ParentMail
ParentMail is a closed Opt-in email system to allow schools to contact parents electronically. It was created in Cambridgeshire, England in November 2001 by three fathers (Paul Hughes, Martin Temple and Robert Morley) who had become frustrated at the unreliability of communications coming from their children's school. During a playground discussion about email and text messaging, the three fathers conceived the idea of electronic communications replacing the traditional letter in the school bag. ParentMail created a dedicated system to enable mass communications between schools and parents.
ParentMail provides a service aimed predominantly at the UK where the system is used by 5000 schools and more than 3 million parents. There are now a number of companies providing similar services (see external links below).
In 2007 ParentMail became technical partners with Capita SIMS in order to assist schools with data consistency.
In September 2010 ParentMail designed and launched a payment module to broaden their service which enabled parents to pay online for school dinners, uniform, tickets and trips.
In September 2011 ParentMail introduced their new service ParentMail 2 which was re-written from the ground up, and also included a free parent APP.