SMS alerts can be very useful for schools to communicate with parents.
Blackboard, an education software company, has acquired Safe-T-Net which develops an SMS alerts system for K12 schools for $33M.
Blackboard, 
a company that designs an education software for school groups, has acquired mobile messaging provider Saf-T-Net for $33 million. Saf-T-Net develops AlertNow, which is a mobile messaging technology aimed to the K-12 marketplace.
AlertNow’s technology delivers voice, e-mail and emergency SMS messages at a rate up to 2.5 million per hour to parents, students and school administrators. The company, which sent 25 million message in February alone, has over 2000 schools using its product and will be used to Blackboard’s mobile technology. Saf-T-Net will also help Blackboard further its dominance in the the K-12 market; Blackboard’s software has been used predominantly by colleges and universities.
Our company Alerts360 offers such a system for business, schools, healthcare etc. We have recently launched it in India where SMS is huge. We will soon be launching it the US.