Who makes e-automate?

e-automate is made by ECI Software Solutions, a company that builds business-management software for several industries. Within office technology, ECI also makes Printanista and FMAudit, the device-monitoring tools that collect meter reads and supply alerts from printers and feed that data into e-automate.

What kind of businesses use e-automate?

Office technology dealers — companies that sell, lease, and service copiers, printers, and related office equipment. That includes managed print services (MPS) providers, which bill customers per page printed. These dealers use e-automate to run contracts, billing, service dispatch, inventory, and accounting from one system.

Is e-automate an ERP or a CRM?

e-automate is an ERP — a system that runs the operational and financial side of a dealership: billing, contracts, service, inventory, and accounting. It is not primarily a CRM (sales-pipeline tool), though dealers often connect CRMs, e-commerce storefronts, and support tools to it through integrations.

Can other software connect to e-automate?

Yes. e-automate supports third-party integrations, and an ecosystem of add-ons has grown around it — device monitoring, leasing and financing, sales tax, e-commerce, and AI-powered customer support. See what an e-automate integration is for the main categories.

What Is e-automate? Definition & Key Facts

e-automate is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system made by ECI Software Solutions for office technology dealers — the businesses that sell, lease, and service copiers, printers, and related equipment. It manages the dealer's core operations in one system: service contracts, meter billing, dispatch, inventory, purchasing, and accounting.

What e-automate does

Most office technology dealers run their entire business through e-automate. Rather than stitching together separate accounting, service, and billing tools, dealers use it as a single system of record. Its core functions include:

Contract management — tracking service agreements, lease terms, and what each customer is entitled to.
Meter billing — turning page counts (meter reads) from customer devices into per-page invoices.
Service dispatch — logging service calls, scheduling technicians, and tracking repairs.
Inventory and purchasing — managing toner, parts, and equipment stock.
Accounting — general ledger, accounts receivable and payable, and financial reporting.

Key facts

Made by: ECI Software Solutions, a business-management software company.
Category: Dealer ERP, sometimes called a dealer management system (DMS).
Used by: Office technology dealers, copier dealers, and managed print services (MPS) providers, primarily in North America.
Works with: Remote device-monitoring tools such as Printanista and FMAudit (also ECI products), which feed automated meter reads and supply alerts into e-automate.
Extensible: Third-party software connects to it through e-automate integrations for financing, tax, e-commerce, and customer support.

Why e-automate matters to dealers

Because e-automate holds the contract, billing, and service history for every customer, it is effectively the dealer's memory. Any tool a dealer adds — from device monitoring to customer support — is far more useful when it can read from and write to e-automate. That is why "does it integrate with e-automate?" is often the first question dealers ask about new software.

Related terms

How Auralis fits in

Auralis is the AI help desk that works inside e-automate. It answers customer questions — supply reorders, meter reads, service-call status — from the dealer's live e-automate records, and resolves up to 75% of routine requests without a person. Details are on the Auralis e-automate integration page.

Writing back to e-automate through the ESN API

Auralis connects as an ECI partner integration via the ESN API, so it does not stop at reading. A validated meter read posts to the machine. A confirmed toner order becomes a sales order. A service call the customer opened by phone lands on the dispatch board with the machine, the location and the problem code attached. Each write happens inside an approval threshold the dealer sets: a read within the variance posts on its own, anything outside it goes to a person with the reason attached before it posts. The dealer grants the permissions object by object and can revoke them at any time.

e-automate