With over 20 years’ experience in supporting SIMS and over 3000
schools supported direct by Capita, we understand your needs,
enabling us to deliver a personal support service.
You will receive regular communications, and invitations to national and local events. Our SIMS support provides an analyst to talk to you and, when required, we will deliver on-site visits to resolve your issues.
At no additional cost you will have access to a Customer Service Manager with a real understanding of educational changes.
Your Support Level
Admin ICT Support Service
“This year, thanks to the helpdesk support we received, we finished the Census two days early – a first!”
Jon Hugman IT Manager,
Coombe Dean School (convertor academy)
Your Support Level
Admin ICT Support Service
At no additional cost, you have access to a Customer Service Manager
who has real understanding of educational changes. Your CSM will be
your main point of contact and can help you to understand the total
SIMS solution, enabling you to get the most out of SIMS to maximise
investment and use of best practice.
Keeping you informed
and up-to-date
Service desk – telephone, remote and
on-site visits
Personalised support from a helpdesk analyst who will talk through your issues and, if required, access your system remotely to provide a quick resolution.
Tailored upgrade notes
Tailored guidance and notes for key procedures and tasks throughout the academic year. The information is emailed directly to you.
Advice
On security, hardware specifications and networks.
Guidance
On local and national initiatives.
Information and
networking events
Termly software updates
Get the best value from your investment through locally-held sessions focused on key education initiatives and developments.
Support overview sessions
These locally-held sessions will help to ease your pressures and increase effectiveness by showing you new ways of using your system.
SLT overviews
On-site overviews to your management teams, raising awareness of SIMS.
Experience
in education
Dedicated
CSM
Flexible
support
options
Largest SIMS
support
provider
Total IT
solutions
Accredited
support
provider
Specialist
support
Strategic
development
Highly rated
training
Technical services
in line with new
technologies
99% retention
rate
Customer
involvement
in testing and
development
Support material
developed based on
your requirements
Why SIMS Support?
Relationships with DfE,
ASCL, EFA , NASBM, EOA,
Government agencies
and many others
Personal
touch
Face to face,
online and
remote training
We are the team
that trains other
support units
Do you need more
expert support?
Upgrade to a Whole Support contract and get a visit per term included in your support contract which will allow you to take advantage of the expert support services that we offer as a part of a Whole Support agreement including:
•
SIMS health checks•
Technical Health checks•
General SIMS•
Curriculum Visits•
FMS visits•
Key procedure assistanceYou can also purchase these options from our +Services range.
Your Support Level
Admin ICT Support Service
If you require more than just SIMS
Support and need help on your
Admin ICT and/or curriculum, you
might need to change your support
agreement. To discuss the options
available to you please call:
0845 460 4603
Expert support
Network support
This service supports SIMS and other applications, regardless of where they sit on your school network, and provides advice and guidance to school technicians, reducing the likelihood of system problems arising in the first place.
Support on other software packages
This is so much more than SIMS support. This covers Microsoft® packages, anti-virus packages and more. For a full list of supported software go to www.capita-sims.co.uk/ enhancedsupportcontracts
System recovery
In the event of a software failure on the computer holding the MIS system installed by Capita, the supported MIS software and operating system, for example MS Windows, MS Office, MIS applications, Anti-Virus software, data-restore, backup software and standard utilities, will be reinstalled by a qualified technician.
“Looming in the future for us is the need to set up the new academic year within the system. We’re confident we’ll be getting a good return on our investment in SIMS support as the SIMS helpdesk guides us through this.”
Clare Gleave, Associate Principal Colchester Academy
Optional
Expert Support Services
Delivered as a part of Whole Support
SIMS health checks
A member of the SIMS specialist team will come on-site to assess how you are using SIMS. They will offer guidance, give recommendations, and tips on how to use the software that you have more effectively. They will help you in SIMS Core and
Assessment:
•
Helping you to get started with and use Discover•
Helping you with your homepage set up•
Checking you have the current upgrades•
Census•
Checking known issues•
SEN – have a look to see what you can use•
Showcasing what is available via our websites•
AssessmentTechnical health checks
A member of the technical team will come on-site to deliver a technical health check. This will include:
•
A test of the backup process to ensure it is working•
Checking the server for errors•
Checking the disk space on the server•
An audit of the current specification of server, admin and workstations•
Checking that your Windows updates are being applied to the server and workstations•
An audit of the school’s antivirus software and updates•
Solus installationsGeneral SIMS
On-site assistance on basic SIMS requirements:
•
Creating standard templates for SIMS reports – letters, referral documents, exclusions•
Templates for parental reports from SIMS Assessment•
Creating standard HR filesCurriculum visits
•
Uploading of new software•
Active directory•
Adding new machines•
Assistance with wireless networks•
Assistance with whiteboards•
VLE data managementFMS visits
•
Setting up BACS•
Latest patches•
Report writing•
Break fixingBasic report writing
We will provide on-site assistance on basic report writing.
