Since 1989, QwikFile® has been creating unique data solutions for Fire Service Managers and Public Safety Dispatchers that are powered by FileMaker®

It all started in 1985 when Steve Roethel, Owner/Developer of QwikFile sat down at a Compaq computer running a very early version of DOS and began using Enable-- a seemingly archaic dbase program that was not very intuitive or interesting. Soon after, he was asked to learn and operate a flat-file database program called Microsoft File on one of those tiny B&W Macs. Microsoft soon abandoned "File", but Roethel was off an running on Macs and using a newly released program called Claris FileMaker. A subsidiary of Apple Computer, Claris FileMaker offered slick full customizable navigation and relationships that were never seen before with such simplicity. Remember, "This was a time when the DOS community was holding their new found serial mouse in their hands with little clue what to do with it".

Harnessing the power of FileMaker, Roethel began developing solutions for just about anything from a fancy address book to a ballot system. In just a few years, QwikFile was launched along with the flagship solution QwikCard™.

Recognizing the needs of fire service managers to collect and process incident data for departmental and national fire statistics, the iReport™ was developed. With more than 33 years of fire service and other local government experience, Roethel had a clear grasp of municipal records management requirements and the intuitive functions needed for the end user.

Proudly, every solution and version released by QwikFile has earned the praise and approval by users. We commonly hear over and over, "It just works!"

Roethel attended an early Macworld Conference in Boston around 1990, he took a chin rubbing stroll through Apple's "Network Neighborhood"-- a conceptual and cultural internet display. He realized that Apple was fishing in a communications world few could comprehend. That same year, Apple unveiled a PDA-- both of these concepts were ahead of the time. None the less, Roethel was hooked, but it took nearly 10 years for the Internet and the dot-coms to surface. While the business community jumped on the Windows bandwagon, Roethel, a staunch advocate of Macs began focusing on web design and publishing.

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