IRIS Reach vs School Signals
IRIS Reach
iris.co.uk
School Signals
schoolsignals.netSide by side
| Figure | IRIS Reach | School Signals |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | — |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 0 |
| Spec score · School Communication Software | 7.7 (#12) | 7.3 (#22) |
| Communication | It brings email, SMS, and social media communications together in one place. | It supports school and classroom updates, two-way private messaging, and notifications by email, SMS, app push, and voice. |
| Purpose | IRIS Reach is a cloud-based parent engagement suite designed for secondary schools. | School Signals is a unified platform for school communication, events, and parent participation. |
| Security | IRIS's security statement says customer data is hosted in UK data centres and describes Okta authentication, role-based access, and encryption of personally identifiable data. | The marketing-site privacy policy says School Signals uses reasonable physical, administrative, and technical safeguards, but does not guarantee absolute protection. |
| Support | The IRIS Reach helpdesk is available Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm, by phone or email. | The maker describes personal support and supported onboarding, with help available as questions arise. |
| Translation | IRIS Reach supports automatic translation of inbound and outbound messages in over 40 languages. | The platform translates communication into families’ preferred languages and offers multilingual text-to-speech voice messages. |
In their own words
IRIS Reach
IRIS Reach is a parent engagement suite for secondary schools, bringing email, SMS and social media communications into one place. Parents can receive school information through a school-branded mobile app; the MyEd app includes messages, attendance, timetables, absences, achievements and behaviour. Inbound and outbound messages can be automatically translated into over 40 languages, and parents can check attendance through real-time reports based on registration data. Schools can create and collect electronic forms and surveys, host documents online and send links by SMS or email. Up to twenty accounts can create dedicated channels for departments and functions. Reporting, analysis, response management and an audit trail are included. Reach synchronises with school management information systems such as SIMS and Integris; after setup, syncing runs nightly by default. The service is available on web, Android and iOS. Pricing is on request, and the product page offers schools a free demo. The MyEd app is available for iOS and Android; its help page says messages sent to and from the app are free.
School Signals
School Signals brings school and classroom communication, events, and family participation into one platform for classrooms and districts. Its School Feed lets staff post to the whole school, a grade, a classroom, or a group, with delivery reports and notifications. Families and staff can exchange private messages, and updates can arrive by email, SMS, app push, or voice message; recipients can choose instant or daily notifications. The platform also includes event RSVPs, volunteering, calendars, online forms, documents, directories, PTA groups, athletics communication, and conference scheduling. AI tools assist with writing and translation and flag foul language for review. Listed translation coverage is 13 languages; the site describes 11 commonly spoken U.S. languages as the default, with more available on request. Schools can sync with PowerSchool, FACTS, and Blackbaud. Families can access the service on desktop, tablet, or mobile web without installing an app, or use the family and staff app for push notifications. Pricing starts at $14.95/mo, with no free plan and a 30-day trial.