Am I overreacting with Inventry?

[synaesthesia]

This amongst others is why we're are getting rid of ours entirely and replacing with signinapp. Inventry currently feels very much like SIMS - once a market/industry leader, now fallen by the wayside, far more expensive that all competitors and far more outdated - ignoring the security issues!

[speakercon]

Has anyone been invited to trial the 'BETA Cloud Console'?

 

Still connects back to the database on the PC from the sounds of it.

 

Sounds like SIMS connected.

 

The whole thing feels like SIMS. They really need stop working on the current system and create a new true cloud system from scratch imo to avoid the same fate of SIMS, too the likes of the superior Signin App.

Edited July 3, 2024 by speakercon

[DrCheese]

This amongst others is why we're are getting rid of ours entirely and replacing with signinapp. Inventry currently feels very much like SIMS - once a market/industry leader, now fallen by the wayside, far more expensive that all competitors and far more outdated - ignoring the security issues!

 

Yeah I think I agree with this - The product still feels similar to what it was when we originally bought all those years ago. Does the job, but with things like Signin App it does now feel quite dated.

[InVentryTechnican]

Has anyone been invited to trial the 'BETA Cloud Console'?

 

Still connects back to the database on the PC from the sounds of it.

 

Sounds like SIMS connected.

 

The whole thing feels like SIMS. They really need stop working on the current system and create a new true cloud system from scratch imo to avoid the same fate of SIMS, too the likes of the superior Signin App.

 

Currently, the on-premise database will exist in the event the network connection to the system or your site goes down, as we all know the issues with online-only solutions currently, we have Visitors, Staff, Staff events, Pupils, Pupil events and MIS update functionality handled in the cloud currently, all the data hits our cloud server then gets pushed down into the on-premise database, and any changes on premise such as sign in events hit the on-premise database and then send up into the cloud DB.

 

It may also help on of the questions that comes up often about needing an .exe to be run to access this, as all you'd need on this beta is to go to Inventry.world and login and you'd have access to most™ of the information that you can access in the console, completely bypassing a lot of the issues you may face with getting access to the InVentry console hopefully, that sheds some light on what it does.

 

-Tech

[speakercon]

Currently, the on-premise database will exist in the event the network connection to the system or your site goes down, as we all know the issues with online-only solutions currently, we have Visitors, Staff, Staff events, Pupils, Pupil events and MIS update functionality handled in the cloud currently, all the data hits our cloud server then gets pushed down into the on-premise database, and any changes on premise such as sign in events hit the on-premise database and then send up into the cloud DB.

 

It may also help on of the questions that comes up often about needing an .exe to be run to access this, as all you'd need on this beta is to go to Inventry.world and login and you'd have access to most™ of the information that you can access in the console, completely bypassing a lot of the issues you may face with getting access to the InVentry console hopefully, that sheds some light on what it does.

 

-Tech

Are there any plans to move the whole platform fully cloud based?

 

I think most schools would be fine with not having a local database and already rely on the internet connection for most things, MIS/phones/files ect...

 

Having a local database with loads of sensitive information on a non-encrypted windows box, in a publicly accessible location with the firewall/antivirus disabled and EOL OS's is more of a cause for concern.

[synaesthesia]

Currently, the on-premise database will exist in the event the network connection to the system or your site goes down, as we all know the issues with online-only solutions currently,

 

-Tech

 

Yup - just like SIMS. Sorry, but this is 2024. We have phones, MIS, single central records etc all online and going on DfE guidelines have the infrastructure to suit including backup connections etc. If that's Inventry's standpoint, it's easy to see why they appear very much out of touch.

[InVentryTechnican]

Are there any plans to move the whole platform fully cloud based?

 

I think most schools would be fine with not having a local database and already rely on the internet connection for most things, MIS/phones/files ect...

 

Having a local database with loads of sensitive information on a non-encrypted windows box, in a publicly accessible location with the firewall/antivirus disabled and EOL OS's is more of a cause for concern.

I'm unsure on that as I'm not privy to future plans sorry.

