Procare Solutions

Pros

I like the Procare app for the following reasons:
* In app and email updates
* Immediate communication with the school's teacher and administration
* Tracking of student eating habits, bathroom use, behavior, and activities
* Ability to have multiple family members in the loop via the app

Cons

The app is only as good as the people using it. So, as long as the people using it are properly trained, it's awesome!

Pros

Procare Solutions provides all the features and functions you need to improve your daily operations. We have found the user interface to be exceptionally intuitive, so it was easy to train new staff. We also love the seamless integration with our existing systems. All in all, Procare Solutions delivers on its promise to make daily operations run smoothly and efficiently.

Cons

Overall, the system works well for me, but I did have some occasional delays, such as some minor delays with the program not loading. However, the technical issues are resolved quickly by the help desk, so that wasn't a huge problem.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

Procare is a great product for someone new to childcare management that needs a simple system

Cons

When we initially purchased Procare we bought modules and seats for local systems. Then several years ago we moved to cloud based services and minimal features and were then charged a monthly fee. Then about a year and a half ago we were forced to move to the full feature monthly fee even though we weren't using the features nor needed them. The new cost doubled monthly and made us look for a newer product.

Pros

The ease of having everything in one place is so much more efficient for me.

Cons

I have yet to discover something I don't like!

Pros

I really appreciate how Procare Solutions simplifies the management of childcare centers. The software is intuitive and user-friendly, making it easy to track attendance, billing, and communication with parents. I also value the seamless integration of various features, such as scheduling and reporting, which saves time and reduces administrative workload. The customer support team is also very responsive and helpful, which makes the overall experience even more positive.

Cons

Long waits if you call procare support and something are hard to find online

Pros

Aside from the amazing features to run our program smoothly, ProCare is extremely user friendly. If we do have a question, support gets back to us right away.

Cons

I wish there were more merchant service company options.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

ProCare is easy to use for beginners but also provides opportunities for more detailed, advanced utilization as you grow with the system. Being able to utilize one platform for parent communication, child managment, billing/tuition collection, and employee management is a time and money saver. The price is excellent for all the services ProCare provides.

Cons

It would be nice if we could customize the color scheme/fonts on the platform to be more visually appealing or match our company brand.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

ProCare takes care of all our needs in one easy platform. From tracking who is signing a child in and out, attendance, parent messages, incident reports, diapering, feeding and even napping, we have been able to do away with pen and paper for basically all classroom documentation. As administration that does not work hands on with billing, I am still able to see in-depth explanations to parents accounts and assist them when they have issues.

Cons

As with any technology, there are glitches. Things as simple as Procare not catching a child's birthday and changing their tuition accordingly has to be monitored because it frequently does not work. Other than that, our only downfall is that if wifi goes down, we lose some capabilities as cell service is not great in our building and many parents rely on a tablet kiosk for signing children in and out.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

Everything is located in one place and is easy to use. They are constantly adding new options and are quick to resolve an technical issues that arise.

Cons

The monthly fee is a bit higher than other comparable apps.

Pros

The customer service is amazing! Any time I need to message or call my issue or question is immediately handled and fixed. They also reach out afterwards to make sure you are all set and see you have any additional questions!

Cons

I wish there was an option for automatic payments without additional fees.

Pros

Innovative products that are very user friendly. Excellent user training options with 24/7 access. Best customer service bar none, across all industries - they always solve any issues and answer every question. It is very clear, ProCare is determined to have the best products and customer service.

Cons

Would like an expanded budgeting program.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

they are always looking to improve and add new things.

Cons

Some of the things available dont work for the way we need things to work so I sometimes have to use other apps or programs instead of what is offered through procare.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

I like the fact that the program is easy to use and has more complicated functions when needed. I was able to get rid of QuickBooks and do all my center management for students, accounts, and staff with payroll all from one program that I can also access from anywhere! I love their customer service. They are trained and can really help.

Cons

Are too many choices a problem? So many reports that it takes time to figure out what report you want. Once you figure out the report that works the best you are set. With data reports you can configure your own reports as well.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

I like the ability to process tuition and keep track of payments.

Cons

I don't like the way that Daily Activities are setup. I wish the app had more of a social media feel where parents could view the activity and comment or 'like' what they are viewing. A previous app we used had the activities displayed this way and we found that this better supported teacher/family engagement.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Procare Solutions

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

It is customizable to fit our programming. easy to use. Customer service is always ready to help.

