True MIS read and write integration for your visitor management system

Student and staff information is typically stored within a school’s MIS. Without the ability to read this information, a sign in and visitor management system requires manual entry or constant import and export of datasheets.

This is where signing in and visitor management systems can fail, the import or manual entry of each staff member and student can lead to inaccurate recording of information or even someone forgetting, and data not being imported at all. Integrating a sign in and visitor management system with a school’s MIS not only allows them to read staff and student information, it also means any updates to the MIS are automatically imported in to the system each day. At the start of each school year, new year groups are also added without the need for data-sheet imports saving time and effort for administration staff.

InVentry provides full read and write back integration to all leading MIS’s, but what does this actually mean? Read integration enables the sign in system to pull data such as staff and pupil information. Write integration means that the sign in system can also input data such as late arriving pupils into the MIS. This guarantees that identity information and attendance records are kept accurate and up-to-date, without admin staff having to input manual updates.

InVentry were the first sign in and visitor management software to fully integrate with SIMS to include both late arrivals and early leavers. Because this information feeds directly into SIMS, it enables a school’s attendance officer to keep on top of the data in a fraction of the time it would take to sort it all out manually. In a large high school this free could up three or four hours every day for more important tasks.

New year groups are automatically added to the InVentry system at the start of the year and when new staff and students are added to the MIS, they are instantly added to InVentry, making time consuming manual updates a thing of the past. Student details, staff details, DBS information, staff and student and late marks and codes can all be read from and written back to your MIS.

“They actually work really well together, all of our governors, staff and pupil information is automatically in the system as and when we need it.” 
Liz Tipping, Receptionist, Bishop Bridgeman Primary School.

Lots of other sign in and visitor management systems provide read only integration, meaning that they can only pull data from the MIS. This means that data has to be written back into the MIS manually by admin staff. For sign in and visitor management systems that do provide both read and write back integration, the update to the MIS is automatic. This type of integration can cause problems for schools because data containing errors may have been entered into the sign in and visitor management system which then feeds straight into the MIS. With InVentry, although automatic updates are possible, some of our customers prefer to have a cooling off period where the data can be reviewed, and any inaccuracies eliminated before going into the MIS.

“Obviously we looked at other systems as well, InVentry was the only one that tied up with our MIS. All the others would have meant that we didn’t have that link between the personnel we already have in school and people signing in and it just was clunky, it didn’t work. Whereas this, it’s very smooth, very streamlined and it’s like it’s designed to be.”
Ann Davey, Head Teacher, Havelock Primary School.

InVentry are the market leading sign in and visitor management solution, designed with and for education and trusted by more than 4,000 schools. For more information on how InVentry can integrate with your MIS, give us a call on 0113 322 9253 or click here to book a demo.