BoardDocs

As a past executive secretary to the school board in St. Charles Parish, I used BoardDocs daily!

Vorteile:

The software is a tremendous Time savings for my position. The accuracy of voting and record keeping is top quality, the transparent for constituents is absolutely amazing and acceptable. The fact that users submit agenda items with attachments if need be is a plus! Capability of making corrections is a big help to me. . Record keeping is definitely a plus! The customer service is quick and knowledgeable. They are very friendly and efficient with concerns and returning phone calls.

Nachteile:

I can honestly say that since day one of using the board docs software we have had no downtime, no issues, and no major problems . I cannot think of any cons with the software. The annual conference is great but could use more sessions for users with more experience. Otherwise, I have no problems or suggestions for the program. We have implemented almost 99 percent of the software options. Thanks for an amazing service!

Easy Program to Use.

Kommentare: Program is easy to work with after some practice. Its is not complicated and requires many steps, this program is very simple.

Vorteile:

Our school can feature Agenda's to the public on the school website. And I can show minutes at least 2 days after when approved by Governing Board.

Nachteile:

I wish the program recorded meetings beyond 3 hours, and stored recordings in a file.

Good enough software

Vorteile:

I find it useful as a single repository for information for a public body, such as historical documents on a meeting and for keeping calendar information

Nachteile:

Search is terrible. The mobile usability was just updated, but it's still very clunky on a mobile phone.

Choose BoardDocs

Kommentare: BoardDocs has enabled our group to go from a paper agenda with supporting documents to an electronic agenda with the same documentation in an efficient manner. It offers transparency to our constituents who can access any information concerning the business of our School Board. Our users frequently comment on the ease of using BoardDocs and cannot imagine any other option of accessing public records, agendas, Minutes, and policies, by any other means.

Vorteile:

BoardDocs is user friendly. We have over 35 administrative users and with one walk-through of instruction from our local Super Publisher, a new user understands and is able to navigate the system. At the request of the customer, BoardDocs offers webinar support for new users as well, offering hands-on instruction. BoardDocs is user friendly to the public users as well. They can access Board member information, policies, agendas, Minutes, and supporting documentation with ease and little to no questions. BoardDocs programmers upgrade annually to enhance their product without interruption to the users and with no drastic cosmetic changes that are confusing. BoardDocs makes going paperless easy. A very reliable software program. Little to no server shutdown occurrences that prevent usage.

Nachteile:

Corrections to reported "bugs" are slow. Up to a year in a lot of cases. Programming issues are not resolved in a timely manner (in the instances that have affected our group). Ring Central for remote access does not work for our group; perhaps a second option could be offered. NOTE TO BOARDDOCS: The survey that BoardDocs offers occasionally after support resolutions. I do not complete the survey due to the time it takes and the repeated entry of user information that is required. A recommendation would be to offer a survey with embedded user information (so user information does not need to be entered); and is already completed with checked boxes at the #5 rating (offering boxes for ratings 1-5); the user has the option to click "Submit" (with all boxes checked as is), or can opt to change a rating of any boxes, and a box to type in remarks at the bottom. It would take about 5 seconds for the user to complete; and it gives valuable feedback to the company regarding the performance of their support team.

My experience using BoardDocs has been extremely positive. The software is very user friendly.

Kommentare: It provides for a much less stressful work environment especially when preparing for a Board meeting. The district saves money by not having to copy huge amounts of paper for each Board meeting.

Vorteile:

I love the ease of use and the technical support provided by BoardDocs. The Help feature in the software is great and the response time when I call BoardDocs directly with a question is exemplary. I can count on an immediate response. I use both the online Policy and Board Meeting software. I was able to confidently work in the programs almost immediately. Using BoardDocs has made preparing for Board meetings so much easier and less stressful for me. I'm impressed with the ability to attach all backup documents directly into BoardDocs and to be able to determine who can view which documents. Preparing minutes after Board meetings is also a smooth process. Finally, I believe BoardDocs has made it much more efficient for the Board of School Directors to provide information to the community it serves. Administrators, teachers and community member quickly view Board Policies and review Board meeting agendas and minutes from the district's website via a direct link to BoardDocs. Reviewing and updating Board policies is very easy and efficient, as well, and again provides a direct link for anyone to review all current policies. I've worked as the Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent for almost 30 years and I can say without hesitation that BoardDocs has been the most useful software I've ever been asked to learn and has saved me the most time and effort in my work day.

Nachteile:

In the 2+ years I've been working in the BoardDocs, I can't think of anything I really don't like about the software

Outstanding use of time, organization and transparency. I will never work again without BoardDocs!

