wardsidjame Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Got this to try today Pros Setup easy Runs direct to Sims Pretty Cons Need MS or Google account Seems a little flaky with a unable to sync error which pops up then works fine for ages Sims server CPU was spiking a lot although has calmed down Anyone else got it to test before purchase and has had good or bad experiences? 1
fiza Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 I thought you couldn't get this on trial? Did you get it direct from Capita?
FN-GM Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Con: Pretty expensive. £2 per student. The google and Microsoft account for me is a pain to be honest. That's enough to put me off.
wardsidjame Posted February 10, 2015 Author Posted February 10, 2015 It depends on if you are hosted or not, we are in house so it is capped at £1250 pa, hosted very expensive. Its much cheaper than what we are paying emerge though.
IrritableTech Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Hosted I was told is capped at 1200 students so £2400. A bit cheaper than an emerge site licence (£2950).
fiza Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Hosted what? SIMS? We host our own sims on site - no SLG and I was told it was £2 per student capped at £2500.
fiza Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 How much use do you guys get out of Emerge or TeacherApp? We have computers in each classroom with sims on. so the only real place it might get used is PE but I cant see us shelling out £2500 for just one Depts use.
GREED Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Just to clear one thing up as Emerge & price has been mentioned here (OK mods?), the price for Emerge has been reduced and is comparable/competitive with other 'similar products'. Customers will shortly (this week) be receiving information about this with our update newsletter.
IrritableTech Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Hosted what? SIMS? We host our own sims on site - no SLG and I was told it was £2 per student capped at £2500. From what I understand the app requires SLG behind it. You don't get SLG, but ultimately Capita are hosting that on sharepoint for you so the app works. That's how the capita rep explained it to me on their stand at BETT anyway. How much use do you guys get out of Emerge or TeacherApp? We have computers in each classroom with sims on. so the only real place it might get used is PE but I cant see us shelling out £2500 for just one Depts use. Our pastoral team use it. It helps them with attendance and timetable info when they find a student outside of lessons. PE use it too. Just to clear one thing up as Emerge & price has been mentioned here (OK mods?), the price for Emerge has been reduced and is comparable/competitive with other 'similar products'. Customers will shortly (this week) be receiving information about this with our update newsletter. Perhaps I should apologize in advance, but this info was shared with me directly by each company without any suggestion that this may not be divulged. I heard Capita reps repeat this per pupil figure to numerous people at Bett, and Groupcall send the same pricing info out to everyone who requests it. If anyone thinks that these figures should not be quoted, please edit my posts as appropriate.
JPatch Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Still interested in whether Capita are now offering a trial?
fiza Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 I talked to them at BETT too and I was told you don't need SLG now. Its a standalone App. 1
IrritableTech Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 I talked to them at BETT too and I was told you don't need SLG now. Its a standalone App. Yes, they said that to me too - but what I got out of them was it still needs SLG to work but that's secretly working in the back ground, so from a schools point of view you don't have SLG! It could be that the rep I chatted with hadn't really grasped it though. You do get the app free however if you have SLG...
CliveMinion Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 (edited) We've tried Emerge from Groupcall, and also Capita's SIMS Teacher App. At first, we were put off Emerge by the lack of AD integration, however, trying the Capita alternative has put this into perspective for us. The installation of the SIMS Teacher App isn't actually too bad; it appears worse than it is by the less than clear documentation. The biggest snag by far is the need to use a Microsoft or Google account. Why is this necessary? SIMS is (usually) hosted internally, so why must the app be dependent on an external cloud based service? We don't need a Hotmail or Googlemail account to access SIMS on a desktop PC, so why on an iPad? Equally as bad is the process of registering a device. Once a device has been added to the management console it can never be removed or renamed, so what happens if a tablet gets reissued to a new member of staff at a later date? Similarly, once a SIMS user account has been associated to a Microsoft or Google account, that link can never be modified. Overall, providing it provides the functionality you require, the Emerge system seems like the more sensible option at this stage. Lack of AD integration is an issue, but it's probably preferable to the alternative string of complications created by Capita's own system. Edited February 10, 2015 by CliveMinion 2
GREED Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Perhaps I should apologize in advance, but this info was shared with me directly by each company without any suggestion that this may not be divulged. I heard Capita reps repeat this per pupil figure to numerous people at Bett, and Groupcall send the same pricing info out to everyone who requests it. If anyone thinks that these figures should not be quoted, please edit my posts as appropriate. No need to apologise, divulge away, I have always supported making as much information public as possible. Groupcall have nothing to hide in terms of pricing! Can't speak for others. I'm just reporting that the pricing has changed from what has been quoted above
GREED Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Overall, providing it provides the functionality you require, the Emerge system seems like the more sensible option at this stage. Lack of AD integration is an issue, but it's probably preferable to the alternative string of complications created by Capita's own system. When you say AD integration, do you mean having the SaSO (Same Sign On - @vikpaw ), so using the same logins as your windows accounts?
robjduk Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 I talked to them at BETT and they told me it was free if you host your own SLG. Capita really are total idiots when it comes to anything but invoicing you for stuff which really does not work as well as it should.
