Ascentis vs BirdDogHR | TrustRadius

What users are saying about

Score 7.3 out of 10

Based on 229 reviews and ratings

Score 6.7 out of 10

Based on 3 reviews and ratings

Feature Rating Comparison

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

Employee demographic data

Employment history

Job profiles and administration

Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.

Organizational charting

Organization and location management

Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

Pay calculation

Support for external payroll vendors

Benefit plan administration

Direct deposit files

Salary revision and increment management

Reimbursement management

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

Approval workflow

Balance details

Annual carry-forward and encashment

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

View and generate pay and benefit information

Update personal information

View company policy documentation

Employee recognition

View job history

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

Tracking of all physical assets

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

Report builder

Pre-built reports

Ability to combine HR data with external data

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

New hire portal

Manager tracking tools

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

Corporate goal setting

Individual goal setting

Line-of sight-visibility

Performance tracking

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

Performance plans

Performance improvement plans

Review status tracking

Review reminders

Multiple review frequency

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

Create succession plans/pools

Candidate ranking

Candidate search

Candidate development

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

Job Requisition Management

Company Website Posting

Publish to Social Media

Job Search Site Posting

Duplicate Candidate Prevention

Applicant Tracking

Notifications and Alerts

Customized Application Form

Resume Management

Candidate Search

Collaboration

Task Creation and Delegation

Email Templates

User Permissions

Reporting

Pros

The scheduling function provides a good platform that allows employees to see what their schedule is. If multiple departments have need of their time, they can look and see availability. If none, they can negotiate with the employee's direct report to get them in. We use it to coordinate both work hours and training hours.
It can be programmed to notify if someone clocks in/out early/late and awards points accordingly. Our frontline staff have a work requirement for in/out timeliness. It lets Managers know when and where to intervene with HR to bring this performance focus back into line.
If there are log-in/out errors, Supervisors can easily make corrections. This is important when there are issues that might affect an employee's points.

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Quality Director

Kittitas InteractiveNon-Profit Organization Management, 51-200 employees

View all 117 answers on this topic

Background checks - user-friendly, quick click to order
Candidate visibility - lists candidates chronologically and logs views
Locks notes - so you cannot edit after submitting

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Verified User

Project Manager in Corporate

Information Technology and Services Company, 1001-5000 employees

View all 2 answers on this topic

Cons

NovaTime is the biggest hiccup that we've consistently encountered with Ascentis. We've encountered some of the same issues time and time again throughout our cooperative and I've opened numerous tickets and I've yet to feel like those issues have been resolved. Generally, the program will work, however, when it doesn't it creates frustration with the employee group.
I've noticed that when NovaTime has gone down an email has now been sent out notifying the administrators. This is a positive step!
I'm wondering if HR and payroll, can, at some point, be one of the same program. I know that with the most recent web updates it sounds like it's moving to one complete system so you don't have to go to two different spots to seek information. If that information was in one spot that would be helpful.

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Human Resource Coordinator

Central Region CooperativeFarming, 51-200 employees

View all 117 answers on this topic

Integration into an email, to log all communication in and out of ATS
The notes time out too quickly and they don't save or log time
Job flow is odd

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Verified User

Project Manager in Corporate

Information Technology and Services Company, 1001-5000 employees

View all 2 answers on this topic

Likelihood to Renew

Ascentis 6.0

Based on 9 answers

This rating would be a 10 if it were not for some issues we have been having recently with the benefit carrier connections. The carrier connections are critical for us so how these issues are resolved will be key in our renewal decision.

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Kelly C. Neill, SPHR

Human Resources Manager

San Juan Construction, Inc.Construction, 201-500 employees

View all 9 answers on this topic

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Usability

Ascentis 7.1

Based on 8 answers

Overall, it is fairly usable for the average user as long as he/she is at a computer, laptop or a larger tablet and has the ability to view the employee self-service webpage on an internet browser. Because it does not have an app or other mobile interfaces right now, it makes it difficult for it to be useful for most of our employee population who utilize their phones to access the internet. As for the HR professional who would be also working on this interface, it is somewhat easy as about two-thirds of the screens are fairly user-friendly and easy to navigate. Nevertheless, it still leaves about one-third of them that are not as user-friendly and would require more technical knowledge to figure out how to best use them.