Kommentare: Benefits I get from using BoardDocs are numerous. First of all, it is so fun to use, the support from BoardDocs staff is great. The immediate benefit was the time savings and ease of distribution. Instead of stopping to research a federal doctrine, mandate, state statute or form is merely a click on the link. I never tire of showing others how fast and easy it is to use BoardDocs.

Vorteile:

Hard to describe what I like most because I value all of the BoardDocs offerings. Since we started using BoardDocs in 2009, the time savings alone is invaluable, and it is truly paperless! Upgrades just make it better and better. But the efficiency of using this software, the support, the webinars, transparency, policies, archived documents, and uses in board meetings is truly incredible. Through BoardDocs, I make our District open and transparent, I can retrieve data in seconds, and I am able to use BoardDocs on my phone, iPad, computer, as it is truly mobile. I am a valued employee in helping make this School District shine! The training is outstanding and easy to grasp. For all that, I am so grateful for the software that I will not do what I do without BoardDocs!

My experience with BoardDocs has been very positive over the 9 years we've used the program.

Kommentare: I don't know that there's anything I dislike about the software other than a couple of quirky things mostly because it's a cloud-based program. Nothing major -- copying and pasting into the content areas and cleaning up formatting but I've learned how to manage it.

Vorteile:

It is a very user-friendly program and has so many options to fit what we need for Board meetings, committee meetings, policies, and communications. Options are available to make information public or remain confidential. We can customize who has access to meetings and committees and change settings that work best for us. Taking notes and recording votes during Board and committee meetings are easy which makes preparing minutes much quicker than when we did them manually. One of the nicest features is having historical access to all our Board and committee information in one location that is searchable and easy to access. Their customer service team is the best!! They respond and resolve issues quickly and offer ongoing free webinars to keep us updated on new features.

BoardDocs is outstanding! BoardDocs has saved multiple staff members in our district time & money.

Kommentare: Time saved creating agendas and minutes, ability to work ahead producing multiple agendas, ability to search for documents, can work from any device with internet access anywhere, ability to review and give final approval to agenda item submission by other staff members, almost no paper to print, and the ability to spend valuable time other job duties due to the efficiency of BoardDocs Pro.

Vorteile:

Super easy to use BoardDocs Pro, paperless, different individuals can submit agenda items, approval trees, agendas and attachments are searchable (ours and other district users), easy to re-order agenda items, drag and drop attachments, ability to work ahead on multiple draft agendas, automatically generates emails when making a meeting active/featured, online voting, use from any device with internet access (smart phone, tablet, laptop, or PC), multiple levels of access for appropriate users, links with NEOLA School Board Policies, and Awesome Customer Support from very friendly people, maybe I should just say ..... everything.

BoardDocs has been a game-changer for our district. Easy implementation!

Kommentare: Greater efficiency and organization

Vorteile:

The features and functionality of BoardDocs have exceeded our expectations and needs and have provided efficiencies beyond measure. The development and publishing of agendas and minutes is easy and hassle-free. Last minute changes are a breeze!

Nachteile:

There is very little that I don't like about BoardDocs, and perhaps one of the only things I would change is the ability to quickly see and manage the "people" list and who is assigned to which committees. As we have a large number of committees, it is sometimes important to be able to see who is assigned to which committees overall.

Increase Transparency and Communication

Vorteile:

BoardDocs has allowed our organization to increase its public board transparency and communication since transitioning to the platform. Our administration and board members are now able to better collaborate on policy development and meeting agendas. We also more easily track board motions and votes and can use the platforms metadata search to help guide policy and decision making.

Nachteile:

The platform is not as intuitive as our organization originally thought. It took a few months of board meetings to learn the exact process for efficiency.

Topnotch service

Kommentare: Well, I've been using this software for a year plus now and all I can say is that the services attached are so unique and different from others of its kind

Vorteile:

I love many things about this software, when talking about software designed majorly for school districts, it's the number one

Nachteile:

I've never any severe issue with this software, it has been so effective

BoardDocs is an outstanding tool that is cost effective, time efficient, and provides transparency.

Vorteile:

My favorite thing about BoardDocs is the toolbox provided within the software to run a smooth Board meeting, meet the needs of the Board members, and provide transparency to the community. The "Search" feature is a great tool for use in finding and viewing past Board reports and historical data, which helps Board members have all information needed when making decisions. The "Library" is also an outstanding tool for providing a variety of information to Board members and the public and is unrelated to a Board meeting . Lastly, the ease of uploading information into BoardDocs is simple, efficient and effective, and has reduced the workload of the Board Office Staff.

