Award Force

Avantages

The individual set up is pretty nice and it's super easy to use.

Inconvénients

As a "heavy user" the annual costs are enormous.

Avantages

Entrants can upload data, pictures, etc and we can then easily download it for the production of our books. Before, award entrants have sent in their material per post - it was a mess. Much less complicated now.

Inconvénients

The set-up can be a bit complicated but once you've gotten the hang of it, not such a big problem.

An app would be really cool!

Avantages

- user-friendly
- You can archive past data
- You can export anything according to your needs
-The support team is very accommodating and very responsive.

Inconvénients

-its quite costly - you get what you pay for, in a positive way.
- I cant think of any cons because whenever I encounter problems, the team responds and resolves it.

Avantages

I'm not tech savvy at all. However once you figure this out- with a lot of help from the support team, it is actually quite logical.

Inconvénients

Understanding some of the terminology was at times challenging. Also some of the processes weren't as straightforward as one hoped. However any problem encountered was quickly solved by the support team.

Avantages

Ease of use to setup and ease of use for entrants.

Inconvénients

I wish our organization could afford the platform with the payment process, but our competition is so small, that the cost cannot be justified. Consequently, it did make the process for the entrants to pay to enter the competition cumbersome.

Avantages

The greatest pro is community and people working to keep the software up-to-date and answer questions you have around the product. It's hard to know everything about a new software, so having a great support team is crucial.

Inconvénients

I don't feel like I missed anything when buying the software. Perhaps some features are missing, but that can be easily fixed by upgrading your subscription.

Avantages

Awards Force makes running awards so much easier. Our entrants and judges all report that it is a great tool to use. When we started using Awards Force entries surged 30%, and they have grown every year since. Our judges have found their workload reduced, and (most importantly) it has become so much easier to manage. What used to take two weeks is now down to days, and the level of control and information I can access as an organiser is transformational. It is not overstating it to say that Awards Force has changed my life.

Avantages

All the functionalities I needed were built into the software. There was no feature our project needed that wasn't available with this product.

Inconvénients

I didn't experience any cons while using Awards Force!

Avantages

Relatively easy to use and makes the awards management quicker

Inconvénients

1. not possible to search for duplicates in different categories
2. No possibility to open attachments from PDFd entries

Avantages

I have already detailed this

Inconvénients

I have already detailed this

Avantages

The software is very simple which makes it easy to understand, easy to use and easy to manage, The system is very cost effective.

Inconvénients

Because of the simplicity of the system there are some functions which may be included on a more complex system. However constant work is being done by Award Force and we are now in our second year and see a lot more functions in place over time

Avantages

I was a bit affraid before implementing this tool because we have many different awards, each of them with other criteria but from the beggining we had big support - with a lot of tutorials on the website and especially with the customer service.
What I like most is the big range of possibilities and its versatility. However your award system is complicated, you will find a solution in implementing it in Award Force.
I also like the main menu. It is very useful and easy to use.

Inconvénients

What I don't like is the button "configuration mode ON/OFF". It should be on the botton of the page also not only on the top. It is the only thing that comes to my mind.

Avantages

While the Awardforce program is not the most intuitive program in my opinion, your customer service team is wonderful! It is so reassuring that I can jump into the calendar and schedule time with [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] and have other customer service personnel who are accessible. While I sometimes struggle explaining my questions, your team always seems to understand what I'm asking.

I appreciate and value everything your team offers.

Thank you!

Inconvénients

I do stumble around trying to navigate the system. It's hard for me to find what I'm looking for without asking for help!

Avantages

Easy to setup and use.
pre designed to cover most scenarios related to Awards and competitions.
interface is clear and scrip

Inconvénients

the fact it is cloud based which limitations functions like tracking codes and google analytics also it is not possible to modify or custom design a specific features without reflecting on the whole system.

