txttools limited

Edutxt® from txttools continues rapid sign up in schools, colleges and universities with market leading desktop to mobile application

12th January 2005.
Leeds, UK

The number of educational establishments using SMS text message applications from specialist supplier Cy-nap is growing daily. The main reasons cited by customers for using text messages are: the speed and coverage of text messaging and big cost savings.

edutxt® is being chosen as it is an easy to use application that has been developed over the last four years in association with educators and administrators. Users can not only manage, send and receive messages, they can do much more. They can track delivery progress, use inboxes, quick absentees groups and create frequent-use message templates.

Here’s what some of the users are saying:

Mark Terry Lincoln University: “We are responding to changing patterns of communication and the life experience of students… A lot of students spend time communicating with each other via text message so this service is an extension to that. Although students can obtain all course information from the website, some students do not have Internet access at home – text messaging is a far more immediate and direct way of delivering messages. The service is proving very popular and we have received lots of positive feedback.”

Graham Golding of Derby College: “Cy-nap is the only SMS specialist with a strong reputation in the education sector. It’s vital to have a partner that understands public sector issues. Cy-nap has not only been the technology provider but the team have shown real commitment to making this project a success.”

Stephen McCartney of Northern Ireland LEA: “This is an exciting new service for us… We know from our experience that the vast majority of parents and carers take an active interest in school events and their children’s school attendance”

Elin Marie Griffiths of University Wales Institute Cardiff: “We want to establish real-time contact with students and identified key target audiences, eliminating the time delay inevitable with other forms of communication. The text messaging service is a fresh way for us to do this. Most present and potential students have access to a computer, but often only via school or college library and IT facilities. A higher proportion own a mobile phone and carry it with them… Cy-nap offers an all-round flexible product with a neatly packaged and tailored approach for the education sector. It also allows us to easily transfer data retrieved from our internal management systems.”

Jose Harrap at Farnborough College: “By improving communication with the students at Farnborough we hope this helps them to enjoy their college time even more, which in turn helps the students to complete their studies. Increasing our attendance and completion rate is in the best interest of the students, the college and the community in general. If for example we contact a student or carer on the same day of an absence then we’ve got a much better chance of identifying a problem and resolving it.

“I think the reason we are seeing an explosion in education is because the benefits to the market are pretty obvious: text messaging is quick, discreet, to the point, to the person and inexpensive”, says Stephen McCann, managing director at Cy-nap. “These are exciting times for us, this isn’t just another electronic system in use – it’s a real opportunity to dramatically improve communication between staff, parents and students in all aspects of education.”