BoardEffect review

BoardEffect is an agile board management solution created for board members to conduct board meetings effectively. The Board Effect platform is also a great tool for collaborative and secure governance. 

The BoardEffect board portal is a product of the Diligent brand. The BoardEffect company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

Over 40,000 executives, board members, and board administrators choose the BoardEffect platform to securely share board materials, meeting materials, and other board-related information. BoardEffect also allows them to effectively collaborate within the organization and improve organizational performance and corporate governance.

BoardEffect is mainly used by the following institutions that seek enabling board management improvement:

  • Community healthcare organizations
  • Educational institutions
  • Healthcare systems
  • Governing bodies
  • Credit union organizations
  • Nonprofits, foundations, and associations 

The main benefits of BoardEffect

Below are the main advantages customers get when using the BoardEffect portal.

  • Board members get the capability to do video conferencing right inside the BoardEffect platform. This is possible thanks to the Zoom integration, which makes it easier for board members and board directors to conduct board and committee meetings without having to switch applications.
  • BoardEffect provides customers with truly easy management tools such as an in-built calendar. It allows for a straightforward meeting schedule.
  • BoardEffect is primarily secure storage for board information and data. And high-end security is especially important for government entities. The BoardEffect platform is ISO 27001-certified and SOC 1, 2- and HIPAA-compliant. 
  • Board administrators can assign tasks to board members to facilitate board management. They can also send reminders to help executives stay on track. 
  • Via the BoardEffect’s approval tool, members can view files, make comments, and sign them to approve.
  • BoardEffect ensures easy management of the board documentation. All board members can make annotations in documents, including sticky notes and drawings.
  • BoardEffect portal’s resource library allows all the board members to access agendas and board materials anytime and anywhere, no matter the Wi-Fi connection.
  • Collaboration inside the BoardEffect platform is facilitated with a contact directory. You can view the full contact directory, where you can find all the members’ head shots, contact details, and short biographies. This way, you always know whom to contact when certain issues arise.

How to start using BoardEffect?

To start using BoardEffect, users can either head to the cloud-based version or download an iPad app. 

Then, all the potential subscribers can schedule the free demo session with the BoardEffect team. This will help administrators to understand the pros and cons of the board portal, as well as assess its functionality.

All new users of the BoardEffect platform also get training. It helps them to understand how everything works and reduces the stress of dealing with new functionality. To book a training session, contact the support team.

However, there’s no information about a free trial on the BoardEffect website. 

Pros and cons

The BoardEffect’s customers define the following advantages and disadvantages of the platform.

Pros

  • Easy mobile access. There are a responsive mobile phone applications for Android and iOS. 
  • Offline access. You can do critically important work anytime and from anywhere, regardless of  Wi-Fi signal. 
  • Top-end security. BoardEffect ensures all sensitive data about your company is kept private. Moreover, they honestly state they use third-party cookies and provide detailed information about safety measures they take on their website.
  • Helpful support. The majority of subscribers point out they got qualified assistance via listed contact details every time they reached the support team.
  • Easy collaboration. Thanks to the in-built messaging tools and ability to comment on documents, board management is facilitated.

Cons

  • The interface could be more user-friendly. Many clients state it’s difficult for less tech-savvy users to get used to the interface and functionality BoardEffect provides, compared to similar technologies.
  • Non-customizable email invitations. It’s impossible to change the fonts in the invitation letter board members get, though many customers would like to have the capability to do so.
  • The integrations list isn’t rich enough. BoardEffect only offers integration with Zoom, while their subscribers indicate they would enjoy using more similar apps inside the board portal.
  • It’s impossible to edit the document inside the board portal. When clients want to make a few edits to the agenda or other meeting materials, they need to do that externally and then upload the updated document to the BoardEffect boardroom again.
  • Messaging tools could be better. Some customers claim it’s difficult to understand if the message went through. They need to send messages to themselves to check whether the tool works correctly. 
  • Unclear pricing. BoardEffect doesn’t have any information about its subscription plans on the website. To find out the cost, users need to contact the sales or support team.