KidzPro Check In Software
Posted on December 6, 2006
Are your kids safe at church? Do parents in your church feel like their kids are safe when they trust your volunteers with their kids? You might think so, but what is your church actively doing to create a safe environment for your kids?
Let me introduce you to KidzPro. KidzPro has a single purpose and that is to protect our kids. I have been given a live demo of this software and also been able to get my hands on it and it is simple to install, use and operate.
As you should expect, it takes a minute or two to enter new families in but once they are entered in, it takes an average of 14 seconds per family to check in, including printing the badges. This software is comparable to other check-in software I have used, and it includes all of the features you would expect.
Once a family has been checked in previously, the software knows what room the kids normally go to, but you can change that, if you need to. Once the kids are checked in, a badge is printed which includes a unique family ID, date, room, any allergies plus any additional info. The software also distinguishes between parents, children and volunteers, so all of your volunteers can check in as well. Why should volunteers check in? That’s an added comfort level for parents, all teachers have a name tag identifying them as a volunteer, plus the software tracks whether a background check has been done on the individual or not.
This software is very good for small to mid size churches and it’s very affordable, too. I have had the chance to talk with Scott at KidzPro in great detail about this software and I’m even working with a church right now to get it installed. I say all of this to clarify that I’m not just passing information on, this is the real deal, I’ve seen the software, I’ve played with it, tried to break it and even offered suggestions to enhance it and you know what? They love getting feedback from their user community, they want to hear suggestions and ways to make it more useful to the church. Some ideas I have passed along were either already in the process of being added or it was acknowledged that it was worth adding in the future.
All of your data is stored locally, so that means you are responsible for backing your data up, but that’s not a big deal, just be sure you do it. Not needing an internet connection makes this software practical for portable churches. I’ve heard of more than one church that meets in a middle school or theater and the location either does not have internet or it does have it, but the church can’t access it. KidzPro can be run between 2 or more laptops or a laptop and desktop or whatever makes sense for your situation. The church I’m setting up, for example, is probably going to use 2 laptops, but we still have to figure that out. (One of the laptops won’t be available much longer.) One of the computers acts as a server/client and the other(s) easily connect to it.
An immediate value of the software is reporting, there are several reports available, for tracking weekly attendance, breakdowns by grade etc. Do you know how many kids you have each week and how that number is growing? Maybe it’s just me, but I like to know that kind of stuff. There are also reports that show first time attendance, birthdays, plus mail merge functionality. Are you sending birthday cards to your kids right now? Are you sending a note to first time visitors? People appreciate that. On a side note, my family and I visited a church last Sunday, for the first time, around the corner from our house, and it’s nice to see how they reach out to guests. They don’t use KidzPro, but they at least have a process in place to know their visitors and reach out. With KidzPro, that process is simply enhanced.
For all the value that this software adds to your church, it is very affordable. I know there are even some larger churches around that don’t have any kind of check in system and KidzPro will really work for any size church. Size will make affect the price, but generally, a church can get everything for 2 check-in stations - software, 2 thermal printers, a case of labels and support for under $1200, see the details here.
Scott is a former pastor and knows the ins and outs of church and was initially the motivation behind this software. In general, your product needs to be good or even outstanding, no doubt, but it’s not worth anything if there’s no customer service or support. KidzPro is all of that and more, these guys listen and respond and have a heart for the church, plus they help you through the transition. Beyond that, alot of times, you need to ease people into something new like this and there’s a right way and a wrong way to do that. KidzPro provides you with material and information to educate your church on this new system you are implementing.
Here’s a quote from a couple of churches using KidzPro:
One of my initial worries about implementing KidzPro was the transition time required for training volunteers and getting over 200 families acclimated to a new system. Thankfully the process went very smoothly! KidzPro is such an easy program to use and has allowed us to reach a new level of security and organization within our Children’s Ministries.
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With the implementation of KidzPro, not only do we have piece of mind security, but we can now more effectively track our children and volunteers through easily accessible, user-friendly reporting . This has allowed us to provide immediate follow-up, in order to meet the needs of our Children’s Ministry!
I recommend KidzPro because I’ve used it and I believe in what it does. Go to their site, check out the demo on the site and learn the facts, then email them or give them a call. E-mail Scott just to tell him you saw this here!
Seriously, if you are interested, let Scott know you learned about it from this blog, that makes it interesting to know if this is effective in raising awareness.
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