Admissions CRM checklist: answers from higheredcrm.ai

We published the admissions CRM buyer's checklist as a list of RFP questions to ask any vendor, including us. This page answers each of those questions for higheredcrm.ai. Where the product doesn't do something today, we say so and describe what it does instead. Where the answer depends on your contract or setup, we say: Ask us; we answer this in writing before you sign.

The answers describe the product as it is on the review date above. We don't list plans or future features.

Fit with your admissions process

Can we configure our own stages, programs, entry terms and campuses without custom development?

Yes, from the settings screens. Lead stages and application stages have your names, colors, icons and a display order, and can be switched on or off. Programs and entry terms are custom fields: dropdowns, cascading dropdowns, field groups and table fields. Campuses sit under your organization, staff switch between them in the app, and each can carry its own logo.

How does the system handle applicants interested in several programs or entry terms?

Each person is one lead record, matched on email or phone within a campus. A lead has one lead stage and one application stage at a time; separate application records per program aren't available. Teams record a second program of interest in a custom field and route or report on it from there.

Can different schools, departments or teams run different processes within one system?

They can differ in routing rules, workflows, scoring profiles, templates, targets and team dashboards, and workflows can branch on any lead field, such as school or program. Whether your schools or departments need separate stage sets: Ask us; we answer this in writing before you sign.

How are inquiries routed and assigned, and how easy is it to change the rules mid-cycle?

Administrators choose round robin, weighted round robin, load-balanced, source-based or zone rules (country, state or city), or manual only, with rule conditions on source, zone, stage and priority and a fallback strategy when no rule matches. Capacity limits are off, soft (warn) or hard (skip counselors who are full); if everyone is full, the lead stays unassigned for a manager. Working hours and cooldown apply. Rules are edited on one settings screen and apply to new inquiries; existing leads move with bulk reassign. See lead routing.

What does a counselor see when they start their day?

Their own dashboard: leads, applications, conversion, pending and overdue follow-ups, progress against targets, 14-day trends and recent activity. The task panel groups follow-ups into overdue, today, tomorrow and upcoming, next to today's targets, personal notes and a mini calendar.

How are online applications, document checklists and decisions handled?

higheredcrm.ai doesn't include an application form builder, an applicant portal or offer letters today. Web forms capture inquiries (and update the lead if the person already exists), application stages track progress through admission and enrollment, documents are uploaded to the lead with verified or pending status, and decisions are recorded as stages. Payments are recorded on the lead; online payment collection isn't part of the product.

Communication and engagement

Which channels are supported for outbound and two-way messaging?

Two-way WhatsApp (through the WhatsApp Business Platform, directly or through a supported provider) and Facebook Messenger, in a shared inbox with the WhatsApp 24-hour reply-window countdown. Email (through an email service or any SMTP server) and SMS (through an SMS gateway) are outbound: the inbox shows the messages you sent, and inbound SMS isn't supported. Website chat transcripts are saved to the lead's communication log once the visitor shares an email or phone number. Calling through a cloud telephony provider covers click-to-call, a browser softphone, recordings, and transcripts with a supported provider.

Can journeys branch on behavior, stage and deadlines, and pause when someone replies?

Workflows start from lead events (for example a new inquiry, a stage change, a form submission or a document upload), a schedule or an incoming webhook. Conditions branch on stage, application stage, source, score, counselor, location, dates and activity counts, with wait and delay-until steps. Reply conditions cover WhatsApp: the last inbound message, whether the reply window is open, and WhatsApp status. They don't cover email or SMS replies.

How are consent and channel preferences recorded and respected?

higheredcrm.ai uses an opt-out model: a do-not-contact flag plus email, SMS, WhatsApp and call opt-outs on each lead, with the last-updated date and source (manual, unsubscribe, bounce or complaint), and a suppression list. Every send checks consent automatically. Forms don't capture opt-in consent, and segments can't filter on consent.

