There is an unspoken trust between parents and schools since they have the same overarching goal to produce productive and bright students. One of the most effective ways to forge trust is through communication. As parents entrust their children to your institution, they expect to be updated on their activities, status, and performance.
But with hundreds to thousands of parents who are likely working hard to afford quality education, it is not realistic to pull them out of their offices for a regular meeting. One way to rectify this is to adopt a mass calling system for schools.
Essentially, the mass calling and text messaging services is the ideal solution for schools to send out timely and emergency notifications not just to parents but to students, as well. They can quickly distribute information in real-time without the need to personally talk to them one-by-one.
Here are some of the examples you can use the mass text messaging system:
- School meetings and activities
- School cancellations
- Weather disturbances
- PTA meetings
- New policies and rules
- Changes in regular schedules
- Changes in teacher schedules
- Requests for teacher substitutes
- Emergency information
- Exam schedules
The mass texting platform can be used to update parents on the performance of their kids in school. For instance, they would immediately be informed if their children are always tardy or have been skipping their classes. In this way, both the school administrators and the parents can intervene at the earlier possible moment and get to the bottom of the problem.
You can also use the mass calling system for schools for public service advisories, particularly on hot-button issues like racism, bullying, cyber-bullying, violence, sexual harassment, drugs, drunk driving, and suicide.
How to Choose a Mass Calling or Texting Platform
You only need to go to Google to realize that multiple service providers offer a mass calling system for schools. It can be daunting to choose one. At the very least, look for the following features for your mass calling or texting system:
- Customization — You can personalize the templates and the fields that may include the name of the recipient, the subject of the activity, and the date and time.
- Flexibility — Whether you are sending the information to a single person or a collective recipient of up to several thousand, the platform should be able to deliver the message to the target individual in the shortest possible time. The delivery time, of course, will depend on the total recipients. For instance, sending a message to 10,000 people will take about 10 minutes.
- Quick response feature — Some text platforms do not have the capability to reply to queries. You need a system that allows you to respond from the same number should there be any need clarification from the parents. The function will minimize confusion and miscommunications, which would hamper your communication strategy.
- Add-ons — Some platforms only send exclusive texts. But you may need to send out infographics on school advocacies, for instance. Or you may need to send a short public service announcement. Make sure that your system supports most types of media.
Finally, the parents can have an opt-out option for the mass calling system for schools if their kids graduate or need to transfer schools. The feature will make your life easier because the school avoids having to clean its library of recipients who regularly receive notifications.
