We took a concept from the back of a napkin, to a fully blown video training website serving over 1000 churches worldwide.
We are a team of developers, information architects, UI/UX designers, and project managers who specialize in developing software, sites and apps that showcase you and deliver a performance-driven product.
Your ideas, concepts, and visions are the start of a beautiful new product. Sure, there are web developers who have “done a site and app just like yours” before. But your goal is to put something out there that’s unrivaled by anyone else. So, remove the velvet rope and step into the upper room!
Just as you specialize in something uniquely yours, so does UpperRoom! We are a team of developers, information architects, UI/UX designers, and project managers who specialize in developing software, sites and apps that showcase you and deliver a performance-driven product. UpperRoom does all of this while working within your time and budget constraints. We offer:
Want to reach people via mobile technology? We design apps that work with Apple or Android. Also, we can turn your website into a mobile friendly site.
The core of our business is designing web-based applications that power your business. We have assembled an expert team that delivers top-notch applications on time and within budget—in all major web-based languages, including Java, .NET, and PHP.
Our team of web designers come alongside you to develop a web page that is functional and dynamic in the way it works and looks.
Every web solution we deliver includes an easy-to-use management system so you can update your site quickly and easily.
Our well-trained project managers provide strategy and structure to the process—whether it’s starting at conception or picking up where someone else dropped the job. We also realize that developers sometimes think they’re speaking English, when only other developers can understand them. So, our project managers have technical backgrounds so they can translate developers’ ideas to you, and vice versa.
Sometimes you know exactly what you want, and you’re looking for someone to pull it out of a thought and make it real. We love to take a vision and develop a strategy to make it work. Our team has decades of experience working on the technology side of markets like banking, insurance, manufacturing, and non-profits, so we understand how to make technology practical.
The first thing we do is listen. We ask questions. We brainstorm with you. We take your ideas and combine them with our extensive knowledge to develop products that will surpass your expectations. From an abstract idea to a project that has already gone awry—we don’t flinch at taking anything on and getting it done.
UpperRoom has the personnel to tackle it, develop it, and get you running. And when you work with UpperRoom, you won’t feel as if you walked into a Star Trek convention with everyone speaking Klingon. Our project managers all speak everyday English, but have a technical background to bridge any “techie” gaps.
UpperRoom builds websites and web applications that reflect your vision, are easy for you to update, and appear at the top of search engine queries. Want your website or application to look good as a mobile application? We can do that, and build custom mobile applications for Apple or Android. Creating a custom program is how we began, and we have experts in all major web-based languages—including Java, .NET and PHP—to build a program that works functionally and visually.
UpperRoom takes your desire from a thought into reality because anything can happen when you’re in the upper room.
When someone visits your site, you want all related videos, audio files, and text files easily accessible on one page. Media Fusion allows visitors to look up one topic and find all your available resources—including archived material. It’s perfect for churches to incorporate all the elements of a sermon on their website.
Your sermon can also be broadcast into homes around the world thanks to our partnership with Vimeo and Roku. Media Fusion subscribers (who use Vimeo Plus) will be featured on Media Fusion’s Roku channel at no additional cost.
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You have groups, and now you want people to easily find them. Groups Interactive works within your site to provide a quick, simple way for people to connect with groups—without leaving your website. It’s simple, we supply you a short code to place in your website, and you import the groups you want people to find. Presto—people find a group to join, and your groups grow.
The Story is a dynamic way for a community and church to come together and study the Bible. Zondervan has chronologically edited the Bible to showcase God’s plan from beginning to end in an upper and lower story that will open one’s understanding of the Bible in a new way. Churches around the world are offering this Bible study, and thestory.com allows users to easily locate the church closest to them so they can join in. Churches also receive a comprehensive package and tools like webinars, blogs, and software to ensure that this is a Bible study unlike any one they’ve ever given.
United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County is the largest and most respected private health and human care service organization in San Antonio. Their fundraising efforts annually raise more than $45 million which is used to fund more than 135 area programs. Through generosity, partner programs and public awareness, United Way aims to save, change and transform the lives of the people and the community of San Antonio, Texas.
