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Piggott schools implement new phone alert system
Thursday, October 23, 2008
By TIM BLAIR Times News Staff
Students, parents, teachers and other personnel of the Piggott School District have a new communication tool at their disposal, as the SchoolReach system is implemented at both local campuses. The program, which is already being used by many districts nationwide, gives school officials the capability of providing a recorded message to parents and staff for either emergency purposes or for general announcements.
The SchoolReach program will allow the school to record a brief message, and then have that sent simultaneously to hundreds of telephones. The system will also generate a report that tells administrators which parents answered, when an answering machine picked up and whether those who answered listened to the entire message. This manner should allow for timely dispensing of important information, and will replace older forms of communication such as phone trees and sending notes home with students.
"We'll be able to use this system to notify all households and parents within minutes of an emergency or unplanned event that causes early dismissal, school cancellation or late start," PHS assistant principal Brock Swann noted. "In the future we'll also be using the system to communicate general announcements and reminders, but we'll continue to report school closings on local radio and TV stations and will use this system as an overlay."
Swann noted that, when the SchoolReach system calls a parent the caller ID will show up as the main number for the district administration offices. He added that, when someone answers the phone, the message will begin shortly after someone says "hello", but added that multiple "hellos" may delay the message. The system will also detect answering machines, but will hang-up after five rings if there is no answer, so parents are encouraged to ensure that their machines are set to answer after four rings.
"In the event a cancellation decision is made the night before, or in the early morning hours, the message will only be sent to home phones," Swann noted. "In the event a cancellation decision is made mid-day the message will be sent to both home and cellular numbers." Swann added that general announcements will only be sent to home numbers when that program is implemented.
At the end of the message parents will also have the option of hearing it again by pressing the number one on their keypad.
"Of course the system cannot operate without up-to-date and accurate information," Swann added, "so we'll be sending out a letter in an effort to make sure our database is correct." The letter gives parents an overview of the program, and includes a new contact sheet to update their home and cell phone numbers.
Swan also indicated one test call already has been conducted, placed last week to teachers within the district. He noted the test went well, but some incorrect phone numbers were found. He said there would be future test calls when the system is fully implemented, but noted that parents and teachers will be alerted to the tests ahead of time.