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Jennifer Steffens

IT & Marketing Coordinator

Howry Residential ServicesMental Health Care, 201-500 employees

View all 8 answers on this topic

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Support

Ascentis 7.2

Based on 104 answers

During a transition, we had an issue where there was no one in the company who had the SQL database password, which was needed in order to pull over historical data. Ascentis technology team worked tirelessly and were able to get into the database and make a smooth transition of the data.

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Dawn Haag-Hatterer, JD

Vice President, HR

fepeGroupInsurance, 51-200 employees

View all 104 answers on this topic

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

In-Person Training

Ascentis 8.0

Based on 1 answer

First, to clarify our "in-person" training was done mainly through Web-X meetings and conference calls. It was the closest thing we got to as far as an "in-person" training for this software. However, for the large majority of it, this type of training worked out well. We were able to share our screens and the trainer was able to share his/her screen. We could follow along with what we were doing in our database in real time and see how different functions worked and how manipulating our information could produce different results. It was also nice in that it provided for real-time results if something hadn't been coded correctly or we were having issues as to why something wasn't working the way we thought it should be. However, it did have some downsides in that we often had to rely on a conference phone and that made it difficult to hear people on both sides. Also, sometimes the trainers had internet difficulties when working from home and that caused issues with the WebX meetings.

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Jennifer Steffens

IT & Marketing Coordinator

Howry Residential ServicesMental Health Care, 201-500 employees

View all 1 answers on this topic

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Online Training

Ascentis 6.0

Based on 2 answers

Ascentis HR has a number of online training videos to watch on a number of different topics. I gave it a lower rating because there is not much interactivity with the videos and it seems to cater to really only one or two learning styles. Plus, one has to be pretty motivated to go to a separate area to access the videos and then pull up a specific one to watch it and then learn. From my experience, people know that they are there, many just don't take the time and effort to go find them and actually watch them - especially since the username and password are different from their normal username and password.

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Jennifer Steffens

IT & Marketing Coordinator

Howry Residential ServicesMental Health Care, 201-500 employees

View all 2 answers on this topic

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Implementation

Ascentis 6.2

Based on 4 answers

It was very easy to implement, but the customization pieces should really be fleshed out in order to determine the full need of an organization at the time of implementation. I believe if a little more time was spent on the requirements, the recruiting module would not have to be customized again at a cost at a later date.

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Human Resources Manager

MultiLingual Solutions, Inc.Government Administration, 201-500 employees

View all 4 answers on this topic

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Alternatives Considered

1. Customer Service - listens to clients (per our due diligence during evaluation phase and own experience thereafter)2. System ability to interface with in-house systems. (Other vendors evaluated could not guarantee success.)3. Report Writing - prewritten + ad hoc. User-friendly. Payroll staff could write. Freeing up IT resource time. (+ Payroll more self-sufficient)4. Import/Export Capabilities. (Not all systems are equal)5. Garnishment / Third Party Check module. (Had vision from prior in-house system, this was the only vendor that had what we wanted in this area.)6. Employee satisfaction with increased payroll department efficiency and Ascentis Employee Self-Service.

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Dottie Abston, CPP

Corporate Payroll Manager

Vigor IndustrialElectrical/Electronic Manufacturing, 1001-5000 employees

View all 117 answers on this topic

Much easier to use.
Much more efficient and organized making for easier use and more efficient use.
Customer support is also much better as we no longer need to contact them as much. They also seem to be much more knowledgeable about their product and have one main point of contact.

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Verified User

Professional in Human Resources

Construction Company, 201-500 employees

View all 2 answers on this topic

Return on Investment

By far, fewer errors in capturing information or giving information
Easily see what benefits an employee has enrolled or declined and historical information
Easily see what compensation an employee has had historical, or where their compensation is at currently
Easily see what positions an employee has had within the company for how long, and why they were transferred

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Catherine Peterson

Employment Coordinator

Community ResourcesHospital & Health Care, 51-200 employees

View all 117 answers on this topic

Negative - losing notes and unable to remember or refer to
Positive - uncomplicated
Negative - limited filter points, inefficient

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Verified User

Project Manager in Corporate

Information Technology and Services Company, 1001-5000 employees

View all 2 answers on this topic

Screenshots

See All (7) Ascentis Screenshots

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Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

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Free/Freemium Version

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Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Entry-level set up fee?

No

General

Free Trial

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Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Rating Summary

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

Ascentis

BirdDogHR

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