MediaShout

The way I can edit and create slide without disturbing the main view. Also the availability of many Bible versions, enabling us to assist our Pastor in delivering the Message of God to the Church.

Not having a SCROLLING Announcements Option, is really a negative for us. I still look forward to see one day Scrolling Announcement Feature in future versions.
The other issue is the necessity to reconnect to Internet every Six Weeks, is not helping us in Africa where we do not have internet in our church buildings. Can it be removed, and find another way for verification?

First and foremost, their customer service / support is the best. Any issue (my own or theirs) I've ever had the MediaShout team has effectively and efficiently solved to my utmost satisfaction. The team is very knowledgeable about their software, know it inside out, and are on top of their game with it. [No non-english speaking people reading from a script with these guys!] They are tirelessly patient and extremely concerned with making sure my experience with MediaShout is the best they can make it. That alone makes the money spent on the software well worth it!

Secondly I love that I can edit the presentation on the fly and live. My Pastor has a tendency to ask for something to be done right BEFORE service starts. Can you show this? Can you add this scripture? You can do all that easily during service with just a few clicks! We couldn't do that before. It's a win/win for us. Pastor's happy and we're happy!

And thirdly, I love that I can now spend more of my time focusing on the pictures / graphics that I want to use instead of spending the majority of my time on formatting and setting up road maps for our worship songs. MediaShout allows you to format the entire cue or script easily! Setting up road maps [that my worship leader changes each time we sing it] is a breeze. Just drag and drop everything in the order you want it and wallah!

And the best part, with the words showing up on the stage with the next line feature, MY team thinks I'm a rockstar!

I don't like that the main stage and the stage are tied so closely together when creating lyrics. I'm very anal about word placement in regards to the picture / graphic I am using. One slight change on the main effects the words on the stage as well as the next line feature. I know I can use the alignment buttons the software provides, but like I said, I'm anal about word placement. I would also like the ability to change the position of the words that show on the stage without it affecting the words or the next line feature as well.

Although the MediaShout customer service is top notch and the support they offer is the best service around, I do wish their user forum was a bit more active. You can learn a lot about how to use a program more effectively by communicating with other end users. I have yet to find a forum within [or without] MediaShout that actively offers this valuable resource.

Ability to quickly recall lyrics and scriptures to make a great presentation

Plagued by frequent crashes, even after applying patches recommended by vendor

We have been customers for upwards of 10 years.
The program worked with dual monitors.

We have purchased several upgrades - one because they forced us to. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

A few months ago we showed up for service as usual and our program said we were using a trial version. It started the 30 day countdown.

Eventually we dig out the registration codes for the product we had purchased and it would not accept the code. We tried multiple times but it would never go through.

We contacted tech support and eventually they just told us the company that managed the licenses for them no longer was. We asked what we could do to fix the problem.

The answer? Pay $400 to get a new version. WHAT?!? We purchase a product with the express understanding they are going to deliver on that product.

Instead, because they made an unfortunate decision to do business with the wrong company, it was going to cost US -the customer- $400. No product discount, no alternate license or work around. Just a response that would mean they succeeded at doing this to us TWICE.

I’m not happy nor would I recommend this product. It does the job. There were things we liked and didn’t like but because of the investment we had, we stayed. No longer.

We still haven’t replaced our program. We will be very diligent in reading reviews so we can get a company that is:

1) available with tech support without charging an additional fee and
2) stands behind the service they offer