Just Enough to Get By

Overall the software allows us to manage our day to day operations, it definitely has areas of improvement that need to be made that have been overlooked as developers think forward and focus on new developments and projects and seem to forget about old system improvements. The ACA companion app is a perfect example of this, they rushed to get it out, now it gets little to no attention leaving our company and only a handful of others scrambling to manually code our 1095's. Its wonderful this works for other clients flawlessly (So we have been told) but for us its been a headache since the launch and we were told no further developments would be made as the team focused on new ventures. (so basically what I heard was because only your company and a few others have this issue its not really important to us). The software is a good BASIC end to end solution but could definitely do a lot to streamline processes for all of its clients.

Pros

Avionte allowed my company to move out of paper applications into the digital age, some of its integrations have been helpful and it has helped us in managing overall employment compliance. I like that it does provide even though flawed an end to end solution for our staffing firm

Cons

-Employee documents can be a mess when the employee is longstanding or has had multiple jobs
-There is no way to flag an individual who receives an MSO so that if they leave and return benefits is immediately aware
-ACA tracking, enrollments, & Deductions 2 separate modules... previous software has auto tracked ACA eligibility because FT/PT status is designated at the assignment level. We have people who work short term PT jobs that then may go on to work a full time job and are genuinely eligible to receive benefits. To date we have not found a method to measure an individual for edibility before the 90 day window.
-Unemployment Module- completely barebones, only 2 reports exist when this type of reporting is crucial to business operations. It attaches unemployment to whatever the employees current branch is instead of to the assignment to which the claim was filed, and there is no report or log to show activity on unemployment's. There is a log that shows when the claim is open or closed but no detail as to why, and no initial open date. For performance metrics it is critical to see activity on the claims. It would be nice to see reporting similar to the sales metrics reporting. There is no training or help in understanding how Avionte intended this module to be used.
- Help Center a whole bunch of articles that you have to ask your question very carefully and did through several articles to get to your answer.
-Finally the system feels Antiquated to other systems

Avionte Uses: Staffing vs. Headhunting

Pros

I am in a unique situation where I have trained and used Avionte in both a Staffing and a Headhunting setting. Here at QPS our main focus is that staffing side of the business, but we over the past couple of years our Professional Team has grown as well. Avionte is our sole ATS and CRM on the Staffing side of things and our team including myself love it. There are so many key features that make this product stand out on the staffing side including back-office, reporting, customization, and most importantly a one stop shop for us to run our business. On top of those key features, Avionte has a support staff that is next to none that is here to help whenever we need it.

Cons

Now to the other side of the coin and how our Professional Team (AKA Headhunters) have utilized Avionte. A few years ago, our Professional team was utilizing Avionte for our lower end candidates and another ATS for our higher end candidates. Our team decided that Avionte didn't have the key features our other ATS system had and decided to completely get out of Avionte and move over to the other ATS. A few of the biggest reasons why was that the interface of Avionte didn't compare, Avionte wasn't cloud based, and the ease of use of Avionte compared to the other ATS wasn't there either.

We have been able to do amazing things with this new software

We have had hours and hours of payroll processing time cut by the items that we are able to do with the software. We have been able to upload W2s directly to our company website - employee portal for the employees to download and print themselves. We have saved thousands of dollars in costs related to payroll checks, mailing costs, printing costs, W2 printing, mailing, stuffing envelopes . . . Not having to print every single thing under the sun has been wonderful. Tech support is AMAZING! Our implementation team was wonderful, and continues to be a great partnership. Peace of mind that we are doing things correctly is great. Being able to upload documents directly into the employee file and not contact different branches to be able to see documents. Data entry at the branch level has improved dramatically as the employees are responsible for entering their own information. Makes for so many fewer mistakes. There really are so many things that I have come to appreciate with this software.

Pros

Very user friendly. Once you learn the names of items, it is quite simple to go back and forth between different areas of the software, and yet never lose your place.

Cons

There isn't much I don't like. Every problem that I have believed that I had, was able to be either adjusted by Avionte, or I've been able to find a work around that did exactly what was needed.

Better suited for light industrial than 3rd party staffing

If you are a light industrial staffing company with very limited search requirements for open reqs, this software might work for you. If you do niche recruiting with many different job requirements that requires specific sourcing (and Boolean searching), you will likely not find Avionte to fit your needs.

Pros

Avionte replaced our archaic proprietary software, so it was a vast improvement from where we came from. I like the ability to sort my search results by the last contacted date in the core application. The core application also resembles Microsoft Outlook in the drop downs so I feel like it is pretty easy to use. There are multiple ways to complete the same function so you can use what works best for you.

Cons

Avionte is still growing and often has hiccups when they try to roll out new functionality. They will often make changes without notifying users which affect custom modifications we have paid for. We are a 3rd party staffing company in a niche industry and this software is just not made for us. The core application does not have true Boolean functionality and while they are trying to roll out a true web-based SAAS platform, they are far from completion. At present, we have to use 2 versions of Avionte and are limited in our abilities in each platform. Support often takes long periods of time to respond to and/or correct issues.