Cons

Deleting what you don't need. We have duplicate names in the system and deleting them has been an issue.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

Procare is a one stop shop! They do everything we need and are always adding new features. The backend reporting side of Desktop is a game changer for administrators and the app has been crucial for maintaining consistent, quality communication between staff and families.

Cons

Nothing- we switched to another system for a year and as soon as our contract was up with the other guys, we ran back.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Procare Solutions

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

saves time and clients like using it in addition to the staff

Cons

wait times for getting problems solved.

Pros

The communication my parents and teachers can have to assure that the children have the best environment and tools for that individualized experience.C

Cons

I wish there were a few tools with the billing to truly be more turnkey than it is at the moment.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Procare Solutions

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

There are alot of options and I think it has alot to offer, this is my personal opinion. I have been looking for a app that checks off all my boxes, this one has majority of them but a few things missing. the price is much more afforable then alot of the apps out there and you get way more.

Cons

I REALLY Wish it had a EXPENSE Section, This would be a game changer. The customer support is not the best. I emailed them about pricing and never got a response. Even the little messager box help is very slow. for anyone who is a visual learner it would be great if there were more short videos to help guide you. I believe there are alot more feature with partnered apps but was confused how to do this, not very user friendly for people who get confused easy with technology.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

We use Procare to not only send real time communication to parents but also as administrators we get to see a snapshot of each classrooms day. Parents rave about the ability to see daily updates and pictures of their child when they have to be away at work.

Cons

Sometimes we have issues with the app right around the time there is an update. The issues are usually resolved quickly.

Pros

dashboard to see student in rooms
and parent communication

Cons

there are so many things that procare could do - but the team can't keep up with the requests to add/edit things.

programs is a good feature - but there is not enough ways to use it. we need to be able to communicate with a "program" not just a room

we need to be able to refund any amount we want not just the entire invoice

i have 1000 other suggestions for ways to make this so much better

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

We've used Procare for about 8 years for our Before and After School programs, and this summer started using it for our summer day camps as well. I like the PIN check in / out option, as well as the option to set up carpools so that parents / authorized pickups only have to remember one PIN. The pricing is very reasonable. The app works well for communication with parents.

Cons

I wish it was easier to activate participants in the app. We sometimes have kids who are registered for the program but have not attended in a long time, so we inactivate them. But then they show up for a drop in, and it's not easy to re-activate them from the app.

It also takes quite a few clicks to get to the parent kiosk screen for parents to sign their kids in and out, and the steps aren't that intuitive. It would be nice to just have the parent kiosk with the PIN entry as a button on the front screen to get to it quickly.

Some of the reporting processes could be simplified - I wish we could customize the reports more.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

We have loved the Procare desktop over the 15-plus years we have utilized it. Our favored features have always been tracking time cards for staff and students, and billing for families. The system is clear, organized, and usable. It is excellent to be able to go back to accounts and see the entire history of each account. The idea of Procare online to meet more Daycare daily needs seems like it could be a great system yet daunting.

Cons

After being a customer for over 15 years it was disappointing to be put into a new pricing. After this change was made and "online" was launched for us, many features caused confusion with parents, and changes were made to our account with no warning. It is also hard to grasp why the two systems only communicate some information but do not sync all information. Example: if we start tracking meals through the app, we can not generate reports on meals in the desktop version because this information will not be synced to desktop.

Pros

Financial record keeping and parent engagement.

Cons

Teacher tracking of children's progress.

Pros

Communication ability with staff and parents.

Cons

That the employee information does not sync the way the children's information syncs.

Pros

The ability for childcare to stay connected with parents throughout the day. Reduces questions later, and promotes better collaborative development.

Cons

Would like it if some of the notifications could come through as text messages rather than just push notifications.

Pros

I like the ease of use, on going updates, time saving, money saving, and the ability to access anywhere. ProCare changed the filing method for our records and has given us the ability to work more efficiently.

Cons

The following are cons for ProCare

1. We can not delete items that was uploaded to a profile in error.
2. We can not add daily customized activities for staff such as notes, etc.
3. Customize user access especially in the event of custody issues/domestic violence, etc.
4. Newsletter draft, sent, and scheduled should be in folders per user and/or classroom according to how it is set up. Each user can only see their own newsletter or class newsletter. Admin can see all newsletter.
5. There should be different levels of Admin. There should be a Super Admin option where others can not change unless they are Super Admin.
6. There should be ability to click a button to add a Custody, Domestic Violence, Epi Pen, Asthma icon next to each child on the web and the app.
7. All ability to add calendar activities to on the web without the sending it to the parent.
8. All some authorized escorts the ability to get send and receive pick up/drop off messages so that they can stay informed or notify us of any issues, etc.

