isolved vs. SmartSearch ATS

I have not yet run into a scenario that isolved is not appropriate. There have been a few specific functionalities that isolved couldn't accommodate, such as paid PTO plans. If employees frequently switch between different legal companies with different EINs, isolved really isn't built to handle that, and we've had to come up with creative solutions.

Incentivized

If you have a recruiting organization that needs flexibility and a wide range of options to address an ever changing landscape than this is your system. It does not try to pigeon-hole recruiters into a single recruiting model. It allows you to customize how your organization does things but also allows you to control where you need to control. We have been using SmartSearch for more than 24 years. We started out on one of the first versions because we liked the company and the direction they were taking. SmartSearch has not always been the tool with the flashiest features.... but it has always had some of the best features. They have always been of the cutting edge of the next technology and have the tools and features that make SmartSearch a complete solution. We have not seen anything else out in the marketplace that has encouraged us to change.

• isolved is incredibly accurate and effective for processing out payroll and executing payment of wages. isolved is incredibly accurate and effective for processing out payroll and executing payments for wages.
• The system enables employees to access their own data and perform their own leave management and pay maintenance without risk.
• The data analysis and reporting/data export functions are second to none. It allows access to and manipulation of fully relational employee records and information.

Incentivized

• Customization - the team at SmartSearch always tries to find a solution that works for our company specifically.
• Customer Care - the team actually cares and is concerned about the well-being of our business. They help us solve issues as if they worked for us and this feeling is felt at every level of the organization beginning with their President.
• Technology - I have used multiple ATSs and demoed many, many more. SmartSearch has superior technology for staffing firm; the technology that helps us recruit and fill jobs faster.
• Listening - the team at SmartSearch actually listens to us and our concerns whether it's regarding a feature for an upgrade or simply solving an issue we are facing.
• Common Sense - there have been many times in our relationship when we have asked about a feature and we hear "that makes sense, we will make that change for all of our customers"...listening is rare and they do it well.

• More reminder notifications would be great!
• A way to email hiring managers and our IT department at the same time with a template would save us from so much email communication
• Transfer all attached documents such as interview notes from iHired applicants to isolved employee documents would save us time uploading into multiple places

Incentivized

• There's some room for improvement with candidate status. If you change a status, you have to refresh your screen for that to appear. It's a minor thing.
• It would be nice to hide certain bits of information on the web posting, but keep that information in the requisition for our records, ie, salary range, etc.

Due to the continued problems (time clock disconnects, regular post-update issues) and users' negative attitude, we are unlikely to renew. Another important factor is that TF is US-centric, so it does not account for local Philippine specifics, which is important to us.

While I do not have experience with SmartSearch's competitors, I would renew my use of SmartSearch simply based on the up-front costs of implementing the program. It would be better to continue with a program that is sufficiently meeting my needs than it would be to incur the same up-front costs to implement something else.

Incentivized

It is very intuitive and user friendly. iSolved is always updating and improving things before they even become a problem. I like how they inform us of the new updates and provide us with the details of what is changing and how it will improve the usuage.

There are so many facets of SmartSearch, that to know everything about it is nearly impossible. While it is mainly straight forward, there is a lot. After using the program for a while, you become pretty comfortable with the basics and can start adding some of the other features.

Incentivized

Payroll due dates and send to us at the beginning of the year, with email reminders for holidays. The support email address is fairly fast, within 24-48 hours. But if something is needed immediately, I can just call and they help me out right then.

Incentivized

My license for SmartSearch goes back to 2004. It has always been available for me - don't remember a single time it was not available in all of those years.

We do not use the integration, so we have a csv file that I upload manually for payroll. That is our decision based on the software at our restaurants. Pages loaded fairly quickly, but reports to pdf lag about 15-20 seconds

Incentivized

They are very responsive and they have support for the specific issues. Clients receive a dedicated Support Representative with a back up dedicated support team. They also receive an Account Manager who follows up quarterly to discuss the company and future needs. They do have a support ticket hub, but it still needs a little work to fine tune it.

Once you get the 1 person on the phone they are very knowledgeable and tend to solve the problem. The issue is there are not enough resources to handle all the clients. Their primary clients are "recruiting firms" and I think that is where most of the their support resources go

All over the phone, but it was comprehensive.

Incentivized

We loved taking the course, we went through most of them before we went live and I believe that was very helpful. The online training helped us learn to navigate in the program. We still refer to the training and assign our managers and supervisors to it as well. I highly recommend using it. We have also been able to attend the Connect Conferences with are extremely valuable and we learn tips and tricks to help us better utilize our system.

The system was very cumbersome setting up as well as time consuming. There were times I just wanted to walk away and sometimes I did have to get up and walk away for a break and come back with a fresh perspective. The setup took me over a period of two to three months getting it to serve the purposes that we needed it two. I am very intuitive when it comes to computer software however getting all the right buttons checked in order for it to do what I needed didn't always work.

Using the basic functions of SmartSearch is an easy implementation. But consider carefully what your organization needs to really drive placements. Because we only did a basic implementation first, we were caught off guard when later trying to implement more functions and realizing that the capabilities were limited or were difficult to learn and implement and realizing that tech support was not going to be consistent.

I used the other platforms in previous companies. isolved was in place when I started here 3 years ago. I found the system effective for the amount of staff we have. In previous roles I worked with larger groups and I am not sure in a restaurant industry or company of 1500 employees isolved is the right fit.

We have looked at multiple alternatives over the years at both Gates and our collective experiences prior to joining Gates. In our opinion, SmartSearch is the right choice for our business today. We have been able to scale it globally and conduct all of our major requirements for our applicant tracking system and that works for Gates. We also feel like we are an important partner to SmartSearch and they work with us and we feel like our feedback is important to them. I have worked with a number of ATS vendors prior to SmartSearch and pre-Gates. That is not a universal approach in this space and is a unique value prop from SmartSearch.

We are a company of about 135 people at 9 locations in 2 towns. We were able to set locations and departments, and also have each location seperate so only that manager can see their employees.

Incentivized

• Electronic Timecards in the app - less room for error manually figuring punch cards and better use of time management.
• Available Reports streamline my workload - Employee data, payroll records all at the click of a button in a report. Weekly, Quarterly and Year End data is easy access for all companies on one site.
• 90% Positive 10% negative on using personal cell phones for the app to clock in and out. Can't make everyone happy 100% of the time... we try though!
• Positive impact on employees with the security settings on their phone. They didn't like the hassle in the beginning, but understood why it was important to protect their data.

• I am not involved in the budgeting or finance for recruiting software, so cannot speak directly to any numbers for ROI. However, SmartSearch personally saves me several hours a day in organizing candidates, thus saving my company substantial amounts in productivity.
• The lacking ability to tag additional recruiters throughout the hire track process means whoever onboards the hire has to ensure that a "split" is marked when completing the NHS. Failure to do so can result in quite a lot of lost time from HR to get the mistake fixed.

Incentivized