Realm Reviews - Page 2

Our church transitioned to Realm July 2018, one of the initial reasons we switched was because of the people side, the ability for our congregants to create and manage profiles, as well as, the ability to give and see/manage their giving, the ability to view and print their own statements. We also appreciated other features such as check-in and pathways. The accounting module made the entire process so much easier the placement of the modules and ease of use, the ability to track giving using the dashboard as well as attendance and membership. The transition was easy we discussed the modules we needed and what information to transition and the representatives did everything else. It was a very seamless transition.

Currently, there is not a lot that is disliked about this product, but there is always room for improvement, there are some additional features I would love to see in the accounting module that allows for even more ease of use. I have submitted those ideas and so far one of them has happened and they are working on the other.

Because we were previously on ACS, it was easy to import previous data. The online interface is much friendlier than the old version, and it generally has good features and capabilities, but as with any database/CRM, it's all in how you set it up and implement use. Overall, it's a solid choice.

Being a Planning Center Services user who's dabbled in other Planning Center products, I prefer the integration and user interface of planning center. Overall Realm feels more PC than Mac - sturdy, but not as pretty and at times a bit frustrating with the number of clicks you need to do to get to where you want to go. It's functional, but it feels like it'll take longer for people to learn how to set things up and do things properly, which will impede good rollout and ultimately depth of functionality because of that.

I like that, when used properly, Realm allows us to create profiles and provide a 360-degree story of a member's engagement with our church. Births, baptisms, marriages, deaths are dome of the events that we need to tell a member's story. Using the attachment feature allows us to attach all letters, documents, certificates, an communications that allow us to tell these stories. Realm allows us the...

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There is an occasional hiccup where we receive error messages, such as "504 Gateway Timeout" or "Internal Error." These are usually easily resolved when we contact the service center.

I like the ability to use a check scanner with the giving software

There are serious gaps in the way Realm relays information. When certain payments are made online, the software does not notify the Administrator of their receipt. I have to go and look for the payments (such as VBS registrations) without the software telling me that it has come in. Then it does not list the deposits from the registrations, only the individuals that made payment, after I go outside...

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It is a communication tool as well as a database. They keep improving Realm. Ease of finding duplicate entries. Customer support is the best in the industry.

There are many features that larger churches need to use the software the best and Realm does not seem to be in any hurry to provide those features. They make larger churches figure out work arounds which is never good. Difficult to get the needed reports for our auditor each year. Contributions is not done by the best practices for debits and credits. They line through entries when a charge back is made at the bank instead doing a debit, which shows a money trail for audit purposes.

It is very user-friendly and easy to train new employees on it. Being a new product, they are constantly updating and improving on the features. It was developed from years of software experience, so it is very relevant in everyday church use.

Several of the newer releases address needs we've been asking for, but they are done in a somewhat complicated way. It addresses the need, but not as directly and simply as I would like. I feel like they need to take a step back from some new features and refine and improve what they currently offer.

Realm is exceptionally easy to learn and use - and it's relevant to how a church operates its ministries as well as how a church manages its finances and its people database. Developers solicit input from users for program enhancements and continue to release new functionality that just makes the software better and better. Both the database management component (how we manage the people in our church) as well as the financial accounting component are exceptional. The bonus is how the functionality also supports how we operate our ministries (managing volunteers, coordinating education opportunities, communication and engagement)

Not sure I've found anything I don't like. At this point, Realm continues to amaze me.

Realm has been our only experience with CHMS and it has been well worth every penny. As a small church of about 200, we know there's so much more that this software is capable of doing that we simply do not have a need for at present. We love the organization Realm has given internally to our church staff and volunteers. The ability to track giving (both regular offering and pledge funds) through...

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The calendar is not as functional as we had hoped and does not allow for integration with Google Calendars. This has led to our avoiding any use of Realm's calendar. We have also not made use of the Events feature in Realm as there is no public-facing side of Events Registration (that we have found) that could tie in with our church website. The interface is not very intuitive/user-friendly and...

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I like that the software developers take the time to listen to the users and frequently upgrade the software with features that users need, not what they think we should have. The UI is intuitive and easy to use. The wikis are robust and use lots of pictures so there is not confusion as to what needs to be done. The support team in knowledgeable.

The search engine is not as robust as some other products, but that is improving as the product develops.

We use Realm Connect - the level that allows for congregants to log in and use the app feature as well. Realm is easy to use and intuitive to figure out. The staff love being able to get to it anywhere and that they can even work on their phones on things if needed. Realm has features that make life easier for church staff, while also allowing the congregation to connect with each other. The Realm development team is always looking at ways to make it easier for people to know where to go, while also trying to find ways to make the church staff's lives easier as they input the data. Additionally, the support staff is very knowledgeable and helpful. I rarely have to wait for support help and if they cannot fix an issue while I am on the phone with them, they are quick to follow back up.

There are still areas they are building out and things that are not there yet. For example, today we tried to copy a list of people from a registration event into a group roster as the group decided they wanted to be able to communicate with each other during the study. This was not a feature that was available yet, so the person entering the data had to manually add the people to a group. But, they...

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The online database and connectivity with congregants who will use the app.

