No-brainer for appointment based business
Pros
Very simple appointment set-ups. Before vCita there was a ton of back and other emails, or worse than that - phone calls.
Cons
The invoicing/billing system is not as robust as some other programs out there. Specifically I would like the program to send out regular monthly retainer billing.
Great for scheduling, other features not so much
I was using acuity but looked for other software, because of hippa option. I was ecstatic to see the client portal, unfortunately it is not optimal. Most features however aren’t hippa compliant. Really I only use client portal for scheduling and share patient handouts. Patients don’t have to log in like other apps, as it recognizing emails.
Overall I do think it offers more than competition , but make sure you try every part to see what works for you and what doesn’t. Also customer service must be more present. Even after you pay they limit features until you use for a while , which is ridiculous.
They will be better if they make conscious effort to improve
Pros
Able to customize scheduling page to be more professional and to distinguish services offered. Like the idea of client portal. Clients can go to portal to pay , schedule and can share documents. Works for me who share patient education handouts.
Cons
Some additional features are really glitchy and most features of the client portal I can’t use. When customers pay online , they are not taken to confirmation page or automated message . Messaging IS NOT secure , sometimes links In messages, don’t work. Documents are not secure. So since I’m using for health business, I had to get another program for secure messaging .
Customer service good when you can each them, there is a 2 hour window only to call in a 24 hour day. Chat is not always available during business hours. It’s even worse if you are on east coast.
Excellent Software - lousy service
If you never have to deal with their customer service and they never go down, I love the program and would recommend it from that perspective. Its a clean design and offers me all I need at a good price point. I've been a customer for 5 years and I really want to keep using them but I just can't afford to be down as often as I am. Customer service makes a business and Vcita is just so lacking in customer service, it is so disappointing. I don't want to spend hours on end finding a replacement program but after being down 3 times in less than 2 years I am getting tired of fighting with their people to take ownership and fix their issues. My plug in from them runs on Wordpress. When you can't fix the Vcita plugin for Wordpress in 6 weeks I think you've got some bigger problems.
Pros
Vcita drives all of my business. I get all of my prospects and sample coaching sessions through Vcita. It is the life blood of my business. The pop up widget on my website is the driving force, the scheduler is easy to use and I like the CRM for tracking appointments, correspondence and client information. The price is very reasonable at around $140 USD a year.
Cons
THEIR LACK OF CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! As I said they are the life blood of my business but this is the 3rd time in less than 2 years my pop up is not working and neither is the scheduler. For over 6 weeks now! No Vcita no business for me. They have no live support, I've hated this from day 1. Email only. And they often take days on end to reply. I am so tired of "our developers are working on it but no ETA." Then why are you charging me!
Sinking Ship
Having been a customer for several years, vCita offered an all-in-one solution that few others compared to at the time. However, very little has changed in the last 3 years other than some unnecessary aesthetic updates and very minor enhancements. I got on board fully aware that there were several missing features I needed which were on the top of the feature request list and I put in place workarounds to suffice until these features were going to be implemented. I'm talking about pretty fundamental things, like the ability for online payments to be accepted with sales tax automatically calculated, and add-on/bundled products/services. Instead of the development team addressing critical upgrades the community is begging for, we get branding updates, color scheme changes, and random issues where things that have always worked fine no longer work properly.
Customer service is all but useless, and I constantly get the feeling their priorities lie in marketing the outdated product they have rather than improving it.
If you try the product and feel that it accomplishes 100% of what you need it to do, go for it. But if you find that it looks great but misses the mark on a few key areas, don't jump on board hoping it will be addressed in the next decade. Keep looking. I'm done waiting.
Pros
Relatively easy to use and deploy. Client interface is mostly intuitive and easy to use.
Cons
Product development is nonexistent. Customer support is a joke. On the rare occasion there is an update, I find something on my website no longer works, instead of being improved.
This application is grossly overpriced
Overall, I'm pretty luke warm regarding this application. It forces prospective users into a 12 month contract (which wasn't ideal during a pandemic). Honestly, it felt a little slimy and self serving.
Many of the features are not needed for every type of business, while the more basic features requires users to select the platinum plan which is nearly $1000 a year. Had I not been charged for a full year which is non refundable, I would have cancelled already.
