AGeffen Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 Hello folks, First post here. Head and SLT are keen on adding the ability to send texts to our parents. Also would like ability to email them. Proviso is: The texts are two-way so that parents can reply. Emails can be sent out with attachments. Set-up, training and support is included in the price (they don't want to have to pay £400 for a half-day of training!) Can anyone offer advice on what they use? How much do they pay (We have 1,200 pupils)? And what sort of strain it puts on your techies - re-installation of updates, that sort of thing? Thanks, Alan
pcstru Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 We use a spreadsheet. It takes data straight from our CMIS database, sorts out lists of who can be contacted by email/SMS and who might still need a letter (and it reduces the volume of post so that only one envelope is posted to one address). Users can select by tutor groups, teaching groups, halls etc. For SMS I started out using txtlocal who were cheapest at the time and who offered a variety of useful interfaces (email/http). Unfortunately their director started sending me "linked in" requests which I thought was a bit of liberty to take with customer data, so we switched to BulkSMS instead (still much cheaper than parentmail etc). Cost depends on the number of messages you buy and the routing - typically messages are around 4-5p depending on how many you pre-purchase. We don't do two way communications yet, but I'm hoping to do some experiments with this as a way to get rid of the need for those expensive 'classroom voting' systems that teachers seem to go all ga-ga about (at least ga-ga enough to buy and then stick in a cupboard unused).
Sivadam Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 (edited) We have used Schoolcomms for a good number of years now. It's integration with SIMS is excellent! The links actually exist within your SIMS Database. Now how good is that? I cannot recommend it highly enough!!!! http://schoolcomms.com/ Greed (a user on here!) has explained this system in detail on his site:- Schoolcomms – User-Friendly Home:School Communications « ReedSoft Edited March 25, 2011 by Sivadam 2
teejay Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 We are just testing Keep Kids Safe, very easy to use and the staff find it easy and it will do what you want. Training is included free of charge, very easy to set up and integrate with SIMS. You do get a 2 month trial period, just remember to cancel it if you don't go with it as you automatically get put on a contract if you don't from what I have read. The only problem we've found so far is with mobiles on Virgin, they strip the + from the beginning of the text number and so they can't reply to the message (the text number is in international format, so start +44 rather than 0, it's a UK number though). It works perfectly fine on any other mobile network, the + stays on the number and they can reply no problem. 1
Little-Miss Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 We've got InTouch...not been used properly yet though... 1
Iain.Faulkner Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 I wish our Head was thinking this way, I'm currently fighting to get something like this in place but she's not keen. We've got InTouch...not been used properly yet though... I looked at InTouch and was shocked by the £3k installation fee!
jenny_urey Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 ...quick note..., if you use PARS then the text facility is already built in, to enable you to text parents, students and staff... approx 6p a text with no additional cost of software. PARS also has full integrated email system which is free as an already built in feature as has been available for around 5 years now. Not all Schools are aware of the feature unless its switched on... 1
Max_Power Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 I looked at InTouch and was shocked by the £3k installation fee! Agreed - Install fee isnt attractive in the slightest - although the yearly running costs are cheaper than those of schoolcomms.
Iain.Faulkner Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 Agreed - Install fee isnt attractive in the slightest - although the yearly running costs are cheaper than those of schoolcomms. That's interesting, based on a single user license, the quote I've got from Schoolcomms for annual maintenance is cheaper than Intouch.
Little-Miss Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 Eugh! Was it!! I just got told one day to help there technical team with bits on the server!! Blimey!
Edu-IT Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 We've just gone through the exact same process of comparing systems. I'd recommend looking at GroupCall, TruancyCall and SchoolComms as these are the ones which offer most functionality for good prices. All will integrate directly with SIMS. Do a search on here for each of the names and judge for yourself which ones get used most and which ones pay to have Capita support them, rather than use their own merit. ;-)
Max_Power Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 That's interesting, based on a single user license, the quote I've got from Schoolcomms for annual maintenance is cheaper than Intouch. Sorry - based multi user. We have more than one person that is able to email or text parents. Attendance officer can text and email, as can the secretary of each year group for example. We wanted to be able to audit who sends what and how frequently, if everyone used the same login we wouldnt be able to do that. edit - doing a compare at the moment - we currently use schoolcomms but the added functionality within SIMS Intouch maybe quite beneficial - like emailing exam timetables for example.
