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FOR EDUCAT ION
T H EM E S S A G E
F R O N T L I N E
WELCOME TO FRONTLINE!
a note from our team
Hey there!
Welcome to Frontline! We're excited you're here.
We've developed this guide to help you get up and running with the best practices for
using SMS in education. Frontline has helped a huge range of educational
institutions build messaging into the way they communicate - from rural schools in
Papua New Guinea to Harvard in Cambridge. And, of course, we've made our share
of mistakes along the way. We wrote this to help you avoid making the same mistakes.
That way, you can focus on building a better education and we'll focus on keeping you
on message.
Frontline helps educators engage parents, streamline administration, and improve
learning outcomes - all through tapping the power of SMS. We build professional grade
information management tools, specifically tailored to the world's most used
communication platform: messaging. Our platform makes it easy to focus on the
conversations that need your attention and automate the things that don't. Sign-up and
send your first SMS within minutes - all without writing a line of code.
We hope you'll join the growing community of Frontline educators, from Arkansas to
Azerbaijan. Still on the fence? Let us know how we can help!
\o/
Sean + the Frontline team
F R O N T L I N E S M S . C O M / E D U C A T I O N
YOU NEEDSMSTO USE
WHY
use SMS on a regular basis
5.8 BILLION PEOPLEof Facebook & WhatsApp
SMS HAS 4X THE REACH
(and 90% open SMS within 3 seconds!)
SMS HAS AN OPENRATE OF 98%
REAL-TIME DATAStay connected,
even where the Internet doesn't
We know parents, teachers, and schoolsare the foundation of a goodeducation. We also know that keepingthem all connected can be tough.
Messaging reaches parents directly -
bridging the gap between home andschool, parents and teachers, andnotifications and deadlines.
Frontline makes it easy to send tailored,actionable messages so everyone staysengaged in building a better education.
ENGAGE PARENTS
01:
SMS should be short, clear, and actionable. That way, parents can receive, read, andrespond immediately - cutting communications that used to take days down tominutes, feeding responses directly into your dashboards and database.
Everyone suffers when bad communication results in missed opportunities. WithFrontline, you can automate smart reminders, making sure that parents get thehelp and information they need before the deadline. Every deadline made meansone more opportunity, building trust - one message at a time.
SAVE TIME WITH GROUP MESSAGING AND AUTOMATION
THE POWER OF FRONTLINE
Frontline brings modern, professional data management to mobile messaging, so you canbring high-quality, low-cost communication to parents, students, and teachers. Whetheryou're reaching 10 or 10,000, there's no better way to do it than the platform they usemost on the phone already in their pocket.
Frontline's award-winning winning technologies will help you get more value from yourcommunity in less time - getting everyone on the same page, one message at a time.
HOW EDUCATORS ENGAGE PARENTS WITH FRONTLINE
Schedule PTA meetingsSend report card notificationsDeliver tardy and absentee noticesQuickly send emergency/crisisnotificationsStep-by-step walkthroughs foradmissions & financial aid
Coordinate extracurricular activitiesReport on class performance,behavior, and assignmentsCreate parent support networksSend school closure remindersCoordinate fees, permission slips,scholarship applications and more!
SMS BRIDGES THE GAPS IN PARENT COMMUNICATION
BUILD TRUST THROUGH COMMUNICATION
BEST PRACTICES FOR COMMUNICATING WITH
PARENTS OVER SMS
Set up opt-in news feeds for parentsMost parents want to connect with schools, just on their own terms. Setting up separatenews feeds, delivered with messages, helps parents stay involved with the things they'reinterested in - and saves wasted effort contacting them about the things they're not.
Allow parents to pick the frequency of communicationSome parents may want to receive communication daily, while other's prefer weeklyupdates - or just when their input is needed. Create options for different preferences,balanced with the needs of the student and the school.
Make sure that parents have clear instructions for how to opt-out of particularcommunications and to request other forms of communication, like email or a phone call.
Offer opt-outs and alternatives
Set clear expectations and frame next stepsEvery text communication should be clear about how long it should take, what kind ofresponse you want, and when it's concluded. That way, participants can plan when andhow to respond. Also let them know what next steps look like.
Make it easy for parents to connect with each otherGood education messaging helps parents form groups and support networks, in additionto direct communication between parents and teachers. One way to help is setting up a"parents only" threads using Frontline autoforwards, so groups can communicate to theirpeer group, all at once.
Have a voice. A polite voice.Even schools need a "voice" - make sure whoever manages your messaging is thoughtfulabout keeping a constructive tone and responding directly. Also, don't forget to be polite! Alittle bit of courtesy goes a long way toward keeping parents engaged.
Be action orientedMessaging is best when it's tied to an action or decision - engage parents at key momentswhen your notification, reminder, or question has the most value.
02:STREAMLINE ADMIN
Lots of school's communication habitswere designed before instant digital andmobile. Frontline uses professional messaging to streamline administrativeprocesses, saving your team hoursof tedium, data entry, and wasted time.
Streamlining administration improvesparent satisfaction, staff efficiency,and student learning outcomes.
Frontline connects parents' communication directly with your database, meaning real-time data without the hours of data entry. We make it easy to automatically track andfollow-up on administrative processes, like student absence notifications, parentsignatures on permission slips, and logistics, so you don't have to. We help give yourteam the time to focus on the students, parents, and tasks that need them most.
