Help with Proclaim vs ProPresenter

Michael McLane

Our church is about to upgrade all of it presentation technology. I have been using Proclaim about once a month and have not run into any difficulties. The one main complaint I have had is responsiveness.

A pastor buddy highly recommends ProPresenter. A huge consideration is the pricing structure. However, in light of the myriad Sunday service fails exclaimed in the forums, I would be more than willing to pay the premium. As one poster said, no fail reliability is not an option. It has to work every time.

So, as I contemplate my recommendation on this decision I would like to ask, is using Proclaim that much of a pain and that unreliable. Meaning, I realize that the headaches and problems get mentioned most in the forums. But, overall, amid the problems you have had, are you happy with your decision to go with proclaim? All software fails along the way, but has the good outweighed the bad?

Also, have you had experience with ProPresenter and what do you consider to be the main advantages of Proclaim over it.

We will be upgrading to a Mac Mini if you can speak to that.

Thanks for your advice.

Mike Binks

Hi Micheal

I run Proclaim of a Mac Laptop - last Sunday for the first time - I controlled the presentation from my iPhone using 3g. There was lag but all it took was a little forethought to get the timing right.

In general I find Proclaim reliable but not particularly intuitive. It is, though, getting better. I intend to stick with it.

Some of the initial design was brilliant. Co-operation, auto formatting, simple backgrounds, presentation mode are examples.

The lack of ability to sort and categorise media is a real nuisance but not so much as to make things over hard.

Provided you are careful about ensuring syncing is complete before disconnecting from the internet you should be ok.

Although the 'leasing' price structure takes some getting your head round we must factor in that there are no upgrades to buy.

(If they were really smart they would have a loyalty scheme reflected in the price of Pro-Media).

Michael McLane

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/682475#Comment_682475

Mike, thank you for the feed back. That was interesting. I think I will continue to try it a little bit more on a limited basis.

i am somewhat scared off in that each Sunday and Monday brings a whole slew of new problems to light on the forums. But, I do understand that we are more likely to hear about the problems than the successes. Yet, you were the only one that wanted to come forward with positive remarks about Proclaim. That is not encouraging.

i was contacted by a salesperson from FaithLife about a "deal" and he assured me that things were going to get better. He was very nice and I am sure meant well. He is just doing his job. But when I experience the performance of FaithLife products lately (outside of Proclaim) the sales department feels like walking onto a used car lot in the 70's and 80's.

As I said, I am still going to give it a try in limited ways. It's just that if I want to "sell" this to the people I serve it HAS to work. I cannot afford for something to go wrong in the middle of a service. The people that would run it would have no idea what to do and we would be back to PP for the next five years And any other technology opportunities in worship would be dismissed.

Mike Binks

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/684486#Comment_684486

Hi Michael

I hope that the 'Salesperson' offered you a hefty trial period – the proof of the pudding is in the eating – I think that the trial will be sufficient to allay your fears. Faithlife have a very generous refunds policy - they only want happy customers. Note that the people reporting problems are not suggesting that they wish to avail themselves of the facility.

You are going to be using OS X so you should note just how many of the problems stem from Anti Virus software, Video Driver software, incompatible programs etc all that will be irrelevent to you.

My wife often acts as operator for me and pushes just one button to move the display along. The only trouble is when the display goes to sleep during preaching due to me forgetting to turn off this option in Apple preferences. This is operator error rather than any fault in the programme.

May I add my blessing wishes for both your ministry and your presentation plans.