ParishSOFT User Forums / ParishSOFT Rules, News and Announcements / ParishSOFT Public Forums

Welcome to ParishSOFT Forums!

jbiskner — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 10:29:52 GMT

Welcome to ParishSOFT Forums!

Dear ParishSOFT customers and potential customers:

As part of our vision to foster collaboration among our clients, ParishSOFT now sponsors diocesan and parish community forums. Internet forums promote the exchange of ideas, questions or concerns. For our diocesan and parish clients, we encourage all to use the forums to discuss business practices, strategies for accomplishing ministry goals, ParishSOFT product-related questions, ideas for successful software implementation, insights on how to manage all of your important data, or any other topic that might benefit you. Our hope is that such sharing and mutual collaboration will bless you, your diocese, your parishes, and anyone else involved with accomplishing your diocesan and parish goals.

ParishSOFT forums have two areas, public and customer-only. Public forums include ParishSOFT News, Announcements, and Product/Service Questions and Answers for prospective customers. Customer-only forums are available to our clients simply by registering at the forum. Here, parishes and dioceses can post information and questions regarding management, communication, and other issues. To participate, visit us at www.parishsoft.com/forums and register using the following steps:

1. Click the REGISTER HERE FOR CUSTOMER-ONLY FORUMS!
2. Agree to the Terms and Conditions and click the Register button.
3. Add your username, email, and password.
4. Enter the Verification code (provided to you on the screen).
5. Click the Submit Registration button.

Registrations will be confirmed before activation. ParishSOFT's public forums for end users are moderated, which means that all posts and replies are approved before submission.

Why Forums? Some practical examples

forum_admin — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 13:57:20 GMT

Welcome to the ParishSOFT Forums!

The question has been asked: What is the purpose of the ParishSoft User Forum? In addition, a few procedural questions were asked about the forums. I thought all may benefit from the answers.

What is the purpose of a forum?

The term 'forum' is Latin and refers to the town square or marketplace. Like today, a forum is where the free exchange of ideas occurs. With technology available to us via the internet, forum discussions can take place with groups of people from diverse locations. For the ParishSoft user community, our common mission and business is what draws us together; and the forum is intended to be the place where those ideas are exchanged.

Can you give a practical example?

Yes. Ryan from St. Peter's parish in Springfield wonders why his system performance seems to have suddenly dropped off. He wonders if it might be ParishSoft related and if others are experiencing the same problem. So, he posts the question to the forum community. Shortly thereafter, Erin from Los Angeles posts that she too is experiencing the same slow down. Others post their insight and on the 4th posting, Janet from Our Lady of Hope in Attica shares that an update from Symantec was discovered as the source of the slowdown and provides steps to the community for how to adjust Symantec to stop the slowdown while still keeping the proper level of system security.

Must a posting be only about ParishSoft software?

No. Another example may help here: Sarah from St. Isidore in Kalamazoo asks "can anyone give some insights on how to reduce the inconsistancies we are finding in our offertory counting? We seem to have an undercount everyweek." Dcn. Larry from Tucson notes that they had a similar issue and they spent considerable time defining and enforcing the whole money-handling process from collection to bank-deposit; then he posts the process and some of the things they discovered while enforcing it. It turned out that one of the counters was lacking in the skills needed, they only served twice a month, and thus it explained the pattern. That person was given a different ministry, which is working out well, and their counts can now be reconciled properly. Such a process, noted Dcn. Larry, can also be effective in avoiding fraud or the temptation for wrongdoing. Later, two other parishes post adjustments and insights to the process based on their particular diocese's regulations, along with insights on why the particulars are in place. In reading the postings, many parishes gained valuable knowledge and were able to save money and close administratvie loopholes thanks to the sharing of information via the ParishSoft forums.

ParishSOFT Forum Netiquette

forum_admin — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 09:57:23 GMT

Certain rules of unspoken etiquette should be be followed when using the ParishSOFT Forums. They inlcude:

Read any rules and guidelines established by the community; some may have different regulations on a particular subject. Always be courteous.
Before creating a new topic thread, search to see if a similar topic already exists.
Follow standard grammar/spelling rules and try not to use slang.
If the forum is categorized, post in the correct section.
Include as much technical information as possible if posting a technical inquiry.
Stay on-topic.
Avoid double posting and Crossposting.
Respond to topics started by others more often than starting topics of your own so that you don't appear arrogant and unlikable.
Avoid the use of all CAPITAL LETTERS in posts. (All CAPS is considered "shouting" and causes readability issues.)
Do not resurrect a very old topic if you have nothing extremely significant to add.
Try to refrain from lashing back at a poorly behaving member or participating in a flame war; instead, notify the messageboard's staff of the event.
When quoting a previous post, include only the relevant portion of that post.

