ParishSOFT describes a “transition” as moving from ParishSOFT Desktop to ParishSOFT Family Suite. There are many reasons a parish may make the transition, but the most cited are: the convenience of anytime, anywhere access, updated and intuitive workflows, and, of course, automatic back-ups and updates!
Thinking about making the switch from desktop to ParishSOFT Family Suite, but need a little more information? No problem! Outlined below are the steps that have helped thousands of parishes transition successfully.[1]
Step one: Welcome!
You’ve officially decided to transition from the desktop program to Family Suite congratulations! Within a matter of days you will receive a welcome email from the Implementations Team.
Partnering with your parish, the Implementations Team will act as your guide, communicating next steps and expertly leading you from start to successful completion. At every stage of this simple process, you will receive communications and follow-up emails to ensure you are never left wondering where you stand.
Still concerned about the simplicity of the transition process? Consider this: recently transitioned First Marion Church rated their overall ParishSOFT implementation experience a “5 out of 5,” 5 being the “very best” experience possible. ParishSOFT takes the fear out of the transition process and works with you every step of the way.
Step two: Clear expectations
Shortly after receiving your welcome email, you will receive an “expectations” call from an implementations specialist. In this phone call, you will discuss what you can expect at every stage of the transition, review the step-by-step process, have your questions answered, agree on a timeline and schedule that will work well for your parish.
Answering the question, “On a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being extremely helpful, how helpful and available was the staff assisting with your implementation?” Father Curt Vogel of Saint Patrick’s Parish gave ParishSOFT a “5 out of 5”, saying, “All were excellent in providing the help I needed and answering my questions.”
Step three: Time to review
Your transition provides an excellent opportunity to review your current data in preparation for moving to Family Suite. There is a saying, “All data is not good data.” The data in your current system will be moved over to your new system, including any potential errors and duplicates. So it’s important to make sure that your data is as clean and accurate as possible prior to moving it to your web-based ParishSOFT software.
To aid you in this effort, ParishSOFT provides a detailed transition checklist that will walk you through the review process and, if necessary, will assist you to get your data where you’d like it to be.
Step four: Free training for staff and volunteers!
ParishSOFT Family Suite is intuitive and easy to use. Training will teach you how to take advantage of the many time-saving features and updated functionality designed specifically for the parish office. There is a plethora of always free recorded training, tutorials, and resources available at any time.
Dr. James Nichols of First Marion responded that ParishSOFT training for transitioning churches gets a “5 out of 5”, “extremely useful” content in preparation for the use of their new web-based program.
Step five: Making the move
If you host your own data locally (ie. ParishSOFT does not host your database on Remote Solutions), today you will make and send us a copy of your data.
Once your data has been transitioned to its new web-based platform, you will receive an email with your login credentials. Your data will be in read-only mode and ready for your review! Although it’s up to you to use, we provide a detailed written guide and videos walking you through the review of your transitioned data to ensure complete accuracy.
It will only take a few days for our technical team to transition your data, but a few additional days are scheduled for you to be able to review the newly transitioned data at your leisure. As a result, you can expect to be out of your data for 5-8 business days.
Step six: Congratulations!
Once you have reviewed your transitioned data and are fully satisfied, you are free to submit your official acceptance. ParishSOFT will then provide you with full access to your live data accompanied by a formal communication of completion from the Implementations Team. It’s time to begin using ParishSOFT Family Suite!
Next steps, mission partners
We are here to accompany you in your work and ministry. Take advantage of unlimited, live, free virtual classroom classes for the first 90 days; continue to learn at your own pace, whenever you need, with product and task-specific, help articles, video tutorials and recorded training; find out the latest news at our Support Center; subscribe to the ParishSOFT blog for continued inspiration and tips for maximizing your software.
Have a question? Contact the Support Team online, or give us a call! Here’s what our customers are saying about our Support Team: “AMAZINGLY patient, helpful, friendly and personable!” “Above par support, as always!” and, “Thank you for excellent advice and guidance. Life is so much easier with having ‘go to’ people such as you!”
Successfully transitioned to an updated platform with new tools, improved functionality, and anytime-access, you now join a ParishSOFT circle of support that will accompany your parish at every stage of your journey. Thank you for being our mission partners.
[1] The above process describes a transition for a standalone parish. A parish that is part of a diocesan roll-out, or is in a diocese that is also using ParishSOFT, will use a slightly different process to ensure an integrated and seamless transition of diocesan and parish records.