Questions to Ask During a College Software Demo

In a college software demo, ask the vendor to show your real workflows rather than a prepared tour. The most useful questions cover admissions and records, fees and M-PESA, academics and assessment, and data, security and support. Bring people from each department, and score every product you see against the same list.

Before the demo

• Send the vendor a short description of your institution: courses, intakes, campuses, student numbers and the tools you use now.
• Prepare one sample student journey, from enquiry to graduation, and ask them to follow it.
• Invite someone from admissions, registry, finance and academics, and ask each to bring two questions from their own work.

Admissions and student records

1. Show me an enquiry arriving by WhatsApp. Who is reminded to follow it up, and when?
2. Can applicants apply and upload documents from their phones?
3. What happens when an application is missing a document?
4. When I approve an applicant, what is created automatically? Do we retype anything?
5. Can we use our own admission number format?
6. How do we import our existing students, and what happens to rows with mistakes?

Fees and M-PESA

1. Does M-PESA connect to our own paybill or till, so the money comes straight to us?
2. Show me a payment arriving and being matched to a student. What if the account number is wrong?
3. How do we correct a payment recorded against the wrong student?
4. How are discounts and scholarships approved?
5. Can students see their balance and pay from their phones?
6. Can we export to our accounting software?

Academics and assessment

1. Show me a timetable being built. How are room and lecturer clashes caught?
2. How do lecturers take attendance, and can students check in themselves?
3. How are marks entered, moderated and approved before students see them?
4. If we run CBET, how are competency units, evidence and Competent / Not Yet Competent results recorded?
5. How are transcripts and certificates produced, and can employers verify certificates?

Data, security and support

1. How is our data kept separate from other institutions?
2. Can we require two-factor sign-in for staff who handle money?
3. Is there an audit log? Show me who changed a student's balance.
4. Can we export all our data at any time, including if we leave?
5. Who helps us move our records, and how are staff trained?
6. How do we get support, and how quickly do you respond?
7. What will the first year cost in total, including setup, migration, SMS and payment charges?

After the demo

• Score the product on each section while it is fresh.
• Ask for a trial and test it with your own courses and a few real students.
• Ask for the answers you did not get in writing.

Ready to try these questions? Book a Soma360 demo, and we will follow your institution's workflow.