Frequently Asked Questions

Are your surveys anonymous? Yes. We cannot identify individuals’ responses, and we only share data with clients in an aggregated format. Some types of survey provide individual feedback data, in which case you are warned to protect your password and data from others. Even then, individual data is not shared with the client. What technology do you use? Benchpoint™ and Decision-Oracle are original applications developed in C# and SQL, using .Net. Can I download the programme? No, it runs off our server, which can be accessed from anywhere, work or home, via the web, at any time. Will it run on my organisation’s Intranet? Yes, even if you do not allow every employee internet access. Will it run off my organisation’s website? Yes. Will it run on any browser? Yes, even old browsers and those which block JavaScript and Flash. Will it run fast on dial-up connections? For respondents, yes. Survey builders, editors and report builders will get along quicker with Broadband, but dial-up will work OK if that’s all you have. What are “real time results”? Exactly that. When you click on “see results” and call up a chart, the application displays the results based on the last respondent. This could have been seconds ago. Why can’t I open the survey attachment in my email invitation? It’s not an attachment, but a link to our server. You must be connected to the internet/intranet before clicking. My survey suddenly stopped halfway through and would not let me continue. This is probably because you did not answer a compulsory question. Unanswered questions change colour, generally to red. Check the questionnaire carefully before clicking “next page”. How much does it cost? We charge a price to use the system based on the number of clicks, languages and bandwidth required. This is to cover our development and hosting costs. We also charge time costs for our labour and consultancy services to put your survey together and devise the results Actual prices depend on individual services required – just ask us. Why do I have to give you my email list? This is private. This enables us to issue personalised invitations, track responses and issue reminders, as well as communicate quickly before and after the survey, and send out results. It also allows us to allocate each respondent a unique ID, which prevents unauthorised access, multiple voting etc. We do not use or share client email lists for any other purpose, and they remain the property of the client. What is the difference between Benchpoint™ and Decision-Oracle? Benchpoint™ is the complete package. We do everything required to get your survey up and running and gather the results. Decision-Oracle is the stand-alone software, and we allow licence holders to use the system just as we do. Is Decision-Oracle easy to use? It’s a lot easier than many other systems we have seen. The menus are intuititive, and it’s impossible to make fatal errors. However there are quite a few features to learn and it takes practice to get up to speed. Unless you do surveys frequently, we suggest you use the Benchpoint service.