SmartRec

Pros

The customer service and their willingness to adapt the product.

Cons

Not being able to choose your own credit card processor.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing SmartRec

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to SmartRec

Pros

I like that someone can do their registration and input their own information as well as sign forms. I like that once registered we are able to do the attendance based off of the registration. I also like that is shows how many spots are available when registering.

Cons

The system is very difficult to use. After training and 6 months later, I still have to contact support weekly on how to do stuff because it is difficult to maneuver. Payments take a long time to get into our account (7-8 days) vs the competition (1-2 days). We stopped processing payments with Amilia. Also if you have to stop payments or make changes it is very difficult to do. It's not just cancel and done. Lastly my customers found the installments confusing. It shows the yearly payment. in my industry some people do charge monthly what we charge in a year. I would work better to have installments listed as monthly instead of annually. Also don't like you have to sign up for a yearly contract. We are just stuck with the service if we are not happy. Lastly credit card fees should be deducted when the transaction happens instead of being invoiced at the end of the month.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing SmartRec

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to SmartRec

Pros

The ability to put program registration into the customers hands

Cons

Limited functionality, the is not a lot of room to modify to personal needs

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing SmartRec

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to SmartRec

Pros

Very easy to integrate for developers. The API documentation is fairly robust. The recommendation system is also extremely useful.

Cons

The pricing model may drive away smaller businesses, and teams with limited budgets. The system is also complex especially if you're new to using smart rec.

Pros

The connection between activities and the calendar is seamless. Data is easy to pull and manipulate. End user experience is easy and friendly. Customer support is very helpful and resolute. Any bugs or issues (of which there are very few) are resolved quickly, or updates provided on a regular basis.

Cons

Not having language translations outside of English and French. Not being able to mark attendance as tardy (not just present or absent). Not having as much control/manipulation of the private lesson module.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing SmartRec

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to SmartRec

Pros

I love the user interface and how easy it is for people to navigate on the back end.

Cons

That creating an account doesn't finish the registration.
That there is no team or schedule creation feature, and no communication feature.

Pros

I really enjoy that Adult and Youth Programs can be accessed through the same interface. It’s such a big help for organizations managing both programs at the same time. I also love the organized home page that lets you see the most recent registrations, merchandise orders, and more. Setting up programs is fast and straightforward, with everything conveniently located in one spot. Gathering data for rosters is fantastic, although the medical form feature could use some improvement.

Cons

Customer service leaves much to be desired, with wait times sometimes exceeding two hours. There is a lack of responsiveness for phone inquiries, forcing users to communicate all issues via chat. Customer service representatives often expect individuals to resolve their own problems, providing little support for recurring issues that cause frustration. They constantly point you to articles, essentially requesting you figure it out. I truly miss the exceptional customer service we received from Campminder, our previous system, which was outstanding and deserving of an A+++. In contrast, I would rate [sensitive content hidden] customer service as just one star. The scholarship application process is quite cumbersome, especially when students register before being awarded. Smart Rec is not ideally suited for this procedure, resulting in a complicated and multi-step experience. Additionally, the medical forms available within this system are quite basic, offering little in terms of detail. Furthermore, the current system does not support the inclusion of volunteers, making it impossible to set them up within this platform currently. It is not possible to send an email containing links and customize it as needed. However, you can send a pdf, which does not achieve the desired result. Instead, you must generate a report and distribute it via a different platform to complete this task.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing SmartRec

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to SmartRec

Pros

We love how it integrates class registration and facility bookings with our CRM, Salesforce.

Cons

We would like cancellation policies to be able to be applied to facility bookings and for renters to be able to edit/cancel bookings themselves online based on the policy applied. We would also like membership status to be applied to facility booking renters as we can do for Activities. We would also like the ability to send a "hidden" link to studio/facility bookings in the way we can send a hidden link for an Activity. We would also like the ability to block a client from renting, putting a "do not rent" on their account if behavior or financial matters need to be addressed.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing SmartRec

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to SmartRec

Pros

User-friendliness, aesthetics, response-time, customer service

Cons

Lack of reporting capabilities, repetitive information required during purchases, capabilities around mass editing, ability to toggle memberships to different categories in the middle of the month, ability to retain payment information attached to a users account

Pros

From the initial inquiry to full implementation, the Amilia team were excellent throughout our experience. They provided excellent guidance and support at every step of the way. The software itself is user-friendly, both for our backend operations and for customers. We've received positive feedback from customers about how simple and seamless the booking process is. Additionally, Amilia offers a wide range of features that were crucial to our decision. We needed to manage multiple locations, incorporate a calendar, handle eCommerce, and more—and Amilia provided a solution for each requirement.

