The Proliferation of SMS
As the number of mobile phones in
society continues to grow, so does the use of SMS (Short Messaging Service) - the inexpensive,
effective communication tool that allows anybody to send a short text
message from one mobile phone to another. Regular uses include arranging
meetings and confirming appointments as well as the ever present social
communication aspect. Over time, SMS texts have taken over from
telephone calls for polls and competition entry due to its sheer
convenience. In fact, more people use SMS than use e-mail due to the
saturation of mobile phones.
Sending SMS Texts from a Computer
Companies, organisations and schools
have now realised that SMS is an effective method for communicating with
their customers, members and community. The flexibility of now being
able to create databases of their clients and send SMS texts from a
computer to groups of individuals has opened a new path for better, more timely and relevant
direct communication. For example:
-
The sporting association can send
an SMS text to all club leaders to advise of ground closures.
-
The Auto Dealership can send SMS
texts to remind customers that their regular service is due.
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The school can send SMS texts to
parents to advise that their child has not arrived at school.
Utilising SMS software that links to
Internet-based SMS service providers can allow for all of these
requirements and many more.
Parent Notification Systems
Schools are now looking toward SMS as a method of
combating the major student welfare issue, truancy at school. In most cases of truancy these days,
parents are not necessarily informed about their child's unexplained
absence from school for several weeks after the event until a posted
letter arrives. SMS offers
an almost instant way of alerting parents that their child is not at
school the same day, or better still, the same morning. Schools
that have adopted one of these parent-alert solutions are
reporting
major decreases in truancy of between 50 and 80%.
Typically, these systems work by
linking with the school attendance reporting system and any
unscheduled absence triggers the sending of an SMS message to the
parent's mobile phone number. Parents are firstly notified that
the school is aware of their child's absence and asks the parent to
contact the school to explain the absence, if there is a known
reason. If the reason is unknown to the parent, then they are more
likely to act in response to their child's unexplained absence. As
a parent, it is difficult to act if they are not alerted to the absence
until several weeks after the event.
The schools that use these systems are also
becoming aware of the cost of operating such systems when they involve
specialised software, SMS gateways and ongoing SMS charges for each
message sent. In most cases, these costs extend to several
thousand dollars per year, in some cases, over $10,000. Still, this
can be significantly cheaper and is far more effective than the traditional postal service method
of alerting parents.
The SMS Engine and Schools
The SMS Engine (http://www.thesmsengine.com)
is a Sydney-based business offering reliable and affordable
Internet-driven SMS services to a variety of organisations. They allow
the flexibility for schools to use their website directly to send group
or individual SMS texts, or to use specifically-designed software run
from school to interface seamlessly with their website. The recent release
of The SMS Engine for Windows means schools can take full
control of their SMS needs, store their own databases and custom groups
and integrate their student absentee data to produce an automated Parent
Notification System. Furthermore, The SMS Engine for Windows makes it
easy for schools to directly contact their own staff, casual staff and
various parent groups such as P&C and School Councils in just seconds.
The system also allows for 2-way SMS to occur. Send a text from The SMS
Engine for Windows and receive the SMS reply at the school's e-mail
account, as well as in the school's personal SMS Inbox at the SMS Engine
website.
Sydney Region of the NSW
Department of Education and Training has negotiated with The SMS
Engine for bulk-purchase rates for each SMS sent by schools that
subscribe. Instead of paying anywhere between 18c and 25c per SMS text
(plus GST) as is charged by other providers, schools joining the Sydney Region
solution will be charged only 8c for a one-way SMS text or
11.2c for a two-way (where the recipient can reply) SMS
text (plus GST). By centralising the management of the SMS
gateway and utilising the buying-power of the entire Region, an SMS-based Parent Notification System becomes accessible to
many more schools, and not just those that can afford the more expensive
solutions available.
The SMS Engine for Windows can be run in single
mode to send one message at a time, or it can be run in Batch mode which
is explained further below. But basically, you just select a predefined SMS
message, or type your own, and send it off, as shown below:
Here is an example of the
SMS Engine for Windows form filled out:
All of the Predefined
messages are custom definable as are the common phrases in the
SMS
Message Constructor in the middle of the form (best seen in the first
screen shot). Using this Constructor, it's just a simple task to
click on the desired phrases and the SMS is built up for you. This
makes The SMS Engine for Windows great for not only parent notification, but also Staff
notification. For example, if the Principal is needed but is off on the other side of the
school, the school could ring him/her on their mobile, but
that costs extra money. A simple SMS text could be sent to them with just
four clicks of the mouse - 1. "You have a visitor." 2.
"Please come to the office" 3. "as soon as
possible." 4. Send SMS Message. With this
centrally-managed SMS Gateway, there would be an 8c cost to the school to send this message.
Of course, if you don't want to automatically construct your SMS
message, you can still type it into the SMS Message box the
old-fashioned way (but using a full QWERTY keyboard instead of a
cumbersome phone
number pad).
The SMS Engine for Windows in Batch
Mode
Here's where the real
power of The SMS Engine for Windows comes in. It can be tailored to fit in with
existing school administration and attendance systems such as OASIS
and be run in
batch mode. For example, you could have your attendance system
produce an output file containing the day's absences. The SMS
Engine for Windows can then read in that file as a database and automatically send an
"absence" SMS text to each absent child's parent.
The SMS Engine for Windows also
keeps a log of every SMS text it sends, including date, time, recipient,
mobile number, message contents and sender's name and IP address. The
program
can be run from any Windows PC on the school network and does not need
to be tied down to a specific computer.
Proof of Concept
The SMS Engine for
Windows has been tested on
the NSW DET Wide-Area Network and has been shown to work as specified. It is
expected that a trial of this Parent Notification solution will be extended into two
or more high schools and a K-6 school during term 2, 2007 to fine-tune the interface with OASIS and to develop
standard advice for parents. Following a successful trial, the
service will be offered to other NSW DET schools as an option to tackle
parent communication issues.
The SMS Engine for
Windows is designed
and developed by Stuart Hasic -
stu_hasic@yahoo.com.
It is available free of charge for public schools in the state
of New South Wales in Australia only. Other schools
interested in this new Parent Notification system should contact the developer
directly. (c) 2007 by Stuart Hasic.
The SMS Engine website is
a wholly independent organisation providing SMS services to NSW DET Schools
and to the Sydney Regional Office.
