[voip] Phone System MIS Integration

[HaroonEdTechPro]

Hello all

 

I am making this post to introduce my new company, EdTechPro. You will see our advert banners across Edugeek this month (November).

 

EdTechPro's Portal is a solution that enables schools and Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) to seamlessly integrate their phone systems with Management Information Systems (MIS). This integration provides instant caller identification, call history visibility, and the ability to log pupil attendance within seconds — ensuring a faster, more personalized communication with your school’s stakeholders.​​ EdTechPro offers free trials to schools that would like to see the benefits within their schools - we support all major MIS systems (including SIMS!)

 

 

At the moment we support 3CX, but we can almost always support Screen Popping as a feature on the majority of PBXs.

Features are:

 

 

• Caller Identification: Automatically displays the caller’s identity (parents, students, staff, UK schools, or UK businesses) on the phone handset.
  
• Screen Popping: Instantly shows the relevant MIS profile on the call handler’s computer, saving 10–15 seconds per call.
  
• Caller History: Gives call handlers a complete history of automatically logged past interactions, including who they spoke with, times, and any notes from previous calls.
  
• Safeguarding Notices: Alerts call handlers to any active court orders as soon as they answer.
  
• Attendance Logging: Enables quick attendance logging for entire families in a fraction of the time, with cases as fast as 20 seconds for a family of four.
  

 

 

Please do check out our website or PM me to learn more.

 

Thanks

Haroon

Edited October 31, 2024 by Haroonbg

[whartomt01]

We have recently come onboard with EdTechPro.

Our office and Attendance teams are loving this new addition. Onboarding was easy and any niggles Haroon and the helpdesk have come back with solutions instantly.

Something so simple as showing caller info and call history has helped our offices massively.

[David44]

Does this system only work using the easily forged CLI information?

 

What if a parent with a court order sent the number of a parent without a court order? Presumably the system would identify them as the wrong parent.

[whartomt01]

All based on your MIS data. Only as good as your own data

[HaroonEdTechPro]

Hi David,

 

Thanks for your message. It's a good point.

 

It’s worth noting that the vast majority of parents wouldn’t know how to spoof a number, and most UK carriers now override the Caller ID with the correct number or mask it if there’s any mismatch, which helps maintain accuracy. In Portal, when a caller’s number matches an existing contact, we label it as a "Matched Contact" rather than confirming "this is the person calling." (We now also mention this as part of Staff training)

 

Additionally, if a court order is associated with a pupil, a safeguarding alert will display on their profile regardless of which guardian is calling in. Our system is designed to streamline information access, but it’s crucial that staff continue to do their due diligence.

 

Thanks,

Haroon

[TechMonkey]

Does this system only work using the easily forged CLI information?

 

What if a parent with a court order sent the number of a parent without a court order? Presumably the system would identify them as the wrong parent.

 

I feel whoever is on the phone should do a little more checking than just accept at face value a phone call. The MIS would show that Mrs X should not get reports, so maybe the person answering the phone should critically think that the female voice coming from the phone number of Mr X, asking for a copy of the report sent to Mrs X's email is not a good idea?

[David44]

All based on your MIS data. Only as good as your own data

 

I'm talking about the data sent with the phone call. That's controlled by the person calling. It's why you get foreign scam calls appearing to come from a UK number or fraudulent text messages appearing to come from your bank or perhaps a call coming from Jimmy's Father that's actually coming from Jimmy's Mother or Jimmy himself.

[HaroonEdTechPro]

I'm talking about the data sent with the phone call. That's controlled by the person calling. It's why you get foreign scam calls appearing to come from a UK number or fraudulent text messages appearing to come from your bank or perhaps a call coming from Jimmy's Father that's actually coming from Jimmy's Mother or Jimmy himself.

It really comes down to due diligence. If a staff member sees "Mrs. [Last Name]" displayed on the phone handset but hears a man speaking, and a court order notice for the father appears on the screen from Portal or the school's MIS system, this should immediately raise red flags.

 

In cases where children call in using a parent's number, in my experience staff are used to these scenarios (I have covered the Attendance Officer role in a school I've worked in myself). Ultimately, it’s there to support, not replace, staff judgment.