What is iSAMS?
iSAMS is a web-based, single interface MIS designed by teachers specifically for schools. A single core database capable of informing, aiding and auditing every area of school life. iSAMS provides a fully managed service from installation to training, system updates and ongoing support. More than 750 schools around the world have chosen iSAMS as their trusted MIS.
How does ManageBac integrate with iSAMS?
Our integration provides one-way synchronization of data for students, parents, and staff, from iSAMS into ManageBac, allowing you to create new users and withdraw old ones in iSAMS, which will then push to ManageBac automatically:
- For Students Records are matched between systems using School Code in iSAMS and Student ID in ManageBac, with data in iSAMS directly overriding data in ManageBac.
- For Parents: Select which Contact Types in iSAMS you’d like to see sync to ManageBac.
- For Staff: Select which staff you’d like to sync from iSAMS to ManageBac. Staff are auto-matched based on e-mail address.
The following iSAMS fields are supported to sync to ManageBac.
Students |
|
| First Name |
E-mail Address |
| Middle Name |
Enrollment Date (upon creation) |
| Last Name |
School Code (iSAMS) = Student ID (MB) |
| Preferred Name |
iSAMS Student ID |
| Date of Birth |
Address Line 1 |
| Gender |
Address Line 2 |
| Year Grade Number |
City |
| Status |
State |
| Mobile Telephone |
Post Code |
| Nationality (ISO values) |
|
| Language (ISO values) |
|
Parents |
|
|
Title/Profession |
Home Phone Number |
|
Salutation/Title |
Address Line 1 |
|
First Name |
Address Line 2 |
|
Last Name |
City |
|
E-mail Address |
State |
|
Mobile Telephone |
Post Code |
|
|
Country |
Teachers |
|
|
First Name |
Home Phone Number |
|
Last name |
Mobile Telephone |
|
Preferred Name |
Address Line 1 |
|
Gender |
Address Line 2 |
|
Email Address |
City |
|
Date of Birth |
State |
|
Language |
Postcode |
|
Nationality |
Country |
Bold fields are required to create a user in ManageBac via iSAMS data integration.
How to setup your iSAMS integration
You must have an active ManageBac account, and an active iSAMS account to integrate the two systems. To request integration with iSAMS, please review the attached Integration Setup Guide in this article.
Once your prerequisites are in place, contact us via support@managebac.com.
We will review the information you have sent via Excel, ensure that the data matches between iSAMS and ManageBac, and then proceed with syncing the two systems. If there is any data discrepancy, we will contact you via email to ensure it is fixed before we enable sync.
Please note that during the sync process, your iSAMS account will temporarily be placed in Maintenance Mode. This will stop all members of staff from logging into iSAMS until the Integration setup process is completed. We estimate the downtime will be 1-4 hours and is dependent on the number of students.
Integration Questions and Support
How to sync Administrators and Staff from iSAMS to ManageBac
If you would like to sync your Administrators and Staff users from iSAMS to ManageBac, you can enable this via iSAMS > Control Panel > 3rd Party Integrations > ManageBac > Manage Users within iSAMS > Enabled.
The default value would be set up as disabled, meaning iSAMS will not delete or sync staff users to ManageBac unless the school chooses to enable this.
After enabling ‘Manage Users within iSAMS’, you will then need to check the sync for each individual Administrators and Staff users from iSAMS via Control Panel Home > Security & Permissions > User Accounts > select user > Control Panel > 3rd Party Access > tick ‘Select to allow this user access to ManageBac’.
Once this is ticked, this will include the user to be synced from iSAMS to ManageBac.
Important
If you have enabled the Manage Users within iSAMS and had previously ticked for a user ‘Select to allow this user access to ManageBac’, later on unticked this, this will result in the user’s ManageBac account being deleted.
Only allow students in defined year groups from iSAMS to sync to ManageBac
As of March 1, 2024, it is possible to configure which iSAMS grade levels to sync to ManageBac.
Please navigate to Control Panel > Legacy Integrations > ManageBac > Configuration > Form Grade Mapping and then deselect the mapped ManageBac grades for the iSAMS grades you don't want to sync.
iSAMS created new students with fake emails in ManageBac. Why did this happen?
If you do not add an email address to your student in iSAMS, the system will create an automatic fake email in ManageBac. This is because email addresses are an optional field in iSAMS, but a mandatory field in ManageBac. You can change the email to a real one within iSAMS.
None of the newly added users in iSAMS is appearing in ManageBac.
Please check the following:
Is the integration showing as enabled in iSAMS > Control Panel > 3rd Party Integrations?
Does the API Key entered for the ManageBac integration in iSAMS match the API Key in ManageBac?
Do students have matching iSAMS School Codes and MB Student IDs? Are they set to Current in iSAMS?
Are iSAMS parent types mapped correctly to ManageBac contact types in the Contact Type Mapping tab?
Are teachers and admins granted 3rd party access in iSAMS? If all of the above is correct, please get in touch with the iSAMS Helpdesk.
Students are arriving in ManageBac with the incorrect nationality, language or country.
Are countries, nationalities and languages mapped to the correct ISO names and codes in iSAMS > Control Panel > Mappings Manager?
Students are arriving in ManageBac with the wrong grade level
Are the grade levels mapped in iSAMS > Control Panel > 3rd Party integration > ManageBac > Configuration Page > Form Grade Mapping matching to your ManageBac > Settings > School Settings > Grades & Levels?
When do I contact iSAMS versus ManageBac?
| I am having trouble with... | Contact iSAMS | Contact ManageBac |
| A student is appearing as active in iSAMS, but doesn't appear in ManageBac, and I've checked all the steps listed above | X | |
| I am having trouble finding the iSAMS control panel, or another page from the iSAMS screenshots above | X | |
| I am seeing duplicates of students or parents in ManageBac | X | |
| I am missing a student that was previously in iSAMS from ManageBac | X | |
| I can't find a student or parent in iSAMS | X | |
| How do I transition iSAMS to the next academic year? | X | |
| How do I transition ManageBac to the next academic year? | X |
For further questions about iSAMS, you can also access their help site directly.