Smart Choice Student Application & Admissions Software

The Smart Choice Process

With a background in software development and interaction, specifically with educational institutions, the Smart Choice process is tried and true for streamlining the often difficult process of implementing a new online system.

Smart Choice Technologies only offers products specific to schools and districts, so our entire process and team is dedicated to creating a workflow for our clients that is efficient for the district and team assigned to the project. Once a client of Smart Choice, the district will be assigned an Account Executive. This representative will be the “owner” of the project and works with other Smart Choice team members throughout implementation.

Kick-Off Meeting

Once the contract is executed, your project begins with the Kick-Off Meeting.

During this meeting you will meet your account manager, who will guide you through the project and provide support after launch. The kick-off meeting is the first step in this new relationship.

Prior to this meeting, internal preparations are conducted to ensure the project’s success. These key planning activities include research, team development, and internal scheduling.

During this meeting, details required to complete the scope of work will be documented and verified. Project deliverables, deadlines, expectations, and more, are addressed and documented.

The Smart Choice team utilizes a patented documentation process to gather project information from the kick-off meeting through the completion of the project. The project brief is a regimented guide to the details needed for implementation, and serve as the foundation of your project. This document has been crafted over the years to adhere to our processes and system as well as maintaining all essential details required to define your online application, lottery, wait list and enrollment processes.

Implementation

Based on your solution requirements, Smart Choice utilizes a project management system through which we establish a series of milestones and related tasks to facilitate the implementation process.

The Account Executive assigned to your project will guide you through the process, gather the information needed for each of the tasks, and manage the development of these tasks according to the established timeline. Throughout implementation, your team will be updated on deliverables needed, progress, and more.

Testing & Review

With each milestone and task, internal testing and review is completed to ensure that it adheres to the specific requirements specified by the district.

The Account Manager assigned to your project will review each milestone with you to ensure it’s completed to the district’s specifications. After each milestone is tested and reviewed, the district team will also be trained on how to use the system.

Project Communication

The district’s Account Manager is the central point of  contact for the duration of the project, including implementation, launch and post launch periods.

This centralizes and streamlines communication and the documentation process. During the application and lottery phase, your team will communicate with your Account Manager to finalize development specs, review completed features and conduct beta testing. The Account Manager will also handle day to day support and assistance during the lottery process and post lottery.