Nachteile:

My least favorite thing is that search items do not appear in date order. Regardless, it is an outstanding tool and easy to use.

Love BoardDocs and the ease of use!! Has great features and the customer support is outstanding!

Kommentare: Ease of agenda publications, minutes, board policies and the ability to archive past documents.
I can honestly say I don't have any cons on this software. The software is so easy to use, the BoardDocs staff is outstanding and so easy to work with and they have thought about everything you need to make board agendas and meetings go off with such professionalism and class. Thank you! Keep up the good work!

Vorteile:

Makes putting together board packets so easy and can be done from anywhere and anytime. I love being able to put agenda documents in for public, administrative and executive content. Eliminates the need for making multiple packets. Our public and staff appreciate being able to view the agenda during the meeting and see the motions/votes, etc. on the screen during the meetings. Our board loves being able to view documents, minutes, etc from past meetings with a simple search and to have the documents during the meeting electronically vs. hard copies. This product saves me so much time and paper. I can't say enough about how pleased we are with BoardDocs. I would encourage you to look at this product and would put BoardDocs on the top for software products such as this. Each time I've called I receive quick response to questions with knowledgeable staff members. They made the whole process easy and manageable. We were able to bring over our policy manual, past board agendas and minutes within a matter of a few weeks.

BoardDocs for Board Meetings

Kommentare: BoardDocs is a great addition to efficiently run our Board Meetings. The BoardDocs help line is always extremely helpful and efficient with their responses and response time.

Vorteile:

BoardDocs is a user friendly program that allows us to efficiently create meeting agendas. Utilizing the approval tree process, as well as being able to create both draft and template meeting agendas saves time for staff. Using BoardDocs during meetings is an extremely easy and smooth process allowing us the ability to input comments, statements, and questions during the meeting.

Nachteile:

One key feature missing with BoardDocs is the ability to create a template for meeting minutes. Having a customized template when producing minutes would save time and streamline the process for producing meeting minutes.

Time saver!

Kommentare: Creating and editing agendas used to take me much longer. With BoardDocs, creating and editing of agendas is incredibly easy. I like the ability to search (however, the search tool isn't the easiest to then find what you are looking for).

Vorteile:

BoardDocs enables me to quickly and efficiently create, organize, copy and modify my agendas. It also enables me to easily house all past and present agendas so our staff and public can easily view our agendas and minutes. Duplicating past agendas and agenda items is a snap!!

Nachteile:

The cost of the version that allows minutes creation is a bit pricey; however, I've found a pretty easy work-around to creating my minutes. When I first signed up with BoardDocs, customer service was one of the best I'd ever dealt with. In a past couple of years, customer service is definitely not at the same level. Searching past agendas could be streamlined somewhat (like having agenda in order by date).

BoardDocs Review

Kommentare: This has been a huge time saver, and I highly recommend it to anyone in public education.

Vorteile:

This software has been a Godsend. Everything is so easy to set up and maintain. My agendas and meetings are a breeze. I have found that, once I got the hang of it, policy updates are much easier. The collaboration between BoardDocs and Neola makes changes much easier. I love the fact that I can feature any policy changes that are up for 30-day review, making it easier for the public to see the proposed changes and provide comments.

Nachteile:

Form changes are still a little difficult, but changes are making this process easier.

There is nothing not to love about BoardDocs!

Kommentare: Using BoardDocs has solved the issue of printing the agenda and all exhibits for every board member prior to each meeting. Reams of paper were used throughout this process. If you noticed a mistake after agendas were printed, you needed to reprint the portion where the changes were made. Changes in BoardDocs is so simple and takes less than a minute to accomplish.

Vorteile:

BoardDocs is so easy to navigate through. I especially like the search function when I need to find a specific item that has been previously approved. I also like how the user receives policy updates through the Pro version of BoardDocs.

Nachteile:

At this time, I do not feel that BoardDocs is lacking in any area and it was actually quite easy to teach to all the other users.

Would highly recommend Boarddocs!

Kommentare: By using this program it cuts the amount of time literally in half for doing the Board Meeting Agendas.

Vorteile:

I like how you can move things around very easily. If something is in the wrong order or needs to be updated, it is very simple.

Nachteile:

Sometimes it is hard to do charts in boarddocs. But overall I really love using this program.

I have found BoardDocs easy to convert to, not only for myself, but for my board and administrators.

