May 4, 2026
Push Requests — Import Process
NOTE: The simplest form of running your interviews is to ensure a current list of teaching staff, and then allow parents to self-register, select the teachers they wish to meet with and select available time slots. If your school is keen to send the parent a One Click Booking email, where all of the information is preloaded and the parent just chooses time slots with each teacher, then push requests is exactly what you are looking for.
The import process loads current student, parent, and timetable data from your SMS into the SOBS application. This data is used when generating push requests to match each student to their subject teachers and to obtain parent contact details.
You may repeat the import process when your student data or timetable has changed — for example, after a timetable update mid-term or when new enrolments are processed.
Overview of the import process
This process will vary depending on the integration we support with your SMS. Please contact us if your SMS is not listed and you would like to include it.
The import process will typically be a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file. If you have the data in a spreadsheet there will be an export option to save the data in a CSV format. The file will typically have a “.csv” extension.
When you select the CSV file and begin the import we will read through the data to ensure the correct information is included. Once the data is validated we will then perform the additions and modifications as necessary, matching import data against existing records and updating data in place. For example, where a student has a pre-defined student-identifier, we will match the imported data with existing student-identifier, and where we find a match we will update the existing student record with the fresh information.
At the conclusion of the process we will check if there were any existing records held in SOBS that were not matched by the import process. If the import included all the data for your school, then it could be that unmatched records are no longer valid and may be deleted. For example, say we are importing the student data, but just the Year10 students, at the end of the process the import will report that there are perhaps 500 student records that were not matched, and you will have the option to keep those record (because we only imported a portion of the entire student list) or delete those unmatched records. In this instance you would select “Keep” the unmatched records because this was a partial import only. If you were importing the entire student list (all year levels) and then received an indication that there were 60 student records that were unmatched, then deleting these would be a good option – they maybe students who have graduated or moved to another school and we no longer need to keep records for those students.
- Logged into SOBS and the Parent Booking application
- Click on the booking round where you want to generate push requests
- Click on row #20 – Push Requests
- Click the button “Import SMS data” or select from the menu (top right of the table) “Import SMS data”
- Select the SMS applicable for your school
- Click the input field to upload the appropriate CSV file(s)
- Click the button “Begin import process”
Importing: OneSchool
With OneSchool you will export up to four files before beginning the import. The instructions for each export are shown on-screen when you upload, but a summary is provided below. All of the files are optional, so just import the files you need to update. This information is retained, so if you load all of the student, class and timetable data for a booking round, you don’t need to reimport for the next booking round, the data will still be held in SOBS. You may want to re-import is the data is stale.
These first two files will create or update student and parent information. The first will store the parent’s email address, the second will store the parent’s mobile number, and if both are imported we will have the email and mobile number available for use within SOBS.
File 1 — Parent email contact export : This file contains the essential student and parent contact information. We will use the student’s EQID to match with existing records. Export the data from OneSchool: Reports → Data export reports → Parent email contact export → Save.
File 2 — Parent mobile contact export : This file contains the essential student and parent contact information. We will use the student’s EQID to match with existing records. Export the data from OneSchool: Reports → Data export reports → Parent mobile contact export → Save.
File 3 — Timetable file : This file identifies the teacher assigned to each class. We use this data to link classes to their subject teachers and to identify roll classes. Export the data from OneSchool: School management → Timetabling → Timetable (top right) → Choose your active version → Main timetable (top left) → Reports → Timetable export → Select dates for the current week or fortnight → Save.
File 4 — Student class enrolments file : This file matches each student to the classes they are enrolled in. Combined with the timetable file it allows us to determine the student-teacher connections. Export the data from OneSchool: Reports → Data export reports → Student class export → Save.
After the import
Once the import has completed successfully you can proceed to generate push requests. If the summary reports failures, review the listed items — common causes are missing contact details or class codes that could not be matched.
The import can be run again at any time. Re-importing will update existing records with the latest data from OneSchool.
Other SMS systems
If your school SMS is not listed, select Other / Not listed on the import screen. You will be able to upload sample files and submit a support request. We will add import support for your system.