Features and Benefits of the BC Contacts Directory

Features	Benefits
Draws on an unequaled wealth of British Columbia company and contact information to get you past company "gatekeepers" and open communication channels between you and people having the power to do business with you. The BC Contacts business directory includes Company Name, Full Address, Phone, Fax, E-mail, Web Site, Business Category, Products/Services and more. BC Contacts provides you with the names, titles and contact information for key company contacts, and includes biographies for an increasing number of contacts at high technology companies.	An investment in BC Contacts more than pays for itself when you find better business contacts and sales leads faster. BC Contacts saves you time and money finding clients, distributors, business partners, suppliers and investors. BC Contacts frees you from having to call prospective clients at random so that you can instead concentrate on those predisposed to doing business with you.
Helps you find important Company and Contact information stored in  the BC Contacts directory, company and other web sites leveraging built-in Google search and internet WhoIs database integration.  BC Contacts shows related companies within seconds by finding web sites linking to any selected company's web site. BC Contacts enables you to view company web sites dating back to when the company launched its first web site. BC Contacts searches all database fields, including 7 user-defined fields.	You save time using  pre-selected, quality company contacts and learn about companies you would not have known existed. BC Contacts is a valuable resource for marketers contacting Vancouver and area companies, and can easily be customized to meet your needs as a promoter of goods, services or ideas.
Launches company web sites in your browser automatically or at the click of a button.  Includes built-in E-mail sending and AutoDial phone support. top	You save time researching and contacting companies.
A ‘Swiss army knife’ for doing business in British Columbia, BC Contacts enables you to easily initiate and maintain contact with prospects and clients using personalized, template-based registered email and business letters which open in Microsoft Word at the click of a button. E-mail subject line and message body may include 'custom tags' which BC Contacts replaces with Contact Name, Title, Company Name, Street, City, etc. to personalize your marketing material. The BC Contacts web service alerts you by E-mail when contacts open your Registered E-mail, enabling you to make follow-up phone calls timed for maximum effectiveness.	You know when to call and introduce yourself - immediately after your product literature or business proposal has been viewed by company decision makers.
Maps company locations based on any searchable criteria including Street Address, City, Postal Code, Business Category, etc. using Microsoft MapPoint integration. Location mapping and all directory searches may be filtered by business category, so that for example, only Manufacturing companies within postal code 'V5L'  are mapped and listed in search results. Creates simple routes from your location to any chosen company within seconds. Also creates optimized routes which include numerous stops. BC Contacts in addition leverages Google Hybrid Maps (satellite image with streets overlay) to map individual companies and simple routes.  This feature helps you distinguish larger companies from home businesses.	You save time using optimized routes and driving directions. Knowing company locations helps you more selectively target companies, saving you time and money.
Program administrators may hide and disable company and contact editing and E-mail functionality at the click of a button. BC Contacts is self-updating via the internet, enabling you to take advantage of program and directory enhancements as they become available.	Using BC Contacts becomes even easier while company and contact information is protected from unwanted modification.

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Industry Categories

Find companies by industry, company name, street address, city, postal code, user-assigned company attributes, etc. Find contacts by contact name, email, phone number, contact notes and user-assigned contact attributes. The BC Contacts Directory is fully searchable and can list companies within any given city or area code, etc.  Search results may be filtered by any of over 75 industry categories to let you focus on industries and companies of greatest value to you. These industry categories include, but are not limited to:

Aboriginal / Native
Architectural Design
Association or Society
Aviation or Aerospace
Biotechnology or Pharmaceutical
Co-op Education / Internship / Practicum Placements
Educational Institution
Electronics or Electrical
Engineering
Film and Video Production or Distribution
Food Production, Processing or Distribution
Forest Products
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Government or Government Agency
Health Care - Private, For-Profit
Health Care - Public, Non-Profit
Hotel or Motel
Immigrant Services
Information Technology
Job Search / Career Management
Manufacturing
Marine
Marketing
Mining
Municipality / Municipal Affairs / Local Government
Online Directory
Printing
Private College or University
Property Developer
Property Management
Recruiter / Staffing Agency
Small Business Support
Software Development
Transportation
Web & Web Application Design
Wireless Communications


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Make Your "Cold Calls" Warmer

Need to know more about Vancouver, BC and area companies and their key contacts to make your "cold calls" warmer and gain a stronger competitve edge? Then BC Contacts is for you. Contact biographies and descriptions of their responsibilities are in many cases included, especially for key people running technology companies in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, engineering, software development and web design sectors.