Cons

The only downside we've encountered is that tickets cannot be refunded directly, only credited back.

Pros

What we like the best with this software is to be able to mange our groups with different offers.

Cons

The ultimate fee to use online registration and payment on line is very expensive.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to SmartRec

Pros

The online store was a good option and generally easy to use

Cons

It is not integrated into a website so you need two different platforms

Pros

Its very user friendly and easy to use and navigate. would recommend it any day.

Cons

Can be more detailed what to record and when

Pros

I do appreciate that Amilia is pretty straight forward in its implementation. Most features do what they say they do. While there are some kinks still to be ironed out, the customer service has been pretty responsive with any problems we run into.

It's great seeing Amilia continually improve and take feedback.

Cons

While Amilia can be straightforward, it's not particularly streamlined. There's a lot of quality of life updates that I would like to see implemented to help us help our customers better.

1. The Client Billing and Purchases Tabs
- These tabs, while functionally they work fine, are a hassle to navigate for members that have lots of purchases and cancellations. Filters can help, but with classes that all have the same name, it's difficult.
- The item descriptions could be more visible in the folded state rather than just purchases/cancellations.
- Discounts and other adjustments clutter the view in large multi-item purchases. E.g. A person that registered for classes for the whole month will have a full page of discounts/classes to parse, which makes cancelling a hassle.
- I'm not sure if this is how my organization has set it up or Amilia, but there's a lot of extra qualifiers to names for things can be minimized to make it easier to read. Stripping some of the qualifiers (like the category it's found in, location, etc.) could make it much easier to read.
2. Account Members
- Adding multiple people at once on one account could be more streamlined. As it is right now is fine, although having to wait for submission/saving in between each person can slow down the process quite a bit.
- Archiving people does not appear to prevent things applying to that account. Sometimes patrons can still even see the archived person (in the italicized state).

Pros

The number one feature by far is online registration, before switching to Amilia we had to manually register all our clients. The process was inefficient and took up a lot of time that as a small and new club we needed to be spending on focusing and improving our core business. With our old system we had to chase people down for money, and deal with bounced cheques and all sorts of nonsense that no one in the services community should have to deal with. The online registration worked exactly as promised, and with that came all sorts of additional features like class management and communication tools that worked incredibly well. Having all our clients be forced to pay upfront saved us literally thousands of dollars our first year alone. Admittedly we were terrible at chasing people down with outstanding balances, but we didn't get into the gymnastics club business to become a accountants/collections officers. The online tools were super straight forward, and the customer support was fantastic. Every time we had an issue or problem with the system the customer support would provide prompt responses and walk us through the mistakes we had made or give detailed explanations as to how we could better set up our sessions to avoid future problems. They would even log into our account and make the changes for us that were labor intensive due to the type of mistakes we made when learning the system. Overall switching to Amilia was the smartest business we ever made.

Cons

It is expensive... but in life I've learned you tend to get what you pay for and this system it is totally worth it.

Pros

Amilia has a lot of valuable features and flexibility. The customer service is superior! Everyone is always extremely kind, patient, professional, and helpful!

Cons

Participants still need to insert personal information even if they are attending a class/session that is free where they do not need to insert credit card information. They do have some options on what information is required however, it is a preset setting that you as the administrator can not bypass or customize.

Pros

We appreciate the website integration, and ongoing added features that help us better operate.

Cons

We are having a hard time with the bookkeeping aspect of it; having to go on another platform to check deposits, and not being able to automatically reconcile operations so we still have to do it by hand in 2020.
Our customers are also having a hard time with the ease of use of the interface; we have gotten many calls that some were unable to register due to photo file restriction and other issues.

Pros

The service we get when we email you. Filters when available.

Cons

Too much data to look at from previous purchases, classes.

Pros

This software is super easy to use and offers a lot of flexibility. Its so much better than our last one! I also love that I can access it from anywhere.

Cons

Sometimes changes don't save and the gateway times out when making mass edits.

Pros

The customer service is first rate. Whenever we have a question or concern the Customer Service team is always available to give a quick answer to any issue we have.

Cons

We are very happy with the software and do not have a what we like least.

Pros

I most enjoy being able to see who has scanned in to our facility as well as the time and being able to know if their membership expired or if they have an account block.

Cons

Hearing back from the Customer service regarding a question. Most days they are gone by 5pm and I have to wait until the morning for a response.

Pros

I like the ability to message the Amilia team and get things done at their earliest convenience . The team is always helpful and works diligently to resolve issuse.

Cons

Our clients seem to have a hard time navigating the system.

