[sims] PAGEONE SMS text provider costs? Intouch PAGE ONE

[coolhands]

Getting some big bills for PAGEONE communications. They charge us for the SIMS intouch messages we send as far as I understand it.

 

Questions:

Do we have to use them?

If yes, is there a cheaper package they can do?

Is there someone cheaper?

 

I don't know anything about it really. Just seems extortionate at £5150 for the 'package' a year? + monthly cost too of approx £30 - £100 it looks like for going over our allowance?!

[pete]

How many messages are you sending via SMS? That seems fairly high.

 

Our SIMS-using schools use SMS for emergencies (school closed due to snow) that the parent must know ASAP and email or (insert parent portal thing) for the less urgent stuff.

 

When I queried (a while ago) using a alternative provider for SMS it wasn't an option.

[Arthur]

My school stopped using SMSs for InTouch and switched to email. Saves a fortune!

[MatthewL]

FYI PageOne were bought out by Capita and were a paging network but now do a bit of all sorts along that line, they are the only UK paging network left also.

 

There will be plenty of other text providers out there, couldn't tell you which is best anymore to be honest.

[fiza]

Not sure if it works with SIMS Intouch but we use Gov.Notify which gives free 10000 SMS messages for schools and then 1.6p per text after that.

 

https://www.notifications.service.gov.uk/

[coolhands]

Just a bump our finance director has enquired again if there is any alternative providers. Anyone know? Every sims school using intouch must be using someone??

[David44]

There are loads of sms providers, including gov.notify that offer free text credits to schools, but I think if you use SIMS Intouch you are locked in to PageOne and the 4p per message charge.

[BKGarry]

I think if you stick using InTouch, you are stuck with PageOne. We moved from sending SMS messages from inTouch to using Edulink One, which then integrates with the government notify service, which is a lot cheaper. We also make use of the Push|SMS feature, so if the parents have the app installed, it does a push message and makes it even cheaper.

[coolhands]

ok thanks at least I can go back with an answer. We want to continue to use intouch therefore we have to use the integrated PageOne is my answer.