ultraspy2000

Lol... very true.

Thank you very much for the comments and details, @Devaleth and @Synkrox. I completely agree regarding the knowledge base, and it's another major frustration I have with them. The irony is that we're all paying thousands of pounds each year for support, whether we use or not, yet the quality of that support is getting worst. From reading the comments in this thread, I think it's clear that my experience isn't an isolated one and perhaps the most concerning point is that several people are now actively avoiding contacting support because they don't feel it is worth the effort. For any service organisation, that should be a significant warning sign. I sincerely hope Bromcom takes this feedback on board because there are clearly some systemic issues that need addressing. @Bromcom_Alastair Thank you for the response and I'm not sure if submitting a formal complaint will do anything which I haven't email senior leadership at Bromcom so many times before. Also, from the feedback in this and other threads I think it shows the extend of the issue and it's beyond a single complaint and points to broader concerns around customer service, support responsiveness, account management, and customer engagement.

I know this is a rant about Bromcom MIS but I hope others see some value in learning about my experience with them for past 8 years. Also, let me know your experience if you've been with them for some years. As a customer since 2018, I never thought I'd find myself writing a post like this, but the level of service we've experienced recently has been nothing short of appalling. Firstly, contacting support has become a nightmare. The introduction of PIN and account number requirements on the phone system is frustrating enough, but the fact that the system rudely disconnects callers if the information isn't provided quickly enough is unacceptable. There is no sensible route to speak to a human being, explain the situation, or get assistance when you don't have the required details to hand because you look after multiple schools. Instead, you're simply cut off and forced to start again. Secondly, we have recently been informed that restoring a student account that has been purged from the MIS now costs **£420 per student**. This came as a complete shock. When we originally discussed data restoration and support arrangements with our account manager and sales team back in 2018, nothing like this was ever mentioned. We pays tens of thousands of pounds every year in support and maintenance fees. Any reasonable customer would assume that recovering data from their own MIS would fall within the scope of the support contract. Apparently not. What makes this even worse is that this charging policy appears to have been introduced without any meaningful communication to existing customers. Discovering such a significant charge only when you need the service feels incredibly unfair and opportunistic. Since then, I have spent considerable time trying to obtain an explanation. I've been repeatedly told that someone from the accounts team or our account manager would call me back, yet no one ever does. The result is an endless cycle of chasing, promises, and silence. The most disappointing aspect is how different Bromcom feels compared to the company we originally signed up with. Many of Bromcom's early successes were built on loyalty of smaller schools and MATs. However, now that the company has grown and secured larger MAT customers, it feels as though smaller customers have been left behind. The customer service that once existed appears to have vanished. The support desk is often dismissive, the accounts team seems uninterested in resolving concerns, and obtaining a straightforward explanation has become unnecessarily difficult. After eight years as a customer, I can honestly say that the service has never felt this poor. If you're currently considering moving to Bromcom, I would strongly encourage you to do your due diligence and speak to existing customers before making a decision. This isn't coming from a competitor or a disgruntled former user. It's coming from a customer who has been with Bromcom since 2018 and is deeply disappointed by the direction the company appears to have taken.

Thanks and I’m thinking along exactly the same lines. We’ve looked at moving away in the past (including to LGFL), but always hit the same block, the amount of reconfiguration involved, rebuilding whitelists, and essentially starting from scratch again. I guess tt’s that balance between short-term pain and long-term gain, but situations like this definitely make the decision feel more urgent. Would be really useful to hear from anyone who’s recently moved away from SBB to another provider and understand how did it go in practice? What was involved overall in terms of new equipment, systems, and configuration, etc...? Was the transition as painful as it seems on paper, or manageable?

Honestly need to vent about this as it looks like nothing else is happening. We’re now a full week into problems that started for some and have since spread wider, and instead of improving, things seem to be getting worse. The troubleshooting and fixes so far have been, frankly, poor. Blaming it on “..schools returning from holidays and increased usage....” just doesn’t cut it. This isn’t unexpected or a one-off event, it happens every single term, every single year. Capacity planning for predictable demand should be the absolute baseline, not an afterthought. Right now it feels like reactive firefighting rather than any kind of robust solution, and it’s impacting teaching, learning, and day-to-day operations across multiple sites. SBB putting out reassuring PR statements meanwhile, it’s not helping those of us in IT right now. We’re on the front line, taking the blame and dealing with the fallout from SLT and staff when systems aren’t working, despite having no control over the underlying issue.

Just like few others have mentioned Action1 is very good option. Unified Cross-Platform Patch Management | Action1

I'm in a similar situation with one of our schools. We also looked at Fortinet, but they are not cheap either. For peace of mind, and to ensure you have an adequate level of protection, resilience, support, and warranty, as well as a platform that is already proven and widely used across many schools, I would go with Aruba for a large school. I personally wouldn't want to take the risk with TP-Link in this scenario. MYK-IT also mentioned checking the DfE guidance for the network switching standard, which Aruba tends to align with more easily.

This made me chuckle. Thank you for your honest feedback and we'll make sure to stay awa from their HR system. - - - Updated - - - Thank you for that and I'll ask HR to check it out.Thank you for that and I'll ask HR to check it out.

Thank you Fazza and we'll check it out. From your experience, does it work well with school schedules and timings with holidays, etc..? Also, if anyone else has tried any other systems at their schools or Trusts, please let me know. Thank you.

Hi everyone, We’re currently exploring HR systems for our Multi-Academy Trust and would love to hear what other MATs and schools are using. Ideally, we’re looking for a system that can handle staff records, payroll integration, absence management, and recruitment efficiently. If your Trust or school is using a system that works well, I’d appreciate any recommendations or insights into your experiences—what’s working well, any challenges, and if you’d recommend it. Thanks in advance!

Hello Everyone, I'm not sure if this is the best place to start this topic, or if there's a more appropriate section.I'm wondering if anyone is aware of a good AI voice recording and note-taking tool?In the past, we've tested Plaud.ai, but there were too many privacy and data protection concerns.The built-in systems from Microsoft, Google, and Samsung are also quite poor and tend to miss a lot of the text when taking notes and summarizing.If anyone has come across a good product or software they’re using for work to record meetings and then summarize the notes while ensuring GDPR compliance, please let me know. I’d also appreciate hearing about your overall experience and feedback.Thank you!

Last minute bump to the post.

iExel Education Trust is seeking a dedicated Governance and Compliance Officer to join our team in Bradford, West Yorkshire. As the Governance and Compliance Officer, you will be responsible for delivering exceptional governance support throughout the Trust. Your role will involve providing professional clerical services, as well as expert advice and guidance on all governance matters to the Board, Committees, and Local Governing Bodies. Your primary focus will be on ensuring compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements. If you are interested in this position, please contact our HR Team ([email protected]) for the full job description and the application form. Please do not forward CVs without completed application form.

Has anyone migrated from CPOMS to any other safeguarding systems? If so, how did the migration process go and is there automated option or only manual options where we have to download the data and upload it per case instance? Thank you for your help and information in advance.

Hello All, Just adding the comment to move the thread up as the closing date is on this Friday (25th of November). Kind regards,