How to Choose an Ideal Room Scheduling Software

Have you been tasked to find the best room scheduling software solution for your church or ministry?  Will this be your first plunge into the world of dedicated room scheduling solutions or are you looking for a better solution than you currently have now?  In either case, this will be a great guide for you as you look for the right solution.

Before we get started, let me say that there are several very good applications on the market.  And while we obviously believe that ministrEspace is a terrific tool (and wish you all felt the same way…LOL), we know it is not the right solution for every situation.  OK…I have been politically correct enough.

READ FULL POST

And Then Some – One of the best blogs ever

Originally posted on Sep 18, 2011 at comperio C3

On September 13, 2011, Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church posted one of the best blogs I have read in quite some time. As many of you know, the “Cool Family” attends Elevation Church and our company serves as the facility consultant for them as well.  As a side note…Elevation Church was just listed by Outreach Magazine as the 2nd fastest growing church in America.  Very COOL (pun intended) to be a part of this movement of God personally and professionally.

But I digress…

READ FULL POST

What you don’t know…CAN HURT YOU (and your facility)

Originally posted 9-10-11 at comperio C3

FACILITY POP QUIZ

1. What is the effective life expectancy of the roof(s) at your facility?

2. How many more years will your HVAC systems last and how much will they cost to replace?

3. Do you have any mold, asbestos or other environmental issues?

4. What kind of “First Impression” will your facilities make to a guest?

5. How do your operational costs compare to industry benchmarking?

6. Are your facilities safe?

7. Do your facilities meet code(s)?

READ FULL POST

Cool Solutions Group Offers the Best Web Based Solutions for Churches

facilitEspace was developed to assist facility owners and occupants be more efficient and effective in addressing the regular and preventive maintenance issues associated with any facility.  This 100% web based application is easy to use and cost effective.  It provides the following features:

• Service Request Processing
• Work Order management
• Vendor tracking and assignment of work
• Equipment tracking
• Scheduling of recurring preventive maintenance items
• Multiple User access from any web access point

READ FULL POST

Beyond the Price Tab – PART 2

Last week our blog post entitled Beyond the Price Tag – How do we make buying decisions got some great feedback from readers.  I thought that 2 in particular should be shared:

1. From a church software provider: “So many times decisions are made based on price instead of functionality. I have seen it go both ways. One way is that the product was cheaper than the rest but offered just as many features and functionality as the over priced software. And the other way where the higher priced one offers more than the cheaper one that would not help the organization accomplish what they are trying to do. It is important to find out what you really want to do and need. I recommend reading the ROI blog that our president did. http://iconcmo.wordpress.com/2011/03/04/roi-for-church-software-iconcm/”

READ FULL POST

COOL SOLUTIONS GROUP – Refocusing on our Passion

A few months ago we announced the release of an online giving product called ministrEgive.  It seemed to be the right decision given the competencies of part of our team and the fact that part of the Cool Solutions Group ownership team also owned a Payment Processing company (predominately serving the day care and education markets).  So…why not get in the online payment space.  The code was written…all we needed was to provide a new wrapper and branding…presto – ministrEgive.

READ FULL POST

Beyond the Price Tag – How do we make buying decisions

Originally Posted 8-20-11 at comperio C3

Recently I posted a comment on a forum to church administrators asking how they make buying decisions.  I was trying to see what kind of processes and thinking they went through when exploring various products and service.  In particular I was trying to understand if it was more prudent to pay less up front and more ongoing or vice versa.  I learned so much from many of the contributors of the forum…thanks all.

READ FULL POST

Study Reveals HVAC Coil Cleaning Saves Energy!

Originally Posted at comperioC3

We were recently made aware of this study by our friends at AdvantaClean here in Charlotte.  We asked them to provide us with more information on the report and how churches need to be aware of it. Here is what they found:

Recently, a ground breaking study was presented by ASHRAE on the benefits of coil cleaning on energy costs.  Until now, little actual testing data existed to prove this point.  As a result, building managers have often ignored devoting part of their budget to such maintenance.

READ FULL POST

Churches in the Cloud

Recently our friends at Miles Advisory Group wrote a blog about Cloud Computing that I thought was timely and  dead on.   With their permission (Thanks Bryan and Shannon), the following is a reprint…enjoy:

According to the Gartner Group … in Reimagining IT: The 2011 CIO Agenda … only 3% … yes, three … of global CIOs currently have the majority of their IT operations running in the cloud or on a SaaS (software as a service).

So, what’s the big deal with the Cloud?

READ FULL POST

Practitioner vs. Leader

Originally Posted on Aug 6, 2011 at comperio C3

I really enjoy the conversations that are generated via several of the online “forums” for church business administrators, XPastors and facility managers.  There are so many gifted and skilled people in their trade and I benefit greatly from their input.

Recently there was a discussion about job descriptions for church Facility Managers on a forum of church administrators.  I found the discussion interesting and enlightening.  The group posted several job descriptions and gave direction on what should be included…which re-kindled what I have seen concerning the difference between Maintenance vs. Management. I wrote a blog on this some time back…and am finding that the understanding/interpretation of these 2 terms (thus…variations on job descriptions/roles) is far more widespread than I had thought.

READ FULL POST