SDMS V Adviser and School Support for Windows provides a practical and easy to use system for the day-to-day management of Advisory and School Support Services. With a focus on saving time and reducing costs it supports the strategic planning and quality assurance role of Local Authorities. Whether you are a large or small Authority, SDMS V Adviser and School Support for Windows will help you with better day-to-day administration. Now with the Integration and Synchronisation Module for Microsoft Outlook™ the product is even easier to use and deploy in Education and Children’s Services. Record keeping and data collection is improved by providing Advisers with a tool using the familiarity of Microsoft Outlook™.
The Two Components of the Integration SystemSDMS Integration System MS Outlook™ consists of two elements. The SDMS Outlook Client, providing a special diary entry screen for Advisers and other officers to enter details of School Visits and other appointments, and, the SDMS Synchronisation Component which ensures that key data such as Schools, Advisers and School Staff are imported and updated in the SDMS Outlook Client and that entries made in it are synchronised with data held in the SDMS V Adviser and School Support for Windows. This gives a “Corporate Adviser Visit Record.”
SDMS V Adviser and School Support for Windows: Key Features
SDMS V Adviser and School Support for Windows with the Integration and Synchronisation Module for Microsoft Outlook™ ensure that Advisory and Support Services can be more effectively managed. With dates and times of School Visits recorded in Microsoft Outlook™ and synchronised with data held in SDMS V Adviser and School Support for Windows, a complete profile of support activity is maintained. The key features of the Windows product include: a simple and easy to use diary with dates and times of Schools Visits; at-a-glance calendar views bringing you immediately up-to-date on diary commitments of Advisers and others; full details of Schools and Staff with a view of Advisory Support given; Governor Records; details of Service Level Agreements and Support Contracts with a comprehensive profile of the services delivered to meet them; and School Assessments with a full assessment and School Status History can be maintained. Additional details about School Visits undertaken by Advisers can be recorded in the Windows product including any associated Costs and Revenues, preparation time and reporting time involved, who requested the service and contract details, if applicable.
The SDMS Outlook Client
Advisers can create new appointments or record School Visit details using the special SDMS Outlook Client appointment entry screen. Unlike the standard MS Outlook™ Appointment Form, this allows the information typically required by Local Authorities in recording School Visits - such as start date and time, end date and time, select from the list of typical support activities, record of the School, service type, subject area and specific area as well as a text description of the support. All data is validated by the use of pop up lists maintained by the Synchronisation component thus ensuring greater validity of information.
In addition, other Advisers and Officers can be scheduled to attend the meeting together, organised by one Adviser, together with a record of School Staff also attending the meeting. A report of the visit can also be written within the special Outlook screens and produced as mail merged report in a Word™ document ready to be sent to Schools.
Using MS Outlook™ to Record School Visits
For a very large number of Local Authorities the organisational issue is how they gather the information and then generate a Corporate profile from the work done by Advisers. Often Advisers will complete School Visit Report Forms, which may need to be rekeyed into a Software Package to create this profile. Where MS Outlook™ is used to record appointments (as part of a Corporate standard perhaps) this may be an individual tool and calendars not drawn together into a corporate profile of all Adviser appointments. Often the appointment information entered into MS Outlook™ is much less than is required either to plan the work of the Advisory Staff or to create a valuable profile of support provided to Schools. SDMS V Adviser and School Support for Windows combined with SDMS MS Outlook™ Integration System is invaluable in helping to resolve these issues!
The SDMS Synchronisation Process
The SDMS Synchronisation Component ensures that key data such as Schools, Advisers and School Staff are imported and updated in the local Outlook Client. But it also helps with the following when logged in or connected to the Network. New Adviser diary entries entered in the Windows product update the local Outlook client - only main Advisers can modify the record in Outlook Client. (Where an Adviser is not the main Adviser they cannot change the record but can only view it. If it is modified by the Main Adviser they will be notified by email). New Adviser diary entries are imported into the individual Advisers diaries and entries made in the SDMS Outlook Client are synchronised so that all Outlook clients are kept in step with each other and the SDMS V Adviser and School Support for Windows. In addition, other look up tables which derive from user definable code customisation in the SDMS Windows product such as activity references, service type, status, subject area and specific area are also updated and maintained.
