First, an apology for answering the many great responses to my post via a separate post from the original thread. I'm using a normal reader to see the posts, but google to post with and it hasn't quite picked up on the thread this morning.
Second, thanx everyone for responding. It's quite an eyeopener to see the confusion generated!
Adam: Your preference for no forms comes off as rather odd to me, and is not consistant with my experience with websites. I'm curious as to why you're so against it? Once a contact form was added to our winery site, response was well over tenfold from the old "mailto:" link, which btw will not work with some browsers (ie. Linx). The main reasons behind using this type of form stems from two other benefits:
First, spambots cannot reach my email, which is very important when trying to conduct business online. Spam generated from displaying on the web can become phenomenal (literally hunderds a day), and spam screeners are imperfect. I actually received one "manual spam" that was complaining that they could not find my email!
Second, the information supplied by a form is dumped into a database where it can be both stored properly/automatically, and then retrieved easily.
Of course, none of this is important if it turns customers away, but I have to wonder how prevalent your viewpoint relative to the rest of the public?!
The intent is to add the phone number and mailing address to the pages once this is taken to the "live" stage.
Once into the online order system, there's a drop down menu for "state". Selecting "Missouri" will add sales tax to the order. Your reminder will help me to remember to put it on the mail-in forms! Payment of all orders is processed by hand, so if someone skips this step using either method it can be dealt with later.
A video addition is an interesting idea..... something I'll look into. That'll require a model, which means interviews..... I like this idea!! It strikes me as odd that I didn't think of this. (kT, looking over my shoulder, is not to hot on the idea of a model pushing my buttons) As mentioned in the original post, my thinking was to display it live at trade shows, but it is really so simple to use that there's not much to demonstrate. It will require an electrican to install, but after that, it's basically "plug and play". In other words, you plug the pump into the unit, turn the power switch on, and the remote becomes 'live'.
Ed: That's a good point about the expense of a trade show, including the travel. But I've been wanting to attend these trade shows as a patron... so it's working out to provide a vehicle for ulterior motives!
It was in my head that one could remember 6 functions, but it is something to reconsider. I find no problem with it in my cellar, but then again I designed and built the thing! I've got an optional transmitter that has places for name tags. Possibly some simple, waterproof stickers!?
Bill: In my very biased opinion, this device is as significant of an advancement as the remote control on TV's. Though you can change channels directly on a TV, how many people actually use those buttons in lieu of a remote?
It's interesting that you'd ask about how universal this is. I suppose it's not clear enough to state:
"Control any 240V, three phase motorized pump up to 2 HP."
or did you not page down to see the features? This configuration covers the vast majority of wine pumps in use.
It actually is best to have no controls on the pump at all... just a cord and plug is all that's required. But it will bypass any pump mounted controls.
The cost is about the same as the best remote controls that come with top of the line pumps. One savings would be that you would need only as many controls as pumps used simultaneously. In other words, a winery might have 4 or 5 types of pump, but only use 2 at any given time, so only 2 control units would be needed instead of 5. With this scenario, $4k will replace a $10k investment!
The control unit is easy to install, but I recommend a qualified electrician as it does need to be hardwired in to be compliant with most codes.
The unit is preprogrammed, but if a different speed is desired beyond the preset, the user will need to change that via a simple program (already detailed in the [incomplete] manual).
How about a demo CD that could have slide show or possibly a "movie" displayed on a PC? They make those cut down CD's for this type of purpose that would be easy to make and mail.
Thanx for all the questions everyone. This is very helpful in knowing what more needs to be added to the site..... including clarity!
clyde