Avantages

I like the assistance tabs and the online help videos.
I also would like to commend Customer support representative from Award Force on how informative and professional she is with her assistance e. Every time I have a question or need help, Lauren responds really quickly with advice and answers that are clear and easy to understand.
I would also like to pass on comments from our assessment panel members who have told me how easy it was to use the portal and do the scoring online. They advise that they have assessed nominations via other portals - but this has been the most user friendly.

Inconvénients

I don't have any cons about this software that I can currently think of. As I mentioned above, I found the initial part of learning the system a bit tricky because I had no one in the office to handover and show me the ropes. That is why I appreciate the online help videos and being able to ask Customer support representative for help.

Avantages

The support and the speed at which support is given is amazing.

Inconvénients

I hate that you can't search an entry by the user's name.

Avantages

It's reduced our manual data entry process and made it easier for judges to review from anywhere at any time.

Inconvénients

Creating the tabs and each individual criteria field - for our particular awards program, this was very lengthy!!

Avantages

Awardforce lets us run an internal program that lets all our offices globally submit work for judging.

This happens every 2-3 months and we can then publish the work into galleries for all to see (separated into the top scorers and all other work).

Being able to lock down registration to specific domains means that we can keep it strictly within our company, but allows us the versatility to add external people if and when necessary.

The process is relatively simple (once you've gained an understanding of how the system works) and I have always found that help is readily available when needed, with the team being quick to respond, and offering solutions to any problems we encounter or requests that we have.

Inconvénients

It isn't particularly intuitive, and if not used on a regular basis it can be easy to get a little lost when trying find specific functionality. That said, we do use the platform ina different way than most other companies so it is partly because of that.

Avantages

We were manually collecting/managing awards before award force - so award force was incredibly welcomed. The product is perfect for what we need it for, its simple to use for us who are managing it, the users using it and also for the judges. I would highly recommend this product especially as the customer service is better than anything I have ever experienced.

Inconvénients

Would be good to have a user view in the back end when you sign in - just so you can keep track on what the users are seeing along with managing the back end of everything

Avantages

As a first time user I found Award Force to be intuitive and very useful for collating nominations, shortlisting finalists and conducting the judging process. The support given was very helpful and timely.

Inconvénients

Some of the scoring and shortlisting options can be a little difficult to understand but the support usually helped to sort this out.

Avantages

I spent my time as a Manager for many years. But I couldn't do as good analysis and guidance as Award force. The software helped me a lot in following up business purchases. The intuitive interface is very good.

Inconvénients

The only downside is the costs. They can cut costs a little more.

Avantages

AwardsForce is very user friendly and easy to navigate. We have a complicated awards system and AwardsForce is one of the few softwares which met all our main requirements.

Inconvénients

Payment options - would be great to have several bank accounts within one user account (instead of just one)

Avantages

The ease of use. At first there appears to be a lot to input and learn but the support you get, including hands on webinars and individual training makes it simple. The support team are very responsive. And the degree of functionality is great. We had a paper based system previously which was an absolute nightmare - printing, distributing, collating, reprinting for judges...and so on. Now it's a simple process and judging is online, so it can be done at any time anywhere.

Inconvénients

The is really nothing that I don't like about this software. Some of the things, such as setting up your theme take a bit of work, but a little reading and experimenting overcomes this.

Avantages

- Customizability
- UX/UI
- Support Team
- Managing Features

Inconvénients

- If you want a highly, highly complex setup, it does get complicated. However, the support team has your back and allows you to learn as you go. Eventually, you feel like an expert.

Avantages

Configuration was easy, customizable and fit the complexity of our program

Inconvénients

There wasn't much that I could complain about

Avantages

Very responsive support, great features and easy to implement and maintain.

Inconvénients

Often not very descriptive labels in the application.

Avantages

It works well and is visually appealing.

Inconvénients

I wish there was a way to close a round for entries but have a secret way to allow ppl to still edit their entry.

