This change ensures users can reliably receive communications via their preferred contact methods, even when those methods are shared among several accounts, while keeping Connect's data aligned with your Student Information System (SIS).
What Are Shared Contact Methods?
- Two guardians in the same household may share the same email address
- Parents or guardians may share a phone number
- A single user may have both a staff and a parent account with the same phone number but different email addresses.
What Will Change After This Update?
After the update is released, some users may see additional contact methods added to their accounts. This occurs when a phone number or email address already exists in the SIS but could not be added to Connect because it was already associated with another user. Now, Connect can sync those contact methods to all appropriate users.
Some users may see a prompt to confirm a new contact method.
These confirmation prompts help users verify their information, but confirmation is not required to continue receiving communications. Users will still be able to receive messages through the contact method, and their login methods will remain unchanged.
💡Note: Some users may want to adjust their notification settings. Click here to learn more.
With this improvement, parents who share an email and phone number can now choose to receive messages via text or email; previously, this wasn't possible.
Reports for District Administrators
District administrators will have access to reports that identify users who share the same email address or phone number.
These reports can help districts:
- Identify shared contact methods across users
- Review possible data inconsistencies
- Improve account organization when needed
Shared contact methods are often intentional and don't require immediate action. For the best experience, plan to clean up your data before the new school year begins.
FAQs
Q: Will families receive duplicate messages?
A: No. Connect includes a built-in deduplication process to prevent duplicate communications. If multiple users share the same email address or phone number and are included in the same communication, only one message will be sent to that shared contact method.
Example: If two guardians share the same phone number and both are included in a message, Connect sends only one SMS message to that number.
Q: Why do districts want to review shared contact methods?
A: In some cases, inconsistent contact information can result in a single guardian appearing as multiple accounts in Connect.
- One student record may include a guardian's email and phone number
- Another student record may include only the phone number
We recommend focusing on data cleanup at the start of the school year to ensure the best experience. Correcting contact information in your SIS helps ensure guardians have a single account connected to all their students, improving communication for both families and staff.
Q: Will notification methods/settings change with this update?
A: No. The existing notification methods and settings will remain unchanged. This update only allows shared email addresses and phone numbers to appear across multiple user accounts when those details exist in your SIS. It does not automatically change how users receive messages or alter their notification preferences.
Q: Will this update impact how I log in to Connect?
A: No, nothing changes here. Keep logging in the same way you always have, whether that's with your email, phone number, or SSO.
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