Congregants who refuse to use the app. Struggle learning the system from admin side - congregants complain not user friendly. People still having glitches with sign in so they have abandoned using it. To meaning settings required to opt in to notifications.

The best part of the feature that all religious institutions could benefit from is the giving module. The online giving is very easy and user friendly and processing of the gifts is very easy for the administrators of the church. We recently rolled out groups and have a BETA group using it. They are very excited about the capabilities and have added their own members and published documents for them to use and communicate. We use the product for event registration and that process has been easy as well, it is intuitive and provides a lot of options for tailoring to particular event needs.

Currently the serving module needs to be built out more for us to fully utilize it. We are trying to avoid having the serving team send emails back and forth about coverage and needs. We also would like more customizable features when it comes to background color and newsletter type communications.

WE LOVE THAT ONLINE DONATIONS POST DIRECTLY TO CONTRIBUTOR'S ACCOUNTS

TAKES ME A WHILE TO FIGURE OUT SOME REPORTING FEATURES. ALSO CANNOT HAVE MORE THAN ONE GIVING DATABASE

This software is now used by our entire staff. We all speak Realm language and we keep our teams trained.

Probably how some of the reporting exports are not all the same. The opportunity to expand on queries and customize downloadable data would be great. Another thing is that there isn't a calendaring program that replaces Facility Scheduler. To have this all in one place would be good.

Realm does almost anything you would need a church management software suite to do, and does it well: tracking attendance, giving, financial transactions; keeping family and sacramental records; providing good communications and volunteer coordination features. It even integrates with ConstantContact and the web interface is intuitive and keeps improving.

Realm does so much so well--but it isn't good at anything out of the box. For instance, each household in Realm must have a "head of household" --an antiquated notion of family dynamics that isn't necessary. The structure of reports--and what reports are available by default--are limited and can be frustratingly to customize on the fly.

Realm Connect has been a tremendous way for our congregation and staff to communicate and keep abreast of news and events. Our people love the fact that they can not only see their own profiles, but also the online directory of members.

I have not found anything that I do not like about Realm.

I love the ease of using the software. Everything is easy to navigate and it manages people and contributions very easily. They are always adding improvements which is a plus. I know that there is so much more to this software but we haven't got there yet. At the time that we transitioned from ACS on demand to REALM we were not able to get the training needed to transition more smoothly and regret...

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Can't complain much since I don't feel like I have had the training I need to properly use it to its full potential. The complaints I might have are probably not a software problem but lack of training problem...I have just been winging it and limping along for the most part but the things that I have learned to use have been pretty awesome.

The most favorable thing about this software is it intended as a single system for Church Management as well as ministry and group support. From the promotional videos it appears there is a very dynamic and interactive church management portion of the software to which I do not have access.

I can only comment on the ministry portion since I am not church staff and have no access to that portion. As an end user involved in leadership of several different ministries I was looking for this part of the program to be user friendly, attractive and engaging output, and easy to communicate and interact with group members. In its current format it does not support this type of need. It is...

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We haven't encountered any glitches in Realm. It works as it is supposed to. Once you get used to how things work in Realm, it's easy to use.

There are features I requested be added to Realm. These requests have not been acted upon.

I've worked with many databases in the past, including helping to build them from the end user point of view, and Realm is the best I've used. It is very flexible and user friendly. The Help feature is really helpful and the rare times I've had to contact customer service, they've been super friendly and very knowledgeable. I love using Realm!

My biggest complaint is that I have some members in my groups that do not receive the Realm emails when I send them out. I've called customer service a couple of times and have been directed to look for the emails in Spam, but that is not always the problem. I don't understand why some emails don't get received.

The cost is probably the best feature for us as a small church. It also allows our members and friends to donate an online gift and have it immediately posted to the member's statement. It is also very user friendly.

When creating the photo directory with family information, there is no "refer to" for couples who have different last names (i.e., Bob Warren and Karen Fisher, Nathan Kotecki and Garrett Southerland). Access ACS had that feature. When creating a .pdf file of the directory, there is no way to password protect it without running it through a different program. Access ACS had that feature. In the photo...

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Realm is extremely user-friendly. I love that they have teamed with Vanco for donations/payments and the payments are recorded directly into the person's record in Realm. The pastor likes to do analytics and uses that feature all the time. I work in the contribution section every week and it couldn't be easier. The "icing on the cake" is the world-class Customer Service. After two quick prompts, a real person answers the phone within seconds. I don't get transferred. The person is very knowledgeable, friendly, polite, and most of all can answer my questions. They will also log onto my computer - with my permission - if that is the best way to help me.

I can't get all the reports I used to get in ACS People. Also, I have not found a way to link different families together (i.e. showing one family is a mother and father to another family). I also wish that Realm Financials would stop pushing back their timeline to include Payroll so we can switch from ACS Financials to Realm for that part of business, also.

The simplicity of Realm is what I like the most. We do not have to invest a huge amount of time getting staff to understand the modules. The system is intuitive and able to handle complex workflows.

We do have some functionality that hasn’t been deployed. I wish there was an easy way to take a look at the functionality prior to a decision to implement.