SMS Messaging
Send text messages directly to students, parents, and staff — individually or in bulk — and manage replies in the built-in inbox.
Sending an SMS to students / parents
Open the SMS Dashboard
Click SMS Dashboard in the left navigation menu.
Click "Student SMS"
You will see a searchable contacts list showing all students with their phone numbers and contact status.
Select your recipients
Select students individually, by year group, by class/registration group, by other criteria (gender, house, FSM, age, ethnicity), or from a pre-built SMS group.
Compose your message
Click Compose SMS. Write your message or load a template. Each standard SMS is 160 characters — the counter shows parts used.
Preview the message
Click Preview to see a sample with personalisation substitutions (e.g. student name) applied. Verify everything looks correct.
Send
Click Send SMS. A confirmation dialog shows total recipients and credits to be used. Click Confirm to send.
Track delivery
Go to Delivery Intelligence or Delivery Audit to see real-time delivery statuses (delivered, failed, pending).
Sending an SMS to staff
Click "Staff SMS"
From the SMS Dashboard, click Staff SMS to see a list of staff contacts.
Select recipients and compose
Tick the staff members you want to message, click Compose, write your message, and click Send.
SMS Groups
Groups let you save a list of recipients for quick future messaging without re-selecting each time.
Go to Group Manager
In the SMS Dashboard, click Groups then Create Group.
Name the group
Give it a clear name like "Year 11 Parents" or "Science Department Staff".
Add members and save
Click Add Members, search for and add students or staff, then click Save.
SMS Templates
Templates save time when sending common messages. Go to SMS Dashboard → Templates to manage them.
Click "New Template"
On the Templates page click New Template.
Write your template
Give it a name and write the message. Use {{forename}} to insert the student's name automatically.
Save
Click Save Template. It now appears in the template dropdown when composing messages.
SMS Inbox
Replies from parents and students appear in SMS Inbox on the SMS Dashboard.
- Unread messages are highlighted — click to mark as read
- Click a message to see the full conversation thread and reply directly
- Replies from unknown numbers appear in Orphan Inbox
- Staff replies appear in the Staff Inbox
SMS Analytics & Delivery Reports
| Report | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Delivery Intelligence | Real-time dashboard — delivery rates, failed messages, pending statuses |
| Delivery Audit | Full log of every SMS sent, with timestamp, recipient, and status |
| SMS Usage | Credits used per period — useful for budgeting |
| Failed Delivery Report | Students whose messages failed — investigate missing numbers |
| Missing Primary Number | Students with no valid phone number on record |
| SMS Totals | Summary statistics by date range or campaign |