The Board portal is designed to make life easier for the board of directors or any other managing staff by creating a favorable environment in the form of a paperless meeting solution and automating business processes that deal with the human aspect.
The Internet is full of different reviews on the boardsoftware. This article can bring these studies together, so each potential user can choose a specific vendor just for their company. It will be also helpful even for those people who are not familiar with this type of tool.
Read Also: How Board of Directors Can Play a Role in Growing a Business
Based on what criteria does the app determine the best?
Any of the board portal software has a basic list of services, but because of increasing competition in this area, vendors are trying to stand out. It is not a surprise, it happens with any product in any market. A good board management software should always have these basic features:
- Known security protocols. It would be better if these were known security protocols than unknown and closed private developments. It is the private developments that have a higher chance of being hacked than the open source ones. Also, security protocols should cover all aspects of the application, from what information is stored in the calendar to Online board meetings.
- The ability to create scheduled or unscheduled conferences. This is really important. Everything is clear with scheduled conferences, every application in the field really has that. But what about unscheduled urgent meetings? The board portal should have a flexible and fast system for delivering notifications directly to the board devices using not only email but also SMS messages or built-in notifications.
- Sync with portable devices on Android and iOS. This is necessary for urgent viewing of document updates, electronic document signatures, notifications, and more. At the very least, it’s convenient and you won’t be tied to a specific location in the office or at home if you want to review important information from a meeting, for example.
A couple of highly rated board software
There really are a lot of these kinds of applications. Two of the best ones will be compared here: BoardPro and Diligent Boards.
Of course, each of them has its advantages and disadvantages. Let’s look at the features of Boardpro:
- The developers of the application state that it is perfect for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as for non-profit enterprises.
- There is a free trial.
- There is support only for iOS devices.
- There is a full set of support from the vendor, which includes an FAQ, live tech support, and training.
- There are just a lot of tools for effective management, like Document Management, Scheduling, Minutes Management, Approval Process Control, Collaboration Tools, and Calendar Management.
Users like the consistency of the board.pack functions for the board and the ability to take notes for the report directly. It’s also possible to set up results during a meeting there.
Among the disadvantages, customers highlight the lack of deletion or archiving functions of the active task and problems with opening some tasks from the mobile browser. There is also no possibility of the digital signature of documents.
Read 5 of the Best Board Management Software Tools on the Market.
What about Diligent Boards? Their features in the marketplace:
- They claim their product is suitable for board members and executives of private, public, and nonprofit enterprises.
- There are also standard features like Document Management, Scheduling, Minutes Management, Approval Process Control, Collaboration Tools, and Calendar Management, but additionally, there is the ability to sign documents digitally.
- There is also a free trial.
- There is full 24-hour email and phone support. As well as the availability of training courses and materials.
- There is support for these devices: Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android.
Customers like the multiplatform capability and the ability to sign documents with the app, as well as the availability of secure storage for documents.
However, users shave criticized the lack of ability to print documents and possible problems with the account after long-term non-use of the account. There is also a possibility of losing some notes when syncing new documents.
Conclusion
The two most in-demand tools were shown here as examples of competitive options. In fact, there are more than a hundred of these applications on the market. Some of them offer favorable terms only for small businesses and start-ups.
First of all, you should be guided by your needs and the needs of your team. It’s one thing to have a small business with a small board of directors. In that case, you should choose such kind of virtual board software as Wrike. It provides completely free access for small teams, but with some restrictions like a small amount of disk space in the cloud. But if you are part of a medium or large organization, a virtual boardroom with a full range of functions can be a real game-changer.
