Setting up Private Messaging
Private Messaging works by importing a list of contacts in an Excel sheet. This can be exported from your pupil management system such as SIMs or Aladdin. See below for more information on this.
We then send parents an SMS message with a link to download and/or verify their app. Parents will receive your ongoing messages via App notifications and Email.
You can then message specific groups or selected contacts. You also have the advantage of seeing who is opening messages. The system also auto-resends messages to parents who haven’t opened the original message.
Here are some documents for the setup process https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/15fu7qtNdEQzJKTCSaISbGtu-vQ4Ao0lv?usp=sharing
Exporting Contacts from SIMs (UK Only)
This document gives you instructions on how to do the report needed in sims. The report should look similar to the Example format document attached. Don't worry if it's not exactly the same as we will check it before running the full import.
Once you have exported the document from SIMS, let us know, and we will guide you through the next step.
Example Format
These are the fields your document should include. The email and 2nd mobile numbers are optional.
You can also choose to just have Year or Class groups. We recommend having both if you have composite/mixed classes.
| First name | Last name | Year | Class | Mobile 1 | Email 1 | Mobile 2 | Email 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe | Smith | 1 | EB | **** |
|
**** |
|
| Jane | Smith | 3 | WS | **** |
|
**** |
|
Missing 0 for mobile numbers
Don't worry if Excel doesn't show the first 0 on the mobile number. We will sort this when importing the Excel sheet
The name must be in 2 separate columns for First name and Last name
The system will list contacts alphabetically based on the last name
Consent Form
The folder also includes a consent form in case you need to collect permission from the parents. If your current data collection form doesn't include anything about using their data in 3rd party systems you may need to do this before processing.
Information Leaflet
This is an explainer leaflet you can send home to parents to explain their process for downloading the app.
- The parent will be sent an SMS
- They open the link in the message. This link is unique to them and should not be shared.
- This takes them to download the app
- They are not setup to receive private messages from the school
