In our final Product Features & Highlights blog for the year, we’re excited to bring you a high-level roundup of the enhancements made to the EdSmart platform across 2023!
We also have some important reminders for schools as you prepare to close out this year and get ready for the new one.
But, before we dive in, I’ve got some movements in the EdSmart team to share with you, including my own (Kai Vedanayagam 👋) from leading EdSmart’s Customer Success team to the role of Product Manager. That means that I now sit within the Product and Engineering team, under our Director of Product and Engineering Courtney Turner’s leadership.
Our Customer Success team has transitioned to our Product Operations team, also reporting to Courtney. This strategic shift reinforces our dedication to delivering outstanding support and service, ensuring the voice of our customers is closer than ever to our product build team! 🎉
So now, let’s get into our 2023 enhancements! 📢 As you’ll see, they’ve largely centred around speeding up user experience, increasing flexibility for Broadcasts and Slips, and improving the scope of EdSmart Payments.
The dynamic nature of school environments requires constant adaptability. So, to address this, we introduced the ability to incorporate Student Lists into Broadcasts and Slips that have already been sent.
This feature is in addition to our existing feature that enables schools to add individual Students to already sent Slips or Broadcasts, giving you the flexibility to work with your Broadcasts and Slips in the way you prefer.
Broadcast Enhancements
Users now have the convenience of directly downloading attachments from email Broadcasts and editing follow-up communications within Parent Slips. We introduced this for more streamlined and improved communication effectiveness.
Trigger a Broadcast within a Slip
Many schools love using EdSmart’s ability to send targeted follow-up messages to specific groups from a Parent Slip, such as reminders or updates for those attending events like a school play.
This year, we’ve updated this feature to allow Approvers to edit Broadcasts triggered within a Slip.
Direct access from email to staff forms
So Approvers can edit Broadcasts triggered within a Slip, we’ve improved our process for accessing forms. When a Staff member clicks on the EdSmart Form link from their emails, it will take them directly to the intended form, bypassing the dashboard.
Given the fast-moving pace at schools, every second counts!
Our Payments system now allows Parents to make multiple payment attempts, for situations where the initial attempt has been unsuccessful. For schools that use Parent Initiated Forms to provide Parents with the flexibility to initiate Enrolments, Payments can be collected on these Form types too.
Understanding the importance of quick access to essential information, we’ve enhanced the speed of our Slip Response exports. This improvement focuses on crucial data, like attendance and emergency contact details, ensuring you have access when it matters most.
Following discussions with our schools, we realised how vital it is for you to have response exports for events and excursions. This allows you to validate important details, such as medical information, for both safety and efficiency.
Now for some important reminders to close out 2023 and start 2024 with your best foot forward.
We understand schools are undergoing significant digital transformation – and it’s an ongoing process, not a set-and-forget measure. This could potentially impact your integration with EdSmart, so please get in touch so we’re aware of any changes you’re about to make to your digital environment that may impact EdSmart.
Don’t forget to prepare for the annual data sync rollover. Check out our guides for a hassle-free process.
Season’s greetings to you all!
We’re excited about the new features and updates we have planned for 2024, including a focus on our customer communication, shared roadmaps and release notes, and user experience deep dives to discover how we can continue to support schools with their digital adoption strategies.
In the meantime, we hope you get to enjoy a happy and healthy end-of-year break, and return to your desks in 2024 refuelled and raring to go! 🚀
Need extra help with data rollovers, or other EdSmart functions? Visit our Support Portal.
Have you got a scenario or problem you can’t quite solve?
Our product team is always keen to hear about your challenges and how you may be looking for a better way to do things.
Please reach out to our Director of Product and Engineering, Courtney, who would ♥️ to identify new and innovative ways that EdSmart can help.
Thanks for being part of our Smart School community!