•
Assistance in the report designing process•
Assistance in extracting useful information from SIMS•
Assistance in running predefined reports•
Assistance modifying and creating reports to produce lists•
Help producing lists of information•
Producing mail merge address labels•
Filtering and sortingKey procedure assistance
•
On-site support available on key tasks, including Upload on COLLECT•
Census•
Key Stages•
School Workforce Census“As part of the Whole Support package we have a dedicated Customer Service Manager and we have really valued her visits to the school. She has shown us how to use the system more effectively, teaching us about elements of SIMS to improve efficiency that we weren’t aware of before.”
Janet Pugh, Office Manager St Mary’s Primary
Discuss your upgrade options with
your CSM:
Call:
0845 460 4603
Whole Support on-site visits
Your visit will be scheduled at the beginning of each term. You will have the option to use these visits on what you like from the expert support service options, tailored to your individual requirements. If you have no specific requirements we will schedule a technical health check, SIMS health checks and a Curriculum visit.Your CSM can help you plan what will be of specific use to you. Dependent on the type, your visit will last between two and four hours.
Hardware maintenance service
Assurance that if anything goes wrong, we can put it right.
VPN support service
Support staff who work off-site.
General SIMS assistance
Provides administration assistance to reduce your staff’s workload.
SIMS financial service
Enables you to hand over SIMS financial procedures to experienced Capita staff, allowing you to focus on the other financial matters.
Remote backup and monitoring
Provides you with a remote service, ensuring your data is not only protected and monitored, but recoverable as well.
You need to be able to make the most of your investments
We can help you make the most
of SIMS…
Even if you don’t have the expertise in your school you don’t have to miss out on the benefits that the good use of data analysis can bring, such as better pupil targeting, more streamlined school administration and better financial management.
We can help you make the most
of your IT investments…
Our contracted +Services will provide you with an expert pair of helping hands to ensure you have the freedom to focus on what really matters.
On-site technical service
This ensures your administration and curriculum networks are up-to-date, thereby releasing valuable management time.
Free training: Renew your on-site
technical service contracts and receive free training on Solus3, Server management or Technical Essentials. You will get ½ day FREE for fortnightly visits and 1 day FREE for weekly visits.
New
+
Services
Renew any of your existing
+Services and get 10% off any
installation labour.
+Services are available in one to three year contract options. Find out how much money you can save through a three year deal. Three year deals also offer you more of a stable planned approach to develop the investments that you have made.
Call
0845 460 4603
“We’re huge fans of the SIMS on-site days. Recently a SIMS technician came in to help us with the Microsoft SQL server transfer. He was quick and efficient, ensuring the migration was as smooth as possible and took up the minimum amount of school staff time.”
Jon Hugman, IT Manager
Enhanced Support
Whole Support SIMS Admin ICT Support
Keeping you informed and up-to-date
Email Support
P
P
Helpdesk – telephone, remote, on-site visits
Personalised support from a helpdesk analyst who will talk through your issues and if required, access your system remotely to provide a resolution quickly.
P
P
Supporting you with SIMS Application Suite
P
P
Access to a Customer Service Manager (at no additional cost)
P
P
Advice on e-security
P
P
Advice on hardware specifications and networks
P
P
Guidance on local and national initiatives – through your CSM
P
P
Information and networking events
Support overview sessions
P
P
Termly software updates
P
P
SIMS Direct events
P
P
Senior leadership overviews from your CSM
P
P
Expert support
Database recovery
P
P
Microsoft and antivirus software support included
P
P
Network support for SIMS and other applications (email, EDI, and internet)
P
P
System recovery
P
P
Strategic support from your CSM
P
Curriculum teams providing you with curriculum support
P
Technical on-site visits – three visits (one visit per term)
P
SIMS health checks Technical health checks Curriculum visits Basic report writing General SIMS FMS visits
Key procedure assistance
Guide
Support overview sessions and termly software updates, are available to Enhanced Support Contract customers.
SIMS Direct events are available to customers who have direct licences with Capita. All these items are example options that
could be included within your Whole Support Agreement via on-site visits. They are also available through additional +Service options.
Overview
Why SIMS Support?
SIMS support services bring you
opportunities to share and discuss
best practice, the
confidence to do more
, and the
peace of mind
that
someone is always there to help you.
Opportunities
“The software updates are informative as well as offering a valuable opportunity to meet other SIMS users.”Confidence
“We recently implemented SIMS Discover which we think is great – our CSM gave us the support and confidence to implement this and even visited the school herself to demonstrate SIMS Discover to our leadership team.”
Peace of mind
“Our Customer Services Manager is our one main contact, always there to support us, and the helpdesk is really good as we usually get an instant answer. When we had a power outtage recently, we lost some timetabling information but the helpdesk was able to help us recover this immediately.”
