You just booked a demo with a school management software company. The presenter will show you the cleanest version of their product - pre-loaded data, prepared scenarios, everything running perfectly. Your job is to get past that hour and into the real questions.
This guide gives you exactly what to ask. Not generic questions. Specific questions that reveal whether a system will actually work in your school on a regular Tuesday - not just during a 45-minute sales session.
Most demos are presenter-controlled. You watch. You ask at the end. That format is designed for the vendor, not for you. Change it from the opening.
Ask the vendor to use your data, not theirs. A demo that runs on pre-built sample data tells you almost nothing about your school. Even a small real sample - 30 student names, your actual class structure, one term's fee schedule - will reveal how the system handles your specifics.
Ask to drive, not watch. A good system is intuitive enough for a school administrator who has never seen it before to navigate the basics within minutes. If the vendor resists handing over the mouse, that is a signal.
Tell them your actual pain points upfront. Say: "We currently spend two hours every week correcting attendance errors" or "Our fee collection is always behind because guardians don't know what they owe." Then ask them to show you specifically how the system solves those problems — not a general walkthrough of the module.
Attendance is the feature your teachers will use every single day. If it is slow, confusing, or requires multiple steps, teachers will find workarounds and those workarounds become data gaps.
● How many taps does it take for a teacher to mark attendance for one class? Ask them to demonstrate it live on a mobile phone, not a desktop.
● Can attendance be taken by class or by subject? Schools with subject-wise attendance have very different needs from those that only track daily presence.
● What happens when a teacher forgets to mark attendance? Is there an alert? Can an admin correct it later? Is the correction logged?
● Do guardians get notified when their child is absent? When? How: SMS, app notification, or both?
● Can you show me a monthly attendance report for one student and one class, generated right now?
What Edufy does:
Teachers mark attendance class-by-class or subject-by-subject from the mobile app in under 30 seconds. Guardians receive automatic SMS notifications the same morning. Admins can view daily and monthly records instantly from the dashboard, and corrections are logged with timestamps.
In Bangladesh, how a system handles bKash, Nagad, and cash is often the most critical question of the entire demo. This is where most generic software fails local schools.
● Does the system support bKash and Nagad directly, or only through a third-party integration? Who pays the integration setup cost?
● When a guardian pays by bKash, how long before the payment appears in the admin dashboard? Is it real-time or does it require manual reconciliation?
● Can the system accept cash payments and generate a digital receipt at the same time?
● What happens to a guardian who has not paid? Can the system automatically send them a fee reminder by SMS? Show me this working.
● Can you export a due-fees report right now showing which students owe what amount?
What Edufy does:
Edufy's plugins connect bKash, Nagad, Rocket, and SSLCOMMERZ to your fee module at no extra licensing cost — plugins are free for life. Cash payments generate instant digital receipts. Automatic SMS reminders go out to guardians with outstanding dues. All payment history is visible in real-time.
A student record is more than a name and a class. Ask the vendor to open one student's profile and show you everything it contains.
● Does one profile hold academic records, fee history, attendance, and guardian contact — or are these stored in separate modules that don't connect?
● If a student moves from Class 6 to Class 7, does their full history move with them automatically or does someone have to migrate it?
● Can I search a student by name, roll number, and phone number? Show me the search.
● How long does it take to enrol a new student, including adding their guardian's contact, assigning a class, and setting up their fee structure?
● Can the system auto-calculate GPA based on marks entered by subject teachers? Show me this for a student with marks from four subjects.
● How does a teacher enter marks — one student at a time or by uploading a bulk file?
● When results are published, how does a guardian see them? Through an app? SMS? Do they need to create an account?
● Can the school generate a printable report card from the system? Show me one.
Most demos focus entirely on features. Almost none show you what happens after you sign - and that is where a poor vendor relationship becomes visible.
● How long does it take to go live? Get a specific answer. "A few weeks" is not an answer. Ask: what are the steps, who does what, and what do you need from us?
● What does the onboarding process look like? Do they send a manual and leave you to it, or does someone sit with your admin team and walk them through setup?
● Who do we call when something breaks on a Saturday afternoon? Ask for a specific phone number or WhatsApp contact, not just "our support team."
● What is the average response time for a support ticket? Ask for a real figure, not a promise.
● Is there local support in Bangla? For many school administrators, being able to explain a problem in Bangla and get a response in Bangla is not optional.
What Edufy does:
Edufy is built and supported by Softifybd Ltd., a Dhaka-based company. Support is available in Bangla. Contact numbers are publicly listed. Institutions can raise tickets through the Edufy portal or reach the team directly by phone or WhatsApp.
Your student records are among the most sensitive data your institution holds. Ask these questions directly.
● Where is our data stored? Is it on servers inside Bangladesh or abroad? Does this matter for your institution's compliance requirements?
● Who else has access to our data? Can the vendor's staff see individual student records?
● What happens to our data if we stop using the system? Can we export everything in a usable format — Excel, CSV — before we leave?
● Is there a regular backup? If the system goes down, how far back would we lose data — one hour, one day, one week?
● What user permissions does the system support? Can you give a teacher access to attendance only, without them being able to see fee records?
The demo price is rarely the total cost. Ask these questions before you leave the room.
● Is this a one-time setup fee plus annual subscription, or monthly billing? What does each charge cover?
● If our student numbers grow, does the price change? By how much, and when does it apply?
● Are payment gateway integrations (bKash, Nagad) included in the price, or do they cost extra?
● What is the minimum contract length? Can we leave after one year if the system is not right for us?
● If we want a feature that doesn't exist yet, how does that work — custom development, waiting for the next version, or never?
Before the presenter closes their laptop, run through this list:
● Did you see the system working on a mobile phone, not just a desktop?
● Did the presenter show you a real report — attendance, fees, results — generated live?
● Do you know the exact setup timeline and who is responsible for each step?
● Do you have a direct support contact name and number?
● Did you see bKash or Nagad payment working, not just described?
● Do you know what happens to your data if you leave?
If any of those are still unanswered, ask now. You have more leverage before signing than after.
Edufy offers free demos specifically designed around your institution's setup — your class structure, your payment methods, your student numbers. You drive. You ask the questions. The demo is built around what your school actually needs.
Request a free Edufy demo and bring this list of questions with you.
Get personalized solutions from our dedicated team of specialists available 24/7. Start your journey to success today.
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