Plan ahead using scheduled messaging On the messaging screens there are now two options for sending messages: Send now and Send later. A message can be scheduled for dispatch up to a month in advance.   Economise on SMS credits by sending an email and then an SMS Send your message by email, and then send an SMS only to those without a linked email address. This is useful for non urgent messages and minimises printing.   Ease the burden by promoting users to administrators Multi user licence holders can now have more than one school administrator user.   Take control by choosing whether to send notifications when manually editing or adding contact details When manually adding or editing a member or family contact details, you can now choose whether to send a notification to the recipient.   Ease team work by flagging inbound messages when they are dealt with Inbound messages can be flagged as processed so that work is not duplicated.   Exercise discretion when writing marks to SIMS When writing the attendance mark back to SIMS, you can now choose whether or not to show the text of the message in the comment box in SIMS.     To find out more about all of Schoolcomms" features contact the sales team on 0844 445 7147 or email sales@schoolcomms.com     New features in Version 5.0   Released January 2008   Attendance contact and Attendance response processing The Attendance screen has been split into two areas: Attendance contact (outgoing) and Attendance response (incoming). Email and SMS responses to attendance messages can now be received in Schoolcomms and displayed on screen. The responses can be read and the appropriate mark written back to SIMS. Manual or voice messages can be logged and processed in the same way. The message is then displayed as a comment in SIMS Attendance. This feature is currently only available for SIMS users.   Receiving SMS messages Schools can receive SMS messages from parents. A new Received messages screen shows SMS and Email messages. Be sure to look for your messages here! SMS Delivery status The sent items screen now shows the delivery status of sent messages. This helps identify invalid numbers and addresses and confirms receipt. Management Reports New reports are available on: Undeliverable email messages Received absence explanations Sundry Enhancements Detailed reporting on data issues with contacts in SIMS Outgoing SMS message bodies shown on Sent Items Screen New features in Version 4.1   Released May 2007   New Pay As You Go Licence Option Choose from a Full Licence or PAYG. New Import Wizard Import Wizard simplifies the member and contacts imports from the schools MIS   Import of SIMS Pre-Admissions Schools can now import pre-admission students and their contacts from SIMS once they they have been 'Accepted'. Automated Account set up and SMS ordering Schools can now create their own account which we will activate within 2 days Schools can order SMS credits directly from the application for immediate provision.    New features in Version 4.0   Released December 2006   Contact import from SIMS   The school can choose to import directly from SIMS all the mobile numbers and email addresses that they store for students, staff and the priority 1 contacts.   Messages can be sent to the whole school community immediately.   These details can be automatically updated from SIMS to ensure that the latest information is being used.   The school can select to import the details of students, staff and/or family contacts.   The school can select to import email addresses and/or mobile numbers       New features in Version 3.1   Released June 2006   Messaging & paper distribution   Paper distribution list for unregistered parents can now be saved as CSV file.   Postal addresses and telephone numbers displayed in CSV file to enable easy mailing of paper copies and phone contact for short messages.   Non resident parents can be separately identified.   Manage School Members & Add/Edit Link   Links can be created by the school for email and SMS.   Recipient details can be edited by the school.   Non resident parents can be flagged     New features in Version 3   Released August 2005   Attendance - Today's unexplained absences   Imports unexplained absences from SIMS Attendance for the current day and displays them on screen.    Shows which absent students have prime parents linked for email and SMS. Users can contact parents by simply ticking the SMS and/or email boxes next to each absent student's name.   SMS and Email unexplained absence messages are sent using default message templates. These can be customised by the school.   Schoolcomms checks that none of the absences have been explained in SIMS before sending the messages. This prevents unnecessary messages from being sent.   Telephone contact details are displayed to simplify contact of unregistered parents.   Attendance: Follow up contact   User selects date range for unexplained absences.    Data displayed on screen for all students in the range.   User ticks boxes to select SMS or email contact.   School can define the reply email address for Attendance so that responses can be dealt with efficiently.     Attendance: Contact history   Complete history of contact available, either by student or by message.     Management   New management reports screen showing school based reports, e.g. list of linked people, list of students without a link, number of messages sent.   Import of all SIMS groups, including teaching groups.   Import of support staff in addition to teaching staff.     To find out more about all of Schoolcomms" features contact the sales team on 0844 445 7147 or email sales@schoolcomms.com

Schoolcomms     About Schoolcomms How does it work? Licence Options Order form Case study 1 Case study 2