Can counselors see every conversation with an applicant on one record?

Yes. One lead record holds, in its tabs, the communication log (email, SMS, WhatsApp, website chat and Messenger, filterable by channel), call logs with recordings, notes, follow-ups, documents and a full audit history.

Data, integrations and reporting

How does the CRM exchange data with our student information system, and in which direction?

There's no packaged SIS connector. Your systems can create and read leads through the REST API (scoped API keys, quotas and an IP allow-list per key), start workflows through inbound webhooks secured by a secret header, and move records in bulk with CSV or Excel import and export. higheredcrm.ai doesn't push events to external URLs, so data flows out through the API and exports. See CRM vs SIS.

Is there a documented API and webhooks, and are there extra charges for using them?

The developer overview covers authentication, scopes, inbound webhooks and HMAC verification; the full endpoint reference comes with your account. There are no outbound webhooks. During the launch offer every feature is included, the API among them, and pricing explains what you pay for. For terms after the offer: Ask us; we answer this in writing before you sign.

How are duplicates detected and merged across channels?

Duplicates are matched on email (case-insensitive) or phone within a campus. Manual entry warns and blocks, with links to the matching leads; imports skip duplicates and report them; web forms update the existing lead and log a re-inquiry; WhatsApp, Messenger and chat attach to the existing lead. There's no merge tool, so records flagged as duplicates are handled by hand.

How is lead source attributed from first touch to enrollment?

Web forms store the UTM source, medium, campaign, term and content and the landing page on the lead, and imports can set source, medium and campaign per row. Campaign analytics show leads touched and converted, with first-touch and last-touch attribution. UTM values can't be used to build segments, and ad click IDs aren't captured.

Can we build our own reports, and how do leadership summaries work?

There's no custom report builder and no scheduled report emails. Organization, team and personal dashboards cover the funnel, channels, sources, targets and workload; organization trends cover a fixed period with no date-range selector. Saved views and filters handle day-to-day lists, and you can export lead records to Excel or CSV at any time for custom analysis.

If AI features are included, what data do they use, and can users see why a recommendation was made?

AI lives in the AI Assistant, which is built on Anthropic's Claude. It answers questions about your leads and numbers from your CRM data, including a daily briefing of who needs attention, leads that need a follow-up and your conversion rate, in the language you ask in. Answers show lead cards with shortcuts to open the record, add a follow-up or write an email. It never saves changes or sends messages; staff complete every action. Lead scoring, routing and chatbots run on rules your team sets and can read, and each lead's "Why?" view and score history show how its score was reached.

Security, privacy and responsible AI

How is data encrypted in transit and at rest?

Stored provider and integration credentials, and custom fields you mark "Encrypt data at rest", are encrypted with AES-256-GCM; encrypted fields are shown masked. For transport encryption and storage-level encryption of the rest of your data: Ask us; we answer this in writing before you sign.

How granular are access controls?

Custom roles set view, create, edit, delete and export permissions for each page, grouped by area, with role templates, role import and bulk role assignment. Contact masking per role shows partial phone numbers and emails while still allowing calls and messages, including in exports and conversations. There's no per-role limit on which records a person can see (own, team or campus), and permissions aren't set per program or per field.

Are changes and data access recorded in audit logs we can review?

Yes. The staff activity trail records changes with old and new values, navigation, security events and exports, with IP, device and session. Each lead also has its own audit history of creation, updates, stage changes, assignments, follow-ups, notes, documents, messages, calls and score adjustments. Role changes and workflow edits are logged, and access to the logs is permission-gated.

Is a data processing agreement available, and what does it say about sub-processors?

A data processing agreement is available on request, and so is the list of sub-processors. The security and procurement pack lists each document and how to get it.

Where is our data hosted, and what options exist for data location?

Tell us your data-location requirements early. Ask us; we answer this in writing before you sign.

How are data subject requests, retention and deletion handled?

