Bespoke Software Development · Portals, intranets, SaaS and complete systems
Software built around your business, with the hardware to run it.
Our bespoke software development turns the way your business runs into a system that fits it: client portals, intranets, mobile apps, software you use as a service, and complete systems with screens, cameras and devices we build and test in our own Dunfermline workshop. We host the software in the UK, look after it and keep improving it as you grow.
Paying for software that doesn’t quite fit?
Bespoke software works the way your business already does, and it can run the screens and devices around it too.
You pay for several apps and still work around all of them
One system shaped around the way your business actually works
Customers ring or email to ask where things have got to
A secure portal where customers check progress, documents and invoices
The same change goes on the website, the screens and a spreadsheet
Change it once, and the website and screens update by themselves
Job sheets and forms get filled in on paper, then typed up later
Forms on a phone or tablet, with photos and signatures, straight into the system
Screens, cameras and devices each need their own app and log-in
Hardware from our workshop, run by your software and supported remotely
Your figures live in spreadsheets nobody quite trusts
Live dashboards and reports your whole team can rely on
Eye Right Referrals, an independent veterinary eye referral service with clinics across Scotland, takes bookings through a system we built.
Custom software development, from portals to complete systems.
All the custom software solutions we build start with how your business works and what you want it to do. Most of them run in a web browser on our UK cloud hosting, some as mobile apps for iPhone and Android, and where they need screens, cameras or tablets, we supply and set those up too.
Client portals
A secure log-in where customers see their jobs, documents, invoices and messages, instead of phoning to ask.
Staff intranets
Policies, forms, holiday requests and news in one place for your team, connected to Microsoft 365.
Your software, as a service
Your own system in a web browser, hosted in the UK, backed up and looked after by us, with new features as you grow.
Complete systems
Screens, cameras, media players and tablets, built and tested in our workshop and run by your software.
AI built in
Assistants that answer customers’ questions, open support tickets and take call-back requests, like Ping on this website.
Connected and automated
Forms, reminders and records flowing between your system, Microsoft 365, your accounts software and the other tools you use.
Booking systems and web applications →Mobile apps
iPhone and Android apps for your customers or your team, working from the same system as your portal and website.
Dashboards and reports
Live figures from your system on one screen, so you can see bookings, jobs and sales without building a spreadsheet.
Moving from old software
Your records checked and moved across to your bespoke software, with your team trained before the old system is switched off.
What could bespoke software do for your business?
Starting points by type of business. Each one is built around the way you work, and most can start small and grow with you.
Bookings, forms and training screens
Online bookings with reminders, secure forms to fill in before an appointment and screens for the waiting room. For Julia Hart Skin Clinic, we built live viewing of procedures so trainees can watch from another room.
Quotes, job sheets and certificates
An online quote calculator for your website, job sheets on a phone with photos and signatures, and a customer portal that keeps certificates, warranties and service reminders in one place.
Availability, bookings and service logs
A live availability calendar with online booking, a planner for deliveries and collections, and a QR code on every machine that opens its service history and manuals.
Client portals and onboarding
Secure document exchange for accountants, solicitors and consultants, onboarding forms and checklists, and a tracker so clients can see where their work has got to.
Listings, offers and in-store screens
Shop, event and offer listings your team updates once, shown on your website and on screens around the store or centre, with click and collect if you sell online.
What’s on, everywhere at once
Add an event once and it appears on your website, your TV screens and a guide guests open from a QR code, the way the Alhambra Theatre’s system works.
Trade catalogues and service records
A searchable parts catalogue with trade log-ins and quote requests, service records for every machine, and screens on the shop floor showing the day’s jobs.
Members, rotas and renewals
A members’ area with renewals, bookings and news, rotas for volunteers, and check-in at events from a phone or tablet.
Job tracking, start to finish
Booking in, job sheets, engineer notes, customer updates and a warranty register. Our own workshop runs on a system like this, built by us.
Hardware and software, from one team you can call.
Because we also build, repair and supply computers in our own workshop on Guildhall Street, we can deliver the whole system: the software, and the screens, media players, cameras, tablets and network it runs on. Your software developers and the engineers who build the hardware are one team, and we test every part on our bench before it goes anywhere near your premises.
For Julia Hart Skin Clinic, we built a live procedure viewing system so trainees can watch from another room: a camera and clip-on microphone in the treatment room, a private network over the clinic’s existing cabling, and a small viewing box behind each TV that starts the picture by itself. Nothing is recorded, there are no monthly licence fees, and we support it remotely.
