GENS100 SOFTWARE 2026-10-05 22:07

What we build

There are three ways to work with us. We write something for you, or build onto open source you already run. Either way it sits on our own framework, so it is quicker to build and cheaper to keep running. Or you take one of our products as it comes.

BespokeGENS101

Software written for your workflows, your data and your constraints, rather than a product you bend the business around. For core systems that usually costs less over its life than the alternative: no per-user licensing, no forced upgrades, and no vendor roadmap to wait on.

Specification
Requirements and acceptance criteria agreed in writing before any code is written.
Design
Data flows, integrations, security and audit, worked out against how you actually operate.
Delivery
In short stages, so you see it working early and can change direction while it is cheap to.
Deployment
Repeatable builds, monitoring and the operational notes to run it.
Afterwards
Changes, tuning and long-term maintenance, for as long as the system is in service.

You get the full source of what we write for you, so you can audit it, fix it, extend it and meet new compliance requirements without depending on our availability or our prices. The terms are on our licensing page.

SpecialitiesGENS102
Integration
Connectors and middleware between your internal systems and the outside world: live stock checks against your ERP for an ecommerce site, tracking information, orders flowing both ways, and Salesforce connectors.
Matrix middleware
Moving large JSON objects between automated systems over the Matrix federated network, so systems in different organisations can exchange data without a point-to-point link between each pair.
Chatbots
GENChat, our multi-tenant chat platform: embeddable on any site, with pluggable AI backends, deterministic orchestration first and the model as one part of it, and escalation to a person. There is one at the bottom right of this page.
Branded clients
A corporate version of Firefox, Thunderbird or Betterbird: your logo, colours and start page, with almost every setting configured and locked centrally through policies.json. See corporate Firefox and Thunderbird branding.
Legacy
Dockerising and virtualising legacy products, so software you depend on keeps running long after the hardware or operating system it was written for has gone.
EmbeddedGENS103

Software that lives inside hardware, where it has to look after itself.

Automotive
Embedded automotive software on QNX, for a vehicle manufacturer and its tier-one supplier.
Energy
Embedded software for Victron Cerbo systems.
Robotics
Controller firmware for robotics.
Medical
Firmware for patient convenience equipment, driving micro hydraulics for positioning and for getting in and out easily.
Qt
Our first Qt work was for Nokia's phones, and we have used it ever since: embedded devices, scrolling signage and small display screens, and today Qt 6 on alternative mobile operating systems such as Sailfish.
SIP phones
Embedded applications for Android and Linux SIP phones, putting corporate services directly on the handset.
Time and attendance
A complete software emulator of Feedback Data's FB495 terminals, for load testing the applications behind them, and the companion reader and discriminator that receives clocking data from the Feedback Data network and passes it to applications. Middleware for ZKTeco terminals does the same for time and attendance and access control systems.
Orbit
Firmware for communications satellites, still flying. The story is on our about page.
Open sourceGENS104

Often the best start is something that already exists. Open source gives you a proven base that anyone can inspect, built on open standards, with no single vendor to be locked into. We build what makes your organisation different on top of it, and contribute fixes upstream where that makes sense.

Modules
Custom modules and plugins for established platforms: MantisBT, Odoo, ERPNext, SuiteCRM and SugarCRM, Matrix, Zitadel, Virtualmin and Usermin, and more.
Integration
Connections to the services, APIs and data you already have.
Enhancement
New features, better performance, and legacy components brought up to date.
Hardening
Refactoring for maintainability and security.
The frameworkGENS105

Most of what we write in PHP sits on our Standard Framework, a procedural library of nearly 90 functions refined over years of client work. Every new system starts with the dull, risky parts already written and already proven in production, so the time goes on your business logic. It also means a developer who knows one of our systems can find their way around any of them.

Input
filterGET() and filterPOST() validate every request value against a declared type and length before the application sees it.
Database
getSQLRow(), getSQLRows(), execSQLID(), execSQLUpdate() and the rest: one layer for all queries, so the database underneath can change without touching the application.
Security
encrypt(), decrypt(), package() and generateChecksum(), using AES-256 and HMAC-SHA256.
Validation
validateEmail(), checkUKTelephone(), validateIP(), isValidHostname(), validateDateTime().
Time
utc2local() and local2utc(): stored in UTC, shown in local time, BST and GMT handled.
Output
MDtoStyledHTML(), HTMLtoTEXT(), ANSI2HTML(), str_putcsv(), converttoYAML().
Diagnostics
logit(), dumpAllVars(), HexDump().
ProductsGENS106

Working tools, in production, available on their own or as part of a wider system.

Cross platform
Desktop and command-line tools for Windows, macOS and Linux: connectivity diagnostics, deployment automation, staged rollouts and scriptable SQL query tooling.
Mozilla
Extensions for Thunderbird, Betterbird and the Mozilla platform: enterprise mail provisioning, central administration and client management.
Web based
Browser-delivered applications and embeddable widgets: multi-tenant chat with AI orchestration, customer portals and web tooling.
Asterisk
Modules, utilities and integrations for Asterisk and FreePBX: call routing, provisioning automation and operational tooling.
Proxmox
Tools for Proxmox and general systems administration: VM lifecycle, backup orchestration and operational scripts.
StartGENS107

If you have a system to build, rescue or keep running, tell us about it.