Procare was difficult to use, had inflexible reporting, and was extremely time-consuming.
Solution
EZ-CARE2 Web’s for anywhere, anytime access and one-on-one training.
Key Results
Hours are saved each week by not having to enter data in multiple places
The hosted aspect allows for data entry anywhere, anytime which is great for a busy center
Customizable reports allow the data to be pulled exactly as needed
One-on-one training made the learning experience fast, easy, and enjoyable
St. Luke Preschool & Early Childhood Center provides an education to over 150 young children throughout the school year, and offers a summer program that allows kids to develop their social and academic skills.
Business Challenge
Kathy von Thaden has been with St. Luke Preschool for over four years. St. Luke was using Procare Software to manage their child care data, but Procare was not meeting their needs and expectations. Kathy explained, “For starters, Procare was not user-friendly, and a lot of information had to be manually entered countless times in different places. I was constantly retyping the same info, just on different pages. The reports were also very difficult to customize, and we couldn’t always get what we needed, when we needed it. The amount of time that was wasted was unacceptable, and we knew that we had to try something else if we wanted to keep growing.”
Solution
Kathy began searching for other childcare management solutions, noting that Procare was not an option, “From our experience with Procare, we did not consider sticking with them or paying for their new version. We looked into a number of other solutions, but most of what we saw was not geared towards what we needed. However, when we saw EZ-CARE2 Web, we were really impressed with everything that it could do. I had a chance to work with the demo system before committing to anything, which was very convenient: I was able to work with real data in a real system! Everything was user-friendly, and working with the staff was great; they answered every question accurately and honestly. We were very comfortable moving forward with EZ-CARE2 Web after everything we had seen and the experience we had working with them up to that point.”
Key Results
Kathy and St. Luke noticed the difference that EZ-CARE2 Web had made right away. “Having information auto-populate instead of having to reenter it manually has made a really big impact, which alone saves hours of time every week. Many processes are ready to go with just the click of a button, something we never experienced with Procare. The customized reporting is huge too. There are reports I run in EZ-CARE2 Web that are a snap to do, whereas in Procare I wouldn’t even know how to run that same report.”
Having the benefits of a true hosted system is also a big plus for Kathy, “The hosted system is awesome. Things can get really busy here and sometimes inputting information into our system gets lost throughout the day. Before, we would have to play catch-up the next morning or the next week, but now that I can work from home when necessary, I can easily go into the system and do what I need to do so we don’t lose any time catching up.”
Kathy’s phone training enabled her to learn the ins and outs of her system very quickly. She noted that not only was the information extremely helpful, but the trainer was a pleasure to work with, “Our trainer was excellent. She was very thorough and easy to understand. I was a bit nervous going in, but she was very reassuring and made me feel calm and confident about using EZ-CARE2 Web. The more she showed me, the easier it was to use our system. I’ve learned so many little short cuts here and there that make everything go faster and smoother. I could just tell she is very dedicated, and enjoys making sure the customer is getting what they need. “