Pros

SmartRec is easy to use. As a higher education faculty member, I was searching for a way to introduce parks and recreation software in the classroom. SmartRec was just the tool that I was looking for. Students need to be exposed to current technology that is utilized for managing staff, programs, facilities and customers. SmartRec tech support was amazing. They helped the students understand how to use the software, explore its many functions and interact with the many features and options that are available. Students really enjoy working within the activities, facilities, staffing, registration, and merchandise modules. SmartRec helped me create a meaningful experience for my college students that will be working with similar cloud base recreation software as they begin their professional careers in parks and recreation. The next classroom project using SmartRec will expose students in our budgeting class to cost recovery modules.

Cons

Not sure if there is anything that I have not liked about the software. I am a different type of user, being from an academic setting. I have received positive feedback from students about the flexibility of the software and that many of the features are intuitive.

Pros

Its very helpful to be able to share lists with staff
collecting fees is so much easier
Amilia doing the RL24 tax credits saves a lot of time
fun ways to integrate clubs themes/photos into activities

Cons

a couple of suggestions
Amilia could do review of companies sites so that they could have suggestions/catch mistakes to save time later on down the line
english and french pages would be helpful
also to add an email template feature so that we could send out e-mails to more than 50 people

Pros

Ease of use for both the internal and public side

Cons

We would like to have a template to create our own reports, ability to be able to adjust fees, and do our own merging. However we do understand why these are not available

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing SmartRec

Reasons for Switching to SmartRec

Pros

Its great for programs that are one time programs such as camps, drop in classes etc.

Cons

I find it difficult and complicated on the administrative side for subcriptions and when clients find loopholes in the system that we did not know exist. Running a child care center with multiple government funding - I am unsure with the subscriptions and our clients running into loopholes like not putting their card details in the system makes it for a longer problem solving process

Pros

The simplicity of the program and being able to make it easy for my camp directors

Cons

Reporting section needs to be able to show over a longer time period

Pros

Registrations are easy for members and ADMINS

Cons

Sometimes it's hard for our business to understand how it works/

Pros

Smart Rec is an amazing experience. Easy to use and follow.

Cons

I did not like how members can't find it easier to access.

Pros

Fonctionnalities
Friendly users
Good support team

Cons

Pricing by trade for non lucrative organisation

Pros

I liked how easy and convenient it makes the registration and payment process for online activities. Before using this platform, I used to waste a lot of time trying to find and sign up for community activities. But now, everything is in one place and I can do it from the comfort of my home.

Cons

I don't like the fact that not all activities offer a refund option in case of cancellation. This can be inconvenient if something unexpected arises and I cannot attend an activity that I have already paid for.

Pros

Amilia is an extremely powerful solution. It has the huge benefit that can be used in a very basic mode, or you can implement as much as business processes you have. A huge benefit that they offer, it is the customer support. The customer support team is extremely patient, professional, and always ready to help.

Cons

The mobile App it has a lot of areas for improvement. The possibility to have Amilia embedded in your business website should be carefully reviewed. There are minor UX scenarios where the system is not as friendly as you may expect.

Pros

Customer service and trouble shooting chat portal is wonderful! There is an Amilia Staffer ready to chat with you online within a few minutes of having an issue or question.
The client facing portals are attractive and for the most part easy to use.
Browser based, usable/accessible from almost any device.
Has an app for clients (though very limited)
Creates membership cards with scan bars and photos (also accessible in client app)

Cons

Only Merchandise goes through the POS... Nothing else does. (registrations, memberships, rentals, reservations) Shouldn't every transaction should go through the POS?
Can not export financial ledger codes and payment breakdown reports by individual locations. Maybe if every transaction went through a POS, then we could report ledger codes with payment forms for that specific POS location?
eChecks take 10 days to hit the bank
Can not create custom payment types
Reports are excel exports only. They are ugly and formatted poorly for print.
CardPointe (card connect) is the only card processing service available.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing SmartRec

Reasons for Switching to SmartRec

Pros

The customer service is great. We always have a quick response and can usually find an answer to our questions after speaking with someone.

Cons

The reporting features are severely lacking. If we are taking customers' money through this platform, there must be clear reports that show how much money has been brought in and when/how it is being disbursed to our bank account. It took us almost two years to navigate the existing financial reports to find the ones that actually showed us the information that we need. And in so doing, we found out that over $100k of payments have not been sent to our bank account. If the reporting was more clear, we would have been able to identify the issue years ago.

One of the main problems is that the information in the canned reports is not uniform across the reports themselves. So, trying to compare information across reports is very challenging. It would also be nice to be able to customize reports, so that the user can pull the information that is needed at their own convenience.

