Frequently Asked Questions
What is iCarol? + –
iCarol is a web-based software designed especially for non-profit organizations and community programs such as helplines, mental health services, crisis and suicide prevention centers, health services, and others. Organizations of all types and sizes use iCarol, including rape crisis/sexual assault and domestic violence centers, befriending or warmlines, suicide prevention and crisis intervention centers, information and referral services such as 2-1-1, LGBTQ hotlines, Aging services such as Area Agencies on Aging and ADRCs, child abuse prevention hotlines, health services, and more. iCarol takes many of the administrative tasks of running a not-for-profit contact center and integrates them into one system. Contact documentation, data collection, shift scheduling, volunteer and staff management, offering services like live chat and texting/SMS, resource and referral database or community service inventory, statistics and reporting, integrating with other software to share data, and many other tasks can all be managed in iCarol.
What does “iCarol” stand for? Is it an acronym? Is it named for a person? + –
iCarol’s name was originally developed to be an acronym for “Information Calls and Reports Online” though today iCarol’s capabilities go far beyond what was represented in our name originally.
Are there hardware requirements to be able to use iCarol? Hard disk space, operating system, etc? + –
There are no minimum memory, storage, processor, hardware, operating system, software, performance or network requirements for a device. If you can get to Google, you can use iCarol. But of course everything on the internet (including iCarol) seems to run better with at least DSL, Cable or for mobile devices, Wifi or 4G service.
Authorized users can access iCarol from any computer or device that is connected to the internet and running a web browser. This includes (but is not limited to) computers devices running Windows, Apple Macintosh, Linux, as well as devices like iPads and other tablets, smartphones, or those running Android, Windows Phone, Palm/WebOS, Symbian and more.
For access from computers, iCarol can be accessed from web browsers that support TLS 1.2 which includes:
- Apple Safari (version 7 or higher)
- Google Chrome (version 30 or higher)
- Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 11 and higher)
- Microsoft Edge
- Mozilla Firefox (version 27 or higher)
We recommend that you keep updated with the latest web browsers, especially wherever someone may be entering Contact Forms. You’ll get better security, faster performance, and less likelihood of errors.
Do I answer my calls through iCarol? Is it a phone system? + –
iCarol is not the same as a phone system that you use to answer your calls, but rather you use forms in iCarol to document, collect data, or log the interactions you have with your clients, whether those are over the phone, in person, through chat or text, and other means. Our software can work with your phone system in some ways, such as populating a contact form on your counselors’ screens when a call comes through to their workstation, or pre-populating information the caller entered into the IVR/Phone Tree. This is called “Telephony Integration.” If you’re interested in integrating iCarol with your phone system, please contact us for more information.
Where is my data stored? + –
iCarol systems and data can be hosted in Canada or the United States. Please speak to us about any data or security requirements you must meet so we can ensure your system is hosted in the correct environment to align with your policies.
How does iCarol approach privacy laws like HIPAA? + –
We are well acquainted with privacy laws like HIPAA (US), PIPEDA (Canada) and Data Protection Act and GDPR (UK and Europe). We have safeguards and processes so that we do our part to help you maintain compliance with these laws, and are willing to sign needed agreements asserting our role in your compliance with them.
iCarol is very mindful of privacy, confidentiality, and any concerns around HIPAA compliance. iCarol is owned by Harris Computer Systems which provides mission critical software solutions for the Public Sector, Healthcare, Utilities and Private Sector verticals throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Along with other Harris Business Units who manage Personal Identifiable information (PII) and Personal Health Information (PHI), iCarol performs annual Risk Assessments with the Harris Security Team. The Security Team monitors the timeline to address any identified mitigation activities. We also work with Harris’ legal and compliance team on any questions related to HIPAA compliance. iCarol provides the tools for our customers to operate their businesses in a HIPAA compliant manner. We also sign BAA agreements with each customer organization who plans to use iCarol to store PII and PHI.
Is iCarol secure? + –
Yes, we take the security and privacy of your data very seriously and take extensive security measures to protect your organization’s data. Read more about our security here.
What support is available? + –
We aim to to provide plenty of training and support during your free trial so you can get a true feel for how iCarol can address the issues most important to your helpline. Of course our team will be there to support you once you become a subscribing user, too.
Users can access myriad support documents and training videos 24/7 from within iCarol. Our responsive support team will be delighted to help our clients with inquiries Monday through Friday from 8am-8pm Eastern, and 12-5pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Our users can submit their inquiries through the iCarol webapp in our case management system and by live chat. We have processes in place to address urgent issues outside of our normal support hours. Our certified professionals monitor the site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year so they can quickly and immediately resolve outages or performance issues when they rarely occur. We know how important it is for our customers to access their systems at all hours of the day and night, and that any interruptions impact not just them but the communities they serve. For this reason, system reliability is a top priority for us. Our Support Team also has procedures for checking the support case queue periodically outside of normal support hours, to check for urgent inquiries.
Click here to learn more about our Standard Support Package that all subscribing customers receive. Premier Support is also available, please contact us for more information.
Is there a limit to how many users I can add to my iCarol system? + –
No. Unlike other software that allows only a certain number of “seats” or users, or charges more based on the number of people accessing it, iCarol allows you to add an unlimited number of volunteers, staff, managers, board members, and others to have access to your iCarol system, with no impact on your subscription pricing. Read more about managing volunteers and staff using iCarol.