In the realm of marketing software, The Survey System bills itself as the most complete package available. Creative Research Systems, a company that got its start back in 1982, created the software. It notes that the system can handle a wide variety of research modes, from web to telephone to mobile to CAPI, or even paper if needed.

It can also be used to conduct mixed-mode surveys that utilize two or more of those modes. Besides all the usual options for customizing questions for data collection and reporting on results, The Survey System can record user comments in their own voices through its voice capture survey module. There are also advanced logic capabilities to make the survey responsive to what information is being entered by respondents. There is also an ability to incorporate any respondent information you may already have on file. The reporting functions in the system are robust, including text, charts, tables, or even live reporting of Internet survey results. The reports are also highly customizable so you can control their appearance both in terms of data presentation and general formatting. The results of the research can be exported for word processing, uploaded to websites, or exported to spreadsheet software or SPSS for further analysis. Surveys can be created in a variety of languages, including French, German, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Thai, Russian, Chinese, and Korean, just to name a few.

Pros

Below are some of the things users love about The Survey System:

• In short, most users find The Survey System to be the best combination of robust functionality, ease of use, and affordability.
• Users also describe customer and technical support as friendly and responsive in answering any questions.
• Several users noted that it’s easy enough for novices to use while also being sophisticated enough to meet the most complex needs of high-level market researchers.
• Other users note that because it’s a modular system, you can pick and choose what you think you need.
• Some users note that not every solution can handle all types of research, whereas it’s truly one-stop shopping with The Survey System, because it handles all kinds of research.
• Several noted that it’s nice to be able to save old surveys and use them as templates, as well as create your own question library of frequently used demographics questions and things like that.

Cons

Here are some of the drawbacks users have noted about The Survey System:

• There are bound to be at least some instances where you need it to do something that it can’t. However, having a special change or modification or upgrade is possible, and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg.
• At least one user noted that drag-and-drop capabilities would nice to have.
• Even though technical support is fantastic, some noted that it would be nice to have access to a user forum to enhance one’s knowledge of how to get the most from it.

According to its users, The Survey System is the most comprehensive market research solution out there, and comes with excellent technical support.