Industry Focused

We have been able to go 100% paperless and continue to find efficiencies in our processes, reducing the resources necessary for data management. Because development has been focused on the new product, the core application often requires lengthy process to achieve results with many stepped procedures like on-boarding. The disconnect between the core and web based has created some confusion for users. Customer service and account management has been very receptive and good, support isn't always as useful.

Pros

Avionte is definitely a solution for the staffing industry. They have lagged a bit on innovation in recent years, but seem to be correcting and their new product features look to be solutions that can compete with changing technology and trends in the industry.

Cons

Support often takes a long time on non-urgent issues and the staff isn't always knowledgeable or creative in helping to find solutions to process gaps or changes. Reporting is very convoluted, you have to combine many queries, export in order to get some basic key data. Lack of API is frustrating.

Disappointed

I thought the Avionte advanced search and Auto Match features would revolutionize my team's ability to search. As it is working right now it is not doing that all... for new data since our June conversion it seems to be ok but I can't find the people I need that converted from our old system. CONNECT was a great experience but the Q&As made me feel like a bouncing ball - ask one person, they don't know, ask another person, they don't know, ask someone else, maybe they have a suggestion, find the right person and they have no idea what the answer is and no suggestions on what to do. I feel as if Avionte grew too quickly and find themselves unable to support the new companies who came on board. The Knowledge Base and Avi the owl are all well and good but I feel like our training was lacking. And if I don't know a feature even exists - Group Searching Options - how do I know to find a Knowledge Base article on them. Support is good IF you get lucky and get someone who knows something about your problem; otherwise we're on our own and that's not a good feeling.

Pros

We're still using the Core App and what i like most is that all of the information I need is on one screen. Everything is easy to find and the system is responsive.

Cons

The service and support are awful. We are 2+ months post conversion and still don't have ACA reporting capabilities. We are unable to use the Web Modules because our data is so out of whack (it's supposed to be a mirror image of the Core App right? it's not at all) and our rep. She does't return calls or emails even from our company VP. I attended CONNECT and thought I had gotten good answers to some lingering questions about reporting and searching but the instruction doesn't seem to work when applied within my system (bad data conversion maybe?).

Great staff to work with.

Pros

Great customer service from the whole Avionte team. I like that we have a manager to oversee our company. We like that we have a point in contact to reach when we have questions or concerns. They allow us to set up a weekly call to discuss any items or just to see how he can help us. It is a great product for temporary staffing services. Our business customers are temporary staffing companies which is why we are using Avionte. The back office part of Avionte is what we use mostly. We've had to customize many things within Avionte which helps us in the long run.

Cons

The turn around time for issues encountered or even questions with their Support Team is not something I like. I am not a fan of having to submit a ticket for everything, even if it just a question. I understand the set up but the turn around time is not the greatest.

Not an all-in-one solution

Overall, software programs are generally only as good as the work flow processes that are put in place around them, and our organization is not good at establishing consistent processes.

Pros

When self-hosting, there is a lot of customization you can do, allowing quick access to data. Also, works great as an applicant tracker.

Cons

Because the software is built around recruiting and billing, there are numerous features very well suited in the areas. However, their are other functions within a staffing company that the software is not built to handle. For example, when being sold the software, one of the selling features was I9 compliance and management. Unfortunately, this has never been a reality. Now, if we want to get I9 compliance capabilities, we have to contract (at an additional cost) with an Avionte partner. Not what we were led to believe during the sales pitch.

Avionte Review

Avionte has allowed us to streamline many processes and reduce manual tracking and processes across multiple platforms. While there are areas we feel need to be improved upon, it has improved our business operations.

Pros

Avionte provides the full Life Cycle; tying the applicant tracking through to the hiring process, payroll and billing the customer.

*Electronic onboarding
*WOTC integration
*Employee Portal
*Customer Portal
*Web Time import

Cons

*Lack of open API
*Account Receivable Module does not allow users to create an invoice with multiple line items or adding free text comments through the A/R module (outside of the invoicing creating by time entry/payroll process).
*A/R does not allow for processing a refund to a customer
*Payroll does not allow use of a negative deduction to refund something withheld
*ACA Tracking functionality needs to be updated

A Work In Progress

Avionte has improved how candidates are managed and has streamlined several processes for our company which has allowed us to move our data into the digital age.

Pros

I like that Avionte is innovative and continues to improve. I also appreciate that the company is willing to take advice from their clients and implement changes that are beneficial to the specific needs of each client.

Cons

I don't like that the software has not changed consistently, the changes are somewhat abrupt. For example, we trained and became proficient with the core application and then through Client Connect there was a big push for everyone to begin using Aero, which was abandoned and was only a DH platform for temp agencies. Now, we will be transitioning to a new platform with very few details heading into the new platform.