FRONTSTEPS Erfahrungen

Dwelling Live;

Kommentare: I pain to login as a resident/user... every time I have to scramble to find email and old password, and it looks like an old accounting software platform -- but it's functional for event conference room bookings.

Vorteile:

The calendar booking function for rooms/banquets.

Nachteile:

That chat board and/app integration. There are plenty of neighborhood community chat boards...they tried, we have a few dozen users in it, but most everyone still goes to Nextdoor.com or the facebook page.

Great All-in-One Solution for HOA Management

Kommentare: Despite the con I have shared, it truly is a great platform and has been a great solution for us. We are a small team and this was a big step for us that has enabled more efficiencies, increased revenue capture, and different revenue opportunities. These would not have been possible without their products.

Vorteile:

The tightly integrated back-end software to the front-end owner platform is second to none. The ease of use of both Caliber and Frontsteps is critical to our managers being efficient in their daily tasks. It enables collaborative management between our managers and volunteer board members. They are always innovating and improving the software based on feedback we can provide to them.

Nachteile:

Personally, having lead our migration to Frontsteps from a prior platform and being a power user, sometimes I feel like I am solving my own problems rather than getting adequate support from their dedicated support teams. Things don't always get resolved right, and sometimes it seems our critical issues are not viewed with the same importance.

They suck

Vorteile:

I like nothing about Fronsteps - it is truly garbage software

Nachteile:

Frontsteps is a crappy software package. It is very limited in terms of customizing, they change features without telling clients, their service is bad, and they do not backup their servers. We had roles changed on us, which confused one of our users - causing the user to accidentally delete a content folder. When we contacted Frontsteps for a backup within 10 minutes of the incident, they told us they don't do backups. The worse experience.

Less than positive experience

Kommentare: My overall experience with FrontSteps/Caliber has been less that positive.

Vorteile:

The integrated software which allows Compliance data and Architectural data to integrate with accounting.

Nachteile:

The issues that I have found that can never be addressed properly from an accounting standpoint. There is no one there knowledgeable in accounting who can understand the issues

Frontsteps Suite of Products

Vorteile:

Frontsteps is very user friendly and easy to roll out to a wide range of individuals.

Nachteile:

We really don’t have complaints as Frontsteps works to quickly find a fix or upgrade when issues arrive.

Easy to use!

Kommentare: Homeowner payments and notifications are definitely the best part of this site, and of course, the ability to communicate with members inside of this portal instead of a separate email process is quite nice.

Vorteile:

The set up of the site was really easy. I can be technologically challenged, and since this is not my primary job or service that we provide to our clients, it is nice to be able to set it up without too much assistance! The daily notifications and ease of operation is also quite nice.

Nachteile:

There is always room for improvement.... It would be nice to have a "general information" page available on the main screen, as opposed to only recent bulletins that have gone out. It would make it easier for members to be able to find important information without having to search for it.

Review

Kommentare: The learning curve has been long but that is probably more todo with the size of our company and needing to know everything, not just the AP or AR or ARC, etc. portion.

Vorteile:

Filled an AIO solution instead of multiple vendor options.

Nachteile:

There are constraints that do not allow the end user flexibility in undoing or removing an entry or repairing a mistake.

FRONTSTEPS COMMUNITY, A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Kommentare: The experience with FRONTSTEPS has been great. Not perfect, but definitely great. They are a great business partner that is willing to listen to what works, what doesn't, why it doesn't work, and how to improve. They truly are working with you thru whatever issue you have to overcome and find resolution. It's been a pretty gratifying experience so far and we look forward to much more from them.

Vorteile:

Ease of use for our client as well as the many options that put information at their fingertips.

Nachteile:

Always cost. As the COO, I want the best of the best but I don't necessarily want to pay for it. However, what FRONTSTEPS brings to the table and continues to improve on far outweighs my thoughts on cost.

10 Years and Counting

Vorteile:

We have used Frontsteps' accounting software, Caliber, for 10 years. We recently transitioned from a third-party portal provider to Frontsteps Community and are really happy with the decision. Working with one provider was a major consideration in making the move. Through Frontsteps, we have access to all the products our Clients need, making our jobs easier and our Clients happier.