GREED Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 (edited) I talked to them at BETT and they told me it was free if you host your own SLG. Capita really are total idiots when it comes to anything but invoicing you for stuff which really does not work as well as it should. It was free in that event (when you had to have SLG)... I don't believe it is the case now it does not require it. Everyone pays I believe. Edited February 10, 2015 by GREED
robjduk Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 The lady there just said, email Capita to get put on the list. The next thing I know I get told its £1250. I refuse to pay for another system of Capita's which will feck up the first time someone tries to use it.
Sylv3r Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Not sure some of these posts are true. If you are an existing SLG customer it is not free whether hosted or self-hosted. It seems that theres been a few mixed messages from the stand at BETT.
GREED Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 Not sure some of these posts are true. If you are an existing SLG customer it is not free whether hosted or self-hosted. It seems that theres been a few mixed messages from the stand at BETT. It was free late last year though, which is the point.
vikpaw Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 How much use do you guys get out of Emerge or TeacherApp? We have computers in each classroom with sims on. so the only real place it might get used is PE but I cant see us shelling out £2500 for just one Depts use. This was a benefit of Emerge in that you used to pay per device, this was then altered, though i'm not sure if it was official to per user, i.e. teaching staff, because i argued my staff had multiple devices and shouldn't have to pay twice. The cap meant that there was a nice break-even point, if you could justify PE + SLT ~ 10 for us, then one for admin, etc. you reached break-even then all staff could have it. Pricing per student is tricky, as it's way cheaper, but the caps are in the same region, so it will depend on how many students you have if it's worthwhile just using it for PE. By the way, they have some touch-screen gloves for the PE dept. which they gave away at BETT. Yes, they said that to me too - but what I got out of them was it still needs SLG to work but that's secretly working in the back ground, so from a schools point of view you don't have SLG! It could be that the rep I chatted with hadn't really grasped it though. You do get the app free however if you have SLG... I don't believe this is true, but maybe that's their hidden secret . I spoke to the product manager, sorry can't remember name and i was told it's going through their new SIMS Services Manager. See SupportNet resource 23306 for this. Excerpt: SIMS Services Manager is a product designed to act as a delivery and update mechanism for the systems responsible for data interoperability for SIMS cloud products such as InTouch, Agora and the Teacher App. In other words it provides the link between the SIMS Cloud products and the on premise SIMS system. The aim of this product is to provide a unified data transport service between our products. This will provide the benefits of minimal setup, configuration and involvement from the user. Not sure some of these posts are true. If you are an existing SLG customer it is not free whether hosted or self-hosted. It seems that theres been a few mixed messages from the stand at BETT. It was free, but now it's discounted. I think that's where the confusion is, it's not that you need SLG, but being a self-hosted SLG customer means it's discounted for you, i'm guessing as it's part of the same suite of remote access products. I think it was cheaper for primary schools, but i'm not sure now. The other post where pricing was mentioned, with confirmation from @PhilNeal I've just stickied for reference. @IrritableTech - No problem with you divulging price so long as the supplier didn't tell you to keep it private, it's just @GREED is a supplier so restrictions apply. @GREED SaSO - "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." 2
GREED Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 (edited) This was a benefit of Emerge in that you used to pay per device, this was then altered, though i'm not sure if it was official to per user, i.e. teaching staff, because i argued my staff had multiple devices and shouldn't have to pay twice. Just to advise, per device still exists if this is your preference, for secondary schools. it's just @GREED is a supplier so restrictions apply. [/font][/color] I have been on my best behaviour... see! @GREED SaSO - "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." We both know exactly what it mean! I invented the term... you copied it. By definition it means the same (according to technical sources not what everyone thinks it means) as SSO. Edited February 11, 2015 by GREED
vikpaw Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 We both know exactly what it mean! I invented the term... you copied it. You keep telling yourself that, the public domain evidence proves otherwise. Don't make me get my mate Ali to go all legal on you 1
CliveMinion Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 The SIMS Teacher app should be completely free. You don't pay extra to install SIMS.net client on a Windows PC, so why should you be charged if you want to install the closest equivalent on an iOS device?
vikpaw Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 Developing, updating and maintaining an app costs money. I think the app actually works nicer than the client software and does more useful things for it's narrow set of tasks. Plus, they can't just give stuff away as it would be deemed unfair by the competition. You would have to pay to have an app from any other third party. If Groupcall gave away Emerge for free, I'm sure Capita would match the price
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