Pros

Two things:
- Customer support is quick to assist with problems & open with their response. If it's something the system can't do they let you know & attempt to help find solutions.
- They are constantly putting out new features. Since we started they have updated/launched at least 5 big updates.

Cons

Facilities. We do 50% of our revenue in facility rentals & the process they do have is fairly limited. We are missing many reports that would help us better manage facility rentals, emails to previous renters by facility and date, custom forms that uniquely tie to each rental and more. Also online bookings / groups are limited. When we add the campground's 140+ sites this fall finding anything in there is going to take forever. (You have to scroll through everything to find the location you are looking for) While booking there is no go to date option. You have to manually tab by month to the time you want to book for, even if it's years out.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing SmartRec

Reasons for Switching to SmartRec

Pros

So much. It is SO easy to use. I have worked at numerous companies with different online registration processes and Amilia is by far the most user friendly. It does everything we need it to do and so much more (but not so much that's confusing either). I enjoy that I can design attendance sheets to exactly what coaches need to know, customers are easy to look up by either parent or athlete name, their personal and payment information is right there. It's easy to export financials and reports into excel or as a PDF, being non-profit and passing this information onto a volunteer treasurer, ease of accessing that info is important. Creating & adding activities is also easy, I just added August birthday parties in 5 mins.
We have also had a lot less complaints or questions from customers regarding our this system registration. They find it simple & easy to access, especially during tax season this year.
I think my favourite part is that I can also view the store front as both an administrator or a customer. If I am unsure of font, pictures, anything I can very quickly pop onto the store front to see what the customers see.
Oh! Small thing, but I also appreciate the "Home" page after logging in. I love to see what classes have been registered for in the past 24 hrs, which months have been our busiest, to see customer visitation as soon as I log in. Not only does Amilia do that tracking for us, but it's easily visible.
Customer service and support has been AMAZING.

Cons

I do find a little on the pricey side. As a smaller-ish non-profit that's a big factor. It's not just Amilia but also adding in Netbanx fees. However, we just adjusted our fees to accommodate. As a positive, customers aren't constantly asking "why do I have to pay this processing fee."

I also find going between Amilia and Netbanx a little confusing. Sometimes dates or deposit amounts don't quite line up so it takes a little bit of digging and math to make sure transactions are being book keeped on our end properly. But, it really is a small issue.

It's hard to give a "least" when every time I have a problem, I relay it onto customer support and my issue is addressed within 24 hours. Even questions about Netbanx, Customer rep walked me through everything. Rep rocks ;)

Pros

We went from an antiquated software with no way for the end user to register online, the online registration platform has been a great feature for our team and members. The customer service chat and support is awesome, I typically have my issue figured out within a few hours. If not, they will follow up to help resolve. They are a newer software with limited capabilities compared to more established software's BUT they are always pushing out new features into Beta mode and willing to listen to our suggestions for improvement.

Cons

There are features that are limited compared to more established software's. Our biggest CON is that you cannot register or make any purchases from the app, it is simply your membership card and scheduled classes. We have some end users who say there are too many clicks to get through the registration process and would be easier if it was accomplished in 2-3 clicks.

Pros

Amilia is a user-friendly for company who has a lot of employees using the software. It is easy to understand, easy to learn and easy to find your way around. New employees don't need a big training, steps are pretty obvious once you know the basics of the software.
The best thing about Amilia is their after-sale service. They are always contacting you to make you confortable to call if you have any question. They are listening to your concern and trying the best they could to add the features you asked for. They are always doing follow-ups with their client.

Cons

It's hard to speak to someone when you call the technical support, you can wait a lot over the phone and finish on a voicemail. If you need immediate assistance, it's hard to get in touch with someone. It seems employee of Amilia working at the technical support are new. I had to chat with them often for technical problems, and rarely they can solve my problem. They are only opening a technical ticket and getting back to me weeks after. Most of the time, I finished by solving my problem alone and find a way around. It seems sometime I know more Amilia than the customer service.

Pros

Ease of use for our customers and backend users. We like how clean the store is and how it is so easy for our customers to checkout in an easy and timely fashion. The admin side is easy to use to input classes and track rentals and contracts.

Cons

The reporting side could be a little more robust and user friendly. You get a lot of information but being able to tailor the reports a little more before export would help save time. Processing independent contractor (CA) class payouts though SmartRec would be nice - paid by % and not hourly rate through Staff Module.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing SmartRec

Reasons for Switching to SmartRec

Pros

The greatest advantage of SmartRec is the customer service staff's availability and willingness to assist with any issues or queries. From our first conversation with a SmartRec sales representative to our daily interactions with the support staff, these exchanges have been of top quality. If a staff member doesn't know the answer to a question, they promptly provide one.

