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.

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.

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.

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.

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?).

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.

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.

Avionte Core and Web Based Platform

Overall, we have had a positive experience with Avionte. We have been able to increase efficiency with applications and candidate searches in our system. Also, the customer service is phenomenal. From the call-in customer service to our SAE (sales account exec), everyone is very helpful and understanding of the issues we face when something doesn't appear to be functioning properly. Usually, issues are VERY quickly resolved.

Pros

This software is very user friendly, and the new web based platform navigates easily on mobile devices. Our company has been able to attract more applicants with the web based platform, because they are able to complete our applications on their smartphones or tablets. The ability to text a candidate through the software and have it logged as a message in their record is helpful as well.

Cons

The one issue we have had is that there is currently no way to have an answered text record in the candidate's file, we still have to manually record emails and text responses.

Backed by Good People

Pros

The software is good- very robust and covers everything that we need. We found that there were only 4 staffing software vendors who could do EVERYTHING that we need.

Avionte regularly solicits feedback, and shapes their future development based on what the customers are looking for.

Cons

They are a growing company, and sometimes that growth affects the customer. While everything has not run perfectly with Avionte, when the rare problem comes up, the problem gets SOLVED.

I began the search for a new ATS system for my business and I had a few “non-negotiable” items that I needed when choosing a new ATS Software company. Over a four month period, I actively looked at several ATS systems and tested four different ATS companies that I felt could provide me with the capabilities that I would need, not only to operate my business but also act as a partner to help grow my business. In choosing an ATS system, I wanted a company that truly cared about my business, had cutting edge technology, flexibility in customizations, was easy to use and more importantly, easy to train my recruiters to use. I also wanted something that required, minimal clicks and had HTML Capabilities to also use as a marketing tool. It was important to be able to pick up the phone and talk to someone, have a quick response time, and a company that was continually upgrading their system and could give best practice ideas. After extensive research, it was evident that COMPAS was the only company that met all of my criteria. The system is off the charts, easy to use, and I truly believe that they care about me and my business. I have never in my experience using ATS systems, met a company that says “yes is the answer, what’s the question”. In addition, it was huge fear of migrating my data as it is my life line. The migration was quick and accurate. About a week later, I noticed a minor mistake on a categorization (my fault) and made one phone call to the migration team. Within 20 minutes, they fixed my mistake and never interrupted my business for a single moment. In my experience, everyone that I have dealt with in COMPAS genuinely cares about your success, is time sensitive and treats you like extended family. I believe that, that kind of culture does not happen by accident, but instead, is a direct result of leadership and hiring people that are the best in the business. I could not be more happy with my decision to join the COMPAS Family and believe that the best idea is still yet to come…. and when it does, COMPAS will be leading the charge.

Overall a great product!

Pros

I really like how everything is set up on the front end and how easy it is to access information. I love the amount of reports and their accessibility.

Cons

I would say the one thing I have an issue with is not being able to see employee/candidates or customers that are coded under a different "branch" unless I have that specific branch chosen under branch settings. The main time I have an issue with this is when I am working on an order, let's say if an applicant from branch "A" applies to a job within my branch, "B" then I would not know unless I have branch "A" chosen in settings. I try to stay within my branch because our company as a whole has 1000's of applicants and a large amount of work orders so if I have all branches available in my settings it bogs down my screen and slows me down on getting the information I need solely for my branch.