Too often, inaccurate records and unreliable maps stand in the way of what cemeterians do best: serving families and providing comfort. That’s why cemeteries around the world are implementing cemetery software that streamlines record-keeping and mapping processes.

In this post, we take a closer look at two CIMS cemetery software products: CIMS Light and CIMS Gold. We’ll break down their key features and outline the big differences between the two popular software products.

Imagine this. You’re leading your cemetery’s Memorial Day efforts.

Every year, you and a group of local volunteers walk your cemetery grounds, placing American flags in front of veterans’ graves. It’s an important tradition. It honors their service and sacrifices. It brings your community together, too.

You could say that Sunset Hills Cemetery in Bozeman, Montana, was founded—at least in part—because of the local community’s kindness to strangers.

Let’s rewind. It’s 1872. Mary Blackmore is supposed to be heading to the newly established Yellowstone National Park. But while riding in a stagecoach from Helena to Bozeman, her plans change.

Imagine this. Doug is trying to find his great-great-grandmother’s grave. Doug’s mom says she may be buried nearby, but she isn’t sure where.

With limited information about his great-great grandmother’s burial, Doug isn’t sure where to start. So Doug does what most people do when they need answers. He Googles it.

Decades-old paper maps. Detailed spreadsheets. Interactive online cemetery maps.

It’s no surprise that thousands of people search for burial locations online every month. Locating a loved one's final resting place brings peace. But what happens when the family of the deceased—or genealogists—can’t find grave sites online?

Aging paper maps. Tattered logbooks. Busy spreadsheets.

What used to be essential cemetery management tools are now creating customer service bottlenecks for some cemeteries. Why? For cemeterians, information everywhere is information overload. When maps and records are scattered across multiple sources, it’s difficult to help grieving families quickly and effectively.

The less time cemetery staff spend searching for records, the more time they have to do what they do best: serve the families with whom they work. That’s why thousands of cemeteries in the United States are using cemetery software to help managers easily input burial information on online cemetery maps.

By connecting all ownership, interment, and marker information on a digital map, cemetery mapping software gives cemetery managers real-time insights into which plots have been sold and which ones are available. In other words, with the best online cemetery mapping software, your map is your cemetery.

Head of Christiana Cemetery in Newark, Delaware, has an illustrious history that dates to the early 1700s. Now ground penetrating radar services are helping the cemetery staff unpack that history, confirming burial locations and finding unmarked graves of Revolutionary War soldiers.

St. Francis Borgia Cemetery has served parishioners of St. Francis Borgia Catholic Church in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, since long before the invention of the airplane. But today the cemetery is flying drones in service of building better digital maps.