United Way wanted – and needed – a complete website overhaul. The design and content of their site was cluttered and outdated which made it, among other things, boring and difficult to navigate.
Their site generated thousands of hits daily from outside partners, agencies, volunteers and people seeking to both provide and ask for help. They quickly needed their online presence to be transformed from “then” to “now” in a way that would both showcase the impact they had within the community and connect with everyone who visited their site. Finally, they needed all of it to be in a format that could be easily maintained and updated on their own.
United Way’s online presence needed to have it all: looks, content and impact. More than just being a beautiful site that did justice to the organization’s work within the community, it needed to be easily accessible by any and all people who took the time to visit the page.
So we set to work. Like meeting a person for the first time, we wanted United Way’s website to leave each visitor with a great first impression. Which, in the case of a website, is made on the homepage. First, we created a giant photo banner featuring candid and emotional images of real people interacting at United Way events and initiatives. We really wanted to establish an approachable community feel that extended beyond photos, so we also created the “Community Corner,” a blog that gives people an inside look at those who directly benefit from the United Way. And just to be sure we had every aspect of a digital community covered, we added easily located icons for social media, inviting visitors to follow United Way through other online mediums as well.
We also made the site easier to navigate and more user friendly. Or, in layman’s terms, “made it easier to find stuff.” We simplified links and content, and also established an event calendar system that showcased special and important dates within the community.
Finally, we created a space for staff and outside partners. Without having to navigate to a separate business page, they are able to login and access documents and other important resources. We established everything United Way requested all within one easy-to-navigate website. And, the best part? All of the information and content is easily updated and maintained in WordPress by the United Way staff.
Best-selling author, writer and minister Max Lucado’s works have appeared on every major national bestseller list including Publishers Weekly, USA Today, and The New York Times. Throughout his 25 years of writing, he has been featured in countless media outlets and national broadcasts. To date, he has sold more than 100 million books and other products that feature his writing.
His success and reputation has allowed Max Lucado to develop UpWords®, a non-profit teaching ministry. Along with materials available online, his inspirational one-minute messages can be heard in over fourteen hundred radio markets around the world.
The increasing number of visitors to MaxLucado.com caused multiple server outages on a regular basis. When the site crashed for nearly a week, Max realized he needed to seek outside strategy and support.
Eventually, Max and his publisher, Thomas Nelson, decided they also needed to make MaxLucado.com and UpWords® mobile. In order to do this, they needed help developing the proper applications for iPhone, iPad and Android to successfully make the leap.
The most pressing issue was the crashing website. In order to resolve the problem, we utilized his existing relationship with Rackspace – an IT hosting company – to quickly convert the site to a scalable cloud server. The flexibility of the new server prevented further crashing by allowing the site to be re-sized quickly during high traffic times, such as Easter and Christmas.
After we successfully resolved the crashing issues on his site Max’s publisher, Thomas Nelson, came to us and asked for help developing his mobile app. The parameters and content of the app were discussed at length to ensure we achieved the right requirements and design.
The original broad scope of the app was broken down into simple manageable categories. The Max Lucado app allows users to easily access everything from his Daily Devotional, to books available through Thomas Nelson. Users are also given easy access to connect with Max through all forms of social media. It is an easy and mobile way for his followers to access anything that is available online in one handy application.
Bluefish TV is a non-denominational ministry known worldwide for its cutting edge curriculum. Using video-based Bible studies and video illustrations, church leaders and volunteers have been able to more effectively teach in large and small group settings. Their success and growth has allowed them to launch RightNow, a sister program set to redefine what it means to be a missionary. Through videos, leadership events and online tools, they empower volunteers to bring Christ into their everyday lives to benefit others.
RightNow’s internal staff was able to create a fully-functioning online application on their own, but realized they needed outside help to achieve the magnitude of what they set out to accomplish.
Since RightNow is an online based program accessed from all over the world, their site needed to be seamless. They needed to develop an infrastructure that allowed ease of navigation for site users. Because of the fluctuating number of visitors RightNow could expect on any given day, they also needed it to have scalability and self-provisioning that could accommodate the varying traffic levels. Finally, they wanted to ensure that the site – along with its integrated videos – were able to be instantly accessed and streamed from any internet enabled device.
