Application Development Software

This section of our technical library presents information and documentation relating to Application Development software and products.

Since the Company's inception in 1978, DSC has specialized in the development of software productivity tools, call center products, cti software with computer telephony interfaces, and call center predictive dialing systems with IVR software. These products have been developed to work in a local area network and over the internet. Although each of these products stands alone, they all work in a totally integrated fashion and are designed to provide you with a one stop call center solution. The following is a summary of these products and services.

To develop new or upgrade legacy applications for today’s network environments, the NDK components TRANSACT, FASTPlus, EZTRAN, and THIN CLIENT are required as a minimum. A copy of the THIN CLIENT is required for each PC accessing the final application. The NDK / Server software component can reside on UNIX, LINUX, or a Windows/NT server.

by By Derek Slater

You've been around information technology or computers for a while, you have probably run into these two terms: system software and application software. The distinction between the two is important. Without the former, your computer won't run. And without the latter, your computer—no matter how powerful—won't do much to help run your business.

What is system software?

The simple answer is that system software is the stuff that makes your computer work. It's roughly analogous to the stem of the human brain—you've got to have it to keep breathing; but with just the stem you aren't likely to win any chess tournaments or earn an MBA degree. System software includes the computer's basic operating system, whether that's Windows 2000 or Mac OS on your home computer or something like MVS on a gargantuan mainframe in the data center. The term also usually encompasses any software used to manage the computer and network, which includes diagnostic software and anything used to tune up the computer's performance. Novell Netware and other network management packages thus fall under system software. In the mainframe world, system software would include all kinds of utility packages with scary names like "Disk Defragmenter."

And application software?

Application software trains the PC's brain for higher cognitive functions rather than just keeping the PC alive and connected to other computers. Think of it this way: Applications apply the computer's thinking power to business tasks such as tracking the general ledger or billing your customers.

Software that clearly falls on the application side of the line includes manufacturing, financial and human resources software and the enterprise resource planning (ERP) (see What is ERP? below) packages (such as SAP R/3 and PeopleSoft), which incorporate all those functions and more. Other examples of application software include CAD and various engineering packages, groupware like Lotus Notes, supply chain management software and a raft of industry-specific programs for everything from routing railcars to tracking clinical trials> for pharmaceuticals.

So system software runs your computer while application software runs your business?

The line between the two kinds of software is somewhat blurry, depending on who's doing the talking. In the gray zone between them, you might include database management software like Oracle8, Sybase or DB2, which handle a very general sort of task—storing and manipulating data and records—and often must be further programmed in order to perform a specific application. Some operating systems incorporate basic database management functionality, so some people call DBMS system software, while others simply call it application software.

Windows 2000 users might wonder which category Solitaire belongs to. Sorry, we'll leave that up to Microsoft.

Application Software Information

Contact DSC to learn more about our call center software including CRM software and Phone software.