Sydney Region NSW Department of Education & Training NSW Public Schools – Leading the Way Sydney Region Bulk SMS Solution For Schools (...and TAFE) (...and offices)

Sydney Region NSW Department of Education & Training NSW Public Schools – Leading the Way The SMS Trial in 2007 During 2007, Sydney Region trialled a centrally-managed bulk-SMS service for schools In that time around 50 schools signed up to use The SMS Engine to assess the feasibility of schools using SMS for communications with staff and parents The formal evaluations conducted showed that the solution was very practical and also very affordable (8c 1-way / 11.2c two-way)

Sydney Region NSW Department of Education & Training NSW Public Schools – Leading the Way The SMS Trial in 2007 Schools used SMS to: –Find and send messages to staff –Send daily absence and late notifications to parents –Allow parents to reply with reasons for absence –Allow parents to notify the school tat their child will be away that day –Notify parents about P&C meetings, weather notifications about Carnivals, bus returns from Excursions, child in sick bay etc Over 150,000 SMSs were sent during the trial

Sydney Region NSW Department of Education & Training NSW Public Schools – Leading the Way Contracting an SMS Solution The trial showed us that we had to continue the service – which meant contracting it We produced tender specifications and received around six responses The key requirement as far as NSW DET Audit were concerned was that the service had to be hosted entirely within Australia The SMS Engine uses an off-shore service and an Australian-only service provided by them would almost double the cost

Sydney Region NSW Department of Education & Training NSW Public Schools – Leading the Way The Front-End SMS Application With The SMS Engine, an easy to use front-end application was provided by the Region. It provided easy importing of data from OASIS and simple composing and distribution of bulk-SMS messages that are both personalised and logged. However, with the new solution, this program is no longer available.

Sydney Region NSW Department of Education & Training NSW Public Schools – Leading the Way The Front-End SMS Application Introducing... SMSpresso Brew your own instant SMS messages. Only 8 cents per SMS all messages are 2-way (plus GST) No contracts No expiry of credits Minimum order of 5000 SMS credits via SR

Sydney Region NSW Department of Education & Training NSW Public Schools – Leading the Way SMSpresso Availabiltiy? MGM Wireless are finalising the account management system and we expect schools to be able to join from the start of Term 3 ’08 The school ordering process will be finalised by the end of this term with notifications about the service sent to all schools shortly If your school is interested and wants to know more, there are plenty of schools that used The SMS Engine who can advise

Sydney Region NSW Department of Education & Training NSW Public Schools – Leading the Way What About The SMS Engine? If your school has The SMS Engine with available credits, you can still use them until they run out –If you wish to stay with The SMS Engine, you can, but the school will have to deal direct with The SMS Engine people After you have used your remaining credits you can join in with SMSpresso –You will need to alert your parents of a change of mobile number for the school –There are some feature differences between the two solutions

Sydney Region NSW Department of Education & Training NSW Public Schools – Leading the Way Questions? Just SMS your Name and Question to Open to anyone 16 years or older. Ask your parents for permission to participate in the SMS Question and Answer Game. SMS costs $4.75 per question/answer pair. Minimum five rounds of questions will be charged to your mobile phone bill. Once five rounds of question/answers have been sent, responses will continue to be received at $2.50 per response. To cease this practical and worthwhile service, reply to one of the responses with the word STOP.