A new alerts initiative for schools aims to combat 'mitching' as well as bringing costs down.
SchoolAlerts is a new app which allows schools to send parents a push notification through the likes of Facebook Messenger and Viber, instead of a text message.
It is claimed that some schools were spending an average of €1,000 a year on texts, which could be more in the event of severe weather alerts.
Brendan Cunningham from Kilkenny-based SchoolAlerts says it allows schools to save money.
"Because push notifications do not cost us, they do not cost the school either, said Mr Cunningham.
"Instead of charging for individual alerts like SMS companies would, we charge a far smaller, annual flat fee for our service and schools can send each message for free during the school year.
"Several of the schools we’ve engaged with were spending an average €1,000 a year on texts. Our flat fee (€299 per year inclusive of VAT) is a fraction of this,” Cunningham explained."
- Digital Desk
