IRIS Reach vs School Stream

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 Stream is a school communication app for connecting schools with families. Schools can send targeted notices, reminders and newsletters, and create digital forms for permission slips, excursions and absences, including digital signatures. Its messaging supports unlimited conversations between school and home, with private messages to families and groups. Schools can publish event details such as permission notes, times and maps, and sync online calendars. Payments can be collected through School Stream Forms, with processing handled by Stripe. On-demand translation supports over 100 languages. Schools can see who has read notices and when, and manage parent accounts and groups. School Stream runs on Android, iOS and the web. Families have free access; school pricing is on request, with the school plan billed annually. The company says its servers are in AWS’s Sydney region in Australia, and that data at rest uses 256-bit AES encryption while services use at least TLS 1.2. Each school is assigned a Customer Success Manager for support and training.