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We would like to use email but what about those families without
PCs? Will it be divisive?
Schoolcomms specially caters for this, producing lists of
members/parents who need paper copies, conveniently by form group and with the
number of copies required to help the reprographics team. The list can also be
displayed with the addresses from SIMS for easy mail merge if the paper copies
are to be sent by post, or telephone numbers for manual calling.
Will the link with SIMS interfere with our database at all?
No. Schoolcomms reads the
contact data without altering your database
in any way.
How do we get started?
You can choose to import the contact details, email address and
mobile phone number, for all students and staff and also for all family
contacts, directly from SIMS. This enables you to get started immediately.
Alternatively, you can choose to invite people to register for themselves
through the web site using an introductory security letters produced by
Schoolcomms for each member.
How can we be sure that only the right people will get the emails
or texts? What about Spam?
The Schoolcomms system uses its own highly secure
server. Members’ and parents’ details are either taken from SIMS or
entered by themselves through the web site. These are not shared with anyone
else. Members can choose to opt out at any time. Emails
arrive under the name of the school so the recipient knows that
it is a proper message. Parents can save the SMS number in their contacts list.
Won’t it take ages to make up all the groups we need?
No. On import from SIMS or other MIS, the groups for each year
group and form are automatically made for you. For SIMS users, all SIMS
groups are imported including all the teaching groups. Other groups are easy to
select using the search facility.
Will it work on my system?
Can you check this?
You will need an internet connection and a minimum of
Windows XP with Internet explorer 5.5, a
1 GHz processor
and 512 MB of RAM. For full details see the Installation Guide. Your
workstation must support screen resolutions of 800*600 with 24 bit colour or
greater.
SIMS.Net
November 2007 release or later must be installed on your
workstation in order to import data from SIMS.
When using the attendance facility, how do I know which parents
are linked?
The Attendance screen shows tick boxes only for those absent pupils
that have a prime parent linked. The pupils that are not contacted by SMS or
email are displayed separately with the phone numbers next to them, to make the
manual calling of those few much easier and quicker.
How do I get a response from the parent?
The parent can just click reply and send their explanation.
You will see the messages, SMS and email on screen and can directly enter the appropriate mark.
How will I know whether my SMS messages have arrived?
Under Sent items you can check the delivery status of each message, delivered, pending or failed.
Can more than one parent get the messages?
Yes. Up to four parents or guardians can link to each child allowing
separated parents to be kept equally informed of their child’s activities. The
parent can choose whether they are the prime contact if they have registered on
the web site. You can choose to send a message to all or only the prime
parents.
When I want to send a message to a particular pupil how can I
tell whether they or their parent are registered?
Schoolcomms enables the user to see the people linked to each pupil
or member. You can see whether they can receive emails, texts or
both.
We wouldn’t want to have to type out messages into a new system?
Don’t worry, in Schoolcomms you can cut and paste text from your
files or screen into the text box. Alternatively, you can attach files
from other applications.
What is your privacy policy?
Please click here
to view it.
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