AAP Open Forum

communities_1.jpg
Back to discussions
Expand all | Collapse all

Online Board Portals

  • 1.  Online Board Portals

    Posted 01-10-2022 14:24
    Hello,

    Until the pandemic our Board was not online - still using paper and meeting in person (with no option for online). This has been changing based on teh last two years. I am looking into online Board Portals. Does anyone use them and if so what ones do you use. What do you like/do not like.

    Any feedback would be great!

    Thank you,

    Katie O'Hara
    Executive Assistant

    ------------------------------
    Katie OHara
    Alberta Construction Safety Association
    (905) 870-2380
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Online Board Portals

    Posted 01-10-2022 20:11
    Edited by Katherine Vaillancourt 01-10-2022 20:11
    Hi Katie,

    I find Diligent is one of the most widely used board portals nowadays. It's very simple to use and very user friendly. Hope this helps!

    Cheers,
    Katherine

    ------------------------------
    Katherine Vaillancourt
    National Director - Past President
    Association of Administrative Professionals
    Hamilton, ON
    aap.national.pastpresident@canadianadmin.ca
    (905) 580-7855
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Online Board Portals

    Posted 01-11-2022 07:50
    Hi Katie,

    I use DiliTrust (https://www.dilitrust.com/en_CA/) for our Board. It works well, and is easy to use for both myself (as Administrator) and for our Board (as users). From an Administrator standpoint, it's easy to upload documents and easy to move things around. I've used it for the past few years, and it has served us well, although I have noticed that it lacks a few features I wish it had (ability to upload images and post links). One thing to note is that DiliTrust prices their platform based on "room" not "user".

    When we moved to DiliTrust, I had also looked at Aprio and OnBoard. They offered many of the same features, but we ultimately went with DiliTrust as our CEO was already using it for a different Board he was on.

    One piece of advice I have is for you to make a list of all the features you think you'll want (ex: ability to integrate Zoom/webinar platform, upload PDF, DOC, XLS, etc) and see which portal matches up the closest, that will help you a lot :)

    ------------------------------
    Caroline Dickie
    Executive Assistant
    East Coast Credit Union
    (902) 830-0513
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Online Board Portals

    Posted 01-11-2022 08:15
    Our institution used Diligent for many years. A couple of years ago they switched to OnBoard (https://www.onboardmeetings.com/). It is fairly easy to use and users can set their own settings. For example, our governing body wants the members to read the documents online to prep for a meeting so the settings do not allow most people to print. I did not use Diligent (my Dean forgot his password and did not bother to reset it) but I do like using OnBoard.

    ------------------------------
    Rhonda Martin
    Executive Assistant to the Dean, University of Toronto Scarborough
    University of Toronto
    (416) 999-6788
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Online Board Portals

    Posted 01-11-2022 08:18
    Hi Katie,

    The Hospice that I previously worked at used DiliTrust.  It's based in Montreal (one of the priorities for that Board is that the portal was hosted in Canada). 
    I loved it.  It was user friendly and had the options needed for that particular Board.   
    Here's a link to their website  Click here

    Hope that helps,
    Betsy

    ------------------------------
    Betsy Rouw
    Executive Assistant
    Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Online Board Portals

    Posted 01-11-2022 10:28
    Hi,

    Our company has been using Diligent for many years. I don't recall how long, it's been that long. It's easy to use. The help desk is excellent should you need to call. Diligent is a large company with a number of options. They've aquired some new companies too that make their offering greater. Depending on the size of your company and what you need. I'd definitely contact Diligent to see how they could help you.

    ------------------------------
    Tammie Best
    Senior Executive Assistant

    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Online Board Portals

    Posted 01-11-2022 11:09

    The Hospice I was with has been using it for 7+ years.

    It's really worth investigating.

     

     




    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Online Board Portals

    Posted 01-11-2022 12:15
    I agree with Katherine that Diligent is a good one.  We had a demo by one of their Team and it seemed like an amazing product, but we couldn't afford it at that time.  

    We have a product called OMNI that we use in the hospital for documents and we are going to be adding our Board to a section of this so all their documents can be saved in one area.  

    Not sure this was too helpful for you, but I can totally relate to the in person meetings and paper based, as we were the same before COVID.  I actually prefer virtual board meetings and we have saved a ton on paper in the last 2 years.  : )

    ------------------------------
    Sharon Crowe
    Board Liaison and Executive Assistant
    Stevenson Memorial Hospital
    (705) 795-6822
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Online Board Portals

    Posted 01-12-2022 06:49

    Hi Katie,

    I researched multiple online board platforms but ultimately chose to use Boardvantage. We too we're using paper and it felt like a historic method but also a very time consuming process. 

