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Wildfire Interactive (Discontinued) vs. SchoolMessenger

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Wildfire Interactive (Discontinued)

    Score10 out of 10
    N/AWildfire was a social media advertising management software application that was acquired but since discontinued by Google.N/A

    SchoolMessenger

    Score10 out of 10
    N/ASchoolMessenger is a school community software featuring secure email, social media monitoring, school website, and mobile app. In late 2023 it was acquired by PowerSchool, and is now a PowerSchool product.N/A
    Pricing
    Wildfire Interactive (Discontinued)SchoolMessenger
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Wildfire Interactive (Discontinued)SchoolMessenger
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
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    Wildfire Interactive (Discontinued)SchoolMessenger
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    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Wildfire Interactive (Discontinued)SchoolMessenger
    Likelihood to Recommend
    2.0
    (4 ratings)
    2.1
    (5 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.9
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.5
    (2 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Wildfire Interactive (Discontinued)SchoolMessenger
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Discontinued Products
    The transition to Google has been painful - key contacts are no longer available.
    Read full review
    PowerSchool Group LLC
    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
    Read full review
    Pros
    Discontinued Products
    • Facebook tab implementation. Allows you to easily create and produce functioning social tabs on your brands FB page.
    • Add voting, sweepstakes, poll functionality to your website. Easily implement these campaigns to increase user engagement and TOS.
    Read full review
    PowerSchool Group LLC
    • It is widely used.
    Read full review
    Cons
    Discontinued Products
    • More customization - Would like to have the ability to edit more without coding.
    Read full review
    PowerSchool Group LLC
    • There's nothing I dislike. This program is very straight forward to use.
    • It just works well.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Discontinued Products
    Our initial contract with Wildfire Whitelabel was for $30,000/year, as we progressed we found several alternatives for significantly less. We used this to our advantage to lower the second year to $17,000 with the limitation in the level of support (they call this their "core" subscription). Support has been quite bad.

    During our contract, we also asked for quotes on some custom work, but never managed to get an answer (or actual quote). Now two years into our contract, the limitations and lack of development are enough for us to find a different solution. Newcomers to the market like Rafflecopter, WooBox and PunchTab are delivering much better results for a fraction of the price
    Read full review
    PowerSchool Group LLC
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Discontinued Products
    Very easy to use, almost anyone can learn how to build a comprehensive promotion.
    Read full review
    PowerSchool Group LLC
    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
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Discontinued Products
    I have never been kicked out of Wildfire service. Always up and running.
    Read full review
    PowerSchool Group LLC
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Discontinued Products
    Easy to perform tasks and quick to upload changes to your promotions.
    Read full review
    PowerSchool Group LLC
    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
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Discontinued Products
    Phone and email support were always available to us when we needed it.
    Read full review
    PowerSchool Group LLC
    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
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Discontinued Products
    Gave me a thorough rundown on everything the software does. Sometimes it is difficult to run through it all over the phone/internet, but I was able to figure it out myself.
    Read full review
    PowerSchool Group LLC
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Discontinued Products
    Simple to use and very effective in increasing user engagement on both social channels and website. Noticeably helped raise TOS.
    Read full review
    PowerSchool Group LLC
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Discontinued Products
    Wildfire was a merely an adequate social media tool when it existed as a standalone, but it just couldn't compete against other players like Sprout, Falcon, and Sprinklr.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    PowerSchool Group LLC
    Easier to use and more cost effective than shoutpoint
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Discontinued Products
    • As with any social media management tool, there is a savings on labor hours (rather than doing the manual work)
    • Aggregating all content into one system creates efficiencies for content teams
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    PowerSchool Group LLC
    • 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.
    Read full review
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