Searle

We have been using Groupcall’s Emerge since January 2011. There have been quite a few support issues in that time and it reached a point in March 2012 when we were forced to review another product, Bromcom's WebFolder. The school wanted to be able to write back information to SIMS which Emerge simply couldn't do. Groupcall confirmed the feature would be available ifor Emerge in October 2011, but it wasn't. Groupcall confirmed the feature would be available 7 May 2012, but it wasn't. They finally released it Friday 13 July 2012 which gave is one week to evaluate it. However, it meant an update to the database so we delayed. The school finally decided to switch to WebFolder for September 2012. On the day we notified Groupcall of our intent to terminate our contract the option to evaluate the revised product containing the feature we had asked for since September 2011 was denied us. We still had 43 days remaining on our contract. There was no excuse as schools were closing for the summer term. I thought this final action was pretty pettie especially as we had experienced so many difficulties between the big launch in September 2011 and March 2012. We hadn’t ruled out using Groupcall in the future until this particular action. Julian Griffiths-Searle ICT Systems Manager Battersea Park School

I have only recently discovered this website following our school's rapid switch from LGfL 1.0 to 2.0. I have experienced so many problems that it is paradoxically comforting to know that I am not alone. It seems that many other schools have experienced problems as a result of having a series of rules and regulations imposed on them without any prior consultation or consent. If you consider the volume of problems affecting us all, the big question is simple: Is LGfL 2.0 fit for purpose? Please cast your vote. Thanks Julian Griffiths-Searle ICT Systems Manager Battersea Park School

Since we have moved over to LGfL 2.0 services (Synetrix to Atomwide) we can no longer provide external support staff with remote access into our systems without first requesting a USO account to be created by Atomwide. The first time I attempted to have an account created resulted in a support call to Atomwide because the user had the same name and year of birth as someone else. This caused a two day delay. During the support telephone call I asked Atomwide for advice regarding support for SIMS and access by Capita. I was advised that as a registered company all Capita support staff had a USO account. I was further advised to obtain the details from Capita of all the support staff which are involved in outstanding or future cases. I called Capita in order to initiate the remote access for a long outstanding case. I was advised that Capita staff did not have USO accounts. Capita confirmed that they were currently struggling to provide support to several schools due to the lack of remote access. When there is a stupid and unworkable rule then there is no point in having it! I therefore set out to create a fake USO account with an obvious fictitious name: Joe Bloggs. Atomwide refused to create the account without me having to produce proof of Joe Bloggs existence. It seems that Atomwide are now scrutinising all requests and asking us to provide evidence of each user. Is this within their remit? If I was less honest then the options are to create a less obvious name or simply use the USO account of an existing member staff who is never likely to use remote access. The policy to remove remote access was decided by LGfL without any prior consultation with staff working in schools. I intend to have this policy reviewed and hopefully reversed. If this policy affects your school or you anticipate that it will do so in the future then please email [email protected]. If you simply agree that this should be re-enabled then please cast your vote in the poll. Thanks Julian Griffiths-Searle ICT Systems Manager Battersea Park School

I concur with your viewpoint. Who are LGfL to impose these rules and regulations on schools without prior consultation?

I am please to confirm that the desired outcome has been achieved. The policy has been reviewed and reversed (20/06/2012). The staff at our shool can now both send and receive emails using the 4 main email services of: Gmail, Hotmail, iCloud and Yahoo from our supported Apple mobile devices. Thanks to all those who contributed to the poll. I understand that Atomwide did not base their decision on the poll but there were aware of it. It is good to know that they are at least listening.

Since we have moved over to LGfL 2.0 services (Synetrix to Atomwide) we no longer have access to external email systems including: Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo from our mobile devices e.g. iPod Touches, iPads, iPhones etc. Hotmail is the only system which works, no doubt due to its similarity to the LGfL LondonMail. The policy to remove this access was decided by LGfL without any prior consultation with staff working in schools. It was possibly decided prior to the proliferation of mobile technology in the classroom. I intend to have this policy reviewed and hopefully reversed. If this policy affects your school or you anticipate that it will do so in the future then please email your contact at LGfL. If you simply agree that this should be re-enabled then please cast your vote in the poll. Thanks Julian Griffiths-Searle ICT Systems Manager Battersea Park School

I have been frustrated by the sudden switch from Synetrix to Atomwide. I understand that LGfL have imposed lots of restrictions for us have reduced the level of service we can provided to staff, support companies and outsourced services e.g. catering, NHS etc. I have also considered jumping ship but have decided to weather the storm a bit longer. We need LGfL to listen to our requirements rather than them dictating irrelevant and inflexible policies. If you have similar frustrations the please submit them to LGfL in the first place. The more we complain the more they have to respond. If we don’t we then consider jumping ship! Julian Griffiths-Searle ICT Systems Manager Battersea Park School