SchoolDeck · Feature

WhatsApp for the messages parents actually read

SchoolDeck sends fee reminders, attendance alerts, circulars and result notifications through the WhatsApp Business API using approved message templates. Delivery and read status post back against the student record, and credits are billed at cost rather than marked up.

WhatsApp requires a verified business account and pre-approved templates. Free-form messaging outside a customer-initiated window is not permitted by the platform, not by us.

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SMS gets delivered and not read. The parent app gets read by the parents who installed it. WhatsApp is where Indian families actually are, which is why most schools already run class groups on it — informally, unmoderated, and outside the school’s control.

Channel: WhatsApp Business API, approved templates
Uses: Fee reminders, attendance alerts, circulars, results
Status: Delivery and read receipts posted to the record
Cost: Conversation charges billed at cost

What the platform will and will not allow

Worth understanding before planning around it, because the constraints are the platform’s and no vendor can remove them.

Templates must be pre-approved. A fee reminder template is submitted once and approved before it can be sent; it cannot be rewritten per message beyond its variables.
Free-form replies are time-bound. Outside a window opened by the parent messaging first, only approved templates may be sent.
Opt-out must be honoured. A parent who blocks or opts out stops receiving messages, which is why a fallback channel is not optional.
Charges are per conversation. Not per message, which changes how you should batch notifications.

Why read receipts change the fee conversation

With SMS, a school never knows whether a reminder arrived. Every follow-up conversation starts with a disagreement about whether anything was sent.

Delivery and read status posted against the student record ends that. It also exposes something schools rarely want to see but benefit from: the proportion of families whose contact number is wrong, which is usually higher than anyone expects and is fixable in an afternoon.

FAQ

Questions people ask

Phrased the way they arrive, answered so each one stands on its own.

Do we need a WhatsApp Business account?

Yes, verified, and message templates must be approved before use. Setting this up is part of implementation, but the account and the number belong to the school.

How much does WhatsApp messaging cost?

WhatsApp charges per conversation rather than per message, at rates it sets. Those charges are passed through at cost; we do not mark up messaging credits.

Can we still use SMS?

Yes, and you should keep it as a fallback. Parents opt out, block, or change numbers, so a single channel will always leave a proportion of families uncontacted.

Who checked this, and against what

Accountability

Checked by the Implementations desk on 1 September 2026. Corrections go in the page, dated, rather than quietly.

No call required

Tell us your enrolment, we will tell you the number.

Pricing is on the page, in the open, with the counting rule written next to it. Nobody has to book a call to find out what it costs.

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Bring your own structure. We configure it live on the call.

Forty minutes with an implementation engineer — your classes, your fee heads, your grading scheme, entered as we go. No slides, no sample school.

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