txttools limited

Over 100 million text messages are sent every day in the UK and most of them are from young people. Now schools are starting to benefit from fast desktop text messaging and cutting costs at the same time.

Oct 2006

Leeds, UK

For the vast majority of people working in schools the everyday method of contacting parents has been the humble satchel post, but that is rapidly changing and the countless crumpled notes languishing at the bottom of schoolbags are being replaced by a communication method more appropriate to the 21st century. Parents, and in some cases students, are now being sent text messages directly to their phones. This communication is quick, discreet, to the point, to the person, eco-friendly and delivery can be tracked to the handset unlike the poor crumpled satchel post note.

Independent School database specialist WCBS has joined forces with SMS text message experts Cy-nap to use the edutxt® messaging platform in co-operation with the PASS management information system. School management and teachers are now feeling real benefits from this meeting of technologies. They can take their existing contacts from their administration system into edutxt® and then type messages into a simple web interface. They can send messages to individuals or groups now or schedule them for delivery at some time in the future. Those messages can be for parents or students.

The SMS (Short Message System) text message market is booming. This time last year there were close to 2 billion messages in one month sent in the UK, in July 2006 this was over 3 billion and the growth shows no signs of slowing.

We investigated the ways that schools are using desktop text messaging and these are some of our findings: Instant messages – about school closure, rearranged sports fixtures or late returning trips. Reminders or changes to parent teacher evenings / training days / calendar dates. Reminders to sign up for trips, or return forms. In house communication between management teams / heads of year etc. Daily exam tips are also being sent to help students revise.

There are a number of companies which offer SMS services, but only one company which specialises in the education market: edutxt®. The edutxt® application is a secure online application, you log in online much like you do when you are accessing online banking – in fact the security is the same.

edutxt® is used by over 170 UK universities & colleges and hundreds of schools. It allows the user to simply manage, send and receive text messages to a mobile phone anywhere in the world. It is possible to send a text to one person or any number of people instantly.

Tony Child managing director of WCBS said “An increasing number of PASS users have requested a text messaging add-on to the software. As this is an area where we have no expertise or experience we feel it is best to partner with an industry leader. PASS2.1, shipping in early 2007, has the ability for schools to push the appropriate contact data to edutxt. This will allow users to take full advantage of the full range of texting services and options available from edutxt, whilst increasing the scope of their PASS system.”

Stephen McCann, managing director of edutxt says; “We are very pleased to be working in partnership with such a well respected company as WCBS.” He continues “Text messaging is causing the same kind of stir in education that e-mail did 10 years ago when it started to replace paper communication, it revolutionized fast, effective, to-the-point communication. The key difference is that e-mail is still only available to a percentage of the population and when they are at their desks – the mobile phone is with almost the entire population wherever they are day and night. To be able to harness this technology using existing contacts from the administration system gives the school a very powerful communication tool indeed.”

For further information email info@edutxt.co.uk or visit www.wcbs.co.uk and www.edutxt.co.uk

A one month free trial is available on request.

About edutxt®

“mobile technology helping people to manage their lives”

The company specialises in high quality text message applications for the education sector. edutxt® is used extensively in schools, colleges and universities to communicate with students and parents.

About PASS

PASS is the leading school-wide management information system for the UK’s independent school sector. It is produced and supported by WCBS, the company that has specialised in meeting the needs of this sector for over 20 years. The software is in use in more than 330 such schools.

PRESS CONTACT

For further information or a free trial please contact:

Stephen McCann
t: +44(0)113 234 2111
e: smccann@cy-nap.com
w: www.txttools.co.uk

WCBS Contact

Tony Child
t: +44(0)1458 833344
e: Tony.Child@wcbs.co.uk
w: http://www.wcbs.co.uk

LVMT Business School have chosen edutxt® as it is the only SMS text message application developed specifically for education

Oct 2006

After one year of using the edutxt desktop text messaging application to stay in touch with prospective students, London’s LVMT Business School decided to sign up for a further 3 years. It is clearly working. Arran Airs is the Marketing Manager for the Business School and he has found he edutxt package from messaging specialists Cy-nap to be just the right tool for the job:

“We have signed up again for a three year contract with edutxt because we have been incredibly impressed with them. This innovative tool has revolutionised the marketing at LVMT. Recently we conducted a competition with a leading accountancy magazine for students and the response was overwhelming! It created an awareness of our college well outside of our normal reach. It has also allowed our administration team to offer a greater level of student support, which has been instrumental in retaining students. The after sales support team at edutxt are always helpful too!”

As Sales and Marketing Manager for LVMT Business School I’ve been pleased with our edutxt package of services and support; the training was excellent and the support was right there straight away on the few occasions we needed it right through the year.

The results that we have had when running marketing campaigns with a text response mechanism have been simply outstanding. The way it works is that the interested student texts in and they get an automated response so that they know we have their request, regardless of the time of day or night. We have now captured their data and can export that into almost any format of database, it almost builds itself! The School is then in a position to quickly and easily send information to the prospect, reminders for open days and as part of general ‘keep warm’ campaigns.

Once the student starts it has been very useful for the administration team to be able easily stay in touch with the students and of course they can inexpensively text back to us. There is no doubt this has improved our retention rates. The team can also schedule into the system many of our general reminders and welcomes (at the start of each term). This allows us to plan ahead and don’t necessarily have to send all our texts to go immediately. We find that scheduling messages ahead of time is a useful feature. We can also do very cool things like filter inbound messages based on content, time or sender. For example a message containing the word ‘help’ that comes in outside college hours can be redirected to the duty officers mobile and he can decide if it is urgent or not.”

Stephen McCann, managing director of Cy-nap, commented: “We are very pleased that LVMT have signed up for a further 3 years, we must be doing something right. Arran isn’t the first person to praise our support team, he joins an ever increasing fan base. They are a smart, hard working team who really do care about and give outstanding support. They are part of the reason that existing customers are currently renewing at the rate of 97% per year”

About LVMT Business School

The LVMT Business School was established a decade ago by business professionals and academics, with a zest for education.

We are a vibrant, rapidly expanding college currently enrolling 7,000 students and operating in 12 countries. We have an enviable record of success in helping our students pass the most demanding of professional examinations. We are committed to achieving the best possible success for our students ensuring that they are highly sought after by employers.

Our aim is to bridge the gap between theory and practice. This is achieved by providing students with a practical environment, within which to practice the skills they have learned in their chosen specialised field.

For further information please contact:

Arran Airs, Sales and Marketing Manager, LVMT Business School

e-mail: arran@Lvmt.com

tel: Tel: +44 (0) 207 456 9060, +44 (0) 207 456 9061

About Cy-nap

“mobile technology helping people to manage their lives”

txttools™ is a brand of Cy-nap Ltd, the company was established in January 2001 and is the result of over 14 years of innovation within the technology market.

edutxt® is used extensively in schools, colleges and universities

meditxt® has been developed specifically for use in hospitals, clinics and surgeries

For further information please contact:

Stephen McCann,
Director
t: +44(0)113 234 2111
m: +44(0)7866 438056e: smccann@cy-nap.com
w: www.cy-nap.com www.txttools.co.uk