    I warn you, you may find it hard to revert back to a paper process once you see how easy and efficient electronic board platforms are. 

    Good Luck!



    ------------------------------
    MELISSA POWER
    EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
    STRAD INC.
    (403) 681-2506
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Online Board Portals

    Posted 01-12-2022 11:53

    Is Boardvantage US based?    All Boards I have worked with want to use a company that is based in Canada.

     

    I agree about going back to paper after using an online portal.   I've had to go to using Teams at my new position and believe me I miss using a Board Portal.

     

    Betsy

     




    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: Online Board Portals

    Posted 01-12-2022 10:22
    We use Teams for our Board. 
    I set up a Private Team so that only the Board and the Senior Leadership has access and we load all of our documents, etc in there. 
    I also take minutes using Notes right in Teams. 
    Since it has all the MS products, it super easy. 

    Thanks,



    ------------------------------
    Corinne Mireault
    Executive Assistant
    Encore Business Solutions Inc
    (204) 792-9609
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 12.  RE: Online Board Portals

    Posted 01-12-2022 11:49

    We are using Teams for the current Board I work with only because it's free but I much prefer a dedicated Board Portal such as DiliTrust.  

     

    Betsy




    Original Message


  • 13.  RE: Online Board Portals

    Posted 01-14-2022 14:09
    I agree with Corinne.  We use Teams and with all the expansions with files, chat, power automate, scheduling, calendars, scheduling, attendance for meetings.... it really is a great online portal.

    ------------------------------
    Lana Maxwell
    Administrative Assistant, Oncology Department, Lung Portfolio
    The Ottawa Hospital
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 14.  RE: Online Board Portals

    Posted 01-17-2022 16:30
    I appreciate knowing that Teams is working for your boards.  I am in the process of migrating to it- hopefully ready before the next meeting.  Any tips are welcome!

    ------------------------------
    Corina Liepert
    Library/Records Clerk
    Access and Privacy Coordinator
    University College of The North
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 15.  RE: Online Board Portals

    Posted 01-18-2022 09:26
    I would also like some tips on using Teams for a Board portal. 
    Wondering specifically, do Board members all need to have company emails to access the Board folder on Teams.  Wondering how this works.  Due to our Board being all members of the public (I work at a hospital), if we went with another board portal system, we wanted them all to have hospital emails to avoid spam/viruses being introduced to our system.  Do they need to have this to access the Teams portal?

    Any other tips on setting this up would be so helpful.

    Thanks so much.

    ------------------------------
    Sharon Crowe
    Board Liaison and Executive Assistant
    Stevenson Memorial Hospital
    (705) 795-6822
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 16.  RE: Online Board Portals

    Posted 01-24-2022 10:35
    You can add anyone as a guest to a Team site by using their email address. This will give them access to that Team only. 
    And they don't need to have Teams installed, I believe it takes them to Teams online if they don't have it. 
    They will have access to everything that is posted within that Team, so posts, files, etc.

    ------------------------------
    Corinne Mireault
    Executive Assistant
    Encore Business Solutions Inc.
    204-792-9609
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 17.  RE: Online Board Portals

    Posted 01-13-2022 09:12
    Hi Katie,

    Our association uses OurBoardroom.  This is the only Board platform I've used, previous to that other Boards I worked with were paper-based.

    Take care!
    Kristina

    ------------------------------
    Kristina Paddison
    Executive Assistant
    Canadian Dental Hygienists Association
    (613) 222-3498
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 18.  RE: Online Board Portals

    Posted 01-14-2022 11:45
    We have been using Nasdaq boardvantage for years. You can create meeting invites, esign, approve online, create board packages etc.

    ------------------------------
    Preethi Balasubramanian
    Executive Assistant
    Compute Ontario
    (647) 640-3717
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 19.  RE: Online Board Portals

    Posted 01-28-2022 12:07
    We use Basecamp for our Board and all our committees, whether we have met in person or online.  It works for us and we can post documents and have conversations if needed between meetings.

    Donna

    ------------------------------
    Donna Lamont
    Membership Coordinator/Office Manager
    Medical Society of PEI
    902-218-5456
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 20.  RE: Online Board Portals

    Posted 04-02-2023 21:14

    Hi Katie:

    Late reply, we use Boardable but it is a US software and it doesn't have robust document editing sharing capability at this time.
    -Diana



    ------------------------------
    Diana Bumstead
    ------------------------------

    Original Message