What We Shipped In 2017 + 3 New (Mind-Blowing) Features Launching In The New Year 🎉🎉

Last year we released a number of new features and improvements to Boardingware, but 2017 has been even bigger.We’ve added 5 new team members, shipped over 20 new feature updates, and are now helping more than 170 boarding schools to keep track of their students.Here are some of the highlights of what we’ve released so far in 2017… Plus, 3 mind-blowing new features that will be coming off the shelves very soon.

Making Staff Communications Frictionless and Smarter

This year we made it easier for residential teams to communicate and work together by enhancing the Activity Feed.Important events like roll calls, pastoral records and late students are automatically added to the activity feed so you always have a chronological summary of everything that has happened.Plus you can also add rich-text posts to share end-of-shift reports and more detailed information about the day's events. Now instead of trying to remember everything that happened, you can just have a quick scan of the activity feed.

Boardingware Got A New And Improved Interface

This year we released a brand new interface for our web-app. The new design gives you a lot more space with a full-screen experience, more powerful functionality to quickly find the information you need and a brand new “Real-Time Schedule” to eliminate stress when coordinating departures and returns.

New Android App for Staff, Students and Parents

Last year we released our iPhone application and this year we made Boardingware available on Android for staff, students and parents as well. The ability to keep track of your students while you’re on the move is essential in today’s world, and with our mobile applications (as well as our mobile responsive web-app) it’s even easier for you to fulfil your duty of care, no matter where you are.

We Released Our New “Checkpoint App”

Earlier this year, we released the “Checkpoint App” - A new kiosk application to manage the self-service check-in/out process. Checkpoint allows you to capture important data that gives you a clearer understanding of where your students are in real-time.With the new app, you can control how students sign-in/out from any given destination. You can choose to give your students advanced viewing permissions or hide sensitive information for added privacy, restrict access to certain destinations, require advanced authentication and much more.

More Flexible Sign-Out Options

Each school operates differently to each other. That’s why we’re always looking for ways to make Boardingware more customizable to suit the way you work.One of the ways we did that is to provide more flexible sign-out options by allowing students to sign themselves out from their own mobile device. Now you can decide if you want to have your students sign-out in person with a designated staff member, on their own via the Checkpoint app, or from their own mobile device.Giving your students the responsibility of signing out from their mobile device can help to reduce congestion during ‘peak’ sign-out periods and reduce the workload for your staff.

Boardingware Got Smart Notifications

Boarding is a 24/7 environment and you need to be aware of what is happening all times. That’s why we released Notifications to automatically alert you to important events like when a student has signed out or is late to return, so you can instantly take action where needed.You can also customize your notification preferences, so you only get alerted about the students that you’re responsible for.

We Got More Integration Partners

Integrating Boardingware with your existing school systems will help to simplify your data management processes. This year we’ve partnered up with 5 new providers:

• 3Sys
• Capita SIMS
• Sentral
• TASS
• Magnus Health

What’s Coming Off The Shelves (Really Soon)?

A Smarter Way To Scale And Manage Your Checkpoint Network

Our Checkpoint App allows your students to sign themselves in and out while giving you the ability to record important information about their movements in real-time.But the real power comes when you start to scale your Checkpoint Network.Having multiple Checkpoints spread out around campus will give you greater visibility into your student’s actual activity and provide you with more credible and robust tracking information that you can rely on.The only problem is that it can get difficult to manage and monitor all your Checkpoint devices.Which is why we’re creating the Checkpoint Manager.

With the new Checkpoint Manager, you’ll be able to:

• Remotely manage the configuration of all your Checkpoints. Create different configuration types and assign them to your different Checkpoint locations..
• Monitor your checkpoints activity in real-time. The Checkpoint Manager will provide you with a real-time dashboard of your Checkpoints operational activity. This will help you to stay on top of any unexpected school network issues..
• Scale your tracking operations with confidence. With the Checkpoint Manager, you’ll be able to scale your tracking operations and capture more accurate and reliable information.

Emergency Alert System To Handle Crisis Situations

While it’s not pleasant to think about crisis situations such as fires, natural disasters or terrorist attacks, it’s a reality that every school must consider and be prepared for.

Coming soon to Boardingware is an Emergency Alert and Roll System to help you react quickly and mitigate risk in a crisis situation. With this new tool, you’ll be able to send mass alerts out to staff and students that notify them of an emergency, then set up a live roll to quickly account for your student's in real-time.

Strengthen Your Community With Custom Branding

Community plays a very important role in your school’s overall success and reputation. That’s why we want to provide you with a way to express your schools visual brand and effectively communicate your mission and core values.

Soon you will have the option to add Custom Branding to your Boardingware account. You’ll be able to customize the appearance of your Boardingware account for staff, students and parents, create branded email alerts and records, and embed your school's mission and core values throughout the product.As you can see, we’ve been pretty busy this year and there’s plenty more to come. We can’t wait to share even more things in 2018. Watch this space or subscribe to our blog below to get notified of new product updates.

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