Nachteile:

Our industry is always changing and these changes often require us to make quick adjustments to our processes. As a software provider serving management companies all over, Frontsteps is not always immediately privy to legal changes, especially those in just one state. I am sure this challenge is not limited to Frontsteps and is instead felt by all software providers. Fortunately, we have always had a strong relationship with Frontsteps. When something changes or a need arises, their teams listen to us, work to fully understand our concerns and implement thorough solutions.

Oversold with no support

Kommentare: Communication is extremely poor, i find myself every week sending emails with no response, i mean NO response. But Friday and Monday i get sales pitch calls to add items so they can make money off my site. How about you make them work first...that guys response. Oh, that is another department.

Vorteile:

There is a central location to work from, however it just really isn't that important when site functionality isn't there. Unfortunate with 10 sites and none running as they should i have no real idea what the finished product entails. I'm not confident in 3 months it will be much better unless i pay an outside source to do it. I guess i don't have any real Pros and that is disappointing to me.

Nachteile:

No where near as promised, nearly everything is a do it yourself. The sales pitch - you will receive the site, we will convert information from the old and have more ability to do more things. Ummm. no... The main site is so bad i'm using my old which is an embarrassment, but it works. The other 9 sites, 4 of which are 100% not working, the other 5 are nothing like the old sites in ability to add and remove things. The site are much harder to use and find myself in need of hiring someone to see if they can actually provide what i need. What irks me the most - signed a contract based upon a promise. You can drop info into the new site, but making that info accessible is a major problem.

Frontsteps Review

Kommentare: Overall very good. FS has come a long way and I am excited about the future.

Vorteile:

[sensitive content hidden] have been great partners. I believe the outlook is good!

Nachteile:

I believe some of the processes are outdated. Could be more efficient.

Issue resolved quickly

Kommentare: Very Happy This was a problem that I had tried to correct for quite a while

Vorteile:

Addresses problem and corrected it swiftly

Nachteile:

I have no dislikes at this time and hope to have none in the future

Easy to use

Kommentare: Better than cinc and other programs I used in the past

Vorteile:

The tablet and app is easy to use for me and for the homeowners

Nachteile:

The program is just getting built and isn’t always easy to ise

Association Website a work in progress

Kommentare: Our page was originally set up through Evercondo who was purchased by Frontsteps. As the manager of the page I do not have the options to update and change much. Although this software is easy to use, it is not efficient to use. My experience with customer service has also been very poor and response time takes way too long. I am hoping that with the transition to Frontsteps there will be many improvements on the development team.

Vorteile:

The overall look and ease of use for users/residents is pretty simple to navigate. Communicating with users/residents is made easy by sending blasts to email and text. The users/residents can also toggle the type of notifications to reduce or increase the number of devices the notifications are sent. Sign up is pretty simple on both ends; the user and the management.

Nachteile:

As the manager of the page there are many areas that need improvement. There is no option for adding recurring items to the calendar which means I have to go in the each week of the calendar and add the same event. The files section is not use friendly either. You are unable to drag items/documents from 1 file to another. The only way to change locations of a document is to download the document from one folder, save it to a location on your computer then upload it to another file. I am not able to update/change or remove information on the landing page, It is only done by the Frontsteps team. There are many shortcomings, too many to leave here, that need work.

Caliber experience; from a Admin POV

Kommentare: My overall experience is overwhelmingly great! Since I begin working for the company and took over Caliber management; with the help of [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] and the support team, we have made tremendous strides. I work closest with [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN], and they make the Caliber experience awesome and assist in keeping things from being overwhelming. In a short amount of time, we have transformed the overall user experience for our company, yielding positive results. Kudos to the SUPPORT TEAM (again!!), Development [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] and upper management [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN]!

Vorteile:

What I enjoy most is the amount of features Caliber possesses. It allows for many options and different processes that allow the user to perform their job. Another aspect I enjoy is the integrated accounting within the Caliber. This feature assists in keeping everything in one place, which increases efficiency.

Nachteile:

From an admin perspective, what I like least is the sluggish processing time for some features. This causes numerous delays for our users; and in some instances requires full software or PC shutdown.

Frontsteps, an excellent program for Community Associations

Kommentare: Overall, excellent way to communicate to our residents with the use of bulletins, and the work order management system.

Vorteile:

Frontsteps is easy to set up, customize options to suit your needs.

Nachteile:

Would like the ability to add to the menu on the left side of the page entering the site after log on. I was tol we could not. I wanted to add links to Dwelling Live and accounting software.

