Better School Communication: An Alternative to SchoolMessenger

Looking for a communication alternative to SchoolMessenger that families will love?

SchoolMessenger is a good platform for sending mass notifications and communications. However, many schools and districts want a better solution for connecting their families to the classroom, school, and district. After all, the closer families are connected to their child’s education, the higher their engagement, involvement, and satisfaction.

So, what would be a better alternative to SchoolMessenger to improve and consolidate communication? While both platforms do district, school, and classroom-wide communications, Livingtree Engage can provide families with a more personal connection to their child’s academic life.

What is the Livingtree Engage platform?

Think of Livingtree Engage as a mini, private community for your district. It combines family engagement, mass communication, and urgent alert capabilities all in one place. This keeps even the busiest of families connected to their child’s education. With web and mobile applications that resemble social media networks, it’s easy for staff and families to use.

This guide will help you decide if Livingtree Engage is a better fit for your community over SchoolMessenger.

What’s similar about Livingtree Engage and SchoolMessenger?

District, School, and Class-wide Communications

Many people know SchoolMessenger for its Mass Notification abilities. Livingtree Engage makes it quick and easy to communicate with everyone. Staff members can simply write their message and then select the group or groups they wish to send it to.

The customizable notification settings within Livingtree Engage make it easy for families to decide how they are notified about new posts and messages in the platform. For communications with additional urgency, staff members can choose to send their message via a Text Message (SMS) or Automated Phone Call.

Emergency Alerts

Similar to the Emergency Alerts in SchoolMessenger, Livingtree Engage is equipped with an Urgent Alert feature.

This option automatically pre-selects all associated groups and sends the message as a Text Message (SMS), Automated Phone Call, and a post within the platform that also generates a mobile push notification. In addition, it overrides any customized notification settings to ensure every family is notified in as many ways as possible. Have default wording that you use in urgent situations? You can use the “configure a default message” setting to make sending out communications that much quicker.

Attendance Alerts & Lunch Balance Alerts

Livingtree Engage and SchoolMessenger both have Attendance and Lunch Balance alert capabilities. However, this is not an add-on service for Livingtree Engage. This feature helps schools and districts keep notifications in the same platform for families, so we include it! Using this feature is as simple as uploading a data file!

Bonus info: Get the Family Engagement Technology guide for the 4 capabilities your engagement platform must have and the best practices for school districts to implement a unified solution.

How is Livingtree Different from SchoolMessenger?

Exceptional Live Customer Support

Hate picking up the phone to try and get ahold of customer support? Or filling out a contact form and hoping for a reply back? Livingtree offers live customer support service to administrators, school staff, AND families. Our Support department can be reached via phone, email, or live chat! Users can access our live chat from the website or from within our mobile applications. Just ask any of our partners – they rate our customer support as one of the best among school technology platforms!

Integrated Calendar with Event Management Features, Available on the Web and Mobile Apps

One thing you won’t find in SchoolMessenger’s parent platform – a calendar. Staff members and families love the ability to create events and see what’s coming up at school.

The event management features enable staff members to reach 100 percent participation when they need it. For example, staff members can set up an RSVP system, ask for sign-ups, and even set reminders so that families never forget! Moreover, users are also able to externally sync the Livingtree calendar with their personal calendars (iCal, Google, Outlook) with just a few clicks!

Automatic Two-Way Translation in over 100 languages

Not only are all of Livingtree’s notifications (i.e. mobile push, emails, text message, etc.) automatically translated according to a user’s preferences, but posts and direct messages that users see within the platform are automatically translated for them as well. If they write back, their comment or message is then automatically translated back into the other user’s preferred language, providing complete two-way translation for all users.

A Livingtree Engage Message Sent in English:

The Same Message Received and Translated to Spanish:

Text Formatting Tools

At Livingtree, we understand how important it is for teachers and staff members to communicate their messages effectively and clearly, especially when it’s about what students are learning. That’s why posts in Livingtree Engage contains text formatting options. Staff members can bold, italicize, and underline what’s important, hyperlink to learning sites or classroom files, organize messages with numbers and bullet points, or even justify certain parts of their text. The platform even converts video links into native videos, so families don’t have to open a new window.

Daily Summaries

For families who may miss posts and notifications, or just want to be notified less often, Livingtree includes a daily email with a summary of that day’s posts and activity. It’s all about making sure families never miss a thing!

As Easy as Using Social Media!

Livingtree Engage is an easy-to-use solution for administrators, school staff, and families. With a close resemblance to social media networks, Livingtree Engage is easy to use at every level of the school district. It also incorporates everything families would want for communications, including mass communications, direct messaging, calendars, events, and customizable notification settings that include translations in over 100 languages.

Need A School Communication Alternative to SchoolMessenger?

For a quick overview of how Livingtree Engage is different from SchoolMessenger, take a look at the chart below:

If you’re looking for an alternative to SchoolMessenger for school communication, Livingtree Engage can be the perfect solution, and these are just some of the major differences. If you’re a current SchoolMessenger customer, then you know first-hand! Don’t let us tell you. Schedule a demo and decide for yourself!

Click below to request a demo or ask us a question!

Need a better CMS Website solution as well?

The Livingtree Engage platform has a completely native integration with Edlio, so you can ditch your SchoolMessenger website and upgrade for a seamless suite of products that are easy-to-use with your community. Check out Edlio for a beautiful CMS Website solution.