Tali Notifications: Integrating with GOV.UK Notify to make communication easier

At Pebble we’re always looking at new ways to improve our tools, to help schools succeed.

Good communications is essential for any school but is often hampered by use of complex technology and time-consuming processes. That’s why we are delighted to announce our new partnership with GOV.UK Notify — Tali Notifications.

GOV.UK Notify is a service provided by the Cabinet Office and Government Digital Service (GDS), to offer low cost communication options for the public sector, including emails, SMS messages and postal service.

Smarter school communications with Tali

The beauty of Tali Notifications is that it integrates directly with both your school’s management information system (MIS) and the GOV.UK Notify service.

This service is designed to easily enable state-funded schools and local authorities to send notifications using customisable templates.

The Tali feature makes uploading and sharing contact information directly with GOV.UK Notify straightforward, taking all the hard work out of both bulk communications and personalised messaging.

Instead of users having to make manual changes to notification templates to personalise them, Tali uses automation to streamline the process of sending personalised and bulk messages.

GOV.UK Notify is supported 24 hours a day, seven days a week, ensuring your data is properly secure and protected.

What sort of messages can you send?

With Tali’s customisable templates for notifications, the possibilities are pretty much endless.

Examples of the types of message templates schools might use include:

• Customer account information, menus, balance checks and free schools registration for catering functions

• Gift Aid forms and receipts for donations

• Consent forms, itineraries and time changes for school trips

• Policy notifications for absences, catering, trips and new starters

• Severe weather warnings such as snow alerts.

Notifications sent from Tali can be individual messages or bulk messages sent via email, text, or letter. Your letters are printed, added to envelopes and posted on your behalf, saving you hours of time.

You can send one-off messages to your individual contacts, choosing from your list of templates and your preferred channel. You can also select two fallback channels.

For example, you might use text as your preferred option, with email as a fallback for those contacts without a supplied mobile phone number.

Tali will show you a preview of your message’s content, including where it will insert personalised content automatically.

With the bulk messaging option, you have the same access to templates and personalisation, allowing you to write directly to each individual.

Currently available personalisation options include: individual first and last names, school names, PIN numbers, QR code links and Gift Aid start and finish dates. We’ll be continuing to add more to the system and welcome any suggestions you may have.

Simplifying Free School Meals registration

One of the core challenges with keeping up with Free School Meals entitlement is getting parents to register. Not only does a lack of registration have a significant negative impact for children, it also results in a reduction of Pupil Premium funding for your school.

It’s therefore of paramount importance that your school is able to quickly and effectively put together and send communications targeted to the families eligible for this support.

Fortunately, we’ve got that covered. Simply use one of Tali’s customisable templates to craft your personalised message and send it to your selected audience, on the channel - or channels! - of your choice.

Simple as that.

How much does it cost?

The great news is that Tali Notifications is free of charge for existing Tali customers to use. There’s just a small setup and training fee, in line with Tali’s existing training costs.

First, you simply create an account for your school with GOV.UK Notify, which we’ll then integrate with your Tali subscription.

Emails are completely free, and you can send up to 10,000 texts at no extra charge. The cost of sending letters depends on the size of letter and the postage you choose.

Maximise your messaging

Tali Notifications is an ideal add-on to your Tali software, enabling you to communicate effectively with your school community.

With this new feature, you can stay in touch without overstretching your resources, making sure you keep everyone in the loop on what’s happening at your school.

To find out how to sign up for Tali Notifications, register your details here.