Need to do industry research which builds on available Directory information? Then leverage BC Contacts' web browser/Google search integration, and its British Columbia, Canada associations and societies listings containing over 220 organizations to gain access to their up-to-date membership lists. BC Contacts even enables you to view archived company web sites and all linked web sites at the click of a button.

Save Time Qualifying Business Leads by Focusing on Hotter Business Prospects
BC Contacts helps you focus on hotter business prospects and avoid home-based businesses unable to take advantage of your product, service or business proposal by providing you with zoomable satellite imagery together with a streets overlay of company locations, showing you whether your prospects are in residential neighbourhoods or industrial and commercial areas.




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Why Choose the BC Contacts Directory?

An investment in the BC Contacts Directory provides you with the most up to date and complete company and contact information at the lowest cost.
BC Contacts gives you quick access to leads to help you become more productive and increase your close rate.

Compare BC Contacts to the BC Manufacturers Directory, a quality competing product published by BC Stats:

	The BC Contacts Directory	BC Manufacturers' Directory (electronic version)
Size	47 MB	3.5 MB
Number of Companies	8,474 and growing (as of June 1, 2008)	4,300
Number of Key Contacts	15,158 (as of June 1, 2008)	8,000 (estimated, based on fewer than 2 contacts per company average)
Number of Industries	Dozens, including many in high tech	1
Regularly Updated?	yes	yes
Data Format	database	CSV file
Data Included	Company postal address, phone number and product or service description - often with many details. Many company listings offer extensive information. Several key decision maker names and their contact information. May also include their biographies and responsibilities.	Company postal address, phone number and a very brief description of product or service. One or two key decision maker names and their contact information.
Contact Export Functionality top	Exports contact data in standard format used by Maximizer, ACT!, Goldmine, Outlook, FileMaker and other contact management and customer relationship management (CRM) programs.	Contact data may be imported into Maximizer, ACT!, Goldmine, Outlook, FileMaker and other contact management and customer relationship management (CRM) programs.
Google Search Integration to Help Me with Company and Contact Research?	BC Contacts enables you to find additional company and contact information using its Google Search integration.	no
Software Included?	BC Contacts software for Windows (click for sample)	no - opens in Excel or text editor      (click for sample)
Easily Searchable?	yes	no
Microsoft Word Integration?	yes - Creates personalized, template-based business letters in a single click. Similar to mail merge - all you have to do is create one document that contains the information that is the same in each copy, and add some placeholders for the information that is unique to each copy. BC Contacts takes care of the rest.	no
E-mail Integration?	yes - Creates personalized, template-based e-mail in a single click. Similar to mail merge in Word - all you have to do is create one document that contains the information that is the same in each copy, and add some placeholders for the information that is unique to each copy. BC Contacts takes care of the rest, and includes sample e-mail templates so you can easily make use of this feature.	no
Mapping Software Integration?	yes - Maps companies and routes using Google, Yahoo and MapPoint maps. Satellite imagery enables you to distinguish between home-based businesses and larger companies.	no
Product Support	BC Contacts software includes How-to Video Tutorials, and we offer free phone and email support to BC Contacts Directory clients. Program updates are free and delivered to your desktop as they become available.	none
Directory Updates top	We can provide you with regular directory updates through our optional, reasonably priced subscription service.	yes - at full cost
Free Trial Available?	yes - Fully functional trial software offers you the opportunity to experience the benefits of BC Contacts for 7 days. BC Contacts remains fully functional once the trial expires, but limits search results to 5. Paid product activation removes this limitation.  Try BC Contacts	no
Price	$399	$350

System Requirements

Operating System:	Windows Vista, Windows XP or Windows 2000
Memory:	128 MB RAM (256 MB when used with MapPoint)
Processor:	Pentium II @ 400 MHz
Video:	1024 X 768 or higher resolution
Optional Hardware:	any dial-up modem (for dialing phone numbers)
Data Backup Space:	600 MB on hard drive
Optional Software:	Microsoft MapPoint 2006 or 2004 for full mapping functionality and Microsoft Word (all versions) for template-based cover letter creation.
Additional Information:	Internet connection required for E-mail, web browsing, WhoIs lookup and web site/internet search functionality. Periodic program and database updates also require an internet connection.

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