Pros
What I most like is the seamless integration with Zoom. The calendar features are pretty intuitive as well.
Cons
This software is grossly overpriced and forces you into a higher tier to get basic features and a wealth of features you dont want or need.
A trial was offered which immediately rolled into an automatic, year long contract--which I found out AFTER my credit card was charged.
You cannot delete appointments made in error nor can you 'actually' delete contacts.
Great Software with Awesome Support
Overall, Vcita has done a wonderful job with their support team when in helping me maximize their features.
Pros
Calendar integration with my website, Revenue tracker, Invoicing, Easy of online payment integration.
Cons
There could be more features in the calendar section of the software
Vita has upped the professionalism of my website
Pros
I love that it's a thorough yet simple to use software. It's one of the first things a client or someone visiting my website mentions. They like widgets and say that it makes my website look put together and trustworthy. I LOVE that I can list my different services in sections and overall Vcita has great customer service. I look forward to exploring the software more and maximizing what it can do for my business success.
Cons
I don't like the features that force a time limit for a service, some services I offer I cannot put a time slot per say, for example, a service I offer is custom earring making and I wouldn't necessarily have someone sign up for a time slot to get their earrings done BUT my way around that issue is I have it as a waitlist for folks to inquire about a custom pair and they can sign up that way.
Ties all together
Overall the tool has been a great help for us to streamline our processes.
Pros
We like the way it ties our contact form, CRM and invoices together.
Cons
Invoices can only be paid by one person. They can't forward to someone for payment.
My Business Runs on vCita
Scheduling interviews with businesses in different time zones used to be a nightmare before I found vCita. Now, I am confident I'll never miss a call thanks to vCita sending notifications to both parties in our respective time zones.
Pros
The vCita Team is very responsive and open to new feature requests. All it took was a suggestion of making directions to a client's location accessible through the app and they made it a one-click solution! Because the app works across different devices, I can run my business from anywhere.
Cons
I'm ready to delve into their email campaign feature and see it integrates with Constant Contact. Having more auto-responder integrations would be great.
Could be better
Pros
A good appointment booking system,
SMS reminders
and email reminders.
easy contact manager
Cons
Whitelabel is expensive
Limited gateway integration
Not willing to improve their product
not helpful team
A all in one service for SME
You need to manage a calendar with your clients (training, coaching, interviews), leaving them the initiative of meetings, product choice? This encourages their commitment. VCita offers you the possibility of a very fine follow-up of the customer relationship: email exchanges, appointments, orders, payments... by making moreover the link with your website. For me it is a very good solution. Fast implementation. This avoids many internal developments that are often inefficient or very costly. The extra efficiency with VCita at an affordable cost.
Pros
* Fast
* No coding
* Cover all aspetcs of customer relationship
* Easy to customize (webdesign)
Cons
* No sorry !
* No worries or things to improve at the moment
Vcita has grown along with my dog walking business
Automation, ease of use, runs my business life efficiently
Pros
Vcita has "grown" along with my dog walking/pet care business that I started 3 years ago. I use it everyday.
The facebook page for improvement suggestions has been a great way to listen to customer needs. I'm impressed by all of the positive changes so far
Cons
The accounting aspect. I wanted to clear out my data so I could start the calendar year with a zero balance and use it to track my earnings/ cash flow. I am not able to use vCita for this so I have to pay a book keeper to do it.
Cant archive old clients. I have about 70 customers over the last 3 years. I only have about 20 "active" at any one time so I'd like there to be a data file/storage for the in-actives that I can access/reactivate when they want my services. Not able to be able to color code my appointments so I use Google calendar.
Server shuts down or times out so when I'm on the road when that happens I have to rely on my backup google calendar to make sure I'm on time for appointments or don't miss one.
Wonderful way to engage visitors to your website. I highly recommend for new practitioners
Love having my clients book online and syncs with Google calendar.
