SMS Solutions for Maze

Civica Education began working with Message Media in 2008 due to the growing demand from Schools for database driven text messaging (SMS). Schools were telling Civica Education they wanted to harness data from Maze, in particular attendance and absence information, and automate the process of informing parents and care givers.

To begin the process, Civica Education approached a number of specialist SMS providers with Message Media emerging as the clear favourite due to their product offering and strategic approach to partnering.

The first level of integration was released in Maze 9, with schools able to send SMS, as well as emailing users directly from Maze.

This enabled the following process:

  • Teachers record absences in Maze or eMaze
  • The School office runs a report in Maze, capturing students who had an unexplained absence
  • An SMS is sent to all respective parents and caregivers.

Message Media Product Features

  • Extensive Network Provider Integration – the extent of network provider connections determines how quickly and how reliably messages will be received through the proportion of messages sent ‘on-net’ versus through ‘off-net’ or grey routes. The more direct connections to networks, the better the delivery of messages will be.
  • Message prioritisation so that a general message can be distinguished and sent with lower priority than an emergency alert.
  • Text to Voice capability – the recognition of destination numbers in order to pick the appropriate medium to use for messaging rather than simply rejecting messaging to landlines.
  • Message Delivery Support – the availability of 24/7 support using a comprehensive knowledge base determines how quickly issues will be attended to and resolved. The more a software developer works with a 3rd party provider, the more comprehensive the knowledge base of both the software developer and the service provider becomes.
  • Policies, Terms and Conditions – few service providers have strict compliance to anti-spam legislation, and a policy not to support ‘Adult’ services. Picking a provider that does not engage in these areas removes reputation risk through association and removes the risk that inappropriate content may be inadvertently misdirected to the wrong recipients.
  • Innovation – the more commitment to a relationship, the greater the investment in R&D to improve the joint service offering and tailor to the needs of specific software providers.
  • Price – aggregated volumes will normally result in a lower unit cost.
  • Service Management Tools – with an exclusive partnership, monitoring and account management tools provide a single view of services for all users, whereas with multiple partners the view of services for users is distributed within multiple service provider tools.

Solution Summary
Through the existing relationship between Civica Education and Message Media there is a proven track record of success in delivering an end-to-end solution that fully satisfies the messaging needs of multiple schools. Both sides of the partnership invest heavily in product development to maintain their respective market leadership positions.

Together Civica Education and Message Media offer:

  • Comprehensive SMS features.
  • Discreet integration to all Australian network providers (Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, 3) for direct delivery of SMS messages ‘on net’ to handsets.
  • A robust and proven user interface allowing seamless software and messaging integration for the end user.
  • A collective knowledge base for support teams that is specific to the product implementation of the Message Media service.
  • Competitive pricing.
  • High service levels with a money back guarantee in the event of service issues.
  • Data security, using encryption across system interfaces and the undertaking ofindependent penetration tests twice a year to make sure data within the Message Media service cannot be accessed inappropriately.
  • A partnership and strong working relationship that has been established for 3 years.

Individual qualification as government suppliers
The partnership between Civica Education and Message Media translates to a proven, value for money capability to utilise messaging functionality within your School database today. Civica Education and Message Media have a combined product development roadmap to ensure that solutions continue to evolve together.

Both companies welcome discussion of any specific messaging requirements, please contact us for further discussions.

Maze Customisations