Penelope Reviews

Pros
Being able to read my staff input by generating a report whenever I need it. Being able to pull reports to the tableau so I can see my numbers just like that.

Cons
Only being able to access from work computers with the VPN installed there. Would be great to be able to access from personal computers.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
The versatility. It has a ton of user defined fields that can be setup in any combination that works for your agency. Billing is relatively simple and creating service units and activities is easy to do. Tech support has been very good over the years and the system is very rarely down. System outage issues just don't exist.

Cons
I would like to have a report writer system build into Penelope instead of using pivot tables to create customized reports.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
I like the ease of reporting functionality. It is very easy for me to see how often our clients are being serviced & how they are progressing within our programs. I like being able to link records with family members so we can get a wholistic view of what is happening with more than one client in a family group. The technical support that has been given to us has been fantastic.

Cons
Penelope is more suited to a clinical environment. There are a number of features within Penelope that we do not use. Some screens are hard to navigate & has some functions that are not relevant to our program needs. In the beginning of the process members of the Penelope project team with MPREC had a teleconference with customer rep. This was a very long drawn out meeting & was one that all of us did not get any benefit out of. Please when introducing your product find a better person to try to sell the program. Her presentations were very monotone & quite boring. We found ourselves drifting away from the meeting.

Rating breakdown

Pros
it has a diary schedule linked to cart items. it's god if you only want Penelope to do one thing, ie, ATAPS service & payments

Cons
UI poor resulting in clunky data entry and more time spent entering data. not mobile / tablet friendly Reporting function does not provide dashboard, only reports in pdf or that you have to cut and past into Excel. Case file / service file structure creates privacy issues - we may have to move away from this product on the basis of legal advice Lack of technical support available in Australia

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 0/10

Pros
The best part about this software is the customer support that comes with it. We were able to customize it with the help of the Athena team to meet all of our case management needs.

Cons
It's hard to say what we like least about the software because it has been so helpful in meeting the needs for which we purchased it. It does take a little while to get used to using it and to learn all the facets but once you do, it's very easy to use.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The reports are easy to to understand - especially to non-user stakeholders and our clients. The forms are easy to create and adjust, and the billing/ cart system is easy for my staff to use for their billable hours.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The software is user friendly for those utilizing it daily. It's functionality of the software and its accessibility for reporting is great. Penelope has made our cases cleaner and faster to access.

Cons
When adding a photo under profile, the photo can't be seen 100% after it's downloaded. So for our restricted users, it's hard to view a client’s photo because only the forehead if visible. It would be great if our case plans could auto populate from the initial one so we don't have to reenter the same information in the progress and closing plans.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Powerful feature set and configurability. Cloud based.

Cons
Interface could do with some tweaks to improve navigability

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Overall, I really enjoy most of the features of Penelope. Although there are many clicks to do one single task, the benefit of this, is that options are highly accurate and match actuals.

Cons
I wish there were ways to feed Penelope reports into other software or vice versa. This would help with bookkeeping purposes. As of now, it is manually required that I crosscheck Penelope data with other sources (Square, Cashapp). It would be more effective for reporting if Penelope could feed into or be linked with other outside services.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
Having spent the past year learning how to navigate the software, our team is impressed with the detail it is able to capture. It has opened up numerous opportunities to report data on our various programs.

Cons
The amount of work it takes to "set-up" the system is not to be taken lightly. Another con is learning about reports and extracting your data...you're pretty much having to "play" with it which can become quite time consuming.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
Penelope has many features that other software does not, like pulling statistical reports and tracking anonymous client interactions. It gives flexibility in some areas to customize and tailor your software experience to your organization. Generally, it functions well for its purpose.

Cons
Penelope is difficult to learn and is not very intuitive to use. It's not visually appealing. The statistical reports don't always have the capability to capture the information you need. There are quite a few small, annoying processes that leave new users frustrated (like re-opening a case file and having to delete the "end date" before you can put in new information. Shouldn't re-opening it automatically invalidate the end date?)

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 5/10

Pros
Penelope offers a wide range of options for customizable software. Our counseling center is a practice of about 50 professionals, and in the search for software, we realized that our software needs are a bit unique. Penelope was able to offer customizable options and reports (reports are an additional cost) that fit our needs.

