Most of the time the Scouts want to go to TroopTrack on their phone and lookup someone to contact they want to do it easily and see:
Contact numbers & Email address for Scout or Parent but not typically all of them at once so choose what you see Scouts or Adults or Parents select-able.
Hi Jeff,
Have you been able to see Communicate > Member Directories > Contact List ? This is a page that shows all members with associated phone numbers and emails. It is divided by Leaders, units/patrol, and then if you continue to scroll it shows all youth and adults.
Does this help?
Thanks,
Tyler
TroopTrack
I tried what you suggested under a test account I created. This account is a “youth”. I tried to pull up the contact list but not everyone in the ship roster is showing up.
When a person has Self access and View and print troop roster Privilege, they will only be able to see the adults in the unit, not the other youth.
The way I read the original post the feature request would be for anyone with View and print troop roster Privilege regardless of Access Level they would see everyone. Then the other items listed would be nice feature adds as well.
I agree with the rest of the comments since the change self access needs to allow the scouts to see each other’s information to contact them.
It’s exactly what my son said when I sent him the information. He said he couldn’t see the other scouts and that’s what they really wanted.
I saw everyone because of my access so it looked fine to me.
I am curious if the previous version allowed this and it changed in TT4? It seems to me a bit of a privacy issue.
No this wasn’t available but most organizations. Sports teams and others have contact lists. Parents can choose to allow the information to be in the system or not by its entry. So no privacy issue we don’t require it.
No, this feature was not available in the prior version of TroopTrack either.
And yes, this existing Contact List is only accessible to those with the correct privileges in the troop granted by troop leadership to access it.
We built the contact list this way for respect of the privacy of everyone involved in a troop. So those who needed it and with the right permissions could do so. To have a troop-wide directory would be something much more complicated than at first glance due to the privacy issues involved. Especially when listing a minor’s contact info. We would need consent from each user listed to either opt in or out and even then I am not sure if we are legally bound. Or as this feature request is asking, we could also create a simple leader controlled “Troop Roster” and “MB counselor list” permission that controls who has the ability to see the lists. Restricting and enabling certain members to see those listed contact info.
What would the main reason for having a list with addresses or phone numbers be? Would this be for communication and simply getting in contact with those listed?
It sounds like rather than listing personal addresses or phone numbers in a public place within TroopTrack and jumping through privacy red tape, a chat or messaging system within TroopTrack would be a much better solution. This way individuals can be contacted directly through the TroopTrack software itself and personal contact info is not being shared. Troop members would be notified through notifications within TroopTrack any time they receive a message, and with our newly released iOS and Android apps we could send push notifications to phones for instant messaging.
Thoughts?
Some of our boys are using discord for that and I won’t promote discord because of the other platforms it can lead to so if this would be possible it would be a good compromise. The Scouts want something like this to use. The thing they like about discord is how they can break it up into patrol discussions and then have a meeting discussion for the group. Possibly leadership group etc…I would think parents would want to possibly opt in or out of this too?
I just did a test from my son’s TT account and he is able to send an e-mail from Communicate Send an Email to anyone in the Troop, that includes the Patrol Groups. While its not the same thing it does give them a way to send out communication to each other without seeing the contact info, then it is up to the recipient to respond to share their address. Also if they use the option for Send Replies to all original recipients it gives a way for the boys to communicate back and forth within the Patrol or whatever group, Also if you have the Parent email copy setting enabled the parents will get the message as well.
I like the idea of a chat based communication tool though the TT mobile app.
I think an internal Instant Message feature would be great! As long as the app can effectively push notifications. Also, read receipts would be super nice alongside that. Kids text message all the time. This would fit right into that M/O. On top of that, this would be a great place to have a unit wide message system that us leaders can push out. Obviously privilege controlled. Email is great for long form newsletters, text messages would be great for quick “meeting time is at 5:30pm at the scout house tonight” or to parents “we are running about 30 mins behind schedule for post event pickup”.
We stared using Remind for things like this but not all of the parents opted in. We started using TT’s text message feature which works great, as long as you have all of the carriers listed. Neither has been a great solution. I think this would be so much more useful and I don’t think it would be difficult to get people to download the App, as long as it stays free, since it is something we use so readily.
Wow, sounds like TroopTrack’s next update of TT5 will need to have a chat feature! 
I am envisioning a chat functionality that will include not only allow individual 1-on-1 messaging, but yes, grouped chat where dens, patrols, units, or whoever can be included. Or even event specific chats so all of those attending the local museum tonight could be grouped. Of course, all under the correct privileges so leaders are in control of what chat groups are being created. I would like to flush this out more with our TroopTrack team.
Thank you so much for all of your feedback. It is always welcome. TroopTrack is committed to providing the best scouting software and it starts here from the TroopTrack community’s feedback.
Thanks,
Tyler
Just circling back to this discussion. I think with the addition of the following features, this feature request has been taken care of:
Let me know if the above is sufficient in contacting necessary leadership or not.
Thanks,
Tyler
TroopTrack