Pros

ProCare has all of the tools we need to run a smooth preschool day. The check in/out app for parents is easy to use for parents, teachers and administration. The integration from ProCare to ProCare Connect has been easy to navigate. Any time we have an issue or need understanding of a new feature, Customer Service personnel are amazingly helpful!

Cons

I wish we had used it sooner! I also would like to have our enrollment paperwork available for completion through ProCare. I believe that is a new feature and we intend to use it!

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

It has made life so much easier! Just the attendance tracker, and teacher sign in/out has given our center streamlined processes and reports that we never had with our previous multiple systems and software. Everything is consolidated and so much better!

Cons

Having the time to tap into all that Procare offers! I only scratch the surface of the reports and tracking that I could be doing. There are so many benefits, too numerous to name, and I only use a fraction. I need to learn more!

Pros

Procare has many attributes that help to make our facility run smoothly, however, the top 2 things that set it apart is when I have a question with the software I am always able to get an answer quickly. I use the chat feature A LOT and I have never waited more than 15 minutes. It is quick and allows me to figure it out quickly. They also listen to you. When you give them feedback about things you want included that they do not yet have or if something needs to be adjusted in their system, they listen. They are constantly releasing new updates and at least 3 have been items that I had asked for.

Cons

They have many training videos, but I wish they had question-and-answer sessions with a live person for each of the items on the site. I know this would be difficult because of the sheer number of items they offer, however, at one point this happened because I was the only one who had signed up for a training session, and due to this, the leader unmuted us and allowed us to ask questions as he walked us through the training...it was so helpful!

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

- Everything we need comes from 1 supplier.
- It is affordable
- The program is easy to use for everyone.
- Parents love the contactless sign in and out option

Cons

- When Procare has updates to their program we often have glitches that we have to work through, but Customer service is awesome and helps us work through any issues

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

The overall ability to handle all aspects of running our school in once place. Coupled with the company's training and support have been unparalleled in our experience.

Cons

The terminology took some getting used to. The individuals tasked with training knew the software very well and sometimes spoke above my level of understanding. However, clarification was always offered and I have never been left with an unanswered question.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Procare Solutions

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

I have been using ProCare Solutions for over 20 years now. Since the very beginning the customer support has been excellent. The team is always there to guide you and direct you. They are very friendly and patient with me as I am not always that tech savvy! They respond quickly and have always taken our suggestions and tried to support what our needs are.

Cons

When we first began with ProCare, there was no parent interface other than billing and email capabilities. For that matter no program had parent interface back then. With time Procare has added a parent portal, although I feel that it still needs to be made a bit more user friendly. Jumping between desktop version and engagement can be cumbersome. Overall, the parent portal works, I just feel it could be made more inclusive to the rest of the program especially with billing and payments.

Pros

The ease of using the app. I’m able to reach parents and the parents can communicate with me through the app. Not get lost as a text message would.

Cons

When they shut down and I can’t share the moments with parents. Procare is part of my selling process when I interview clients for the daycare. If it doesn’t work for the day, I do have parents who get concerned

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

I like the ability to be under one platform that functions well for both parent engagement and the management side of things. I enjoy the quick response when we have a question and the troubleshooting that Procare offers to help a situation. Overall the program is very easy to use.

Cons

I wish some of the suggestions that are coming would happen sooner/quicker. While I recognize things take time to build in the app, there are some features that I think would greatly help Procare and they are just waiting to be implemented.

Pros

I love the Dashboard! I also love the capabilities to send out emails in mass or set a reminder to parents as they sign in their child.

Cons

Well I understand why this need to be done however it is a pet peeve of mine. Procare will time out and I have to log back in.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

Procare is a central location for student and families information, staff details and communication. It allows for many things to be done well and quickly.

Cons

There are some things that needs tweaking; thing we are not finding to be especially intuiative, but the software techs are very open to feedback.

Pros

Procare has been a great tool for our school. Best part of Procare is that it is so user friendly.

Cons

If I have one complaint, it would be that I cant have multiple registrations for running at the same time.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Procare Solutions

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

Procare is user-friendly, appeals to both staff members and parents alike. Procare gives us one place to post important information for parents and staff to view in a timely fashion. We love having the ability to communicate quickly with our parents. Sharing photos of our students with their families is another great perk! Parents love knowing what their kiddos are up to and seeing their children happily playing and learning at school in "real time" is a great tool to have. We love being able to keep notes on Procare re: attendance, incident/injury reports, and other important communications with parents.