Stuart_C Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 I looked at it and I think that inTouch may be the future. However to get the best out of it you've got the be usning a lot of SIMS for a lot of things and then use inTouch a lot. Having said that we currently have SchoolComms and it's brilliant. There are a couple of extra steps becuase it's not part of SIMS but basically does the job very well. The new version seems to work much better with my Proxy and generally it's been a great product. It would work even better if our parents would all provide us with correct address that we could read but that's a different argument. And I thought it was cheaper than inTouch as well... certainly the install cost is but I can't rememebr what the running cost is.... Oh we only have a single user licence.
Sivadam Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 (edited) This is the standard costs of Schoolcomms (Click the pic!). Single User Licence. Multiuser Licence is usually double! A 3 year Licence works out cheaper too. Edited March 25, 2011 by Sivadam
Iain.Faulkner Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 Sorry - based multi user. We have more than one person that is able to email or text parents. Attendance officer can text and email, as can the secretary of each year group for example. We wanted to be able to audit who sends what and how frequently, if everyone used the same login we wouldnt be able to do that. edit - doing a compare at the moment - we currently use schoolcomms but the added functionality within SIMS Intouch maybe quite beneficial - like emailing exam timetables for example. Agreed, if we are able to put something like this in place, then to have multi-user would be a definite advantage for auditing purposes. I do like Intouch, having spent some time with Capita at Bett2011 looking at the demo's. Does anyone know though if it will do anything like the achievement postcards (type thing) that Schoolcomms offer?
firefox_2006 Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 We use ParentCall/Truancy Call for this, although we also have PARS which as mentioned above can send txt SMS messages to parents once configured.
TechMonkey Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 The 3k is only first year setup and includes the years maintenance. Other systems cost that each year. It's one of those things you need to look into very carefully. We had one installed last year that we were bypassed on and I have since found out the cost is high and the texts are expensive. Check out bundles and find out what kind of upfront money the school would be willing to splurge. If theyare only willing to spend £xxx at a time then one provider may come out better on text prices. Also find out what the school wants to do. We are looking at inTouch as all though it doesn't have all the features of some other systems we are very interested in the emailing reports home and things like send message to teachers of... feature. When we had Schoolcomms it was all right just a bit clunky and having only 1 person allowed at a time was an annoyance, especially trying to troubleshoot something. If you are just going to have one person sending out a few texts every now and then that might be fine. Also the password changing was a bugbear as someone in the office would reset it and no one else would know it had changed or what to.
Sivadam Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 .... If you are just going to have one person sending out a few texts every now and then that might be fine..... We send out hundreds and thousands with no issues. Things like Parent Evenings reminders, Exam 'tomorrow' reminders, Unknown Absence twice per day etc etc Schoolcomms enables you to Email, Text or Ecard any group that you have in SIMS!
