Senso.cloud alternatives - Had enough

[TheRobins]

Morning all,

 

I wonder if there are any real alternatives to Senso.Cloud

 

I have used them for nearly 3 years but they have rapidly gone downhill. 2 weeks worth of outages recently caused by an upgrade which obviously was not tested very well. They have once again last few day broken our portal and although I have tried to contact them not had any reply as of yet.

 

We are using the full suite, particularly remote control and management for IT support. This is iffy in Senso at the moment, for security before screen share we request staff actually give permission for us to view the screen but currently it sends the end users screen crazy with loads of pop ups, we then have around a 50% success rate in actually connecting.

 

Any ideas of products welcome, we have used LanSchool previously but felt its lack of safeguarding tools was detrimental.

[Arthur]

Impero Classroom is probably the closest competitor to Senso.

[gumbygaz]

Yes, I am really hoping that the new year will bring a better Senso. I was really surprised that with all this outage (which really impacted our ability to monitor/safeguard the students - Had almost a week unmonitored!) there hasn't really been an apology from the head office etc regarding it.

Only been with them a year, and it's not been as amazing as I hoped, got 2 more years contract - and I pushed for Senso because of all the good reviews I'd seen. Just really hope 2022 goes well and the new update works!

[TheRobins]

I was really annoyed about the lack of an appolgy regarding the mess up a few months back. Like you say its an important safeguarding tool and it was as if nothing had happened. What really got me was right bang in the middle of this their sales team were pushing out videos of how wondeful their service is. Maybe Covid is the reason why live chat is broken and no one answering the phones. I would understand it much more if there was quick message to say why. In the mean time they have pushed out a new app, that I cannot deploy via the console (useful for DfE laptops at home) as its borked, so basically stuck with no way of getting around it in the short term.

 

Sadly the staff have lost faith as have I, so will look at some demos with competitors in Jan when we all return.

[Griff]

Impero maybe your best bet. I haven't really looked into the cloud based stuff with Impero I only use it on local domain and it works really well, like many companies they have had their ups and downs recently its been alright but we have had trouble in the past with stability.

[Wubbalubbadub]

I admit that Senso have had a few issues... but I wouldn't say it was bad enough to warrant leaving just yet. I still remember the Impero days of problems.. nothing like that.

 

However I have not tried Impero for about 3 years now.

[GrumbleDook]

Morning all,

 

I wonder if there are any real alternatives to Senso.Cloud

 

I have used them for nearly 3 years but they have rapidly gone downhill. 2 weeks worth of outages recently caused by an upgrade which obviously was not tested very well. They have once again last few day broken our portal and although I have tried to contact them not had any reply as of yet.

 

We are using the full suite, particularly remote control and management for IT support. This is iffy in Senso at the moment, for security before screen share we request staff actually give permission for us to view the screen but currently it sends the end users screen crazy with loads of pop ups, we then have around a 50% success rate in actually connecting.

 

Any ideas of products welcome, we have used LanSchool previously but felt its lack of safeguarding tools was detrimental.

 

Happy to have a chat with you on alternatives. Drop me a PM and I'll sort one of the team having a chat.

[mattysmith80]

I am too now in a position where I really have had enough with Senso..... Been with them nearly from the beginning and it still feels like a Beta product that they are just testing with us all the time.

We moved from Impero to Senso becuase of the fact that every update broke it and then spent ages trying to put things right, and to be honest the move to Senso has seen exactly the same issues... Every update breaks loads of things, you then have to work to put things right and its just bonkers. Its almost like you feel the same code base was brought over from Impero which is why all this instability happens.

 

We are a trust of 35 schools and we need Senso to work first time every time, we spend most of our time as techs remotely fixing things and the instability of the product is killing it.

Securly Class Room and Light speed class room however aren't direct comparisons as they are much more focused on the Teacher Class Room aspect, not remotely supporting 5000 endpoints.

 

I like the others find it weird that no communications were made to say "Hey, you know what guys, we cocked up" were really sorry and this wont happen again.

 

I need to be sure when im connecting to a machine, it connects, not after 5 attempts, not after logging out and back in, not after looking at the logs.... I need it to just work... If we were just one school I could kind of get away with it... But we are 35 schools and its time is up now... Its a shame because there is a good product under the hood. They just need to focus on making the product actually work instead of trying to release daft modules that break everything. I dont want to pay to be a Beta tester anymore thanks

[mavhc]

Securely Classroom seems mostly Chromebook/Google Classroom focused

[GrumbleDook]

Securely Classroom seems mostly Chromebook/Google Classroom focused

 

NetSupport covers the range of platforms over a range of different products, depending on what you need.

 

If anyone wants a run through about it, including advice on risk assessments for safeguarding and monitoring, just drop me a line or request a session through out online chat on https://www.NetSupportsoftware.com

[Dan2025]

Weren't both Impero/Senso ran/developed by the same person? Moved on and created Senso after selling off Impero?

