SMS messaging for call centres

Although texting might be a big no-no when in the classroom, it is a crucial tool in the education sector. From communication between staff and students, to keeping parents informed, SMS is a trusted, reliable, and cost-effective solution that is hard to beat.

Let’s look at how SMS is being used in education:

1. Emergency notifications

With its 98% read rate, SMS is the perfect tool to let parents know of any emergency or crisis that may affect their children. Flood warnings, severe heat waves, or even a stomach bug doing the rounds - group SMSes are sent to all parents and read within minutes. It’s the ideal communication solution for urgent notifications.

2. Billing reminders

Let’s face it, parents have a lot on their minds already, and sometimes, paying school fees can slip through the cracks. One of the easiest ways to minimise the number of missed payments, and help parents keep track of their accounts, is to set up fee reminders to be sent via SMS ahead of time. Using our platform, you can even schedule SMSes to be sent on a certain day.

3. Parent-teacher meeting reminders

Many parents have full-time jobs, which can make it challenging for teachers to coordinate parent-teacher meetings, and for parents to remember them.

With SMS, you can save time by sending personalised messages to all parents with their relevant date and time, and you can also schedule the appointment reminders to ensure that parents are reminded about their meetings.

4. Reminders and Notifications

Schools, colleges, and universities around the globe are sending out SMS reminders and notifications to their teachers, learners, parents, ground staff and more. These institutions are using SMS to communicate things like upcoming sports days or training schedules, learner exam reminders, staff schedules (especially in time a time of COVID), and even reminders to students about what to bring on the next camping trip.

5. Lockdown and school closure information

Over the last 2 years, many schools were forced to shut down with little to no lead time. SMS has seamlessly connected parents, teachers and learners, letting them know of the shutdown times and dates. And now, as schools across the globe are still dealing with the unpredictable nature of the pandemic, SMS continues to keep everyone informed of any changes to the schedule. SMS allows for reliable and quick delivery of time-sensitive information to thousands of contacts at once, it’s the perfect communication tool in the time of a crisis.

6. Exams and test results

Sending an SMS is one of the quickest and most reliable ways to send personalised exam results to students. In many countries, results are first released via SMS because of its efficiency and availability on all mobile phones, making it the perfect solution.

7. Confidential communications

SMSes facilitate two-way communication between parents and staff in cases where confidentiality is essential, and record keeping is essential. For example, parents can be notified by teachers about their child’s behaviour or lack of class attendance.

8. Event coordination

Event coordination is no simple task. Using SMS messaging for the organisation of event staff means that everyone knows what is expected when. From timetables to scheduled reminders, event coordination is made easy with SMS.

9. Event updates

Sometimes you have to deal with last-minute changes when organizing a school event, and SMS can help everyone keep up with the changes. For example, if you need to switch times or locations, you can quickly send a group SMS to everyone involved.

The communication needs in the education sector are diverse. From internal school comms, to communicating with students and parents, the channel used needs to be accessible, reliable and familiar to everyone, which is why SMS is the perfect tool.

BulkSMS.com offers SMS messaging at a discounted rate for schools and non-profit organisations in South Africa and the United Kingdom.