Discord vs. SchoolMessenger

Discord works phenomenally if you want a chat platform that is free, quick to set up, and very flexible in the ways you can start using it. It doesn't require a complex set of logins for different servers and confusion about adding new members, or tough pricing right out of the gate. If you prefer to view full conversations all in one place without them "splintering" off into branches that are missed, Discord works great for this. All in all, Discord is great for startup companies or lean working companies, but it does not lend itself as well for larger, traditional "corporate" enterprises.

Incentivized

This is great for schools who want a bulk package of services at a competitive cost. Older website designs limit functionality and have a very square design. SchoolMessenger has more modern templates with newer capabilities which is better for visitors of the site. The functionality is great for parents who are accessing the site on the go, which happens more often than you know.

Incentivized

• One to many Communications to ensure that we can quickly get messages out when we have to.
• Quick polling of questions and issues
• The ability to gate channels so we can focus on folks that we know are stakeholders gives them an added feeling of belonging and that they have a say in the direction of projects.

Incentivized

• It is widely used.

• Better volume balancing between members on a call.
• More customizability of the notification sound for each server. It would be nice to set each of my important servers with a different notification sound.
• More expansive note section when you view another user's profile. I'd like to be able to contain more information there in a more organized way.

Incentivized

• There's nothing I dislike. This program is very straight forward to use.
• It just works well.

Incentivized

It just works, and works well. Very rarely does anything go wrong, and I can't remember the last outage (sure there's been some but very rare and not something I even think about or worry about). Desktop clients, web access, mobile clients - the lot. Very happy with our easy it is to use.

Incentivized

SchoolMessenger serves our main purpose of sending out emergency notifications and notices to parents. It is great to cut down on the paper use and the ability to attach documents to our notes. We have used this to send home notifications from our Parent-Teacher Organization. Parents have thanked us for sending a back ups due to papers being misplaced and knowing that they have a backup through email.

Incentivized

Overall, this is a good, effective, and cost-efficient product. It is missing some key functionality we had with a previous program which limits my total score, but I still think a lot of school districts can get a lot out of SchoolMessenger. The features and functions they do include work well.

Incentivized

There is plenty of online documentation and knowledge base articles. As well as having an open API to be able to tie it into other products makes it a really viable solution for any business. I have never had to contact support, any questions which I have need answered can be found in the documentation,

Incentivized

The support is fantastic. I have never had such complete support from a technology service. Every issue has been resolved while I was on the phone. I never had to wait for a callback or an advanced support tech. Their people are very well trained in their product and how to meet their customer's needs.

Incentivized

I like Slack for more professional settings, but Discord is excellent for casual groups, especially when a few people do not have iPhones. They're very similar, but I think there are a lot of Discord features I don't take advantage of, mainly because there seems to be so much in the sidebar that overwhelms me a bit.

Incentivized

Easier to use and more cost effective than shoutpoint

Incentivized

• Discord has allowed us to connect to students when typical email & text would not work.
• Discord has allowed easy creation and communication for small group leaders and their students.
• Discord is free and so many students have access to it.

Incentivized

• Lost the confidence of families that we were protecting their data.
• Refused to refund our funds after they released confidential information.
• Required extensive resources to find another product.