General Overview

RollCall has developed a TASS-certified API to maintain student and parent contact details stored in RollCall directly via connection to your TASS system.

The RollCall - TASS API manages the following data:

Student Records

• Set to ACTIVE status (students not found in the TASS data will be made inactive in RollCall)

• Student Number

• First Name

• Last Name

• Date of Birth

• Grade

• Address (from a verified Parent contact)

• Campus (must match RollCall campus setting value)

Parent Records

• Set to UNENGAGED / ENGAGED status:

  • Parents are added as Unengaged initially.

  • Unengaged and Engaged parent records are verified. Parent records (by email address) not verified by TASS will have students removed and their record marked as Past Parent.

• First Name and Last Name (converted from Addressee if necessary)

• Email 1

• Mobile 1

About Student to Parent Attachments

Each student will have at least one parent linked to their record, depending on how your parent contacts are set up in TASS. Parent record data is obtained from the information stored in the Communication Rules tab for each student.

We prefer to work with the Lives With (LW) flag in the communication rules settings, but we can also configure your API to use TKCO if it provides a better parent record result for your school.

Important: With the API active, RollCall Admin users should not create any unverified parent records directly. Each time the API runs, unverified parents will be made inactive and their students removed.

Parent Record Creation Logic

Parent records are created and verified daily, by email address match, based on the following logic:

For Students in Nuclear Families (Multi-parent = OFF)

• CREATE ONE primary parent record only

• When the address block has:

  • Lives With checkmark AND

  • A single valid email address in the Email 1 field

• Processed in the following order:

  1. Address Block 1

  2. Address Block 4

  3. Address Block 5

  4. If unsuccessful, NO PARENT record is created

For Students in Split Families (Multi-parent = ON)

• CREATE MULTIPLE primary parent records

• When the address block has:

  • Lives With checkmark AND

  • A single valid email address in the Email 1 field

• Processed in the following order:

  1. Address Block 4

  2. Address Block 5

  3. If unsuccessful, NO PARENT record is created

Some manual maintenance of records (e.g., deletion of duplicate parent records) is still required. We continuously work to improve our standard API to meet the needs of all clients.

Why Some Clients Choose Not to Use an API

1. Restrict RollCall student data to bus users only.

2. Retain flexibility to add Primary parent contacts that would not be verified by the TASS API.

Without an API, data can be maintained using the bulk import and update features of RollCall.

Setting up the API

Step 1 - Feasibility Check

Before proceeding, we require credentials to access your Student Details data via the API Application. The credentials will first be tested in a pre-production system to:

• Check verification of existing RollCall records (for existing clients)

• Ensure correct retrieval of student and parent data (for new clients)

Step 2 - Setup API Application Details in TASS

You will need to set up the TASS API Application Details record in TASS to allow RollCall to access your data. For assistance, consult your TASS documentation or contact TASS support.

DO NOT SEND API CREDENTIALS VIA EMAIL. 

Email is not secure. Instead, use our secure e-Form (see Step 4).

Step 3 - Verify the API Application Details

Before submitting your TASS credentials, you must test and verify that the credentials establish a successful connection to TASS and access the required data.

This can be done using API test software (e.g., Postman). For assistance, contact TASS support.

Step 4 - Securely Submit API Application Details to RollCall

DO NOT SEND API CREDENTIALS VIA EMAIL.

Use the link below to complete our secure e-Form and submit your TASS API details to RollCall.

Submit your Student API Details

We require your contact details and the following information to set up your API

Support and Troubleshooting

Support

We assist with API feasibility and activation only if the API details provided work for other services or independent testing.

For TASS licensing, setting up a TASS API Application record, or API testing, consult TASS documentation or TASS support.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Can I choose which records are added to RollCall? 

No. The API transfers all active students in TASS based on enrolment status and start/end dates. Parent records are created based on API rules and Communication Rules settings in TASS.

Why is a parent record not showing in RollCall or marked as 'Past Parent'? 

The parent record was not verified by the API. RollCall API verifies ONE parent per nuclear family (Multi-parent = No), regardless of multiple LW or TKCO selections.

Why doesn’t RollCall create parent records for all parent contacts in nuclear families? 

TASS stores parent data in multiple locations based on purpose (e.g., billing, correspondence). Processing all instances would generate duplicate errors and slow API verification. We optimize the API for daily updates while maintaining system performance.

Why aren’t student card codes included in the data transfer? 

Not all schools store card codes in the same field or use them. RollCall has scoped an API enhancement to transfer student card codes from the ALT ID field if applicable.

Why can’t I access the API Application Details in TASS? 

TASS licenses API access separately from its basic software. Contact TASS support for assistance.

I made a change in TASS, but it’s not showing in RollCall. Why? 

The API updates overnight. Parent updates may fail due to duplicate errors (e.g., a past or secondary parent with the same email exists).

How do I add extra parents to RollCall? 

You can’t manually add unverified primary parent records. However, Primary Parents can add extra carers using the Add Secondary Carer feature in the RollCall Parent App.