ASX Announcement: MGM Wireless unveils world first 'on-demand' school-parent communication technology

8 October , 2007

191ASK School News ChannelT empowers parents with instant answers direct from schools

School communication specialist MGM Wireless will unveil its latest technology, 191ASK School News ChannelT, today at the Australian School Bursars Association conference in Adelaide (Oct 8-11).

School News ChannelT is the first* solution to empower parents with on-demand information from schools using SMS mobile phone technology.

All the routine questions parents ask schools every day can be answered by texting a code or keyword to one unique number anywhere in Australia: 191ASK (191275).

School News Channel is the first major innovation in school-home communication since MGM became the first company in the world to introduce text messaging for student attendance management and crisis alerts in 2003.

MGM Wireless Executive Chairman Mr Mark Fortunatow said that 191ASK School News ChannelT places the company at the forefront of a trend towards greater user control of information.

"MGM now extends that trend from the web into the mobile space, allowing people with no technical skills to create and share news for delivery on mobile phones," Mr Fortunatow said.

"This is a true mobile solution, not just a repurposed web application - parents need 191ASK on a Saturday morning on the way to sports when half the team is in the back of the car and no one's sure where the soccer game is being played."

From the company's point of view, School News Channel creates a new media business and revenue stream that is highly scalable.

The business has the potential to grow very rapidly as the service is intuitive and sought-after by schools, particularly in the independent sector.

"There are 10 thousand schools in Australia, all of which could be using School News Channel to deliver the type of information 10 million Australian parents want to access," Mr Fortunatow said.

“Exam dates, assignments due, sports results, timetables – they will all be available at the touch of a few keys. “Parents won’t need to call schools and wait on hold, they can have the answers right away, or leave an ad hoc question for the school to answer later.”

From the school’s point of view, there are no large software infrastructure investments. Schools can start using the service for their school communities today, simply by registering on the website at www.schoolnewschannel.com.au and using the web-based version of the service.

When used with MGM’s market-leading messageyou™Schools software, School News Channel allows a real-time, dynamic lookup of schools’ existing databases, leveraging a new revenue opportunity from MGM’s current customer base of 700 schools.

r Fortunatow said that schools selected for beta-testing the new product have responded very positively and 191ASK School News Channel would now be rolled out across Australia for the next phase of mass-market trials.

“School News Channel can be extended to third party information providers, which will make the service even more powerful,” Mr Fortunatow added.

“It’s well known that the best schools are those that focus on excellent school-parent communication. That’s our vision for School News Channel – to build strong school communities by keeping the lines of communication open.

“Today’s launch is just the start for what we believe is a globally significant innovation.”

Australian Innovation Patent 2007100840

For more information or to register, visit: www.schoolnewschannel.com.au