Pros
1. Love the POP up on the website - engages visitors and my business grew because of it
2. I like the ability for my patients to schedule their own appointments and I can make recurring appointments
3. People can schedule with other team members
4. Syncs with Google Calendar
5. Works well on mobile
Cons
1. On rare occasion the sync with Google calendar doesn't work and it messes up my schedule.
2. I ask for 48 hour cancellation but clients can still cancel last minute and the system lets them reschedule it even though the policy says they cannot
3. Email campaigns are rudimentary and are extremely cumbersome for those with over 500 mailing list and one cannot divide the blast based on metrics (the most active clients in the last 6 months, certain age groups etc.)
Unique Appointment Management Solution
For me, Vcita is now capturing more leads on my site because the visitors have a better interaction thanks to the widget that is constantly displayed, capturing the prospects and enticing them to contact me.
Pros
This is the best FREE Appointment Generator system you can get. It differentiates from other products by letting you set up a widget on your website that will capture the prospects and notify them to initiate a conversation with you by calling you, sending an email or leaving a note. Once the potential prospect starts any action, you can follow up on the web portal and start your lead generation/marketing campaign from there if you want. Vcita is easy to use and setup, and I would recommend any business to incorporate it on their website since it is FREE.
Cons
I didn't like the interface design of some web portal features.
Great service, hugely helpful for coaching and case management
I have been doing life coaching and small business consulting and am about to start doing mental health case management. I just got my LLC and am doing everything by myself. It's a lot of work, but companies like vCita, that do a few things really well, have been making it possible for me to put my business together. I have been extremely concerned for the confidentiality of my client information (who wants to be hacked, really?), but I have also needed to make sure I can get paid beforehand or store a credit card. vCita is HIPAA compliant, whichi s a huge relief, although I found out HIPAA compliance is only relevent if you deal with insurance companies, which I don't.
Through emails over two weeks, Kylee K. has patiently answered all of my questions. With every answer, she has shown me how much vCita can actually do, how flexible it is, and how customizable it is. I am going to be advertising and launching in the next few weeks and I am confident that if I have problems, they shouldn't be with vCita.
Pros
Easy to use, great customer support, and the articles for explaining things actually explain them, so you don't have to google it even after getting an answer.
The things I asked about that they didn't have, Kylee gave me the link to a features suggestion forum for users and encouraged me to list the features there. She also invited me to beta test for an AWeber integration, so I would assume that asking about your email marketing provider would be a good way to let their development team know which ones to make API's for first.
Cons
The only email marketing integration is Mailchimp and I have AWeber. This is annoying, but not a deal breaker.
There is not two factor authentication for admin and users. I don't know that two factor authentication would be useful for clients, but I would really like this for account holders and anyone who can else who would be using it on the emplyee side.
There is no way to sort clients by date since last appointment, appointment type, or anything else.
My admin and I have several hours of additional productive time!
I save at least 1 hour every week, and my admin saves 2-3 hours every week . This means that our team gets a lot more done in a week than was possible with vCita.
Pros
+ Ease of use - this tool is very easy to use for me, and my clients love it for the easy of use.
+ HUGE Time Savings - I have spent no time scheduling meetings this year, and my admin has spent less than 30 minutes.
+ Mobile interface - including a simple app, and SMS reminders
+ Overall cost
+ Customization
+ Record-keeping - I can easily search the meeting history for any of my students
Cons
- Cost of SMS packages - I stopped sending reminders because it was not a great cost-benefit ratio.
- Lack of group-scheduling feature.
Money Making Machine!
Better return on my Adwords marketing budget. It also saves me hours of a week playing telephone tag to schedule clients. I work and vCita schedules so I do not have to get involved. Everything else is just gravey!
Pros
The floating Word Press Plugin makes it so easy for clients to reach out to me. I do not have to worry about a call to action on every page. vCita is there, no matter where they click! Adwords is EXPENSIVE vCita ensures I get the return on investment converting the clicks into paying clients in my office.
Cons
The app notifications on my phone are not consistent. They work and they do not. I have to make sure I check my inbox frequently to stay on top of contact requests and appointment changes. It works very well for a single location, with multiple people, I opened a 2nd office and clients have trouble picking the right location.
I am not tech savvy but I can use this software and the customer service is excellent.
A complete online scheduling, email, CRM, event booking, stat tracking system. It's perfect for me.