MANAGE, AUTOMATE, AND MEASURE DATA IN REAL TIME
HOW ONE SCHOOL FREED UP 98% OF EMPLOYEES' TIME
The Bursara Center for Behavioral Economics is a research and testing organization that saved98% of its outreach time by using Frontline. In order to coordinate that many test takers, theteam included 2 full-time staff, who spent 8 hours a day reaching out to between 150 and 200people. With the use of Frontline, it took one person less than 30 minutes - freeing them up tofocus on important things, like their research.
Messaging made it possible, Frontline made it powerful. Like the Bursara Center, schooladministrators spend hours on inefficient and laborious communication practices. With theright tools, messaging can improve efficiency, satisfaction, and even leaning outcomes.
STREAMLINE DAY-TO-DAY ADMIN WITH FRONTLINE
Deliver permission slips, attendancenotifications, and report cardsOrganize eventsDeliver financial aid remindersConduct quick surveys to measureparent, teacher and student satisfaction
Every school is different, so our team andtech are flexible. We'll tailor to solvewhatever challenges your team faces.
Want to learn more? Get in [email protected]
FOCUS ON WHAT MATTERS: FREE UP
TIME BY STREAMLIN ING ADMINISTRATION
When students can access the informationthey need, engagement leads to learning.Frontline makes it easy to answerquestions, automate FAQs, sendassignment reminders, and organize extra-
curricular activities, all via messaging.
Messaging can also be a channel forstudents to ask for information and helpthat may be awkward in class or in-person.
IMPROVE LEARNING OUTCOMES
03:
HOW TO ENGAGE STUDENTS AND IMPROVE
LEARNING THROUGH SMS
LINK COMMUNICATION TO CONTENTSMS is a powerful way to connect with students - and it is also a powerful way to connectstudents with additional materials. Whether it's a relevant link, a homework reminder, oradditional content that explains a difficult concept, there's no better bookmark than amobile inbox. Use Frontline to make sure students have what they need to excel.
Improving learning is about improving engagement, which SMS does asynchronouslyand at scale. Here are some of our best practices for improving student learning.
DEVELOP MEANINGFUL INCENTIVESExtra-curricular messaging creates new opportunities to encourage engagement withsubject matter. With Frontline, teachers can send extra-credit activities, set up flash polls,and offer prizes for creative engagement. Our tools create a supervised, professionalmessaging space, for students, teachers, and administrators. Frontline gives teachersbetter, safer tools to offer extra choice, credit, and incentives for creative learning.
Parents are an important part of learning. Messaging opens a direct channel, that makes iteasy to give parents the information they need, without giving out a teacher's personalphone number. Good, safe communication helps schools run and students excel.
PARENTS ARE YOUR BEST LEARNING ADVOCATE
OFFER PUSH AND PULL COMMUNICATIONSometimes, the right information finds us at the right time - but more often than not, we findit when we need it. With Frontline, educators can push content AND make it possible forstudents and parents to ask for what they need via text, when they need it.
HOST VIRTUAL OFFICE HOURSWith Frontline, teacher availability isn't limited to the classroom. Messaging cangive parents and students a safe and private space to ask questions. By opening a safespace to ask more questions, schools can identify and address gaps in learning.
GET
STARTEDW I T H
F R O N T L I N E
HOW TO GET STARTED WITH FRONTLINESMS
CLOUD.FRONTLINESMS.COM
CREATE OR IMPORTCONTACTS
YOU CAN START EXPERIMENTING WITH A FREE ACCOUNT - SIGN UP AT:
CONNECT TO A MOBILENETWORK
We have the most connection options in theworld. You can use a web-based serviceslike Twilio or Nexmo, or even integrate
directly with a mobile phone network. If youhave an Android phone, download our freeapp, FrontlineSync, from the Google Play
store.
You can import contacts intoFrontlineCloud with popular services like yourGoogle or Apple address books, or through
popular file formats like .csv (comma separatedvalue) or .vcf (VCard). You also have the optionto manually enter new contacts or have people
register themselves via text.
BUILD YOUR FIRSTACTIVITY
Activities are tools within Frontlinethat automate the actions the platformtakes. You can configure Activities to do
almost anything you want, like triggering anautomatic reply to an incoming message orMissed Call. Advanced Activities offer awide range of options, which you have
access to at Pro and above.
SEND AN SMS WITHINMINUTES
Now that your mobile network is connected,you've imported contacts, and created anactivity, you can send your first message!We recommend doing a test to yourself andyour colleagues. The entire onboarding
process takes just a few minutes so you canfocus on what matters: engaging with your
community.
CHOOSE THE PLAN THAT WORKS FOR YOU
CONTACT US FOR CONSULTING SERVICES
LOOKING FOR MORE HANDS-ON ASSISTANCE?
Sometimes all you need is a littleplanning. We'll make sure thestage is set for your team to besuccessful. We'll help you
connect to a mobile network,import contacts and setup youractivities to help you get started.
Our team has a decade of award-winning experience helping organizations around the world leverage mobile.
In addition to getting you started werecognize every team is different,and this package is designed to
bring you customization. At this level,we will develop training for yourteam, design tailor-made activitiesand we'll set you up with the mobileconnection that best fits your needs.
We help organizations grow theirbusiness and their operations
using effective mobileengagement. We can support
with content, analytics,responsive design and platformcustomization to ensure you
achieve your goals and go on tothe next one.
START BUILD GROW
/o\
G E T C O N N E C T E D
F R O N T L I N E S M S . C O M / E D U C A T I O NE D U C A T I O N @ F R O N T L I N E S M S . C O M
