vTools are developed and made possible by IEEE volunteers. The toolbox simplifies administration by offering web based software, reduces time spent managing activities, and assists in member development.
vTools is sponsored by IEEE Membership and Geographic Activities (MGA). MGA serves the needs of IEEE members by supporting IEEE Sections, Chapters, and Branches and is responsible for IEEE membership, and member development.
vTools toolkit contains tools in various phases of development, from production, to pilots, to active development:
vTools.Meetings – tool for managing section and chapter meetings. Officers can create meeting announcements with no dependence on webmaster availability and show them on your website. Members and the public may see and register for the upcoming meetings. Tool is in production. Visit project page for more information.
vTools.WebInABox – wizard to assist officers generate simple section websites in an automated fashion with no dependence on webmaster availability. Beta version is available. Visit project page for more information.
vTools.Voting – tool to allow members submit votes in their Section officer elections online (please note that this is different from the general IEEE elections). Pilot this Fall. Visit project page for more information.
vTools.Finance – tool to assist in tracking Section finances and submitting of L50 reports. Tool is in development phase.
vTools.StudentBranchReporting – tool for collecting and searching reports submitted by student branch volunteers such as annual plan and report of activities. Beta version is available.
vTools.GeoView (aka Demographics) – project to provide a knowledge base with examples of how various mapping software (MS Street Maps, Yahoo!Maps, etc.) can be used to create demographic views of IEEE units such as sections and chapters. Showing membership distribution on a map assists officers decide where to hold meetings, form new chapters, have conferences, etc. Visit project page for more information.
More vTools projects – we are planning to introduce more tools in the next few years. Among the tools we will have: Awards, Section Dashboard, Communicate, Prospective Members, Membership Development, Off-line join, Agendas, and more.