Hosted Application Service – Supported VLEs and Third Party Applications
The Scomis Hosted Application Service offers support for a wide range of 3rd party applications which require access to Capita SIMS.
Below is an explanation of what is supported and how different applications are supported.
While we cannot list all applications, we have done our best to list some common ones below. For a slightly more extensive list please see here.
For all applications which cannot be hosted please go to the External Connector Section of the page.
Exporter Applications
These are 3rd party applications which use another system to pull data from SIMS.
Groupcall Xporter and Xporter On Demand Applications
Scomis host several Groupcall Xporter servers which are maintained by Groupcall themselves. Meaning all Groupcall Xporter jobs which are currently running on site can be hosted by Scomis. Groupcall are gradually moving all Xporter jobs to the Xporter on Demand (XoD) service, so when moving over to Scomis contact Groupcall to see if you need to move your jobs to the newer XoD service. The status and synchronisations of Groupcall jobs are not monitored by Scomis and must be monitored by the school. Issues should be raised with Groupcall in the first instance. Some of the more common applications which use Groupcall are listed below:
- Class Charts
- CPOMS (Meritec)
- EarWig
- EduKey
- Emerge
- ePraise
- Fisher Family Trust
- ShowMyHomework
Wonde Applications
Scomis also have several Wonde servers which are maintained by Scomis. Wonde will need to be contacted before moving to the Scomis Hosted Service so they know that the local (at school) Wonde system will be going offline and they will provide new license keys. The status and synchronisations of these jobs are not monitored by Scomis and must be monitored by the school. Some common applications which use Wonde are:
- Classroom Monitor
- eSchools
- Pupil Asset
- Teachers2Parents
Contact Group (IRIS)
Scomis also have a Contact Group software tool Server which hosts the following software:
- LookedAfterCall
- CallParents
- Reggie
For all other 3rd party applications we advise using our Scomis External Connector.
External Connector
What is it
The External Connector is an application which is run on a Windows PC\Server onsite at the school which allows applications direct access to the school’s SIMS data.
This allows any 3rd party applications already setup on site to continue to work with SIMS, however they will need reconnecting to SIMS after the move to Scomis.
For a more technical explanation please see – https://faq.scomis.org/kb4249/
Requirements
- To run the External Connector you will need a Microsoft Windows PC\Server to install it on with a supported version of Windows (more information).
This computer would have the 3rd Party application(s) installed. - You can have more than 1 External Connectors per School but each will need its own Windows computer.
- You can have several 3rd party applications using 1 External Connector (so 1 Windows computer running an External Connector could have 4 different applications using it).
- If your school uses Google Classroom (a Chromebook School) you will still need a Windows computer to run the 3rd party applications on site. This computer can be physical or virtual.
Some example of common software which require an External Connector:
- Alfiesoft
- BioStore
- Inventry
- Keep Kids Safe
- ParentMail
- Salamander Soft
- Tucasi
How to request and External Connector – https://faq.scomis.org/kb12448/
All applications are subject to third party licensing – you are responsible for ensuring you are licensed to use a product or service. You should inform Scomis if you no longer subscribe to a third party solutions so that we may disable SIMS integration links (if hosted at the data centre).
Upgrades to these applications will have to be carried out during core hours which may involve the Service being unavailable to the school during the upgrade.