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Success Story

Gilmer County Schools

Three reasons the Ellijay, Georgia school district chose Infinite Campus, featuring John Call, Director of Technology, Gilmer County Schools.

  • Gilmer County Schools
  • Ellijay, GA
  • 4,059 Students

A discussion with John Call, Director of Technology, Gilmer County Schools.

Making the choice to switch Student Information Systems (SIS) is always a big decision for school districts to make.

It takes time, consideration, and many evaluations. For John Call, Gilmer County Schools' Director of Technology, the decision was a long time coming. “Our previous SIS was not investing in adding functionality to the product. Support was poor, and state reporting was difficult because they did not work to understand our needs.”

Ready for a fresh start, in 2016 the district in Ellijay, Georgia, officially selected and implemented Infinite Campus as their new SIS. Three main reasons were the driving force behind their decision: quality of product, ease of one system, and superior support. Call shares three reasons that took priority and how they are making a difference in their schools.

One

Quality of the Product

Infinite Campus is more than just an SIS. We are an LMS, food service, district communicator, payment processing, and much more… all within a single product. Our fully integrated products are built efficiently, and specifically for those who need them: school districts.

John: "An SIS is more than a database. Proper scheduling drives funding. If scheduling is difficult and reporting is incorrect, it can ultimately cost the district funds.

"We are a small district with limited staffing compared to larger districts. Having a product that is easy to use, but also accessible on a more technical level helps us save money. For example, we are able to easily produce reports for ourselves that we might have had to pay for in the past.

"I believe Infinite Campus is in the business for the right reasons. They are working to provide a quality product that truly meets districts' needs. They work to understand the SIS space."

Two

Ease of One System

Each tool within the Infinite Campus SIS has been carefully thought out, tested, and implemented. All tools are built in-house by our team of more than 250 developers. Products are created based on the needs of districts and customer feedback.

John: "I like how the database is set up. It really seems that the schema is really set up nicely.

We use Online Registration, Food Service, and Campus Messenger with Voice. The ease of use and power that an integrated system provides makes so many things easier. The fact that we don’t have to sync data across disparate systems saves time and mistakes.

I’m able to write SQL reports and build SSR reports. Instead of having to go back to the company and ask for them to write a report for us, I’m able to generate anything that we need.

Every couple of years we’ll talk about where we’re at with the Campus product. There isn’t anything that people would rather use, they really like the tool. Nobody is interested in ever switching. They like how it’s divided up with everybody either being a student, teacher, or staff member. It just makes sense to them.”

Three

Superior Support

Access to good support is essential when operating a student information system. At Infinite Campus, our group of 40+ highly knowledgeable, award-winning support personnel are available to help anytime. They work directly with authorized district staff to understand the unique challenges and issues of customers in order to provide a unique and personalized experience.

John: "Support is top notch. They understand our needs and are very responsive. Normally I submit a ticket (online), but if I need to make a phone call, I can. When I’m working directly with corporate, it’s very responsive.

Once we get familiar with the product, we can become our own level-one support. When you call in, you know you’re getting level two [support] with your first phone call.

Most of the people who support us at Infinite Campus actually worked in student data in the past. They don’t just understand the product, they understand the process."

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