On.Board Reviews

“fast IT support”

Pros

Pretty easy to handle. Everything you need is right at your fingertips and the meeting book has been especially valuable for our busy Trustees. The IT support team has also been fantastic, any time a question or issue comes up, help arrives right away.

Cons

The way meetings are entered can be improved. Since most of our meetings happen monthly, it would be much better to have a recurring meeting option instead of creating every meeting one by one.

“It keeps evolving”

Pros

Even before COVID forced everything online, we had already put this in place and that turned out to be incredibly valuable. It gave us the ability to share materials, run elections and collect approvals entirely online when we needed it most. They keep improving the platform which continues to impress me. The amount of time it has saved is huge but the biggest advantage has been having secure, convenient access to materials online. Our trustees can act on items while traveling from a phone, tablet or computer instead of waiting for printed packages to arrive. Meeting materials are available online for review and storage so current agendas and past actions or reference documents are always accessible. We no longer deal with binders being left behind, missing pages or concerns about the safety of sensitive materials and that has made a real difference.

Cons

The only real challenge on our end is that we would love to take advantage of all the features available but recent financial pressures at the university mean we have to be careful with our budget and stick with what we currently have. Even so, what we use now is still far better than having nothing at all. We definitely look ahead to what more we could do with it because the platform offers a lot of possibilities for any organization.

“Powerful security at every level”

Pros

Security is built into every layer of the software which is really reassuring. It even includes the option to remotely wipe devices connected to the system if that ever becomes necessary.

Cons

The Zoom integration has been somewhat buggy from time to time although we've been told improvements are actively being made in that area.

“Simplifies collaboration”

Pros

Putting together agendas and minutes feels very simple. Once a liaison starts using these tools, they usually stop going back to building the documents in Word. It makes collaboration much simpler, cuts down on all the back-and-forth emails and avoids version control problems. The interface is user-friendly and the product updates make it clear the team is genuinely paying attention to user feedback.

Cons

I'd still love to see agenda changes automatically carry over into the minutes. The attendance feature would also be better with a drag-and-drop option for moving attendees into different groups.

“Easy to manage members”

Pros

Managing members and controlling access has been very simple. It also makes it simple to share documents with board members and creating meeting books while keeping meetings organized has been a really positive part of using it.

Cons

There is not really anything we dislike but some of the features we have not rolled out yet are being met with resistance internally. It is more of a change management issue and it will likely just take some time.

“Met our expectations”

Pros

Using this feels almost like bringing on another staff member rather than just paying for a subscription. Our board members come from very sophisticated organizations in their day-to-day work so their expectations were high and this platform helped us meet them much better than before.

Cons

We still run into an odd issue where one or two people randomly can't access the Zoom meeting even though they're using the same "join virtual meeting" link that worked for everyone else. The strange part is that it's never the same individuals. It would also be incredibly helpful to have a trainer available on call, similar to the technical support team for those in-the-moment guidance needs when user-error problems pop up under deadline pressure.

“Broad range of features”

Pros

It brings together a wide range of features and does a really good job of replacing several separate systems with one platform.

Cons

I'd prefer the help section to be hosted on the same URL as the application so the login experience feels more smooth.

“Quick for pulling up documents”

Pros

Being able to pull up documents quickly is the biggest benefit for me and I really appreciate that I can add comments to those files and keep them saved for later reference. The calendar integration is also a big plus and joining a meeting directly from the platform is much more convenient than searching through old emails. Even our board secretary, who manages the admin side, has mentioned how much simpler it is to use and how much time it saves.

Cons

The only feature I really feel is missing is document collaboration. Having that built into the platform would make the package even more useful. Aside from that, I honestly do not have any real complaints.

“Convenient rollout and happy directors”

Pros

rolling this out could not have gone more smoothly. The platform is very user-friendly and our directors and officers have been extremely pleased with it.

Cons

the meeting analytics data collection worries us. From a legal perspective, it creates added exposure for our users and we strongly believe this should be an optional feature. Our concern is that if our board of directors were ever involved in litigation over whether they fulfilled their duties, any retained usage data such as how much of a meeting book a director did or did not read, could be used by a plaintiff to argue that a director failed in those duties even if those duties were actually met in other ways. This seems like something that would affect other users too and it really should be a priority in future improvements.

