Central Oklahoma Community Action Agency has been using CAPTAIN for the last five years. CAPTAIN is used statewide by the community action agencies and has been a blessing compared to the previous system we used to capture our program activities. In our previous system, it was very difficult to pull reports and analyze what had been entered as the user did not have direct control to create reports. With CAPTAIN, a standout feature is reporting. We can create as many reports as we need, save the parameters, and use them as many times as needed. One of the greatest features of the reports section is the option to convert your report into Excel spreadsheets. This feature makes it so much easier to manipulate your data in various ways.
Some of the reports that have been designed for our system are easy and helpful to see agency data as well as serve as a check and balance for data entry. The case demographics report mirrors what we have to report to funding sources in annual reports. In addition we can use this report as a check and balance for the data entry of our staff to see if there are areas we need to work on. The funnel and performance reports easily show our agency activities in one quick report.
In 2015, CAPTAIN was updated to a web-based version. This has been very helpful and being able to access the system from any computer is great. The CAP SYSTEMS team is always working to improve and add new features to the system to make it better for its users.
Data entry, while there is a lot of data to enter, the system is set up to easily move from one section to the next with just a click of a tab across the top of the page. This makes data entry fast and easy. When you work with the same clients, over and over, with just a quick change of the numbers, you are in the next record and entering new data.
The system is also designed to track agency information as well. Some of these areas include partnerships, contracts, and volunteers. And just as easy as the client information, entering data and the ease of pulling reports to show information for these sections are quick and easy and shows whatever fields you want to see. This is very useful for funder and board reports.
While the main function of database is being able to enter your data and run reports, that can’t happen if your system is not set up properly and truly trained on how to work the system. This is where the CAP SYSTEMS team comes in and truly is amazing. The support staff that we have had since we moved to the CAPTAIN system has been second to none. The time and attention to detail the staff took with the initial set up and the understanding of our programs to make sure we had everything we needed to enter our activities and report our information in a manner that works for us was extraordinary. And that level of support through the years has not decreased. Questions or issues that come up are quickly answered with a simple email, and usually answered within minutes or hours of the email. The one-on-one training time that is given to us is exceptional. Lisa Pindar is a blessing. She is always so quick to respond and is great to take the time to work one-on-one if needs be so you have a clear understanding of the system. As a person that needs more hands on training, it has been great having Lisa there whenever I need additional help. The custom reports that she has taken time to listen, understand, and help me to build in the system has saved so much time and effort. She is not really support staff, but more a part of the community action family.