As a sector, education faces many communication challenges while being under constant budget pressure and arguably one of the least able to invest in new technologies. Schools, the wider school community and the overarching agencies all face increased demand for better and more timely information.

Some communication needs are based around end-user convenience and the challenges of dealing with changeable information – Is the event on or off? Has it been moved? Is it still running on time? While other information directly reflects the educators ‘duty of care’ and how they properly respond to urgent or emergency situations.

So the reliability of SMS broadcasts still plays an important and vital role, particularly when it’s a cloud-based service able to be accessed anywhere/anytime, even more so when its tightly integrated into the student management system.

Taking this technology to the next step involves school specific mobile apps that manage alerts, handle payments and generally reduce the amount of paperwork and administrative time for parents and schools alike.