Avantages

When selecting AwardForce, we ran a full search looking at many different platforms. Only Awardforce offered us the flexibility and control over our own competition. The Team are fantastic, the costs are completely transparent and it's brilliantly secure. There's also new features being delivered regularly. My client absolutely loves it and it's completely revolutionised the whole competition process.

Inconvénients

It would be nice to have more control over the Judging views in terms of layout. At the moment this is fixed.

Avantages

Award Force is much better than our old awards platform and we have received great feedback from users, both entrants and judges. The customer support team quickly responds to inquiries and promptly resolves any issues.

Inconvénients

I had to hire someone to help me set up my platform but since then, I am able to make most modifications.

Avantages

The software provided everything you need as an Awards Coordinator, in a clean designed view: Setting up the rules and categories for your Awards, the customised design, payments, the judging, a nice dashboard to have real-time impressions and the different possibilities to collect data.

It´s a very sophisticated system; I would recommend it to whoever is working with awards and competitions.

Inconvénients

Some tools were very easy to handle, but at first I could not understand them. Thanks to the support of AwardForce team, that was not a real issue, as they immediately came back with a solution.

Avantages

The customer service was excellent. They were always helpful in nutting out solutions for our complicated review flows and finding work-arounds if necessary.

Inconvénients

Can't tailor the reports (downloads) to suit our requirements
Need to be able to copy the review flow over to the next season

Avantages

Easy of use, personally maintained but with back up when required. Ability to check progress, email from within via broadcasts to entrants, financial capability to accept payment and send invoices saves time. Once we had worked the platform once we definitely got the hang of it quick as did our entrants and judges.

Inconvénients

In the criteria area when info is written, the system automatically defaults to spell check with pink boxes and often not necessary. this can be off putting to entrants and we have received a number of queries on this as to how to not have it showing but the system cannot change this.
Points system does not work well for us and we still have to export ranking and then mannually add up to find winners based on preference from our judges

Avantages

Allows me to do what I need to for work. Allows candidates to fill in applications really easily and the entire process is easy to monitor.

Inconvénients

The terminology and interface takes some getting used to. It's not as intuitive as I had hoped. Although help and customer service has been excellent and once one gets used to it, the features are very useful.

Avantages

Entrants can easily upload and view their entries and edit when needed.
Flexible and adaptive forms to collect data/uploads and the forms are very clear and easy to add a lot of descriptive text to help inform entrants.
Very easy to monitor entries and payments etc.
Managers can easily access entries and make amendments when needed on behalf of entrants.
The support is amazing - help is always on hand when there are any questions or issues you need help with.

Inconvénients

The software is not overly intuitive when initially setting up, but the high-level of support provided helps with this.
Can't be modified/developed for specific needs (unless requested by multiple users - due to nature of the system). However, they do help you with workarounds and develop new features when they can.

Avantages

When you select the help menu, it suggests customized topics depending on what screen you're on
Ability to customize most fields
Merge multiple submissions

Inconvénients

A little hard to navigate at first
Some things are not customizable

Alternatives envisagées 

Pourquoi passer à Award Force

Avantages

I use the software every two years. It's a long time if you are not a "native digital". The beginning is always a challenge. However, in the end, the software spares a lot of administrative work.

Inconvénients

Preparing a product evaluation only works in "one direction" - if you get an idea in the heat of the work, it cannot be implemented.

Avantages

Customer support: Carl has been such a great trainer and support--going above and beyond to help us understand and make changes to our events. He helped copy fields and change order numbers on our screenshare call to make our event better. Megan has been super helpful too--responding promptly.

It is easy to use! Everything is pretty straight forward--if it's labeled something it has that functionality.

It looks nice to viewers. Clean and nice layout.

Its dynamic--there is a wide range of functionality--to create conditional fields, to hide fields from judges, types of attachments, types of judging, ect.

Inconvénients

There are some hidden tricks you'd only know about if you were screensharing with an award force rep--for example the ## make the heading size different.

