General FAQs

What size organization is your tool designed for?
The EchoSpan tool is designed for any size company and is currently deployed at companies and institutions ranging in size from 10 employees to more than 100,000.

Does your tool support iPad or mobile devices?
Yes. Our tool features an iPad-optimized version and supports most major mobile devices for Users responding to reviews.

Does your tool include a competency library?
Yes. The EchoSpan tool includes a complete competency library containing dozens of competencies and hundreds of items. It is available at no additional cost with any subscription.

Can I use my own review content with the EchoSpan tool?
Yes. You can use your own review content or a combination of the EchoSpan library of competencies and your own. You can even modify the EchoSpan standard competencies for your specific needs.

How quickly can I get started?
Today. Click here to sign up for a free trial account. You can even purchase online to activate your account at any time. Training webinars are run weekly and we can even arrange a private session if needed.

How is your product priced?
Our 360-degree feedback product is priced based on the number of feedback recipients/Targets you run through the system, plus an annual subscription & hosting fee. Pricing is available online here. We do not charge per report or per Rater.

Why are your prices lower than many other companies?
Because we are a technology-focused company. Today, there is a sea of vendors that provide 360-degree reviews and online employee feedback. Most tools are prohibitively complex, out-of-date, rigid, or expensive. It's time for a real leader in price, features, flexibility and technology to emerge. We believe that's us. We exist to make our customers more productive managers, help them spend less time performing administrative tasks, and help them gain new insights from information that was previously unreachable due to cost or lack of the right tools.

Can I have my logo on my reports?
Yes. The Professional and Enterprise subscriptions provide the capability to post your logo on your PDF reports, survey response interface and our administrative tool.

How long does it take to receive my reports?
Reports are available on-demand at any time. Automation settings within the tool can even schedule the reports to be generated on a day of your choosing and then distribute them automatically to Participants.

How many languages does the EchoSpan tool support?
We currently allow review feedback in more than 140 languages. Our automatic translation feature will even translate your own, custom review content. This feature is free with our Professional and Enterprise Editions.

Do you require that clients become "certified?"
No. In truth, 360-degree feedback "certification" programs don't really certify you to do anything. They mainly just pad the profits of review providers. With EchoSpan, our tools and reports are so clear and easily understood, you don't need (and we don't offer) certification programs. Instead, you'll receive complimentary live training on our solutions when you sign up--or even earlier--with our complimentary webinar series. This training will provide you all the knowledge you'll need to effectively manage and deliver 360-degree feedback reviews. After you become a customer, you may contact us anytime you need help understanding a report or delivering feedback.

Are your competencies and items validated?
No. In fact, custom 360-degree feedback reviews cannot be legitimately validated outside of a single company because of the presence of too many variables. Other 360-degree feedback tool providers claiming that their items are "valid" are more than likely referring to "face" validity, which is the lowest level of validity and means almost nothing. Those claiming validity through benchmark studies should be examined closely before proceeding. If validity is important, you should consider conducting an internal validity study based on your specific content and workforce profile.

Can I conduct my own internal validity study with the EchoSpan tool?
Yes. Many of our clients validate their own review content. This is easy to do using the data aggregation and export capabilities within our tool.

Are responses encrypted and secured?
Yes. All review responses are encrypted using 128-bit SSL encryption.

Are ratings anonymous?
Yes. Our reporting system will only display results from non-supervisor Rater groups (Peers, Direct Reports) that contain a minimum number of ratings that you can configure.

Are the written comments provided by Respondents anonymous?
Yes. Written comments are presented in your report without identifying information as to who said what. However, if a Respondent identifies him or herself in their response, their anonymity will be compromised.

Does your tool allow Respondents to rate multiple individuals simultaneously?
No. This is by design. With the EchoSpan tool, feedback providers provide feedback to Participants one at a time. While simultaneous rating systems seem like a good idea and a time saving feature on the surface, there are a number of practical problems to this approach. For example, rating several individuals simultaneously assumes that everyone is being rated or receiving feedback on the same competencies and behaviors. In practice, many of our clients employ different competencies and behavior profiles based on role, title or tenure. Further, if the Rater is providing feedback to Targets that he or she has varying relationships to (i.e. a Direct Report to one, Peer to another) then rating all at once can be confusing; the context for each behavior would vary even though the behavior itself is the same across all Targets. Finally, providing simultaneous ratings may lead some Raters to perform a comparative evaluation between Targets rather than providing observational feedback based on each Participant's individual behaviors.

Can consultants use the EchoSpan tool?
Yes. We offer a reseller program for experienced consultants that are serious about providing 360-degree feedback reviews as a part of their businesses.