Cons

Unfortunately, the software currently doesn't offer a map view of our campsites, which would allow our guests to choose the perfect site for them based on its location in relation to amenities such as restrooms, showers, dump stations, office, etc.Moreover, it would be highly beneficial for campgrounds like ours to have a simple and user-friendly calendar that shows the available cabins and campsites. While the current facility calendar provides information about what is already booked, it's not the most efficient way for our front desk staff to convey information to walk-in guests about available sites and buildings.

Pros

Amilia's user and administrator interfaces are extremely user-friendly and easy to navigate. The software has many amazing features to streamline all your operations into one software. The customer service is top-notch, and the company is always working on making improvements and enhancements to the platform!

Cons

Coming from a system that was nearly 20 years old, the initial implementation process was challenging for some users, but that is to be expected with learning any new software.

Pros

Online registration allow registration for families from the comfort of their home at any time of day There is no waiting in lines to register for activities. Automated Payment Processing means each month there is minimal administrative work to complete as everything is processed and completed. Multi-passes allow purchases of "class packs" which helps facilitate our tumbling program.

Cons

The "store" where we house our pro-shop is not well equipped and has not had updates in years. Split family accounts is a huge headache for us.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing SmartRec

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to SmartRec

Pros

Installment payments
Duplication of programs/activities season to season
Mass edit
Connectivity to Constant Contact
Data and functionality for staff maintenance

Cons

Invoices for corporate accounts are terrible (no editable, not credits or additional fees)
Students from corporate accounts are difficult to registration from an account level (not family-enrolled)

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to SmartRec

Pros

- Great customer service! Team is always available for questions ranging from quick pokes to lengthy problems
- Easy to use; their mass edit tool has been a life saver! Overall has been easy to train staff in basic functionalities (registrations, refunds, creating activities, etc.)

Cons

- Finance & Reporting function still needs some work. Our comptroller has continued troubles with creating reports that show with total accuracy how our organization is performing. Amilia has been helpful in pointing me in the right direction, but their reports are not very customizable. What they lack in customization is the number of reports they offer; however that is not always enough.

Pros

It is easy to use on the admin end. I like that it tracks online traffic to your site and that it works with Constant Contact.

Cons

Our customers can't use their phones to register and sometimes the registration site does not appear on our website for desktops either.

Pros

Amilia does collect registration information, process payments, and allows you to create a variety of programs people can register for. It accomplishes the bare minimum requirements of a registration software.

Cons

Amilia is not simple to use, not very intuitive for people to use on the front end or the backend. Even after using it for many months (after an Amilia led 4 part training session) it was still a struggle to use, nothing was simple and I always felt like it was my first time using it. It's really store based which is odd for a registration software.

Pros

- Available in French as well as English, a necessity in Montreal
- ASTOUNDING customer service! and that's coming from someone who trains customer service departments!
- Decent programming flexibility for Dance studios and service providers
- Space rental programming included

Cons

- Difficult learning curve for our clients
- Lack of real integration with website (only nested window)
- Unintuitive purchasing process for services (and products) for clients, even those who are familiar with the software
- Primitive phone app (Android & iOS) with very little functionality to go along with the main program, for both clients and administrators.
- Steep learning curve for administrators who are not very tech savvy
- No integration with ANY accounting software (ex: Quickbooks)
- No integration with a POS system (ex: Square)
- On the expensive side for what is offered compared to other companies, especially with the percentage taxing of sales they deduct EVEN if clients pay cash.
- Sub par visual aesthetics and no real control to administrators to change it.
- No Google bookings, which is becoming more and more important in service-oriented businesses.

Alternatives Considered

Pros

It is very user friendly for staff and customers.

Cons

The contract section needs to have a few more features.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing SmartRec

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to SmartRec

Pros

The customer service is great / love how they are available most times!

Cons

We need people to be able to purchase a session and then be able to sign out if they miss a class. And then sign into another class as a make up.

Pros

- User-friendly both for the administrator and the clients.
- Allows automatic RL24 Tax Receipts generation.
- Constant Contact list intergrated.
- Attendance lists and template lists made easy.
- Group-making and friends-pairing made easy.
-Mass editing of programs.
- Live online chat support.

Cons

- Custom post-dated payments on credit cards.
- Modifications/updates to post-dated credit card payments.
- No direct access to Constant Contact from participants, only from Account Owners.
- After mass generation of RL24, modification and further RL24 generations done one by one.
- Scheduling more or less effective.
- Restrictive for non-Amilia online money solution partners.
- No refunds straight onto credit cards from platform.