Cons

Sometimes Procare goes down and we are unable to access the app. On occasion, the app and online version will work for us, but very slowly. This is especially difficult when parents are trying to sign their children in for the day during the busy morning rush. That said, the Procare Help Desk is always ready to assist with any issues we run into. We have also run into a few problems with the newsletter publishing through Procare. We love using the newsletter function but sometimes they don't email out properly or there is a layout issue. Usually when we call the Help Desk, they are already aware of the issue and troubleshooting to fix it.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

The ease of using the system! It is so easy to communicate with parents, staff, etc. and it has so many features that make the work day easier with everything being in one location!

Cons

It times out too quickly! There needs to be a setting that will allow us to choose how quickly it times out.

Pros

It is a great way to connect school with the families. We like that children can be individually tagged so you can group them in various ways such as messaging. We also like how parents can view their child's day.

Cons

The system does have some quarks. It seems to be slower than other programs we have used. Sometimes the system is down and parents are unable to sign in or receive messages/updates throughout the day. We would like to be able to use a laptop (desktop) to be able to use for a sign in kiosk. Some things we can do on the iPads are not accessible on the desktop and vice versa. One thing that is not working right now is signing incident reports. There seems to be a glitch in the system when we submit for a parent to sign and it will not go through after the parent has signed.

Pros

Procare offers a easy interface to manage any child care program. The automatic invoices and parent portal make billing and accepting payments convenient.

Cons

The cost for the software is pricey for an at home child care facility.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

I like the fact that this has cut way down on unnecessary paperwork and additional spreadsheets just to figure out how our Extended Day and Summer Camp Programs were doing. I also like how this has gotten about 99% of our families to pay online instead of with cash or check.

Cons

Navigating the reports to get all the information I need for the accounting department is a little cumbersome but I'm figuring it out.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Procare Solutions

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

Procare really does have many features available to teachers and administration to help provide strong communication between school and home. Adding in meals, bottles, nap, etc. are so simple and take mere seconds. The teachers are so busy so having that is so important to the management of their day.

Cons

The app is great but on the admin side who login to the website there is a lot of clicking to get to particular information. For example, I would love to click on the child's picture and have access to not only their profile information but also to their daily report. Also, it would be so simple in I can click on the child's picture on the main screen to quickly log them in/out. There are a lot of great features but sometimes it is just so cumbersome to get to them all. Would love to cut down on the clicking and have it more streamlined.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

Very user friendly. Nice to have one place for all parent communication.

Cons

I wish there was better customizations on what the teachers can have access to. It would be nice to have other limitations on admin vs non admin staff.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Procare Solutions

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

It is easy to use and makes the day-to-day operations manageable.

Cons

Some issues with the fingerprint scanner and updates but usually resolved with a quick re-start.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

I love how user friendly Procare is. Very nice that we are able to run reports on class information, who has outstanding balance, and when a payment was made. I do also love how I am able to set up recurring invoices for each family. Very convenient also to have access to all staff information. I also use the Bank Account Activity report and Transaction reports often when reviewing payments

Cons

I do not like that our families are able to change their payment method each month. Even though I have them sign a financial agreement they still make changes. This is difficult because invoices must be adjusted for the CC fee. It would be nice to have an automatic late fee invoice for all outstanding balances.

Pros

That we have everything in one place, we can send out forms, newsletters, message parents and handle billing all in one platform.

Cons

We are school-age so our program runs differently, I wish the Standards provided in the lesson planner went up to school-age, but I have not yet found a program that is set up for school age students.
Parents don't like that they get updates for room changes/recess, etc. But if they turn off notifications, they don't get any notices including deadlines... it would be great if they could do customization for user end for that.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Procare Solutions

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Procare Solutions

Pros

The personal assistance as we transitioned over to Procare.

Cons

I find the administrative reports lacking practical applications for day-to-day use in the center. The online PRocare does not work with Kinderconnect to daily report to TWC-CCS.

Pros

I find ProCare to be very user friendly. Our families love having real-time updates of their child's day. It keeps everything very organized, student information, immunizations, daily activities, etc. I just have to click on a child's name and I have everything I need.

Cons

I would like to have the option of have several forms, right now, I can only have one form for families to fill out. I would like to have an interest form and an enrollment form.