Can the Virtual Paragon Parent-Teacher Conference Reservation System really help my school?
Absolutely! You will immediately see a return on your investment in more ways than one.
If your school currently has a staff member scheduling conferences on behalf of parents...
...All that time and (often thankless) effort will be eliminated. In addition, because parents will now be selecting their own conference schedules, you will no longer have to deal with the inevitable complaints from parents who ended up with schedules that they felt were less than optimal.If it is currently done via physical sign-up books or sheets...
...Your school will still save the time and effort of setting up those books and then transcribing the information so that it can be made available to teachers. And of course parents will be able to make their conference reservations much more conveniently from the comfort of their own home or office, instead of having to come down to the school to sign up in the books.And if you don’t currently pre-schedule conferences, and parents merely wait in lines...
...Well won’t they be thrilled not to have to wait in lines, and to know in advance exactly how long they will be in the school (which will almost certainly be less time than with your current process)?!
The bottom line is that you will significantly reduce the time and effort required by the school to plan for conferences. Moreover, when the parent-teacher conference day arrives, you will have delighted parents entering the school ready to discuss their children’s progress — instead of having grumpy, complaining parents yearning to get out of there and return home.
And just think how much it will improve the school image to be up on the latest technology!
Still not convinced? Look over some of the testimonials from our customers, or read the excellent article about Virtual Paragon at TechLEARNING.com that describes how one of our customers (Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn, NY) kept parents, teachers and the administration happy by switching to scheduling parent-teacher visits online with our software.
Will we have to change the way we conduct our parent-teacher conferences?
Our software is highly customizable so it can be tailored to meet your needs. It is being used by both public and private schools across North America, with a wide variety of configurations for all levels from pre-school through lower, middle, and high schools. We are confident that it can fit your process too!
Can we use this to schedule other types of meetings?
Yes! You can use this to schedule any type of meetings where you have a set of people who are available for meetings (e.g., teachers, advisors, counselors), and you want to allow others (e.g., parents, students) to reserve time with them.
So while we generally talk about scheduling parent-teacher conferences, you can also schedule student-teacher conferences, meetings with school counselors, admisssions interviews, or anything else you might need.
Is this software easy to use?
Nothing could be easier!
Every feature we put into our software is designed to be easy to use. Our expertise in software usability allows us to understand how users interact with our products and how to make that interaction as simple and intuitive as possible.
Our software allows you full control to do things how you want and when you want, while still being so easy and simple that you don’t need to be constrained with something like a “wizard” (anyone who has used a wizard before has encountered frustrations with being forced to do things “their” way and in “their” order).
We have extensive feedback from many customers (both parents and school administrators) to confirm that even people who have little to no computer or Internet experience can use our software with no training whatsoever, and they walk away proud of their accomplishment and thrilled with the whole process.
What are the hardware or software prerequisites?
This software system is entirely hosted by us, so you will not need any additional hardware and there is never any software for you to install. Upgrades are automatic and require no effort on your part! Using industry jargon, this software application delivery model is commonly called "Software as a Service" (SaaS) or Cloud-based Software.
How long has this product been available?
The Virtual Paragon Parent/Teacher Conference Reservation System was officially launched in 2001, and since then it has proven itself in many schools over many years. When first launched, it was one of the first — if not the first — system of its kind, offering a new and innovative entirely cloud-based solution for scheduling parent-teacher conferences. Since then our competition has grown, but we continue to stay far ahead of those other products with our excellent quality and reliability, unsurpassed ease of use, rich feature set, and support that is both supremely helpful and friendly.
What is the latest version number of the product?
We continually improve and enhance the product, often based on feedback from parents and schools just like yours, so you’re likely to see welcome improvements every term — some to enhance the parents’ experience and some to extend or improve on the teachers’ or administrators’ capabilities. Given that, we just don’t feel the need to flash (often arbitrary) version numbers like “2.0!” or “New 3.0!”. And because this online software is cloud-based and hosted by Virtual Paragon, you will see these upgrades and new capabilities the instant we make them available, with no effort (or additional cost) on the part of the school.
How can I find out more?
Simply fill out our Contact Form and we will be happy to have a sales representative answer all of your questions.