jmc Office helps you manage attendance more efficiently by automatically notifying families of student absences through phone calls, eliminating the need for manual lookups and individual outreach. You can set up to two call times each day to ensure timely communication, and administrators receive email summaries showing which families were contacted and the status of each call.
Log into jmc Office and go to Message Center > Attendance Notification Settings to set up automated attendance notifications.
Step One: Click the "Add New" button to create an automated attendance notification entry.
Step Two: Place a checkmark in the "Enable Attendance Notification" checkbox to ensure families receive automated attendance calls.
Helpful Tip: On days with expected irregular attendance (Homecoming, field trips, etc.), remove the checkmark from the “Enable Attendance Notifications” checkbox to avoid sending unnecessary alerts.
Step Three: Enter the email address(es) in the “Email address(es) the daily report will be sent to” field to choose who receives the daily contact summary.
Helpful Tip: Separate multiple email addresses with commas if more than one person should receive the report.
Step Four: Select a radio button in the “Attendance” box to choose which absences will trigger an automated call:
"Excused": students with a documented reason for absence
"Unexcused": students for whom no reason has been provided
"Both": includes both "Excused" and "Unexcused" students
Step Five: Choose an absence reason from the "Attendance Code" drop-down list to specify which type of absence should receive an automated call.
Helpful Tip: Use an absence reason like "Unknown" to target families who have not yet contacted the office.
Step Six: Enter a time in the "Time of the day to send calls" field or click the clock icon to choose when notification calls should be sent.
Helpful Tip: Select a time that gives office staff enough time to review attendance records before calls go out.
Step Seven: Enter a message in the “Additional Message” field to include extra details in the automated call, such as a reminder to follow up with the school office.
Step Eight: Click “Update” to save your changes and apply the automated attendance notification settings or the "Cancel" button to discard them.
Fun Fact: The automated call uses a computerized voice to state the student’s name, note their period-one absence, and read any message you added.
Step Nine (optional): Repeat steps one through six to set up a second attendance notification if you want to communicate absences to parents at another time of day.