One SMS can contain up to 160 characters.

Where an SMS contains more than 160 characters, the message is split into multiple messages, each of which is chargeable. The first of the split messages contains 160 characters and each subsequent message contains up to 153 characters.

Be aware that some single characters count as two characters when included in an SMS, therefore potentially increasing the cost of your messages. The affected characters include, but are not limited to, [ ] { } ~ | \ €.

The following message types can be saved to the Communication Log:

• Achievement Award Message
• Attendance Letter Message
• Behaviour Incident Message
• Behaviour Message
• Dinner Money Letter Message
• Exceptional Circumstance Message
• Exclusion Message
• Fees Communication Message
• Individual Assessment Report Message
• Late Notification Message
• Percentage Attendance Message
• Pupil/Student Detention Message
• Pupil/Student Exam Timetable Message
• Pupil/Student General Message
• Pupil/Student Profile Message
• Pupil/Student Timetable Message
• SEN Message
• SEN Reminder Message
• Unexplained Absence Message.
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WARNING: This FAQ assumes that School Administrators did not change system's message type defaults in the Message Boxes panel (via Tools | InTouch | Message Type Defaults Setup) during the InTouch installation.

In the Messages widget User messages and School messages are displayed. The user and house icons next to messages indicate User and School messages respectively.

User messages are personal to each SIMS user. When a General Message is sent, replies are delivered to the Messages inbox widget as a User message. Examples of General Message types that can be sent are:

General Message, Student General, Applicant General, SEN Message, SEN Reminder Message, Behaviour Message, Exclusion Message and Bill Payer Message.

School messages are messages sent to your school from an external account. School messages are only accessible if you have permissions to see School messages or if the message is a reply to a message that you have sent.

In comparison to User messages, if a user deletes a School message from the Messages inbox, the message is deleted for all users. It is recommended that only users who need access to this widget are assigned the permissions to place it on their Home Page.

When a School message is sent, replies are delivered to the Messages inbox widget as a School message.

Examples of School Message types that can be sent are:

Unexplained Absence, Behaviour Incident Message, Achievement Award Message, Student Profile Message, Not Approved Student Profile, Exceptional Circumstance Message, School Event Message, Staff Training Day Message, Percentage Attendance Message, Detention Message, Student Timetable Message, Staff Timetable Message, Behaviour Incident Alert Message, Missing Marksheets Alert Message, Student Exam Timetable Message, Exam Reminder Message, Late Notification Message, Attendance Letter Message and Exam Results Message.

If a School message cannot be delivered to an intended recipient, it will be returned to the Messages inbox widget, together with 'mailbox full' messages. If a message received by SIMS cannot be matched as a reply to a message sent by SIMS, it will be placed in the Messages inbox widget as a School message.

SIMS can attempt to match a message received from an external source (via SMS) with a message originally sent from SIMS, e.g. in response to an Unauthorised Absence message. To use this functionality, it must first be enabled.

1. Select Tools | InTouch | Module Setup to display the InTouch Setup page.
2. Click the SMS Messaging hyperlink to display the SMS Messaging panel.
3. Select the Enable SMS Matching check box then click the Save button to save the changes.
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When using InTouch to send messages, messages can be sent regardless of your balance. Any messages that you attempt to send when your balance reaches 0 will be charged at the out of bundle rate.

Messages that cannot be sent immediately, perhaps because of a failure in the messaging service, can be queued and re-sent automatically when the issue is resolved. SIMS attempts to resend a queued message every five minutes until it is sent or until the message expires at midnight. Expired messages must be resent manually. Open the message and click the Send button. If an expired

message is not resent, it will remain in the queued mailbox until further action is taken.

If an email or SMS message cannot be sent, a message is displayed in SIMS. If you wish to queue the message for delivery, click the Yes button. Click the No button if you wish to cancel the sending of the message.

For more information on queued messages, please refer to What Happens if SIMS Cannot Immediately Send a Message to an External Source? in the Additional Information chapter of the Managing Communications Using InTouch handbook.

The InTouch SMS Gateway enables the purchase of bundles of text messages.

1. Log into the InTouch SMS Gateway as an Account user.
2. Click the Purchase Bundle hyperlink to display the SMS Gateway - Purchase Bundle page.
3. Enter the Purchase Order Number for the text message bundle purchase, if required.
4. In the Select Bundle panel, select the radio button adjacent to the bundle you wish to purchase.
5. The cost of sending text messages outside of the bundle price, i.e. any text message sent when your InBundle balance reaches 0, is also displayed (Out of bundle price (per message)).
6. Click the Purchase Bundle button to display the SMS Gateway - Purchase Bundle page.
7. Click the Confirm Purchase button to confirm the purchase of the text bundle and to display the SMS Gateway - Purchase Accepted page.
8. If you wish to print a receipt for the transaction, click the Print button.
9. Click the Finished button to complete the process.
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The email address, password and Client, Account or Organisation ID number required to log into the SMS Gateway were provided via email when your InTouch system was installed.

