Item: Deputy
Rating: 10
Author: Mark Severin

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I provide first aid for special events so the number of staff I need varies greatly. I used to do my scheduling by email and keep track of the shifts in a spreadsheet but was constantly making mistakes when my number of events per day volume increased. I love the fact that I can have people request shifts and then I can assign who I want to work each shift. This was the main selling point for me. I also really like that I only get charged for the shifts I schedule. There are several weeks (and even months in the winter) where I don't have any events and so to have to pay other sites just have my staff in their database when I have no income was not an option for me.

Pros and Cons

Let me choose who works a shift from a list of those available
It only charges me for the shifts scheduled, not the number of employees in the system.
My employees really like the web app, and find it easy to use.

The web app for managers is not overly useful. When I have shifts posted, it tells me that there are multiple people that are requesting a shift but I am unable to see who they are.
When multiple people request a shift, it would be really nice if it kept a history of those who requested but weren't assigned to a given shift so that if an employee cancels I know who else had asked to work that shift without having to manually record the info.

Return on Investment

Before Deputy, I would schedule people and forget to email them, or email someone to tell them they are assigned but then forget to record it in the spreadsheet so I would either have too many or too few staff.
It has cut down on my email load greatly because now I only have to reply to questions, not get emails from a dozen people that want to work as shift.
There has been no negative impact.

Alternatives Considered

As already mentioned, it was the charging by shift scheduled and the ability to choose which employees I want working that drew me to Deputy. I had looked at Deputy several years ago, but until they implemented the "Pay by Shift Scheduled" feature, it was going to be too costly for me.

Key Insights

Do you think Deputy delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Deputy's feature set?

Yes

Did Deputy live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Deputy go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Deputy again?

Yes

Usability

The only thing I wish was better, is the mobile app experience for Managers. I find that I'm logging into the website on my tablet all the time because the scheduling feature in the mobile app just doesn't function the same. If that experience was better, I'd give it a 10.

Best Scheduling site ever!!!!!

Overall Satisfaction with Deputy