This text was taken from Wikipedia. To read more about netiquette please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netiquette.

PARISHSOFT ACQUIRES THE CATHOLIC SOFTWARE COMPANY

forum_admin — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 13:42:52 GMT

PARISHSOFT ACQUIRES THE CATHOLIC SOFTWARE COMPANY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 26, 2006
Contact: ParishSOFT
Michael Cusick, Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Phone: 866.930.4774

Ann Arbor, MI - ParishSOFT, the nation's fastest growing church management software company, has acquired the assets of The Catholic Software Company, officials from both companies announced today.

According to ParishSOFT President and CEO William Pressprich, ParishSOFT will now be serving the customers of The Catholic Software Company, provider of the ParishOffice and ParishLite parish management software programs.

"We are pleased to welcome ParishOffice and ParishLite customers, and we will be extending a special offer to them, complete with data conversion, training, and the full resources of our dedicated support team," Pressprich said. "We are committed to ensuring that their transition to ParishSOFT is a smooth one."

Rob Rhodes, President of The Catholic Software Company, said, "I have admired ParishSOFT for several years and am confident they will be a great fit for our customers. ParishSOFT has a very high customer satisfaction rate, and their Catholic-based management software is so intuitive that our users will experience little or no downtime as they transfer systems."

According to Pressprich and Rhodes, current users of the ParishOffice and ParishLite products will be invited to join the thousands of parishes that have already made the switch to ParishSOFT. Teams from ParishSOFT and The Catholic Software Company are working closely to ensure a thorough data conversion, and ParishSOFT support has studied the operating conventions and inner workings of the ParishOffice and ParishLite programs to help new ParishSOFT users get up and running as quickly as possible.

About ParishSOFT

Founded in 1998, ParishSOFT offers a complete suite of church management software and web services that streamline operations, increase stewardship, foster collaboration, and improve communications. ParishSOFT currently serves 2,500 Catholic parishes and 25 arch/dioceses.

This is the second acquisition for ParishSOFT, which acquired The Software Library™ and its Church Management Systems (CMS) products in 2003 to add financial and accounting components to its suite of church management software and web solutions. In January 2005, ParishSOFT announced a strategic partnership with Our Sunday Visitor (OSV), the nation's largest Catholic producer of church offering envelopes as well as one of the leading publishers of Catholic periodicals, books and religious education materials.

For more information, contact Michael Cusick, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, 866.930.4774 or visit www.parishsoft.com.

BOB KOZAL NAMED AS NEW DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT AT PARISHSOFT

forum_admin — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 13:42:02 GMT

BOB KOZAL NAMED AS NEW DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT AT PARISHSOFT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 2006
Contact: ParishSOFT
Phone: 734.205.1000

ANN ARBOR, MI - ParishSOFT is pleased to welcome Bob Kozal as the new Director of Development.

Kozal brings more than 13 years of broad experience in software design, development, and quality to the ParishSOFT team. He studied in the seminary at the Diocese of Grand Rapids, where he gained a special appreciation for the sacraments, a deep insight into the inner workings of parish offices, and an appreciation for the organizational skills and technology tools needed by parish staff to keep the gears of the parish running smoothly so that they can minister to their parishioners.

Kozal's experience in the seminary and the software industry, combined with his Bachelor of Science degree from Aquinas College and Master of Science degree in Computer Information Systems from Grand Valley State University, make him uniquely qualified to direct the development of church management software and web solutions at ParishSOFT.

Kozal previously served as the Director of Information Technology at DANTOM Systems and as Web Development Manager and Enterprise Architect at American Community Mutual Insurance Company.

He and his wife, Kim, and their three children, Ashley, Brett, and Claire are active in their church, where Kozal volunteers with middle school youth programs and has assisted three youth group mission trips to Mexico. He also is an instructor at Cleary University in Ann Arbor, Michigan.