flann Microwave, which is still an active Bodmin company today) and the merged company, still called Microtest, became the clinical software, IT supplier and support powerhouse that it is today.
Dr Andrew Crawshaw retired a few years ago, but Mevagissey practice is still a valued Microtest customer – as are many of those initial GP practices.
Through the 1990s Microtest continued to enhance and update its Practice Manager product, gaining a sizable customer base right across the UK – and even some practices abroad. Practice manager (PM) was a character cell based application, of the kind which predominated in medical computing up until the millennium. In the early 2000s, planning and implementation of a Windows version of PM got underway and after extensive testing and accreditation, Microtest Evolution was released across the Microtest practice estate in 2005-2006.
Evolution is now the company’s widely used and well liked flagship product. It continues to be further developed and enhanced by Microtest’s experienced software design and development team, still based in Bodmin. Over the years, Microtest has developed a reputation for providing leading-edge clinical systems.
Microtest has many other traits which differentiate it from other clinical system vendors. For example it is a family-run firm – not an adjunct to a large corporation. Microtest also does telephone support in a different way to other vendors. When customers call Microtest, they do not speak to a non-technical call-triage desk, they mostly go straight through to a technician. This speeds up the call process (no waiting for callbacks) and means that customers usually only have to explain their problem once. Microtest’s key strength is continuously listening to the concerns of its users, and proactively addressing their problems. Few other software houses – in any industry – are as responsive to their users as Microtest