Cons
It's expansive (which is good), but keep in mind that it takes time to train, set up, install, teach others, and learn how to best use. In addition, the reports are sometimes be transferred to excel and other times not. There is no mobile version yet (they are working on it), but mobile use is important for in-the-field or during-the-commute work. SO when the mobile version is up and running, it will be amazing.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
For the first time our organization has been able to capture better client and partner data that has allowed our multiple departments to work more cohesively. The ease of use of the Smart Documents and Forms has enhanced the way we gather demographic and program information for grants and funding purposes. While the overall functionality of the database has been very helpful to capturing client and partner data, we hope further updates with the Search function and Calendar will better serve our organizational needs, for example searching by Event Description (specifically Indirect Events). Both the launch support and technical support team have been wonderful to work with and respond quickly to our inquiries. Overall: Cloud Based, Easy to create Forms, and Smart Docs are great features. Reports within Penelope are great for capturing basic information. Easy for most staff to use.

Cons
It'd be helpful if more fields were more customizable and if reports could be more specific (more Breakdown options) in Penelope instead of having to utilize the Open Database Connectivity. Search function includes many fields to filter by, but not all the fields that we need- would like better customizable search options.

Rating breakdown

Pros
Students have access everywhere; outcome measures are great, and the ability to see visual score charts across time is especially effective for clients.

Cons
It is hard to delete some mistakes. Written instructions are still not as clear as I would like. I still find it complex when setting up new outcome measures.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
It meets the majority of our needs for tracking clients, staff notes, documents and scheduling space in our building (both internal and external meetings).

Cons
I can't create mailing labels from Penelope, the calendar of meetings (outside groups can schedule days/times to use our meeting rooms) doesn't always sink between the appointment icon and the monthly calendar (side tab). Wish the calendar worked more like Outlook. Search should be for anything vs. having to click an option.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 7/10

Pros
The tech support team is great and the flexibility of form creation is fantastic.

Cons
The configuration and data migration process was a bit confusing and more time consuming then we planned on.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
1. Being able to purchase "generic" licenses--this works well for an educational/training context. 2. Being able to design our own forms and documents. 3. Great support.

Cons
1. It took enormous time to set up our system. 2. There are still some reporting issues that do not meet our needs.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
The fact that it's mobile friendly makes introducing the database a little more exciting to staff and executives.

Cons
The lack of application or mobile software for worker use. I always get the weird look when workers ask "is there an app?" and I say "No" I'd certainly like to change that response.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
It is nice that you can build the site around your company. When you have questions, a support staff member is very quick in response. We have 6 programs running out this program, which makes it easy to gather demographic data for all of them, in one place!

Cons
The only negative was fixed. I had trouble trying to run cross reports for all our programs, but with granted access, I am now able to pull from an Excel spreadsheet for any report.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The software really allows us to keep accurate records of our clients in an organized, easy to follow manner.

Cons
When working with a group, it is not possible to schedule everyone at the same time which means different time slots for each group member. This blocks out more time than is real time for clinicians availability.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The best thing about using this software is the reliability and the customer support. I've been using this software daily for almost two years and the site has only gone down once for about half of a day. Within moments, customer service sent me an email telling me how I could still access the site using a different method. Also, any questions that I've had have been answered with clear and concise instructions within hours. The help section of the software also contains very clear instructions for performing many tasks.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The organization and ease it provides. I utilize Penelope on a daily basis and our counseling clinic enjoys it.

Cons
When we initially utilized Penelope I accidentally delete en entire file. That bug has been fixed now which is outstanding news.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
24/7 access. Security and support from Athena Reporting feature allows us to see our organisation Real time results

Cons
Moving from laptop to tablet the forms don't resize well. Would like ability to sort and filter my home page more..perhaps a search function

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The software has grown as our organization has grown, and continues to implement new innovative features

Cons
Can be difficult to teach new users the organization behind the software, not always intuitive, billing statements are incredibly complicated

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 7/10

Pros
It holds Records. It allows all staff to complete documentation. It's very easy to navigate once you get use to the features.

Cons
It takes some time to learn how to use the features of the software. It's only allows a certain amount of people to sign in at once.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10