Avantages

Has all the features you need in a software programme to support an awards programme - always receive comments from entrants and judges on ease of use. Excellent support provided

Inconvénients

It's not the cheapest. But having run an awards recently without it due to budget reasons, we realised how much time it saves.

Avantages

It intuitive after a while it become second nature and its fun watching it all come together. I am not at all techy but I had no issues with the software and it looks very straightforward for our applicants.

Inconvénients

At the moment I don't have any complaints. We don't have a graphic designing so scaling the logos to the correct size took a little bit of time but nothing major. I have not yet configured the judging component so I just hope that is as straight foreword as setting up the applications.

I think it was quite expensive too. Many from the point of view that I work in a department where there are multiple program and to pay this much for every program would not be possible, which is a shame as all the programs would benefit from it.

Avantages

Its ease of use in allowing users easy input. We use it for an Award program and in particular the judging aspect makes it extremely easy. Having gone from a paper based system the nomination and judging has become manageable and extremely efficient and consistant

Inconvénients

I have not found anything to not like about the software. A suggestion that maybe there is a pricing for Not for profits or Service clubs as using it only for an Award system there is no income coming in from it.

Avantages

The adaptability to customer's needs. Since we started using this programme back in April, we flagged some changes that we wanted to implement to make it easier for our entrants and judges and most of them where already implemented by the Award Force team.

Inconvénients

There are still some features/functions that need to be changed and some missing to make it a seamless experience for the administrators, entrants and judges alike.

Avantages

User friendly, well though out, always being updated, responds quickly to changes made

Avantages

Easy to use. Relatively easy to navigate. Excellent customer service. Multiple payment options. Good onboarding process and follow-up.

Inconvénients

Some aspects of finding out how to implement certain features are not straightforward. Navigation could be improved and small tweaks could be added to address this.
Access can be limited for some areas where you may wish to modify titles (however, the Award Force team are willing to change this themselves within reason).

Avantages

The support that I received was excellent and every time I wished that there was a feature...it was there

Inconvénients

Some of the features took a little time to find or figure out but the support team helped greatly. There might be one or two minor functionality gaps too like manually selecting users for a broadcast (could be user error though)

Avantages

The software was easy to purchase and configure - we went live in less than 8 hours with a self-guided implementation.

Inconvénients

More flexibility in the award nomination pages would be useful

Avantages

The features can be adapted for your specific needs - e.g. we used it to get responses from off-site 'home-testers'. It is intuitive and easy to use.
It is easily customisable to match the theme of your awards program - everything from the banner on emails sent from the site to the colour of buttons when you hover over them can be changed by the user, which is great.

Inconvénients

Sometimes when you click save, or close, or back on your browser it doesn't take you back to where you are expecting. The support staff are very helpful and normally very quick to respond, but it can be a bit disconcerting that some of them are based in Canada.

Avantages

Ease of entry for entrants
Online review, approval and searching
Scoring at shortlist and final judging stages
Ease for judges to pre-review
Ease of set up

Inconvénients

Clunky in places
Difficulty with 3rd party nominations and confusion re login

Avantages

It's easy to navigate and coming from a manual awards system the time that was saved was unbelievable, especially when it came to judging.

Inconvénients

I found it hard to visualise how to set up the system as a first time user, as there were no examples given for what I was looking for so the setup was a bit time consuming.

Avantages

- It makes my work so easier and allows me to save lots of time. The customer support team is always available and happy to help, the training was very clear.
- It allows my competition to have a very professional image and adds value to it. Both startups and judges are amazed by the quality of the tool and the smooth, user friendly process. I also appreciate the fact that there are already instructions in the tool to explain users how to use it.

Inconvénients

The only thing I think is that it requires a training and in case the person responsible in your team has to leave (or if you have 6-months interns which is our case), you have to train the person each time.

Avantages

It’s functionality and ease of sharing with multiple users

Inconvénients

It is pricey for us as a not for profit (we are not a charity) and we have to renew our licence each year