Diligent Boards Reviews

Pros

It is easy and intuitive both from an administrator perspective and a user perspective

Cons

The Resource Center - though I understand that improvements are coming and I am looking forward to that.

Pros

-- Ease of use for Directors
-- Excellent customer service; response times are fast!
-- The ability to take notes, bookmark and move around within a meeting book
-- The new feature to add conference call information to the meeting book is great

Cons

My only issue with Diligent is that administrators don't have the ability to edit or complete a questionnaire/survey on behalf of a Director. This is the one item where Diligent has not made any improvements.

Alternatives Considered

Nasdaq Boardvantage and Computershare BoardWorks

Reasons for Choosing Diligent Boards

Directors Desk was being taken over by another company and we did not like the new portal.

Reasons for Switching to Diligent Boards

Diligent seemed like a far better product than the other options. We also like that they have an entity management system.

Pros

Support for the evolutions requested.
Very good customer service

Cons

Sometimes lost between windows opened and by mistake we close the wrong window and have to re connect again.
Not that easy when we want to download some documents (the path is quite long)
Size of documents too much limited (necessity to upload in PDF format.

Pros

The ability to drag and drop documents is a big time saver; hyperlinking the documents to the table of contents is very easy to do; you can quickly hide or view archived board books; works very well on iPads and iPhones; deploying to directors is seamless.

Cons

I would like to be able to view the draft book on the website (laptop) just like the directors will see it on their iPads without having to use my iPad.

Alternatives Considered

Nasdaq Boardvantage

Reasons for Choosing Diligent Boards

BoardPad was not very sophisticated. It didn't have enough features that we wanted for our directors.

Reasons for Switching to Diligent Boards

Everything Diligent is seamless and the price is extremely competitive.

Pros

The ease of use and how much this one platform can do. ALthough it takes a little bit to get used to (as with any new software) once you start using it you will question how you have ever gotten along without it.

Cons

The formatting within the forms can become a little wonky at times. I wish it had all the same functionality as word.

Alternatives Considered

eScribe and The Novus Platform

Reasons for Switching to Diligent Boards

I had previous (minimal) experience with iCompass previous to going to a new municipality. While in the test phases of each of the others, I couldn't believe how cumbersome they were compared to what I had seen with iCompass. I recommended we start over and try iCompass and everyone agreed.

Pros

The export document function which allows you to export a complete meeting pack to users. Diligent Support is by far the best/top ranking compared to other similar products in the market place.

Cons

A majority of the features relies on good internet connectivity which is difficult in countries like mine where the internet is slow and sometimes unreliable. Also Diligent doesn't allow customizing of documents, especially in the Minutes app. Diligent could be more interactive as a tool, with prompts included in the program to assist new users or act as reminders on how to use it.

Alternatives Considered

Convene

Reasons for Switching to Diligent Boards

Users were more familiar with Diligent, and also companies using Diligent were the top companies in the country, therefore Diligent was preferred, even though it was more pricy.

Pros

This product allows the Bank to share information, make decisions in an efficient and safe environment. Saves on time and printing.

Cons

So far the only issue is that one cannot rotate a document. However, that is easily fixed by scanning it in portrait form.

Alternatives Considered

Nasdaq Boardvantage

Reasons for Switching to Diligent Boards

The assessment was done by our IT team. Whilst both products had similar features the IT's team decision was ultimately to choose Diligent. We have found it to be very user friendly.

Pros

Its ease of use, in both building books on the administrative side and reviewing materials on the user side.

Cons

I would like the currently separate D&O questionnaires module to be included in our package without additional cost.

Alternatives Considered

Nasdaq Boardvantage and OnBoard

Reasons for Switching to Diligent Boards

With the new upgrades to the platform, Diligent has the same (or more) features as its competitors, some done in a better, more streamlined way, for the same price or less.

Pros

Integration and transition to Diligent Boards was seamless. The product is easy to use and one of the key advantages is the amount of time it saves, collating and distributing board papers. Papers can easily be replaced and late papers added. The Agenda builder is excellent. Being able to export the papers is a great feature.

Cons

Unfortunately it is an expensive tool.

Pros

It's easy to use and you can have one sign in if members are on other boards.

Cons

More flexibility in changing an evaluation if already published.

Pros

It's secure, password protected, easy to use, very little training needed to use, has many features "built in" that I love, i.e. automatic save as you build the sites. Can view documents from any device. I love the "note taking" feature and the ability to do questionnaires, vote for board items option, and fingerprint sign-on. I also love the drag and drop method to load documents onto your sight, and the ability to drag your tabs into another position. I love how there is always a new feature being implemented or developed. They listen to the customer and create what "you" think is important. The program moves you through the pages quickly. It never gets bogged down. Our Board of Directors love Boardbooks and plan to continue using this product for a long time. We have all of our committees and our main board meetings on Diligent Boardbooks. We love the paperless feature and the security of our documents. We never have to worry about confidential information being in the wrong hands. We are fans!! We can't say enough good things about Diligent Boards and the great people at Diligent. Great Customer Service! Friendly! Professional. Always available to help you day or night. We have used Diligent Boards since 2010 and they have never let us down. They are well trained professionals. They help make your job easier! Thanks Diligent!