RightNow had very specific parameters and objectives that they wished to accomplish with launch of their new application. We worked side-by-side with the RightNow team to come up with the best solution. Through an in-depth discovery process and multiple brainstorming sessions, we were able to develop an application that achieved all of their goals.
We created a training system that allowed RightNow to effectively and efficiently train their small group volunteers utilizing the tools easily available on their website. One month after the application was launched, over 1,000 ministries were already successfully using the program. The launch was so successful, RightNow came back requesting one more addition to the site; they wanted small group leaders to be able to stream HD training videos from Bluefish’s library directly to their computer, television and mobile device.
Both the Bluefish and RightNow organizations are based on the ability to stream videos from their extensive training library. So we took a cue from Netflix and constructed an environment that easily allowed users to search for, stream and add videos to their queue. This gave users easy access to hundreds of professional quality training tools all on demand, making it easier for Bluefish and RightNow to train, educate and reach out to others through their websites.
A. Larry Ross Communications is a full-service media and public relations company with more than 35 years of experience. While they represent many recognizable Christian public figures such as Billy Graham and Rick Warren, they represent both Christian-focused and mainstream organizations that wish to clarify information or communicate to the Christian community. A. Larry Ross is dedicated to giving their clients’ messages relevance and meaning in traditional, social and mainstream media.
A. Larry Ross wants a complete overhaul on their entire stock of web properties, which includes their website, press newsroom and mobile devices. Since their site is regularly viewed by current and potential clients – as well as members of the news media – it needs to appeal to a wide-range of people and have a streamlined, easy-to-access content flow.
In addition to the online updates and redesign, they also want to update their site accessibility so that it could be easily viewed and utilized on mobile devices.
The first thing we need to accomplish is a complete visual redesign of the site. We are working closely with the A. Larry Ross stakeholders to create an updated visual appearance that not only fits within existing company branding, but that is also crisp and engaging to both new and old clients. Along with the new appearance, the new design has a streamlined content flow to expedite and enhance user experience.
Social media has become an important and necessary tool to attract and engage potential clients and customers, especially for companies that focus on communication, like A. Larry Ross. As we conduct their redesign, we are putting special consideration and emphasis on an updated social media presence including blogs, social media icons, RSS feeds and photo galleries.
Each element of the overhaul is intentionally designed to create an easier user experience and to establish A. Larry Ross as a thought leader within the industry. To that end, we are also creating an independent newsroom to spotlight news releases, press kits and other important information on and about all of their clients.
Once the redesign is set, we will make sure that it is all created with customizable templates and a mobile view for easier access on mobile devices. Finally, the new website will be maintained in WordPress and will be easily managed by the A. Larry Ross staff.
BSF International is a worldwide nondenominational ministry. Originally founded by a small group of women in 1958, it has since grown to over 200,000 members in 38 nations. They currently offer over 1000 unique classes and their name has become synonymous with the in-depth study of the bible.
For over 50 years, BSF managed their members and lesson plans manually with only a small U.S. based support staff and a network of dedicated volunteers. As their membership grew and spread to increasingly more countries, it became apparent that they needed a way to reach them electronically. This problem was compounded by the fact that they had less than 10% of their members’ email addresses on file.
BSF’s most pressing issue was to eliminate the need to print and distribute 200,000 sets of lesson plans each week. To that end, we created an online portal that allowed members to securely access their classes and download pdf versions of each lesson. The new portal had the added benefit of seamlessly updating BSF’s records with the email addresses of over 150,000 people. Members could now update their own profile information and for the first time, BSF could contact them electronically. The site immediately generated between eight and twelve thousand visitors per day.
After we increased the accessibility to their membership base, we needed to make the BSF website just as easy to use and access. We updated their site by integrating their multitude of applications onto a single platform. By creating a single space for members and volunteers to sign in, BSF could focus on meeting the needs of their user base and organization without the added complication of figuring out how to reach them.
Finally we wanted to create a space for the members to have a way to connect – or reconnect – with each other. By using the same log in they created to access classes, members could find and have access to current and former classmates and other BSF members, creating a community that now extends beyond the BSF classrooms.