 

Regarding the DB, the on-premise the databases are encrypted behind AES 256 encryptions, the only way in would be either via a console account or getting partner API access or as you mentioned direct access to the system, but with direct system access you'd need a console password (IE a reception/Admin users password as these aren't the windows account passwords) to access data or the database encryption key to do this within the SQL DB.

 

-Tech

[speakercon]

I'm unsure on that as I'm not privy to future plans sorry.

 

Regarding the DB, the on-premise the databases are encrypted behind AES 256 encryptions, the only way in would be either via a console account or getting partner API access or as you mentioned direct access to the system, but with direct system access you'd need a console password (IE a reception/Admin users password as these aren't the windows account passwords) to access data or the database encryption key to do this within the SQL DB.

 

-Tech

I think most schools would choose a cloud only platform over on prem for systems like this if the features are more or less the same, and certainly most IT support staff would if they are lucky enough to be involved in the decision making, as on prem systems like SIMS/Inventry add to their workload with their inevitable issues which get put on them. Having to blank the screen out for support to do anything is a faff, in most busy schools there's never a great time to do this.

 

That's something but the other points remain a worry.

[tmleafs]

Sorry to hijack this post which is mainly just security issues

 

Nothing but issues since having it installed and we are only halfway through our 3 years, honestly paper is a better system, we were missold by the salesman.

We are limited to who we use as we have Paxton everywhere and didn't find Entrysign until after all the issues with Inventry

 

On another EduGeek post we came up with the following issues and have had multiple Teams calls with them about these issues, we even requested cancellation of the contract due to the system not working for close to two months but after the request was made like magic they requested to remote in and work on a "fix" the fix was to just restart the services at night on the VM and all issues were solved but in my opinion that is not a fix that is your software is terrible and it can't even run for 24 hours before crashing. They then wanted us to do loads of work to prove the system didn't work to get out of the contract which I didn't want to waste time doing, I never want to deal with them ever again and will only do so if I really need to. If you have Paxton readers on gates and/or doors use Entrysign if you don't use sign in app! We have already cancelled the auto-renew with Inventry.

Have spoken to other schools and they seem to love it though seems to be down to whether pupils are using it or it's just staff and contractors and maybe the Paxton integration.

 

1. Slow console access - takes nearly 30 seconds for anyone to login - Moved to VM still slow

2. The Windows network connections limit - Moved to VM that's joined to the domain

3. Slow/terrible Android/iOS app - takes forever to sync and can be wrong - Update has improved things but why can't we see pupils ie sixth form status and lower years sign-outs and late arrivals I don't understand why this cant be added and would be useful to office staff and teachers

4. Advanced mark options - needs a complete rewrite in my opinion - Nothing done we have removed them all and only have one rules for U marks on lower years

5. If I replace a Paxton card the staff/sixth form needs to be set to auto code again and they need to go to inventry to do this - so what's the point in user association in door access control? - Just annoying

6. Preferred surname needs to be default in the console and reporting - This is just silly

7. Inventry InView - let us start it minimised - Please this is so simple to add

8. We were mis-sold on the SIMS integration - there is no writing to inventry from sims, and inventry can't read the current morning code so gets changed when they scan a reader (for example we know they have got for let's say an interview, they scan in at 11 pm and it changes that interview code to a U - Again we have removed all the advanced mark options and attendance officer just does it manually like before inventry

9. Installation of extra paxton licenses signed the document on 27th Feb got told it's normally 10 days from signing - wasn't completed until 13th March

10. Visitors signing when searching for the staff they are visiting can't find anyone as they are limited to searching first initial space surname, they should have to select someone and not type in anything they like. The system should bring up all chris's if that's what someone types, I think I have had one notification for someone is here the whole time we have had inventry as the just automaticity type just my first name and press continue - Just annoying I would say 1 in 10 visitors get it right

11. Visitor default of opting out of keeping their record - We have visitors with 5 or 6 records as they don't opt-in which makes the visitor history a complete mess, give us the choice to make it less messy or give us a merge tool - Again annoying and makes the feature pointless

