If you would like assistance with your technology setup or have a suggested resource that’s been valuable to your church please let us know.
Church Management Systems
Planning Center – Price scales with size/features, some are free
Presentation
Projector Central – Great resource for researching and comparing projector options. Especially useful is the calculator for each projector where you can determine what picture size and brightness to expect and the distance you would need given the parameters you supply. You can also search based on projector specs (including noise rating) to narrow down your search.
Logitech Wireless Presenter R400 – Remote and laser pointer for controlling presentations.
Quelea – Free software, all platforms
OpenLP – Free software, all platforms
OpenSong – Free software, all platforms
VideoPsalm – Free software, Windows only
ProPresenter – Paid software, (free demo), Windows & Mac
EasyWorship – Paid software, (free demo), Windows only
MediaShout – Paid software, (free demo), Windows only
Playing Media from a Computer
Pyle PDC21 Direct Injection Box – Converts your headphone jack computer output into an XLR output like it was a microphone or instrument without introducing a lot of noise or hum.
Peavey USB-P – A more expensive step up from the Pyle providing an even cleaner signal by using USB instead of the analog headphone jack.
MPC-HC – Free software, Windows only
VLC – Free software, all platforms
Streaming
Elgato HD60 S+ – Combines the HDMI video signal from a camera or camcorder with the analog audio from your mixer into a virtual ‘webcam’ that can be used with any streaming software/website.
Elgato Stream Deck – Physical buttons to trigger actions in your streaming and presentation software, change settings, run programs, etc. Several models available with varying numbers of buttons/cost.
Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) – Free software, all platforms, for video recording and live streaming. You can broadcast to multiple destinations by adding this plugin.
Hearing Assistance
AudioFetch Home/Express – Converts analog audio from your mixer and turns it into a streaming smartphone app for iOS and Android. There will be a slight delay added unfortunately which may be annoying to some or those around them who can hear the ‘echo’. Church attendees can use their own devices or provide them one with a set of headphones. Most newer hearing aids can connect via Bluetooth.
Office Suite
Microsoft 365 – Business Premium is free up to 10 users, also major discounts for other products/plans. Accessible through TechSoup (see below).
LibreOffice – Free for all platforms, will open and edit Microsoft Word/Excel/PowerPoint files.
Non-Profit Discounts
Create a user account at TechSoup, then add your church as an organization. You will be asked for your Federal EIN (Employee Identification Number) which identifies your church as a subordinate of Iowa Yearly Meeting of Friends and its 501(c)(3) non-profit status. Once verified you will have access to discounted or even free products and services such as:
- Microsoft Products (Microsoft 365 E-Mail & Apps, Windows, Windows Server, etc)
- Google G Suite Email & Apps
- Zoom Web Conferencing/Meetings
- Financial Software (QuickBooks, Sage)
- Security Software (Norton, BitDefender)
- Creative Software (Adobe Acrobat, Creative Suite, Premiere, Photoshop)
- Refurbished Computers
- and many others