Comparing Child Day Care Software

Comparing and buying child care and day care software for your child or day care center can be simplified by comparing the choices of child care software made by your business associates. This is an excellent starting point in finding the right child care software for use in your child or day care center.

ASK QUESTIONS OF YOUR ASSOCIATES.

  1.  Are they happy with the Ease-of-Use of their childcare software program?
  2. Is the software tech support friendly and helpful when it is needed, or do they have to wait for answers or E-mails?
  3. Is their tech support Toll-Free, or do they have to purchase a yearly support plan?
  4. Would they buy the child care software program again if they were starting over in their search for help, or would they consider other child care software programs?
     

LIST YOUR MAJOR CONCERNS.

Write down the list of items that you need help with at your childcare center so that you can be sure each vendor will be able to include the solutions to your concerns. You can minimize your up front costs by buying only the modules that are needed for your individual center's needs.

ADD THE INTERNET TO YOUR SEARCH.

Those buyers influenced by the glitz and glamour of large marketing and advertising campaigns will find child care software vendors with highly optimized web sites for higher rankings and with higher PAID advertising positions. They will see prices starting at $1250 up to $5000.

Those child care shoppers focused on Lowest Price will also have choices of their own, starting from $79.

Those child care software buyers looking for the Best Value for their money will find software choices up to $850 for more fully developed and more mature child care software programs with more comprehensive lines of features and options.

Since you are going to have a considerable amount of time invested in learning to use each one while evaluating these programs and comparing one to another, make wise choices about your starting point!

CONTACT EACH CHILD CARE SOFTWARE VENDOR

Explain your needs from the list you have compiled and ask them for a fixed price quote for your specific needs, and request a fully working DEMO of their software. Verify that you can enter data from your child care center into the DEMO for your evaluation.

Be sure to ask each vendor for a list of local references that you can call for their input.

Check out both their Privacy Policy and their Return Policy on their website. After all, you do not want to get stuck with a software program that just is not your cup of tea if you find it less than helpful for your use.

Privacy issues are becoming more important each and every day. If you are not comfortable with the Privacy Statement from the software vendor under consideration, there are lots of other child care software companies that have different viewpoints on whose security is most important---theirs or yours!

Be comfortable in your choice of companies to whom you provide private information in order to maintain your individual privacy and avoid being added to junk e-mail lists as well.

Emerging Technologies is so concerned about internet privacy and security that we offer an "Off-Line" toll-free Hot Line Callback to further enhance your privacy by completing all transactions "Off-Line" by simply clicking for an immediate return phone call, if so desired.

COMPARE EASE-OF-USE

No software vendor would ever say that their software is "Hard-to-use," but there is a simple way to compare "Ease-of-Use:"

  1. Assume a family of four: mother, father, son, and daughter. Into each vendor's Demo program, enter the data for enrolling the family of four.
  2. While entering the individual data for the family, simply count the number of screens that you must enter and leave, and count the number of mouse clicks required to accomplish the tasks in each software vendor's program.
  3. Simply put:
    "Count the clicks and count the screens,
    You'll soon see what Easy means."
  4. Office Center is a child care software program that allows you the flexibility to maneuver around in the program Everywhere with "Open Forms," No longer is it necessary to open and close numerous numbers of screens in order to get your work done. You will never again get lost when the telephone rings or a crying child needs your attention.
     

Compare the following:

Features
Does the software program do all the tasks that you need to have accomplished?
Support Pricing
Is the support FREE, or do you have to purchase a Support Plan with yearly fees, and at what total yearly cost?
Warranties
How long is the software warranty?
Return Policy
If you find that the program just is not for you, how long do you have for an evaluation before you return it?
Privacy Policy
Is the software vendor more concerned about protecting their privacy or is YOUR privacy the important consideration?
Expandability
Will the software program allow you to grow your center and not outgrow your software?
Flexibility
Can you easily accomplish a task the way you would like?
Ease of Use
How easy will it be to each to assistants?
Vendor Maturity
Will your software vendor be around to support you later when you may need assistance?
Compare value, not just price
What price do you put on the value of your time?
How long has the software vendor been providing child care solutions?
Are they simply adding a "Child Care" front end to software from another market just to allow sales in the child care field?
Does it simplify your work load and help you manage your time productively with less stress?

Feature Comparison Printout for Your Software Comparison
Print out our Software Child Care Comparison Shopping Guide.

May we send you a Free DEMO to make it easier to find the best child or day care software and make your life easier and less stressful?