12. Visitor companies we have inputted all the main companies we use they just type any old rubbish in - just display a list of all the companies with an "other" button at least some might press the correct one - adds an extra page but makes the information more useful having 40 different typos of the same company

13. SIMS staff images don't sync over to inventry - not really an issue for us was just that someone else mentioned it on the forum

14. Complete rethink of the settings page in the console it is a complete mess and why isn't there an information button next to everything giving more details on what it does - Software looks so dated and needs a complete rewrite

Edited July 4, 2024 by tmleafs

[Planehazza]

Sorry to say that Inventry is no better now, and is even worse now that the support system has been 'revamped'.

 

As soon as we've ran out contracts out (and assuming finance allow it.. hahahaha) I want Sign In App in at all of our sites.

[David44]

It's come to my attention that whenever the InVentry terminals are restarted, TeamViewer opens and displays both pieces of information required for anyone to gain a remote connection to the terminal (or Windows 10 PC to describe it more accurately). This is on full display for the whole 40 or so seconds it takes for InVentry to start after Windows has loaded.

We have four terminals and this seems to be the case for all of them. Do other schools see the same?

I have reported it to InVentry but the reply just explained what TeamViewer is and then one line about the actual issue.
 

Quote

"We understand your concerns regarding the visibility of these details and agree that limiting the exposure of remote access information is important. To address this, I have made some adjustments to TeamViewer so that physical access is avoided."

I don't know what "physical access is avoided" means and I don't know that they have actually done anything as this still happens.

Today, it was worse because InVentry was displaying a badly written error message about it running 'the wrong version'. This message had a simple close button which when it was pressed, closed InVentry and displayed the Windows 10 desktop complete with TeamViewer open and displaying the remote connection details. No need for a potential attacker to even restart the PC now!

[howartp]

No, can't say we see that on ours.

[itskdog]

Yeah, it always starts in the background on ours.

 

I don't trust InVentry support these days. They were good 5-6 years ago when you had technically knowledgeable people answering the calls, but it seems they've outsourced it to the lowest bidder now judging by the quality of the replies.

 

 I'd recommend checking the TeamViewer settings on the machine - see if there's a "Start Minimised" option so at least they have to press a button to open the UI and see the details.

[Jobos]

We only have 1 Inventry screen here but I block it from connecting to TeamViewer at the firewall unless I need Inventry support to remote in as like others have said their support has dropped since they outsourced.

[MrEprise]

4 hours ago, David44 said:

It's come to my attention that whenever the InVentry terminals are restarted, TeamViewer opens and displays both pieces of information required for anyone to gain a remote connection to the terminal (or Windows 10 PC to describe it more accurately). This is on full display for the whole 40 or so seconds it takes for InVentry to start after Windows has loaded.

We have four terminals and this seems to be the case for all of them. Do other schools see the same?

I have reported it to InVentry but the reply just explained what TeamViewer is and then one line about the actual issue.
 

I don't know what "physical access is avoided" means and I don't know that they have actually done anything as this still happens.

Today, it was worse because InVentry was displaying a badly written error message about it running 'the wrong version'. This message had a simple close button which when it was pressed, closed InVentry and displayed the Windows 10 desktop complete with TeamViewer open and displaying the remote connection details. No need for a potential attacker to even restart the PC now!

It used to, then I changed the configuration of it and it doesn't anymore.
 

On 21/04/2026 at 13:11, Planehazza said:

Sorry to say that Inventry is no better now, and is even worse now that the support system has been 'revamped'.

 

As soon as we've ran out contracts out (and assuming finance allow it.. hahahaha) I want Sign In App in at all of our sites.

We had an issue where 2 students weren't being synced across, so I contacted support to get them to rectify it. I ended up contacting them 4 times in all because they kept making it worse with each support call.

Where we had 2 students not showing, we now have several not showing and many duplicates showing on the front screen. I can't now get that rectified as our support has lapsed and I can't get it renewed as our reseller seems to have fallen off the face of the earth. I want to ditch Inventry but there's no money to either.

