Board members are always looking for the “Best Deal” for their community. Choosing how a community will present itself online is no different. Often, a resident within the community who has a technical background volunteers to design a web site for a community. At first glance, this seems like a great deal for the community. Why pay for an online service when someone in the community is perfectly willing to do it for free? Unfortunately, there are a number of hidden costs to this so-called “Free” web site concept. In addition to fees that must still be paid for hosting on an ISP’s server and domain registration, communities must also contend with the inherent disadvantages that come with choosing a “one man show”.
Features and Advantages
We have compiled a listing of the many features and advantages of a Community Web Site powered by 321™ that you can use to compare our service.
- Industry Specific: Your community web site is specifically designed for the community association industry. Every feature is developed specifically for use by this industry. We even build-in special areas of the web site for Board Members to communicate.
- Dynamic Feature Set: Many of the features in your community web site are dynamic. This means that residents can contribute content like reviews, survey responses, message board postings, and more to the web site directly through an online interface. Because all of your residents can contribute to your web site, you can be assured that the web site will never stagnate like a static web site would.
- Regular Updates: Your community web site is constantly evolving. In the year 2003 alone we added over 200 enhancements to our community web site service. We regularly implement suggestions from our customers to make our service live up to your wildest expectations!
- Speedy Setup: Your community web site is up and running online within five business days of your completion of the paperwork. Other designers often require weeks or even months of design time to provide you with a working site.
- Administration Choice: You may choose one or several community members to administer your community web site. If an administrator leaves your community, disabling their administrative access is as easy as clicking a button. All of your web site files are stored online, and all of the maintenance is performed online. This means if your administrator leaves your community, there is no need to transfer files or data to the new administrator.
- Cost Effective: The monthly fees for your community web site are competitive with many hosting companies, and yet you get so much more than simply space on a server! In fact, you can even turn your community web site into a money maker by using the classifieds feature, which allows you to charge local businesses for targeted advertising to your community residents.
- Board Controlled Content: Board members have full control over the content on your community web site. Since all of the features are dynamic, updating outdated information is as simple as logging in and making the change. If the board decides to remove an unused or abused feature, or add a new feature, the change can be made within one business day.
- Integration With Existing Property Management Software: Because your community web site is powered by 212 Software, You have the advantage of integration with your existing property management software. 212 Software’s team of programmers is constantly working to provide more and more features that communicate directly with 321™. Our community web sites are the ONLY web sites that are authorized for use with 321™ community data.
- Data Communication: From owner contact information to accounting data to a full history of activity on each owner’s account including violations, work orders, and architectural requests, your community web site data is populated by 321™. Data uploads are performed automatically based on a schedule that you set. If you want your data to synchronize every day, once a week or twice monthly, no problem—Just set the schedule and go!
- Easy Online Interface: Every feature of your community web site is fully customizable and editable through our simple online interface. There is even a special area called “Feature Descriptions” that allows you to add custom wording, pictures and links to any feature page. You do not have to have any special design software or know HTML to add content to your site (although you can, if you wish).
- Support: 212 Software has a dedicated support team on hand during business hours to help answer any questions you may have, or walk you through everything. Additionally, we offer a full administrative help system built into your site, user manuals, marketing materials, extensive online help articles, a knowledge base, and a monthly email magazine filled with helpful information.
- Security: Your web site comes equipped with a public and a private side, so you may define exactly what the public is allowed to see, and what is restricted by login name and password. Your web site has 99 custom security levels available to you. You may define the view levels and edit levels for each individual feature. Thus, if you want all residents to be able to view documents, but only board members and above to be allowed to add documents, you may easily define these settings.
- Statistics: Your web site comes complete with a built-in statistical engine that tracks activity on your web site. Included in the information tracked is page view “hits”, most frequented pages, login statistics, and security levels.
- Features: Your 212 Web Site offers over 40 unique features specifically designed for homeowners associations and management companies. The features cover a wide range of community needs.
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