- Built and tested in our Dunfermline workshop
- Screens, media players, cameras and tablets
- Private, secure networks for your devices
- Secure UK hosting, with backups and monitoring
- Remote support for the software and the hardware
- Training, and a plain-English guide at handover
Systems we’ve built for local businesses.
Eye Right Referrals’ booking system, Julia Hart Skin Clinic’s live viewing system and the Alhambra Theatre’s website and screens, all designed and built by our team.
Eye Right Referrals
Website · Booking System · DunfermlineA website with a full online booking system for an independent veterinary eye referral service, with clinics across Scotland.
Julia Hart Skin Clinic
System design · Private network · DunfermlineA private, plug-and-play live viewing system that lets trainees watch procedures, with sound, from other rooms.
Alhambra Theatre
Website · Screens · DunfermlineDunfermline’s Alhambra Theatre adds each show once, and it appears on the website and the TV screens in the theatre.
Reviews from clients we’ve built systems for.
Word for word from our Google profile, where we’re rated 4.9 from 64 reviews.
“It’s just as good behind the scenes. We add and update shows ourselves, and the same details automatically feed the TV screens in the theatre, so nothing gets updated twice.”
“Allan did an incredible job on my website, I am so happy I found him, he’s made setting up a business so much easier.”
“Any changes I asked for were done quickly, usually the same day, including a couple of fixes I’d spotted on my older phone. I can now add photos of recent jobs myself from my phone, which is a big help.”
Custom software development: common questions.
Something else? Call 01383 840808, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
What is bespoke software development?
It’s software designed and built around your business, instead of an off-the-shelf package your team has to work around. Bespoke or custom software might be a client portal, a staff intranet, a booking or job system, or a complete system with screens and devices, shaped around the way you work.
Is bespoke software worth it for a small business?
It often is when you’re paying for several apps that each do part of the job, typing the same details in twice or answering the same customer questions every day. A good place to start is the part that saves the most time, and we can add to it as you grow.
What’s the difference between bespoke software and a web application?
A web application is one kind of bespoke software: it runs in a web browser, so there’s nothing to install, and most of what we build works that way. Our web application development page covers booking systems, CRMs and job tracking in more detail.
What does software as a service mean here?
You use your own system in a web browser while we run it for you: we host it on secure UK cloud hosting, back it up, monitor it and keep it up to date, and we add features as your business changes. You have one team to call, and we’re Cyber Essentials certified.
Can you build a mobile app for iPhone and Android?
Yes. Our mobile app development covers iPhone and Android apps for your customers or your team, working from the same system as your portal and website, so bookings, job sheets and updates stay in one place. Sometimes a web app that works on any phone does the job just as well, and we’ll tell you which suits you before you commit to anything.
Do you supply and install the hardware too?
Yes. We supply screens, media players, cameras, tablets and the network they run on, build and test them in our Dunfermline workshop, install them and support them remotely once they’re in.
Can it connect to the systems we already use?
Yes, where it makes sense. We can connect it to Microsoft 365, your accounts software, CRM and sales platforms and other tools, so the same details aren’t typed into several places. If an old system no longer fits, we can move your data across and replace it.
How long does custom software development take?
It depends on the size of the system and whether there’s hardware to build and install. We agree a timeline at the start and keep you updated through planning, design, build, testing and launch, and a first version can go live while we work on the next part.
How do we choose between software development companies?
Look at systems they’ve built for businesses like yours and read their reviews. Ask who will look after the software once it’s live, where it’s hosted and who you call when something needs changing, and ask for an itemised quote showing the build and any monthly costs. We’re a custom software development company in Dunfermline, working with businesses across Scotland.
How much does custom software cost?
Every bespoke software project is priced on what your business needs, so we don’t have a standard price list. Book a free technology review and we’ll send a free, itemised quote in plain English, covering the build, any hardware and any monthly hosting and support, before any work starts. You can choose a low upfront cost with a monthly subscription, or pay for the build in full and own the code.
Who owns the bespoke software you build for us?
It depends on the terms in your contract. With a low upfront cost and a monthly subscription, you use the software under licence from us while we host it, support it and keep improving it. If you pay for the build in full, the code is yours. Your quote sets out both options, so you can choose what suits your business.
Tell us what you’d like your software to do.
We’ll talk through how your business runs today and what bespoke software, and any hardware around it, could do for you, with an itemised quote to follow.
24 Guildhall Street, Dunfermline, Fife, KY12 7NS01383 840808info@universalcomputing.co.ukBook a free technology review →