An increasing number of school districts and universities are turning to messaging mobile apps to engage parents and students more effectively. In fact, many are now using cloud-based platforms to allow for greater speed and app performance, along with improved scalability so that future growth can be easily accommodated.
The Role of Messaging Mobile Apps in School Districts
Schools worldwide are beginning to introduce their own branded enterprise messenger mobile apps, seizing upon the opportunity to engage students and their parents and guardians. The role of these school messaging apps is quite varied, allowing for tremendous versatility.
- School delays and closures – Parents receive alerts concerning school closures and delays due to inclement weather or other events.
- Reminders – School officials can send out reminders about parent-teacher conferences, open houses, school vacation days, teacher inservice days and other upcoming events.
- Teacher communications – Individual teachers have the ability to send out updates and news via group chats, with each group containing the parents / guardians of their students.
- Incident reports – Parents are empowered to connect with school administrators and others to report incidents of concern, such as a bullying incident or dangerous conditions in the school drop-off area.
- Parent group chats – Group chat features allow parents to connect with each other, discussing the issues that matter most within their school’s community.
Some apps even have video streaming capabilities, allowing teachers and school administrators to stream events such as student performances or school committee meetings. It’s also possible to conduct video conferences over the app, allowing for remote parent-teacher conferences or virtual parent meetings with school administrators.
Why Are Schools Using Cloud-Based Messaging Apps?
In general, cloud-based messaging apps are rapidly gaining popularity due to a few factors, including scalability, affordability and security.
Cloud platforms are known to be exceptionally secure — a very desirable trait for a school messaging app. The “accessible from anywhere” nature of the cloud demands a robust security interface with end-to-end encryption, among other features.
The cloud also allows users to pay for only the resources that they use. This is ideal for budget-conscious school districts that cannot afford to pay for resources that they may never actually utilize. Schools that do not offer summer courses will also appreciate a pay-as-you-go and pay-for-what-you-use approach since resource utilization will drop off dramatically during the summer months.
On a related note, the cloud is also extremely scalable, allowing for growth or downscaling as needed. In many cases, there is no need to make any adjustment to your service plan; adjustments occur automatically and in real time as demand changes.
Modern cloud technology also allows for exceptionally good performance, which is certainly important when you are running a mobile application with hundreds or thousands of users.
A Custom Messaging App That Lets You Control Your Data
At 7T, we enjoy working with cutting-edge technologies such as machine learning and we have also developed an enterprise messaging app called SayHey Messenger.
SayHey Messenger not only offers a robust messaging toolset, but it also empowers companies to own and control their messaging data. That’s something that very few messaging platforms can say, as most do not provide the user with ownership of their data; most also limit user control over data.
SayHey Messenger can be integrated into an existing CRM, enterprise resource planning software system or other software platform. It is also available as a stand-alone mobile app, providing the communications versatility that school districts and universities need. It’s a great alternative to Slack chat and WhatsApp, amongst others.
At 7T, our development team works with company leaders who are seeking to solve problems and drive ROI through digital transformation. As an innovative Dallas software and mobile app development company, 7T offers collaborative, multi-phased software development services to clients in all business sectors.
Our offices are situated in Dallas, Houston and Austin, but our clientele spans the globe. If you’re ready to learn more about a messaging mobile app or a SayHey Messenger integration for your school or university, contact 7T today.