Pros
It's easy to learn and use for both myself and my clients. I can customize the communications and the reminders are great. I also like that I can book events through the software so I don't have to use Eventbrite or any other outside program. I get paid in two days rather than wait for Eventbrite to hold my money until the event is over. I love that I can choose whether or not I require payment for my different services. There's also an email component built in so I can communicate with my clients directly. It's very complete for what I want and need.
Cons
I can't make admin changes from the phone app. I have to go into the desk/laptop version. It's not a big deal but sometimes I want to make changes to my settings when I think about them and have to wait until I can get to the full version .
Cost effective, user friendly
Scheduling appointments and staying well organized.
Pros
I am able to keep up with my schedule and all appointments, and keep everything well organize. In my line of business I need to keep up with appointments, time line for sending out ads, promotions. As a travel agent we must keep up with who is traveling and their time frame of traveling. This software helps in this area.
Cons
It doesn't capture my clients interest enough to want to use it in scheduling their appointments. I would like them to click and schedule their own appointments at their earliest convenience.
Makes my small business look and feel bigger than it is to my clients and potential clients
I really like the calendar management which allows me to send appointment invitations that once accepted automatically puts it in my calendar.
I also like the client portal which is separate from my regular email and I get a text notification if someone communicates through the portal. It also sends text reminders automatically.
Like I mentioned earlier, if there was a pipeline management feature it would be unbeatable. I am currently looking for pipeline management that will intergrate throughZapier.
Pros
I really like the calendar management features
Cons
Wish it had pipe line management feature
The Lead Funnel Starts with Vcita
Contacts. Leads. Connections. Conversations. What more can a consultant ask for? I run a small business, and Vcita is my call center, appointment manager and more.
Pros
This tool has been my number one go-to resource for lead generation. In my business, contact is king. Giving clients and potential clients an easy way to access my calendar, and set up a time to talk, is a central part of my business model. It links in easily with my website, you can see it in action at westfallonline[dot]com
Cons
I wish that there was a link from email on iPhone to the actual software (app). An email link pops open the browser, and asks me to login. For some reason, my browser doesn't remember that Vcita and I have been dating for quite some time, and it asks me to login. Which causes me to open the app. Not sure if this is an iPhone issue, or an operator error, but I don't like the extra steps to confirm an appointment.
really helps a small contractor like my self stay organized
a Organized system to engage with my potential customers 24/7
Pros
customers can create their own file when reaching out to us thru our website and request appointments
Cons
when using the app to share a Doc typing message really slow to show up on screen
Customers get confused when filling out the appointment Location instaed of the address they mention the name of the place like ( my House , or driveway , or patio, // since we do driveway and patio work they just miss understand it is the address of the meeting )
User-friendly and Convenient!
vCita lets me stay in contact with leads and older clients all in one place! I love the user-friendly interface that is also usable in the palm of my hand!
Pros
I love that there is a vCita app where I can view my calendar whenever and wherever I am! The software recognizes past clients and lists new leads in a clean and organized fashion. The customer service team takes into account user "complaints" and suggestions and makes changes to keep making this software better over time. I like how easily it integrates with my website and how it creates links for me to share specific pages: either the scheduler or the contact form. If I didn't have articles to share, this could easily be my only website as a service provider.
Cons
I cannot think of anything I do not like because it meets all of my needs.
Love it and I love that it keeps getting better
Pros
I like having all my clients in one place. I love that new features are being added all the time. I love that I can integrate it with my website
Cons
I would like more payment processing options
I would like to schedule my campaigns
I would like to add videos and more than one image to my email campaigns
I would like a better followup system so I can note what the followup is about how many times I have called and moniter my contact so they can be removed if not intreseted
Running a professional business
Support very good except they are not interested when I ask them about integration with our CRM
Pros
Puts me in control of my diary
Gives clients choice
Provides us with a professional image
Cons
It does not integrate with our main CRM system - Intelliflo's Intelligent Office.
Databases have to be synchronised manually which wastes time and is frustrating.
I provide business management consulting for optometrists. All my work is done through appointments and email. vCita flawlessly syncs my calendar and allows clients to schedule when I'm actually available. Prior to vCita, I spent way too much time suggesting times, getting voicemails, etc. Besides that, they have done a great job of allowing a feature-rich "live-site" that is easy to set up and super customizable. I think for many businesses it would suffice to be the landing page.