Communication is key when you are running a school, college or University. It is important that you can distribute vital information to parents and students the moment it is necessary and often at short notice. Traditional methods of contact such as sending a letter home, contacting parents over the phone or by email all have their disadvantages. After all, information sent by the post or sent home with pupils can often be delayed, received too late and, in some cases, intercepted by the student if it contains some unwanted news! Phone calls are also unreliable as parents are often at work or just too busy to answer the phone. Emails can be read too late and even be blocked by spam filters. This is why a bulk SMS service can be the perfect communication tool. You can quickly construct a message which will then be delivered directly to the handset of parents or pupils within seconds of being sent. Nowadays, everyone carries their phone on their person almost all the time so you can be sure that your message will be opened and, if necessary, acted upon as soon as it is read. Here are just some of the ways that you can use a bulk SMS service:
The parent scheme:
- Give reminders containing details of upcoming events such as school plays, assemblies and parents’ evenings. These messages can be tailored specifically to the parents of a particular class or year group.
- Send important information at short notice such as school closures due to weather conditions, sports day cancellations or the cancellation of any other upcoming event.
- Notify parents about changes to the school website or links they can access to get more information.
- Set up a voting system to elect new school governors or to vote on other matters affecting the school.
- Notifications on grade and behaviour reports, newsletters and other important information that is due to be sent out soon.
The student scheme:
- Notify students of upcoming release dates for exam timetables, term dates, assessment collection points and other important information.
- Prompt students to make appointments with their tutors, sign up to academic events or attend compulsory meetings.
- Provide links where students can access their grades or information pertaining to their course.
- Send out information regarding studies that require participants and details on how to sign up.
- Information regarding societies such as AGM, socials and other important dates.
For more information about the SMS services we provide please contact our customer service team on 0845 122 1302.