The InTouch SMS Gateway interface can be accessed via your Web browser (https://sms.e-paycapita.com/Framework/SimsInTouch/InTouch.html).

The InTouch SMS Gateway interface can be accessed via your Web browser (https://sms.e-paycapita.com/Framework/SimsInTouch/InTouch.html).

If you have forgotten your login details for the SMS Gateway, please contact your Local Support Unit.

• A maximum of five Client IDs can be created per school.
• A maximum of two Account IDs can be created per school.
• A maximum of one Organisation ID can be created per school.
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If you wish to delete an account, please contact you Local Support Unit.

Using the InTouch SMS Gateway (https://sms.e-paycapita.com/Framework/SimsInTouch/InTouch.html):

1. Click the Import Contacts hyperlink to display the Import Contacts page.
2. Click the Browse button to display the Choose file dialog.
3. Navigate to the location of the contact details file (either the .zip file or the .xml file). This is the folder defined when the contact details file was exported.
4. Highlight the file then click the Open button to return to the Import Contacts page.
5. Click the Upload button to upload the selected contact details file to the SMS Gateway. Do not refresh your Web browser while the contact file is being uploaded to the SMS Gateway.
6. Once the contact details file has been uploaded, a message is displayed. If a message is displayed that indicates that an error has occurred during the upload process, re-run the upload process. If the problem persists, contact your Local Support Unit.
7. Check whether the upload of the contact details file was successful by clicking the Send Message hyperlink on the SMS Gateway – Messaging page. If the Select Contacts section displays the correct number of Employees, Students and Parental Contacts, the upload has been successful.
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The frequency of uploads of contact details to the SMS Gateway will differ from school to school. Some schools upload contact details at regular intervals (e.g. once a week), whereas other schools carry out the upload as soon as a change in contact details is identified.

In SIMS, the Messaging Audit report provides details of all messages sent to, and received by, SIMS. This report does not provide information on messages sent from the SMS Gateway.

1. Select Reports | InTouch | Messaging Audit to display the Criteria for Messaging Audit Report dialog.
2. Select the Start Date and End Date for the report.
3. The Academic Year defaults to the current academic year but can be edited.
4. Select the type of report by selecting the required radio button in the Report Type panel.
5. Select the type of audit you wish to carry out by selecting the required option from the drop-down list in the Audit Type panel.
6. The Filters panel enables you to select the status for each filter condition.
7. With the correct academic year selected, highlight the appropriate diary date then click the OK button.
8. Once the appropriate report criteria have been selected, click the Continue button to display the Run a Screen Based Report dialog, select the required criteria then click the OK button.
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You can determine the number of texts remaining if you have a Client, Account or Organisation login.

• If you have a client login, log into the SMS Gateway and click the Send Message button. The number of texts remaining (Your in bundle balance is) is displayed in the Client Summary section.
• If you have an account login, log into the SMS Gateway and click the Purchasing Bundles button. The number of texts remaining is displayed in the In Bundle Balance as on <date> <time> section.
• If you have an organisation login, log into the SMS Gateway and click the View Account Bundles button. The number of texts remaining is displayed in the In Bundle Balance column.
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The main cause of SIMS contacts not being available on the InTouch SMS Gateway is that their details have not yet been uploaded to the SMS Gateway. For more information, please see When should I maintain contact details on the SMS Gateway?

If the SIMS contacts have been identified as InTouch contacts (for more information, please refer to the Updating Primary Contact Details chapter of the Managing Communications using InTouch handbook) and the problem persists, there may be an issue with the SMS Gateway and you should contact you Local Support Unit.

When using the SMS Gateway to send messages, messages can be sent only if you have a sufficient InBundle balance. Any group of messages you attempt to send that exceeds your InBundle balance will not be sent. For example, if you have 20 messages remaining on your InBundle balance and attempt to send a batch of messages totalling 27 (by clicking the Validate Message button on the Send Message Compose page), none of the messages will be sent. Instead, a message will inform you that the balance is insufficient.

Yes. The SIMS upgrade does not upgrade InTouch automatically. You must upgrade SIMS to the most recent release before upgrading InTouch. If you have problems during a SIMS or InTouch upgrade, please contact your Local Support Unit.