FACTS

Excellent product for a VERY niche market

Avantages :

RenWeb is School Information System software. It allows the user to take attendance, track grades, generate report cards, as well as a HOST of other features. Very feature-rich. In years past, RenWeb sort of lost its way with not really understanding who its core customer was - K-12 schools. After the acquisition by FACTS, RenWeb has really turned the ship around.

Inconvénients :

I do not like that FACTS is completely re-branding RenWeb as FACTS SIS. It doesn't sound as good. It looks like they're admitting failure. My preference would simply to be a major revision overhaul and re-branding with the same name.

Exceeded expectations

Commentaires : After initial setup, usability and reliability are better than expected.

Avantages :

FACTS handles tuition billing. collections, and integration with Quickbooks Online.

Inconvénients :

Some features are tricky to use, but we are able to adapt to the software in order to achieve desired results.

So difficult to use, ugly interface, annoying to toggle between student and financial management

Commentaires : As an end user, I absolutely LOATHE FACTS. It is one of the worst user experiences I have ever had.

Avantages :

I do not like anything about FACTS except having access to lesson plans for our hybrid homeschool

Inconvénients :

I have been forced to use FACTS since the 20teens when my two older daughters were in school. At that time it was only for financial purposes, and I hated it then. It was cumbersome and difficult to use, and figuring out how the math was done was an exercise in frustration. Fast forward to the mid 20 twenties when my younger sons' school uses it for both class/assignment/grade management and financial management, and I know why I hated it then and still do. The class assignment section is ugly and outdated looking. And now with the financial 'upgrade', we have to login in AGAIN within the website to review the financial portion. I understand from the school that they also can't put in manual changes from their end, so basically everyone is at the mercy of unseen software administrators. Having to pay $25 to pay my balance in full is also really annoying, when I know the school is also paying for the 'privilege' of using the system and being paid. Last year they charged $.85 PER TRANSACTION! To draft money out of my account! So not only do they charge you, but you literally have no option but to give this company your sensitive financial information for them to store 'securely'. I guess? So far so good on that front, but who's to say how long that will last. The app costs as well, in addition to the school paying, and me paying for the privilege of paying tuition, we also have to pay for the app.

Constantly improving software for schools

Commentaires : We use Renweb throughout our entire school. We use their basic Student Information System as well as their value added Online Application/Online Enrollment. Overall their system helps us accomplish much more than our past paper system, although we have frustrations about the functionality of the features and ease of use from time to time. Fortunately their customer service is too notch and there's never been a question or issue they haven't walked with us through. They are currently in the process of updating their entire system from a desktop version to a web-based. Once this transition is completed and the bugs are worked out, they will have a sleek, modern interface that isn't as clunky and is more user friendly. Their value added product of Online Application/Online Enrollment leaves a bit to be desired but is a cost effective solution. It is not as user friendly for the families going through the process and doesn't make it easy to simplify some of the steps. We've enjoyed working with Renweb so far and would recommend the software to another school that is willing to put in the time and resources to work with a company that is in the process of updating their systems.

Avantages :

The customer service is the best part of using Renweb. They have a lot of self-help articles and videos. If you are crunched for time or can't find the answer you need just call them and they are more than happy to walk you through the issue! Another great thing is to have everything you need to run a school in one system! That simplifies all of our lives. They've even developed an integration with FACTS to make billing streamlined!

Inconvénients :

The fact that Renweb is creating a new online system and going away from their desktop based system will be great once it's finished. Right now it's frustrating to be stuck between the two systems with some important features not functional online yet (I know because I have a mac and can't use the desktop version). Some aspects of Renweb are clunky and not well organized which can be frustrating when you are trying to figure something out and don't have a lot of time.

Powerful software but slow to innovate and address issues

Commentaires : I've been using RenWeb for five (5) years now and have a major love/hate relationship with it. It's expensive to get started and then expensive if you want to adjust anything. Thousands to add a custom logo to the report cards. The financial account system is not GAAP compliant and their response was "we're not an accounting software company." But if you're going to have the feature then do it right. The online teacher portal is not Chrome compliant and it took four years to get the Parent Portal working on Chrome. For two years I had to tell parents to run IE in compatability mode to get it to work. RenWeb1 (theire new online portal) was announced and pused 1.5 years ago and still is not functional. They promised an Android app when we signed up five years ago (it's only 3-6 months away - they promised) . It tooke 3 years to get it functional. They are extremely slow to inovate. Their modules do not integrate well. If you put something on your lesson plans on a specific date, only certain entries can be added automatically to your classroom calendar and then your gradebook. So for many things you have enter the same information 3 or 4 times to get it to each location. This results in frustration on the teachers part and lack of use. What keeps me with them are the tuition management module and the student (afterschool care) time clock. The student clock creates unique barcode scanner cards for authorized pickups to ensure the correct person is picking up the kids. This one feature is about the only thing that keeps me with RenWeb. There is no Google Apps for Education integration, but according to them "it's coming soon". The last time I heard that statement, it was three years. That's not soon.

Avantages :

One stop shop for multiple software applications

Inconvénients :

Slow to innovate, expensive add ons, frustrating software functionality