Smoothwall has acquired Securus Software, bringing two long-established names in UK school safeguarding technology under one owner.

The announcement, dated 3 November, says Securus customers will continue to receive their monitoring service without interruption. Securus has supplied digital monitoring solutions to schools since 2002.

Smoothwall provides web filtering and a fully moderated monitoring service. Securus also provides managed monitoring to schools in the UK and internationally. Smoothwall says combining the teams’ monitoring expertise will strengthen safeguarding provision.

What schools know so far

The announcement confirms continuity for current Securus monitoring customers. It gives no timetable for changes to products, integrations, support arrangements or contract terms.

That leaves practical questions for schools and trusts to put to their account contact:

  • Will the acquisition change your contract, renewal date, invoices or support route?
  • Will any monitoring workflow, alert process or link with your safeguarding records change?
  • Who will handle escalations and review how monitoring concerns are passed to safeguarding staff?
  • Will the data processing terms, retention periods or access arrangements change?
  • How will the supplier tell you about any planned service or product changes?

These are routine supplier checks. Use your next review to confirm who owns each part of the monitoring process, how concerns reach the designated safeguarding team, and what records the school keeps.

For schools that do not use Securus, there is no immediate change to make. Watch for further detail on product plans before treating the acquisition as a change to the market or to your procurement options.

Are you a Securus customer? Which detail would you want the supplier to confirm first?

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