Integration isn't particularly difficult.
In an open system (ie, a system built on an Open
Source database, where querying the underlying data
didn't violate your EULA, and/or was allowed as part
of you bought with your hosting fees) querying phone
numbers from student/parent records is easy.
Asterisk is an open source telephony product that
could be used to get the call center going -- see
http://www.asterisk.org/support/features for more
details.
And you *already* have the ability to send text
messages via email to your students. Most plans allow
you to send txt to a phone via email, and the
addresses can be inferred from the service provider.
See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_gateways#Email_to_SMS
for details --
So, if you have the ability to send mass emails to
people, you can send mass texts as well --
The options exist to make this work in the open source
world. The one time expense to develop this could re
recouped in savings on annual maintenance. The savings
could be regained more quickly if the expense was
shared among multiple schools.
Cheers,
Bill
PS: Feel free to send me a txt via email at
9714098066@txt.att.net --
tell me what I'm missing :)
--- Ellen Baru <ebaru@cathedralnyc.org> wrote:
> I forgot about the integration feature. We use
> PowerSchool and I believe
> the company said it would integrate with that.
> Ellen
>
> Ellen Baru
> Director of Technology
> The Cathedral School
> 1047 Amsterdam Avenue
> New York, NY 10025
>
> Phone: 212-316-7447
> Fax: 212-316-7558
>
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