“Changed the way we operate”

Pros

Switching from printed, bound board books to this has made a huge difference for us. We no longer have to gather materials far in advance or worry that last-minute updates will be left out since I can keep making changes right up until the meeting date. Board members can open the virtual board book from wherever they are and on whatever device they prefer which has been incredibly convenient. We also use it for committee and cabinet meetings and being able to capture votes directly in the platform has been really valuable. The polls and voting feature gets used almost every day with cabinet because there are often smaller items that need consensus before the next meeting. Instead of waiting, we upload the documents and send them out for a vote and the results stay recorded there for future reference. That has been especially helpful when we need to track board votes during the audit. On top of that, the platform has been very user-friendly and the implementation was simple. I've had to provide very little one-on-one training for board members and customer support has been extremely responsive anytime I or one of our board members has needed help.

Cons

I'd like to see the ability to store a bit more information about board members and run reports on details such as term information.

“works well with Zoom”

Pros

Its very user-friendly to use and works really well with the Zoom virtual platform. It also stays current with new features which helps make sure user needs continue to be met over time. Another big plus is that it works across multiple devices so it's very accessible and convenient to use.

Cons

it only supports Zoom for virtual meetings, while many organizations also rely on other meeting platforms like Microsoft Teams.

“Improved a lot”

Pros

The navigation feels quite user-friendly. Over the year-plus I've been using it, there have been a lot of improvements that have made it even more user-friendly. Most of our board members were able to learn it quickly and use it without much trouble.

Cons

At times, there's a bit of lag while typing or saving which can be a little frustrating.

“Fantastic click-and-drag function”

Pros

I find it user-friendly. A few of our board members needed a little time to get used to it but most of them learned it quickly and really appreciate having one portal where they can find all the meeting details. One feature I especially enjoy is the click-and-drag function for building and adding meeting information. There are honestly a lot of things to appreciate about this software and it has definitely made me more productive.

Cons

I honestly do not have any real complaints to mention. The setup and integration went smoothly and it took very little time for me to learn how to use the system.

“Packed with features”

Pros

This platform helps with board work. Being able to build the agenda directly from a Word document is a huge plus and having Zoom links accessible right from it makes meetings much more convenient. The improved calendar and Resource Library have also been very useful. It's very user friendly and I've appreciated the steady rollout of new features, upgrades and ongoing improvements. The integration process was smooth as well.

Cons

Honestly, I haven't run into anything that feels difficult to use. There really isn't anything about this software that I dislike.

“unlimited storage is a bonus”

Pros

Everything is very user-friendly and having all our information stored in one place has been a huge benefit. It also gives Board Members a direct way to connect with each other which is really helpful. The unlimited storage is a big plus and the Zoom integration makes the platform even more convenient.

Cons

An issue we've run into although it may just be user error on our side, is that Excel spreadsheets don't seem to load very well and can be difficult to read. It may be something on our end but it does make our meeting books much longer than they should be.

“No complaints”

Pros

Setting it up took less than a day which was amazing. It's very user-friendly and I also appreciate that the team is constantly working on improvements and product upgrades.

Cons

Honestly, there's nothing about the platform that we dislike. A few people on our team have had trouble with the messaging feature but that turned out to be an internal issue tied to our IT security rather than the software itself.

“Valuable during the pandemic”

Pros

Having the agenda and all board materials available online has been the biggest benefit. We no longer have to put together bulky binders and everything stays organized so board members can quickly find what they need right when they need it. That became especially valuable during the pandemic when our meetings shifted to Zoom. It also eliminated the hassle of emailing documents that were too large to send.

Cons

One thing I wish worked differently is how annotations are handled after materials are published. If board members have already made notes and the documents get updated, those annotations are lost. I understand why that happens but it's still frustrating since materials often get revised at the last minute.

“smooth setup”

Pros

Its quite userfriendly and the implementation process went through without any issues.

Cons

The most time-consuming part of our setup was defining the roles and terms. The instructions were decent but that piece took the longest to fully figure out.

“Simplifies our work”

Pros

With our organization running at least 3-4 meetings every month, this has done a lot to simplify the way we work. Having everything centralized in one place has made the whole process much more organized. We also rely on the survey tool every month and it's been very user-friendly and convenient to work with.

Cons

The approvals feature could definitely be more user-friendly. One frustration is that when back-end changes are made, they sometimes end up affecting permissions that were configured a long time ago. If an upgrade happens, our board directors should still be able to access the meetings they normally attend without any disruption.