 

My former school had both, Senso was much better at first but updates were a nightmare and it had a lot of the same bugs Impero had. I.e the million taskbar icons and a pet hate for Firefox.

[supportman]

We recentenly moved from Senso to ABtutor (they have a new cloud version in testing if you ask them nicely).

 

It works very well and has the advantage of a cloud connection to a local client so faster than senso, but does need the client installing on teacher computers. There is no need to install the central server from their older product.

 

Testing has gone very well, its going to be great when finally released.

Edited January 27, 2022 by supportman

[mavhc]

Yeah, same person.

 

I want the blocklists and features of Impero but if I'm moving to something new that costs money, has to be cloud based, so I can support people who are WFH

 

Blocklists that I can apply to multiple groups, time based applying of lists, integration of groups/OUs, logging of everything, and remote control. Blocking screen/audio/internet/printing.

 

Also nice to have WOL/Shutdown, the remote task manager, log on to multiple computers, unlock screen

[GrumbleDook]

Yeah, same person.

 

I want the blocklists and features of Impero but if I'm moving to something new that costs money, has to be cloud based, so I can support people who are WFH

 

Blocklists that I can apply to multiple groups, time based applying of lists, integration of groups/OUs, logging of everything, and remote control. Blocking screen/audio/internet/printing.

 

Also nice to have WOL/Shutdown, the remote task manager, log on to multiple computers, unlock screen

 

Drop the team a line and I’ll sort out a demo for you.

[TechMonkey]

Depending on how quickly you need it Smoothwall are apparently comin gout with a Classroom Management solution. Possibly from their new Parent Company.

[ChrisSpinkSecurly]

Windows support has been released now.

[yac2016]

I am too now in a position where I really have had enough with Senso..... Been with them nearly from the beginning and it still feels like a Beta product that they are just testing with us all the time.

We moved from Impero to Senso becuase of the fact that every update broke it and then spent ages trying to put things right, and to be honest the move to Senso has seen exactly the same issues... Every update breaks loads of things, you then have to work to put things right and its just bonkers. Its almost like you feel the same code base was brought over from Impero which is why all this instability happens.

 

We are a trust of 35 schools and we need Senso to work first time every time, we spend most of our time as techs remotely fixing things and the instability of the product is killing it.

Securly Class Room and Light speed class room however aren't direct comparisons as they are much more focused on the Teacher Class Room aspect, not remotely supporting 5000 endpoints.

 

I like the others find it weird that no communications were made to say "Hey, you know what guys, we cocked up" were really sorry and this wont happen again.

 

I need to be sure when im connecting to a machine, it connects, not after 5 attempts, not after logging out and back in, not after looking at the logs.... I need it to just work... If we were just one school I could kind of get away with it... But we are 35 schools and its time is up now... Its a shame because there is a good product under the hood. They just need to focus on making the product actually work instead of trying to release daft modules that break everything. I dont want to pay to be a Beta tester anymore thanks

 

Not sure it was ever the correct product to remotely manage/support 5000 endpoints, we use third party software for remote support, Senso is mainly used by teachers.

[synaesthesia]

Not sure it was ever the correct product to remotely manage/support 5000 endpoints, we use third party software for remote support, Senso is mainly used by teachers.

 

I suspect people have expected more from it, particularly in comparison to it's "predecessor" of Impero, which would cope with 5000 easily. Having to pay twice to do something many of us are accustomed to in the same package seems OTT - especially when the main function for doing that apply to remote support AND T&L (remote viewing, broadcasting, messaging, safeguarding etc)

[yac2016]

Primarily it was always a safeguarding and classroom management tool, with remote tools add on. Impero had so many more issues, it just didn't work.

 

I am sure Senso are working on the issues, no software is perfect. Its why you always have a backup option, remote support is something if you heavily need you invest in a product which does that specifically and does it well.

[Spookyville]

Actually had a sales call from Senso this morning! Have to say the comments here have tempered the expectations. Currently use Lan School in the IT Suites just for classroom management. Hoping to replace with a more encompassing product that is reliable. I have heard good things about the NetSupport offerings, and we do use the Notify application which is doing a job (although had major issues with it over the past year which were down to two problems, one now resolved and one not going to be looked at by all accounts)

[izzoe]

Hi All,

 

I agree with the frustrations expressed regarding Senso. Many of the comments in this thread date back to 2022, and as of 2024, the same issues persist. Despite deploying Senso on various sites, we continue to encounter common problems, including a low probability of successful connections and a malfunctioning broadcasting feature that intermittently cuts out or fails to work altogether.

 

It appears that Senso is not prioritising the necessary repairs, instead focusing on superficial elements such as Halloween backgrounds for their console and adapting to seasonal themes rather than providing a robust and professional remote management solution. Where do we draw the line? Its already been a three year saga of to my knowledge.

 

Kind Regards,

E. Izzo.

Edited February 5, 2024 by izzoe