Where to look
General → Parent App OTP Portal → Live Requests. This is the tab to be on when a parent rings to say their code has not arrived.
What you will see
Every login code a parent of your school has asked for in the last two hours, newest first. The code is already on the screen — there is no Reveal button on this tab, and nothing to press. Next to each code a timer counts down to the second, so you can see at a glance whether the parent still has time to type it.
The four things a row can say
- Waiting for the parent — the code is live. Read it out.
- Signed in — the parent used it and is in the app. Nothing to do.
- Expired unused — the ten minutes ran out. Ask them to tap “Send code” again, or send them a one-tap link (below).
- Replaced by a newer code — the parent asked twice, so this older one was retired. Use the newer row above it. Nothing has gone wrong.
Why the SMS may not have arrived
Each row also says what happened to the message:
- SMS sent at … — it left your school's sending phone.
- Waiting for your school's SMS phone to pick it up — that phone is off, out of signal or out of credit. The code is still valid: read it out over the phone.
- SMS could not be sent — the sending phone refused it. Read the code out.
If the list is empty
An empty list is not a fault. It means no parent of your school has asked for a code in the last two hours. A code appears here by itself the moment a parent taps “Send code” in the app — you do not need to refresh the page or press anything.
Send a link instead of a code
On any row that is not already signed in, Get a one-tap login link creates a single-use link for that parent. If the app is already on their phone, tapping it opens the app and signs them in with no code at all. If the app is not installed, the link opens a page that offers Google Play; after installing, the parent taps the same link again.
The same panel also gives you the install link on its own, for when you would rather send two plain messages.
Keep a login link private — it opens that family's record. It works once and stops working after a short time.
Finding one parent among thousands
On the OTP by Contact tab, start typing a number and the list narrows as you
type — 0300, 0344 and so on. There is no Search button to press any
more. You can type a parent's or a student's name there too.
Who can see a code
Every code shown to anyone — on this tab or through Reveal — is recorded against the staff member who saw it, with the time. That record is why codes can be shown at all.