Caliber Association Management

Kommentare: Very good. Response time for Caliber has improved.

Vorteile:

Management functions, e.g., compliance, work orders, ARB use the same type dialogue for the process which makes for easier training. The GUI is pretty standard with right-click functions.

Nachteile:

Missing reports for management. Changes to the program do not appear to be vetted well prior to global release. Association Management programs fall into the "one size fits all" because they cross State lines thus having to meet certain State Statutes. Suggest that a company design a program that could be State specific or regional and maintain an open architecture to allow user features to be easily added.

Frontsteps Admin

Kommentare: The websites we use for our associations have many benefits, and saves the associations money for distributing newsletters, flyers, etc. which is always a good thing! The board likes seeing their information on the website in a timely fashion, and that is easy to do with Frontsteps.

Vorteile:

As the administrative person utilizing this Frontsteps for Association websites, I like the ease of the functions to get done what I need. I just find the place I need to add or delete information for, and follow the prompts. With changes happening quickly with condo management, this is important so I can easily make the changes needed on a weekly basis!

Nachteile:

I was not involved in the set up of Frontsteps websites for the associations, but once they were up and running, it was easy to get going. I will say the owners sometimes have trouble signing in, or remembering user name or password and we have to reset that on our end.

Announcements function is gltichy

Kommentare: Access device management including use by staff at 24/7 gated entries.

Vorteile:

The ability to use for resident contact, guest management, adding access devices, vehicle information and until the last two months posting announcements that would be sent to all resident users.

Nachteile:

Limited calendar functionality and not being able to post announcements that would be sent to our community residents.

Not Worth Using

Kommentare: No control over features that were told to us worked. Payment portal was used and months later we still don’t know where the money went. We’re told it’s another companies software and to deal with them as a solution.

Vorteile:

Simple menus to use, and owner access is somewhat easy

Nachteile:

Tech and customer support is horrible. The instructions and how to videos are out dated and no timeframe to update. It’s difficult to speak to a real person, especially with the financial support. We still have money missing. A lot of features there isn’t a way to undo.

Caliber / FrontSteps Review

Vorteile:

Easy to use and holds so much data. We've stated many time how deep the software is. We like how it can handle both accounting and community management items so only one software is needed.

Nachteile:

Certain features lack ability to customize to our needs. Delinquency process is the area we have struggled the most to get the software to function with our process. Now that we have used the software for over 4 years, it would be nice to have training for 1-2 people in our company to have super admin rights. We have to contact support many time to correct issues. With proper training and access we could correct on our end.

The good the bad and the ugly

Kommentare: We are primarily an association management company with 25 clients and about 10000 doors. We use Caliber daily. The accounting is solid but has its issues. We supplement this software with other solutions that are more efficient. We would like to get rid of our software sprawl and have high hopes since frontsteps took over caliber.

Vorteile:

It is fairly priced and since it was purchased by FS it has seen some imprvoements.

Nachteile:

The compliance features on the Surface tablets was unusable.

Wonderful Customer Service

Kommentare: Front Steps acquired the dwellinglive service so we didn't have a choice to not use them. It has been a pretty smooth transition. I would like a FAQ section for frequently asked questions or a live chat would be a great option, with that being said the customer care rep called me quickly and assisted me with my issue very expeditiously. She was knowledgeable, patient and courteous throughout the process.

Vorteile:

I like the support from the customer service assistance I received. The software is fine, but it's not as easy as I believe it could be.

Nachteile:

Not intuitive enough. Drop down menus would be helpful for questions as you fill in the data.

Caliber Review

Vorteile:

Caliber is easy to learn and use. When issues arise the customer service team is able to quickly resolve. Caliber can now be run from web applications allowing employees to use the program while working remotely

Nachteile:

Would be nice to have a more user friendly customizable report writer included in the software

Best Customer Service in America

Kommentare: I had deleted a very large vendor list file. It had 1,501 names of vendors/contractors. Within 24 hours the IT Tech, [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] - had emailed me an excel file that I could upload. We are a large 55+ community still under construction. We currently have 901 homes! We have a ton of contractors entering each day!

Vorteile:

The software is easy to use and great reports feature. It made my job much easier. Any time I have reached out to the IT Help Desk they were awesome! This is a great software program and the people behind it are even better.

Nachteile:

I did not find any feature that I did not like!