[David44]

We've also had an issue where InVentry support have made things worse, or caused an issue that didn't previously exist. The terminals were reporting some kind of network issue. I never do any troubleshooting with the InVentry terminals other than to restart them when there is an issue, it's not my job to hide the faults with this system from SLT, so I raised a ticket with InVentry, they connected in and resolved whatever the issue was but for some reason they also messed up the display of the buttons in InVentry, creating two Staff buttons on one terminal, changing the colour and typeface of the text on one of the buttons so it couldn't be read on another, removing the name of the school on the third.

One of the four was fine, so I updated the ticket, told them that they should all be put back to how they were before they fixed the unrelated network issue and that one of the terminals was correct if they needed a reference to work from. They connected in several times, making InVentry unavailable while they did so and just seemed completely unable to reverse the changes they had made. The ticket has been escalated to second line support and it is still open. It's a terrible company to deal with, both because of the underlying product being of poor quality and the support staff not seeming to know how to handle such a product.

[Alastairb25]

Replaced with Sign in app years ago and never looked back, awful system 

[DrBeaker]

Had Inventry, initially really impressed originally when it was installed. Thought it was quite cutting-edge.

 

Went downhill / worse year after year it seems with issues, lack of support, reliability etc.

 

Went to SignIn, yet far surpasses Inventry at most turns with minimal issues.

 

I don't miss Inventry.

Edited July 10 by DrBeaker

[DrCheese]

On 09/07/2026 at 08:36, David44 said:

It's a terrible company to deal with, both because of the underlying product being of poor quality and the support staff not seeming to know how to handle such a product.

 

All outsourced now & they just run through a script.

 

We moved to Bromcom, worked fine for a bit then stopped writing marks back. Went through the "Does it have the right permissions" loop which yes.. of course it did because it worked before.

Instead of just asking questions in one go, they'd ask a single question each day at 4pm, ("What's the account name?" "Does it have write permissions") meaning if you replied the next morning, you were stuck until 4pm again.

 

Got handed half way through to another agent who... started the script all over again. The answers were RIGHT THERE in the email chain.

 

The hardware is slow & runs awfully. I couldn't believe our last renewal they were still supplying Windows 10 kit. Kit that was now some no name Aldi brand instead of the decent HP kit that it was before.

It *was* a great product around 2014/2015. Since then it seems that it's had virtually no development & is now just coasting on existing customers.

 

It's really tiring to go through this cycle with edutech vendors.

They usually start off great, then get bought out by someone bigger or the bean-counters take over and then the product runs into the ground. We all move to another supplier & it starts again.

 

 

[DrBeaker]

15 minutes ago, DrCheese said:

...It's really tiring to go through this cycle with edutech vendors.

They usually start off great, then get bought out by someone bigger or the bean-counters take over and then the product runs into the ground. We all move to another supplier & it starts again.

 

 

 

Exactly what a lot of us have seen time and time again, over and over with a lot of edtech systems.

 

Yet generally the changes in SLT and the beancounters over time means we repeat a cycle of "We've seen this happen and don't want it to happen to our school AGAIN"

 

[speakercon]

Happily I have got rid of Inventry but before that I would continually disable TeamViewer autostart, which did then create the need for us to enable it when support was required which was annoying, and they would also re-enable autostart despite being asked not to. Super easy way for anyone to remote into your network if the core wasn't running.

 

If we still had it, I would VLAN them off and insist staff can only access the console via the web gui so no direct network access was needed to limit risk.

[Planehazza]

I think we're giving them notice they're getting binned. Dire product and support now. I'm praying I can convince the powers to choose SignIn App

[mavhc]

Have signinapp released their Android version yet? Last I heard they weren't bothering to fix bugs because they were rewriting everything

[Planehazza]

1 minute ago, mavhc said:

Have signinapp released their Android version yet? Last I heard they weren't bothering to fix bugs because they were rewriting everything

We're going through procurement process in Q4 so I can ask, but I suspect you'll have an answer by then.

[mavhc]

I recommend a poe to usb-c data/charging device to avoid having a critical device on wifi either way