AGeffen Posted March 25, 2011 Author Posted March 25, 2011 We have used Schoolcomms for a good number of years now. It's integration with SIMS is excellent! The links actually exist within your SIMS Database. Now how good is that? I cannot recommend it highly enough!!!! Schoolcomms Greed (a user on here!) has explained this system in detail on his site:- Schoolcomms – User-Friendly Home:School Communications « ReedSoftThanks. Does SchoolComms allow 2-way communication with parents? How much is it and how is it charged - by school population and texts charged separately? We are just testing Keep Kids Safe, very easy to use and the staff find it easy and it will do what you want. Training is included free of charge, very easy to set up and integrate with SIMS. You do get a 2 month trial period, just remember to cancel it if you don't go with it as you automatically get put on a contract if you don't from what I have read. The only problem we've found so far is with mobiles on Virgin, they strip the + from the beginning of the text number and so they can't reply to the message (the text number is in international format, so start +44 rather than 0, it's a UK number though). It works perfectly fine on any other mobile network, the + stays on the number and they can reply no problem.We've spoken to another school nearby who use another system - not Keep Kids Safe - and they've reported the same. It's something to do with what Virgin does with the text before getting to a handset. Would you recommend Keep Kids Safe? We've got InTouch...not been used properly yet though... Not interested in InTouch - costs an amazingly large amount of money!! ...quick note..., if you use PARS then the text facility is already built in, to enable you to text parents, students and staff... approx 6p a text with no additional cost of software. PARS also has full integrated email system which is free as an already built in feature as has been available for around 5 years now. Not all Schools are aware of the feature unless its switched on... No, we don't have PARS any-more. Staff never liked it. As we've got to compare 3 different systems we've looked at Keep Kids Safe, Truancy Call and SchoolComms but we're more interested in Keep Kids Safe at the moment. SLT have listed the pros and cons for each and they (obviously) want value-for-money so can anyone recommend another system that has features similar to Keep Kids Safe? So far, they like: Dedicated Attendance section: First-day calling, texting, emails... General text messaging, letters and e-mail sections: free emails, mail-merged letters... Text 4 Help: allows us to publicise a mobile number for the kids to text us if they're being bullied or have issues at home, etc... Can be used to contact anyone at all, including staff, SLT, EWOs, me!, etc... Free set-up, training and helpdesk - they want quite a few training sessions and we're told Keep Kids Safe do free training sessions on-site. 'Events Manager' - don't know much about that yet (had to leave meeting early) but asked afterwards and it's a bit where you can track sports, events and school-trips. Like an on-line calendar. Does different language messages for parents who don't speak English Also allows you to set-up timed-release messages Oh, and it's web-based. I like this bit because it means I don't have to do any installation! We were quoted £200 a month plus whatever we text @ 6p - and if we do a deal we might get it cheaper And if we like it, and recommend it to other schools we can get lots of money off. So, what do you use that compares with that? The SLT liked the sales-lady who came and they like the look of it... But I don't want to say that i approve until I know that I've looked at all other systems out there...? Help!?
Iain.Faulkner Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 Looks like you can actually pay the intouch installation over 3 years, so comparing costs to schoolcomms (as that's the only other quote I have at the moment) it's actually pretty much the same as paying for the multiuser license.
AGeffen Posted March 25, 2011 Author Posted March 25, 2011 Looks like you can actually pay the intouch installation over 3 years, so comparing costs to schoolcomms (as that's the only other quote I have at the moment) it's actually pretty much the same as paying for the multiuser license. SchoolComms haven't mentioned a multi-user license? Do we have to pay to set-up new accounts? Hmmm...
TechMonkey Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 Sorry I was being a bit simplistic, I know it can send out more than just texts and that it can use groups you define. I don't really want to have to create a group of teachers for every student, or house staff for each student. But if we have an assistant head that wants to send out the parent evening reminder while the attendance ladies are doing their daily trawl then one of them is going to be annoyed. Even more so when the AH inevitably forgets to fully close it so the attendance can't be done. & it is a bit backwards to just say "oh you have to go and check with this list of people to make sure they aren't using it before you can do anything." @AGeffen: You do realise that £200pm is £2400pa, where as inTouch at amazingly large amounts of money is only £2995 for the first year and £995pa there after? So £600 more expensive the first year which you make right back the second year and save even more each year after that. Esssh, standing explaining the benefits of a SIMS system! End times I tell you!
teejay Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 @AGeffen We've only just started trialling KKS, but so far very impressed. The training was excellent, free and will come back to do any further training we want free of charge as well. It's really simple to use and has some nice time saving stuff in it. The audit trail and reporting are superb. The Events Manager is good, it's a bit basic at the moment but is something they are looking at improving and they do take notice of feature requests by schools. There is 'some' installation if you're integrating it with SIMS/CMIS, but it's a 5 minute job. They will give you a 2 month trial of the system so you can really see how it works, also I would get negotiating hard on the £200 per month ;-)
Iain.Faulkner Posted March 25, 2011 Posted March 25, 2011 SchoolComms haven't mentioned a multi-user license? Do we have to pay to set-up new accounts? Hmmm... Multi-user basically means that you can give individual people their own account to access and use Schoolcomms. If you go for the single user, it means although you can allow as many as you like to use it, they all sign on as the same user and only one can access the software at once.
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