Frequently Asked Questions

e-Contact

1. How can we set up e-messaging/e-contact to identify truants?

Identifying truants is very straightforward. By using a combination of reporting groups, scheduled reporting and text/email messaging, these can produce lists of absent students automatically and deliver the lists by email to key staff. Parents can then be sent a text message or email with an audit trail to keep track of who has been notified.

2. Is there a simpler way of setting up watch lists for truancy monitoring?

Setting up watch lists has been considerably improved in platform 3 and gives the school a much greater degree of control over the how the system functions in relation to delivery options, message templates etc.

3. How can we track post-registration truancy?

There are specific reports to identify students that go absent after registering for their AM session. We can also now provide today’s attendance for every student to every member of staff taking any register. This coupled with every teacher being able to see the attendance percentage of students everytime they call a register is a very powerful way of tracking subject absenteeism.

4. How do other schools manage their daily absence routines?

Other schools have various methods of managing their daily absences, these include letter generation, automatically generated reports to key staff, student status monitoring and of course text messaging and voice calls to parents using e-Contact.

5. How can we send multiple texts to parents for their child’s absence?

Multiple texts can be sent to parents due to the system storing both AM and lesson registrations and can send messages throughout the day if the students attendance status changes.

6. What new innovations does the system have to remain competitive?

Platform 3 includes a number of innovations that make the entire system more powerful and user friendly for new and experienced staff alike. There are also other methods of taking the register including a new version of Winfolder to run on desktops and laptops, as well as a range of new wireless devices with supporting networks that give much greater functions over and above Bromcom data to staff and the school as a whole.