Frequent Questions

Some frequently asked questions. We are happy to answer these and any other question related to SemTalk individually.

Microsoft Visio is a great tool to document business processes. Why should I use additionally SemTalk? The real cost of a process model is not the cost of the modeling tool, but it is cost for creation and maintenance of the model. SemTalk adds a built-in database to the graphical capabilities of Visio without limiting the user to a specific shapeset. This improves the quality of the diagrams. Reusability, maintenance, and reporting is significantly improved. Renaming an object on one page will rename the same object on all pages. The user interface of Visio can be simplified so that learning effort is reduced.
Our company made a huge investment in other modeling tools years ago. Why should we change SemTalk now? Even in corporations already having a 'standard' for business process modeling most people use PowerPoint, Excel or Visio to create flow charts. 'Professional' tool are often used only by IT specialists or external consultants. With SemTalk the operating departments get a compatible alternative with full functionality.
What is the main application area of SemTalk? SemTalk is being used most often to document processes for quality management and while introduction of new ERP software. Project results are usually published as HTML in the intranet.
What is the difference to other Visio based process modeling tools? Other Visio based process modeling tools implement usually one fixed modeling method. With SemTalk you have a lot more flexibility. Existing methods can easily be extend by additional Visio shapes or completely built from scratch. Consulting firms will match the requirements of their customers. Users can develop their notations without programming.
What is the 'Semantic Web'? The main idea of Tim Berners-Lee was to build up a new machine readable Internet as an extension to the current textual Internet. Some of this data is representing knowledge models ('Ontologies'), which is represented using a W3C recommendation named 'OWL'. SemTalk reads and writes OWL files. All knowledge which is available on the Semantic Web can be used for process models.
Which Visio versions are supported? Visio Visio 2007 and Visio 2010 are supported.
Does SemTalk include a Visio licence? A Visio license is not included, because most of our larger customer already use Visio. You may buy Visio licences for a discounted price from us bundled with SemTalk.
Which Office versions are supported in interfaces? For process modeling no Microsoft Office is required (just Visio is needed).For interfaces to Excel, PowerPoint and Project at least Version 2007 is required.
Is there an interface to ARIS? Yes. ARIS EPCs can be exchanged via ARIS XML interface (AML).
Does Semtation GmbH offer consulting services? Semtation GmbH offers tool related consulting such as training and coaching. We are happy to refer you to our experienced partner for consulting services.
Is SemTalk Open Source? No. Being a pure tool vendor we need some license fees. We are supporting partners which are building solutions on top of SemTalk with know how and source code.
We have a large amount of processes described in Visio/Excel. How can we migrate the models to SemTalk? Data may be imported via MS Excel. For structured Excel data we provide sample VBA scripts, that import data in SemTalk. For Visio diagrams we can make an individual offer after a short review of sample data.
Which interfaces are supported by SemTalk? XML export via reports, HTML, MS Word, MS Excel bidirectional, MS PowerPoint, MS Project bidirectional, XML Schema for InfoPath, OWL and RDFS bidirectional for Semantic Web, ARIS via EPML, Workflow Management Coalition Inferface 1 (XPDL), Bonapart und Rational Rose UML class diagrams upon request, SAP R/3 reference model, SAP Solution Composer. WSDL Import und BPEL Export from BPMN.
What are the installation requirements for SemTalk? SemTalk requires MS Visio 2007 or 2010 and DotNet Framework 4.0.
Where did you get the SemTalk logo? http://www.wilmawiegmann.com
For more questions: support@semtalk.com