Dave Iannone

Fictional Sample ReportMain Street Fire Department

A tailored demo question sheet for a combination department evaluating member management and scheduling software, covering fit, integrations, security, data ownership, support and pricing.

This is a fictional sample report. Main Street Fire Department and Main Street Police Department are illustrative examples and do not represent any real agency. Figures, names and details are invented to show what this tool produces.

SAMPLE

Bring these to the demo. Skip what doesn’t apply and add anything specific to your agency.

Product & workflow fit

Does the software consolidate certification tracking, shift scheduling, and duty roster management into a single source of truth, eliminating the need for separate spreadsheets?
Can the system automatically flag and alert administrators when a certification is approaching expiration, and does it prevent scheduling of personnel with expired certifications?
Does the software support both career and volunteer personnel with different certification, availability, and scheduling rules?
Can you assign certifications to individual personnel, track renewal dates, and generate reports showing current certification status across the agency?
Does the system allow creation and modification of shift schedules with built-in conflict detection for overlapping assignments?
Can duty rosters be generated automatically based on certification status, availability, and scheduling rules, or must they be manually assembled?
What happens in the demo workflow when a certification expires - is the system behavior the same as in production, or are there different rules or manual steps in the live environment?

Integrations & interoperability

What is the native, production-ready integration method with the county dispatch CAD system - API, file import/export, real-time sync, or does it require manual data entry?
For the payroll system integration, what data flows in each direction, how often does it sync, and what happens if a sync fails - does the system retry, alert an administrator, or require manual intervention?
Does the software integrate natively with the agency's existing training/LMS platform, or would the integration require custom development or a third-party middleware tool?
Are the integrations you're demonstrating today already in production with other agencies, or are they features on a roadmap?
If an integration is not yet available, what is the realistic timeline for release, and does the vendor commit to a specific date in writing?
For each integration, who is responsible for troubleshooting - your support team, the CAD/payroll/LMS vendor, or a joint process?
If an integration fails or the vendor stops supporting it, can the agency export all synced data in a standard format and continue without that integration?

Security & access controls

What authentication methods does the software support - username/password only, LDAP/Active Directory, single sign-on (SSO), or multi-factor authentication (MFA)?
Is MFA required, optional, or not available, and can the agency enforce MFA for all users or specific roles?
How does the software control what data different user roles can view and edit - can you define role-based permissions at the agency, division, shift, or individual record level?
Does the system maintain an audit log of who accessed, created, modified, or deleted data, and can administrators export or review these logs?
Where is the data physically stored - on agency premises, in a vendor data center, or a cloud provider, and in which geographic region(s)?
Is data encrypted in transit (network transmission) and at rest (on storage), and what encryption standards are used?
What is the vendor's incident response process if the system is breached, and how quickly would the agency be notified?
Can the agency choose to store data on-premises instead of in the cloud, and does that change the pricing or feature set?

Data ownership & export

Does the agency own the data in the system, or does the vendor retain ownership or any rights to the data?
In what formats can you export all data - CSV, Excel, JSON, XML, or proprietary formats - and is the export functionality available as a standard feature or a paid add-on?
Can you export data at any time, or only at contract end, and can you export a subset of data or only the entire database?
Does the software provide an API to programmatically access or export data, and is API access available in all pricing tiers or only higher-cost plans?
If the contract ends, does the vendor provide a one-time data export, and how long do you have to retrieve it?
Will the vendor delete all agency data after the contract ends, and can you request written confirmation of deletion?
If the vendor is acquired by another company, what rights does the agency have to the data, and can you terminate the contract without penalty if you disagree with the new owner's data policy?

Implementation & migration

What is the typical implementation timeline from contract signature to live production, and does the vendor guarantee completion by the next fiscal year budget cycle?
Does the implementation plan include data migration from the existing spreadsheets and calendar, or is the agency responsible for manual data entry?
Will the vendor extract, map, and validate the data, or does the agency need to prepare and clean the data before import?
How many implementation staff does the vendor assign, and what is their expertise - do they provide dedicated account managers, technical implementation specialists, or both?
Does the vendor offer in-person training, remote training, or self-paced online resources, and are training sessions included in the contract or billed separately?
Will the vendor conduct user acceptance testing (UAT) before going live, and does the agency have authority to reject the system if it doesn't meet requirements?
What is the post-launch support plan - does the vendor assign a dedicated support contact during the first 30/60/90 days to help resolve issues?
If implementation falls behind schedule or data migration encounters problems, what are the remedies - does the vendor offer service credits, delay penalties, or contract termination options?

Support, reliability & continuity

What are the support channels - phone, email, ticket system, live chat - and are all channels available 24/7 or during business hours only?
What is the typical response time for critical issues (e.g., system down), high-priority issues (e.g., a feature not working), and low-priority issues (e.g., user questions)?
Does the vendor publish an uptime SLA, and what is it - 99.5%, 99.9%, or higher, and what are the remedies if the vendor misses the SLA?
How does the vendor communicate system outages or maintenance windows - email, in-app notification, status page, or other method?
If the vendor is acquired or goes out of business, what happens to the product and support - will the acquiring company commit to continued support, or can the agency terminate the contract without penalty?
Does the vendor have a roadmap for new features and bug fixes, and are there scheduled release dates or a beta program where the agency can test new functionality?
Are software updates and patches applied automatically, on a schedule, or does the agency choose when to update?

Pricing & contract

What is the total annual cost, and is it based on number of personnel (career + volunteer), number of users, number of licenses, modules, or another metric?
Does the pricing model include certification tracking, scheduling, duty rosters, and integrations with the CAD, payroll, and LMS systems, or are any of these features add-ons with separate fees?
Are there any required third-party products, subscriptions, or licenses - such as single sign-on (SSO) tools, cloud storage, or data backup - that are not included and must be purchased separately?
What is included in the base contract - software license, implementation, training, support, data storage, integrations - and what is billed separately or as add-ons?
How does pricing change if the agency grows from 68 career + 41 volunteer to 100+ personnel?
Is there an annual price increase, and if so, what is the cap or formula - CPI, fixed percentage, or vendor discretion?
Are there contract renewal terms, automatic renewal clauses, or penalties for non-renewal, and can the agency negotiate multi-year discounts?
Can the agency terminate the contract early without penalty, or are there termination fees, and what notice period is required?

Customer references

Can the vendor provide contact information for 2 - 3 similar public safety agencies (combination career/volunteer, 50 - 150 personnel, similar certification and scheduling challenges) currently using the product?
Ask references: Did the system reduce the time spent on certification tracking and scheduling compared to spreadsheets, and how much did it improve?
Ask references: Did the implementation finish on time and on budget, and what unexpected challenges or costs did you encounter?
Ask references: How reliable is the system - has it had significant outages or data loss, and how responsive is vendor support when issues occur?
Ask references: Are you satisfied with the integrations to your CAD, payroll, and training systems, and did they work as promised during the demo?
Ask references: Would you recommend this product to another agency, and what would you do differently if you could restart the implementation?

How this was made. This report pairs a structured public-safety framework with AI drafting to give you a strong, fast starting point. Treat it as informed guidance, not a final answer, and confirm the specifics against your department’s own facts and judgment before you act.

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Software Demo Question Builder

Product & workflow fit

Integrations & interoperability

Security & access controls

Data ownership & export

Implementation & migration

Support, reliability & continuity

Pricing & contract

Customer references