5 Common Church IT Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Let’s dive into some common church IT challenges and how to overcome them.

Committee Buy-In

Many churches are led by a committee, which is basically a leadership team that meets regularly to go over the organization of the church, decide important issues, and choose where to spend the churches budget. While representative, this leadership style can often be tricky for church IT professionals attempting to get buy-in on initiatives.

The solution is clear communication! Before you bring an issue or a solution to your church leadership, clarify your requirements and reasoning. For example, why do you need to set up another wireless access point? About how much will it cost? Who will benefit from this change, and how? With all the details in order, you’ll have much better luck receiving support from the churches leadership team.

Shared Meeting Space

Network issues can also abound when your church community meets in a space that is not your own. Many faith groups meet in schools, which, while convenient, are notorious for poor network quality. Even if your meeting place has good Wi-Fi, some organizations don’t share the password.

A mobile hotspot is a great way to overcome these issues but be sure to test it thoroughly before your first Sunday service. Try various locations around your meeting area, including right by the door, to better pick up cell tower signals. You can also try different carriers (Verizon, AT&T, etc.) to find the optimal network quality for your area.

Prioritizing Digital

If we have learned anything from this pandemic, it’s the critical necessity of a digital connection. Not a website for the sake of having a website, but a platform on which potential members can learn about the church and existing members can easily connect and interact. In addition, many organizations fall prey to separate systems: Childcare contact information is managed in one spreadsheet, young adult groups are on GroupMe, and giving is handled on a third-party platform. This leads to ineffective management.  Having a single point of visibility for congregation organization in preferred.

Explore options for an effective church management software. This church technology is tailored to the church experience to help you get organized and accomplish your goals. The best software solutions on the market create a single point of visibility for all church functions. Users can check-in on their way to church, easily update contact information for childcare, and create groups for fellowship, volunteering, and more. Congregants can even give online or set up automatic tithing. With all the data at your fingertips, church IT leaders can see patterns in attendance, anticipate funding needs, and reach out to individuals for that personal touch.

The Check-In Process

Are you continually troubleshooting the childcare check-in process? If we could do away with printing labels, we’d solve the church world. But since we’re not at that level quite yet, let’s talk about solutions.

First, check that your church IT equipment is up-to-date, ensuring that every piece of equipment is working properly. If you need assistance, reach out to a Managed IT Services provider for a device assessment and proactive maintenance of your church IT equipment.

Second, take a close look at your network. Do you use the same Wi-Fi for childcare check-in and church Internet access? With so many Internet-enabled devices these days, using just one network for the church IT needs might not be sufficient.

We recommend installing additional wireless access point(s) throughout the building. Use one network for general church use, one for administrative use (depending on your church’s size) and a third as a dedicated check-in network. This upgrade will solve many of the churches connectivity issues and reduce stress for everyone involved.

Not Having an Equipment Specialist

Who do you currently call when church IT equipment such as computers, AV, or check-in equipment goes down? Is it up to you and your team? Sometimes, repairs are complex, or you have other items on your to-do list.

A managed IT services provider is able to proactively monitor your network devices and will know when there is a problem with a piece of church IT equipment well in advice of the important Sunday sermon; resolving the problem in time, so the issue will not effect the church at the worst possible time. Partnering with such a firm is a great way to reduce downtime, maintain your devices’ longevity, and allow your team to focus on their daily tasks. Discuss your needs with a local managed IT services provider and receive service according to your Service Level Agreement (SLA).

Similarly, where do you look for new equipment purchases? Big box retailers don’t always give you the best price, and when you go straight to the manufacturer, you only get to look at technology from that brand.

We recommend a vendor-neutral hardware consultant who can walk you through the pros of cons of a variety of devices. Ideally, find a reseller from which you can purchase check-in equipment, computers, monitors, projectors, and other technology on your list. By having one vendor on speed dial, you have less to manage and everything to gain.

Can you relate to any of these common church IT issues? While information technology has its nuances depending on the application, many of the same challenges pervade. Reach out with any comments or topics that you particularly identify with—we’d love to hear from you!

Explore Your Options for a Secure & More Reliable Church Network

Managed IT Professionals can help ensure safe, efficient and reliable network operation throughout your church or synagogue IT environment.  We can help you fully optimize your network environment, solve your church IT challenges and monitor and manage every endpoint throughout your organization with our next-generation proactive system management & monitoring technology. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation and find out what Managed IT Professionals can do for your church or synagogue! Call (201) 300-3825,  contact us, or schedule a free consultation.