Kommentare: Ease of prepping the monthly Board agenda and minutes. It saves time and energy - there is no longer a need to spend hours at a copy machine producing the agenda and backup after spending time typing the body of the agenda. The use of BoardDocs also makes for a more efficient board meeting - the boards members have everything they need at their finger tips and do not need to go through reams of papers to find a specific backup item.

Vorteile:

I like the ease of using the software. It is functional and provides excellent manner to keep accurate records of our board meetings. The search option provides the ability to find previous actions without a hassle. And, the mega search is great when researching policies or those occasional resolutions that are of a different nature.

Nachteile:

The only thing that I would like to have ability to do is move attachments into the minutes. I know that the BoardDocs personnel are listening to the field and making adjustments and changes to the functionality of the software and maybe one day this will be one of the new features.

Highly Recommend BoardDocs

Kommentare: The ease of creating agendas and completing meeting minutes has saved a great amount of time.
I can access the system from home or my phone if need be. All past meeting information is a my fingertips with the easy to use search feature. The help line is extremely accessible. Rarely do I have to leave a message because the associates are busy but if I do the return call is always within minutes.

Vorteile:

As the Board clerk, the transition seemed daunting before I had the training. [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] came to my District and spent 2 full days setting up our Board of Education account and training me. After she left, I was confident that I would be able to get through my first Board meeting knowing that the help phone line was ready to help 24/7.

Nachteile:

I wish there was a shortcut listing of tips and tricks for the software

Easy and Excellent

Vorteile:

I appreciate how easy it is to create agendas and to move agenda items around within meetings or between meetings. Also, the search function is amazing. Because we have been using BoardDocs since 2007, and agendas include a large number of attachments, we are able to pull up archived items with just a few clicks rather than searching through file folders and hard copy Board minutes.

Nachteile:

The only drawback I see is the cost. Thankfully, our Board and administration continue to value the investment in this product. It is such a timesaver in my position!

Changed Work-life!

Kommentare: My overall experience with BoardDocs has been excellent. My entire team of users enjoy working with it and being able to go in and make corrections to their item(s) without it being such a hassle.

Vorteile:

This software saved my life! Before BoardDocs, I created by board agenda in a word document and then converted it to a PDF document for my board members. I was the one entering in the individual board items. My board agenda would take me sometimes an entire week of work to create and make it available to the board as well as the public. I am no longer stressed, overworked and I can leave work on time and not go home and continue to work.

Nachteile:

I wish the software had a function that will inform other users as to 'why' I had to reject a board item they submitted. I haven't yet begin to work with taking my board minutes in board docs because I think there are too many steps to make this happen. I haven't really wrapped my thoughts around this process.

Game Changer - Touchdown!!!

Kommentare: We have saved money but more importantly we have saved time. BoardDocs has never let me down and the system has never let my Board members down. Not once has the system gone down where we couldn't have a meeting. Love, Love, Love them!!!

Vorteile:

BoardDocs has been easy to use right from the set up and design of my meetings to training Board members. The archiving of meetings and minutes for history purposes has been a game changer. Everything is at your finger tips. What use to take me two days to compile and do now takes me maybe two hours to create. No delivering of packets to Board member houses and no more copying exhibits!!!

Nachteile:

Not one thing. Over the years if publishers needed a change to the platform all you would need to do is ask and BoardDocs would research the issue and then figure out how to make those changes to help make things easier for us.

My thoughts and opinion on Boarddocs

Kommentare: Our overall experience with Boarddocs has been a great one. The few times I have had to call I get a quick response and follow up from them. This is truly a great product that I would highly recommend to anyone.

Vorteile:

Boarddocs was very easy to transition to from what we were previously doing. The training was very well done which helped me be successful in learning the system. The school board members learned quickly as well. Boarddocs is definitely user friendly especially for those not electronically inclined.

Nachteile:

I would say the only con at times is not being able to have 2 people work in it at the same time. My boss and I would like to be able to do this but I can understand why it doesn't allow us to do this.

I use BoardDocs almost every day and I especially love their customer support.

Kommentare: I use BoardDocs for meetings and policies. Now NYSSBA also uses BoardDocs to post updated policies, so that also makes viewing and creating policies that much easier.

Vorteile:

Customer support is available 24/7. Not only are they always available, but the phone calls are answered very quickly. I speak to Pia very frequently, and she always goes above and beyond and stays with me to completion to make sure everything was taken care of. Also, they have made a number of improvements to the system regarding formatting and other items.

Nachteile:

In the beginning I didn't like it because of formatting issues when you cut and paste from word, but it has improved alot!