Your team can export lead records to Excel or CSV at any time, set do-not-contact and per-channel opt-outs, and review each lead's history. If you don't continue after the free period, your lead records stay exportable to Excel or CSV for 30 days, then we delete your account data. Paid contracts follow the return-and-deletion terms in your agreement. For retention periods and deletion confirmation: Ask us; we answer this in writing before you sign.

Is our applicants' data ever used to train models, and on what terms?

No. We don't use customer data to train AI models for other customers or for general use without your written permission.

How will you tell us if something goes wrong, and how quickly?

If your data may be affected, we notify you without undue delay and within the timeframes in your agreement, explain what happened in writing and share what changed afterwards. The trust center sets out the four steps. We don't hold SOC 2, ISO 27001 or any other security certification; we answer security questionnaires in full instead.

Implementation and support

What does implementation involve, who does the work, and how long does it usually take?

It starts with a 30-minute walkthrough configured around your programs, stages, campuses and channels. Stages, fields, roles, routing, workflows and dashboards are then set up from the settings screens, without code. For who does which part and a typical timeline for an institution like yours: Ask us; we answer this in writing before you sign.

Will you migrate our existing prospect data, and in what formats?

Import uses a template: download it, fill it and upload CSV, XLS or XLSX files of up to 50,000 rows, with large files processed in the background and a results report. There's no column-mapping screen, so data goes into the template's columns (custom fields have their own). Duplicates are skipped and reported. For help moving your data: Ask us; we answer this in writing before you sign.

How are different user groups trained?

Each user chooses their interface language from 44, including right-to-left languages; newer areas such as campaigns, workflows, chatbots, WhatsApp and API access are in English today. For the training included: Ask us; we answer this in writing before you sign.

What support is available after go-live, and does it continue through our first full admissions cycle?

We stay close through your first full admissions cycle. For support hours, channels and response times: Ask us; we answer this in writing before you sign.

Who will be our named contact, and what happens if they leave?

Ask us; we answer this in writing before you sign.

How are product updates communicated, and how do customer requests reach the product team?

Ask us; we answer this in writing before you sign.

Pricing and commercial terms

What is the pricing basis?

During the launch offer the CRM is free for the first 12 months, with every feature and every user, and you pay only for messages and calls. Pricing for continuing is shared well before the free period ends. For the basis of that pricing: Ask us; we answer this in writing before you sign.

What is included and what costs extra?

During the offer, every feature and every user are included. Messages and calls are paid to your own providers at their published rates. You can also start with built-in channels and free sign-up credits; we confirm what's available in your country when we set up your account. For implementation or support fees: Ask us; we answer this in writing before you sign.

How does pricing change if our volume grows or falls?

During the offer, only usage changes with volume, at your providers' rates or through credits. After the offer: Ask us; we answer this in writing before you sign.

What are the contract length, renewal terms and notice periods?

There's no lock-in during the launch offer. Ask us; we answer this in writing before you sign.

The exit questions

Can we export all of our data, including communication history and documents, at any time?

Export your lead records to Excel or CSV at any time. Anyone whose role has export permission can run an export, and large exports run in the background with an export history. For a full export of communication history, recordings and documents: Ask us; we answer this in writing before you sign.

In what format, and at what cost?

Exports from inside the CRM are XLSX or CSV files. For any cost of a full exit export: Ask us; we answer this in writing before you sign.

What happens to our data after termination, and how is deletion confirmed?

If you don't continue after the free period, your lead records stay exportable to Excel or CSV for 30 days, then we delete your account data. Paid contracts follow the return-and-deletion terms in your agreement. For how deletion is confirmed: Ask us; we answer this in writing before you sign.

Running a fair evaluation

We don't offer a sandbox today. Instead, the free pilot puts your real stages, roles and routing into your own account for one admissions cycle; the pricing page has the details. The admissions CRM scorecard and RFP kit gives you a scorecard and question bank to use with every vendor on your list, including us.