Cons

Many more Pros than cons. If I have an issue with the product/software, its because I am not using it correctly. The only thing I can think of is, that it may be nice to have an "undo" feature in case I accidentally choose the incorrect option and something gets deleted. It has not happened yet.

Pros

As a user: Navigation between Boards, Committees and Resources Center. Layout and use is very easy and intuitive. Welcoming design to read the materials and work with. Also, customer service is over the top outstanding. I am so impressed with how responsive and knowledgeable everyone at Diligent is.

As an Administrator: Very easy to use. Can upload documents in any format and can rearrange as needed.

Cons

I like everything about the software.

Pros

Diligent Boards significantly reduces preparation time for board directors and C-Suite meetings. It is a tool I consistently use to provide immediate access and seamless navigation by facilitating communications and enabling timely viewing of current and historical meeting materials to the Flinn Board and Executive Staff.

Cons

From my perspective, there are NONE! Diligent Boards significantly reduces preparation time for board directors and C-Suite meetings. It is a tool I consistently use to provide immediate access and seamless navigation by facilitating communications and enabling timely viewing of current and historical meeting materials to the Flinn Board and Executive Staff.

Pros

The best thing other than ease of use, is being able to make last minute changes/updates and have Board members receive them automatically. They have all the information in one place and don't have to carry around huge notebooks.

Cons

I wish I was able to move the order of the books around (without having to make changes with Diligent)

Pros

The ease in creating and editing the books. Not about the software but Diligent has excellent customer service with reps who are well versed in their knowledge of the software.

Cons

The inability to move tabs you've created into another placeholder i.e. Tab 4 now needs to become Tab 1, you can't easily bump the tap up or down. I have added tabs above or below to get the results I'm looking for - it that could be done easier it would be great and perhaps a feature to make small edits on docs uploaded. Sometimes at the last minute, the board wants to make small changes. A time saver would be to have the ability to revise the doc without going back to the original one, revising and then reuploading.

Pros

I love that everything can be in one place. We deal with many different boards and committees, so it's nice to be able to have all of the information in one location

Cons

I use the web version. It still needs work. I want to be able to have more control over how my completed book looks. I want to be able to upload different logos for different boards. I want to format the agenda builder so it looks nicer. etc.

Pros

The web interface is very easy to use and it doesn't take much time at all to set up a meeting.

Cons

The Resource Centre needs some more development it is a little clunky at the moment.

Pros

Diligent is easy to use, our Board members have been using this for over 2 years now and find it as easy to use as the Administrators. It looks sleek when you log into both the admin portal or the iPad and is intuitive to use.

Cons

Integration to our existing business was simple because we had already been using Boardpad. When you have a comparison to using something else, it can sometimes be difficult to accept that not all the previous functionality exists.

Pros

I don't have to email and courier binders to Directors who live in other countries. It really opens up opportunities to have members around the world.

Cons

I understand the need to protect confidential documents but I wish there were easier options to print and export PDF items for Corporate Libraries. You can export a PDF but it is not similar to the actual book and tabs you receive on-line.

Pros

It's various functionalities supporting the Cosec function in managing of meetings.

Cons

Would be nice if books could be created in one window from loading document, to approving and publishing.

Pros

I build the packets. The interface to make board packets, questionnaires and so forth is easy to use and intuitive.

Cons

I wish the added features didn't require additional licenses or contracts.

Pros

Good tool, very easy to use with a large space that allows me to store my files such as my videos, my photos and many other documents and folders

Cons

It is a software which is very greedy in terms of battery energy especially on mobile

Pros

What I like most is the agenda for each book being created by the software. Plus page numbering is automatic.

Cons

There can be some improvements on certain Excel sheets that do not transfer over correctly to Diligent. For example, if the Excel sheet shows one page, it then converts to two pages in Diligent. Currently I convert some Excel sheets to PDF as a workaround. Also redlined Word documents do not convert exactly over to Diligent. Tracked changes sometimes change to a different color or bubbles that show formatting changes are shown on right-hand side of Word document when the original does not show this. Also, I convert Word document to PDF as a workaround. This is why I rated ease of use as 4 stars.

Pros

The software is extremely user friendly compared with other similar platforms to which I've been exposed. It takes me at least half the time to create a book compared with the last programme.

Cons

I would prefer being able to perform all functions through the url than having to switch to the OneClick option.

Pros

- Meetings run a lot smoother with the program - minutes, agenda, voting
- Documents can be made to be viewed offline
- Large storage

Cons

- Different view between administrators & users
- Different view on different devices