 Getting the parent
outreach process started:
Where to begin?
Before you invest in any notification technology, it's important to be aware that some notification vendors will attempt to push you into a quick sale and bank on the fact they'll get paid without offering additional value to your outreach program.
In fact, some vendors won't encourage you to use their service at all. Why? Because every time you call, it costs them money. The fewer calls you make, the more money they make.
Starting your outreach off on the right foot
Before US Netcom offers any parent outreach solution, our method is to determine what your short and long-term goals are so that we can tailor a selection designed for your particular parent outreach plans. There are a lot of options that should be factored into your decision other vendors don't know to ask. Options that go far beyond just general outreach.
 US Netcom has provided solutions to K-12 educators for more than 20 years. We understand how critical consistent communication is to your parents, students and community. We also understand that budget considerations often come first in the decision-making process.
That's why we developed the US Netcom Discovery Process. We'll walk you through a list of needs other districts like yours have identified over the years. Once you've had a chance to review them and determine if they fall in line with your needs, we'll tailor an outreach solution that meets those goals and budget.
US Netcom offers more options than other vendors. Here's a detailed overview of just three of the most popular solutions selected by educators:
 1. AllCall Notification Service - Offering parent outreach without hardware, software, phone lines, computer equipment or help-desk support.
US Netcom’s AllCall Service provides a completely hands-off approach to parent notification. It is preferred by districts with limited IT resources or who do not want to manage hardware, software, computer equipment, personnel or support desk issues.
 How it works: AllCall's communication technology is housed and hosted in one of several operational facilities located around North America. The equipment is managed by our professional technicians, which means the district never has to touch it to use it.
District and school users alike are granted access to the service, and log in through the web or dial in by phone to manage their own calling programs. Users access AllCall via the web, or they can dial in toll-free to our 24-hour help desk. Users don't need to know how to use a computer to use AllCall.
Through the web or with the help of our operations center, your users record their messages, manage their own call lists, send notification and generate call reports. This method allows the district and any school in it to manage the notification process. This also lets the district take advantage of emergency access to thousands of phone lines for immediate parent notification if necessary.
AllCall is renewable every year through an annual subscription, providing notification for the district and every school in it.
Advantages:
- The communication hardware is configured, managed, staffed, supported and maintained by our 24/7/365 operations center personnel.
- The district never has responsibility for maintaining hardware, software, equipment, phone lines or peripheral devices in the operation of the service.
- Easy to use by web, or with the help of operator assistance if needed
- Provides routine and emergency notification as needed
Option includes on-site training for all your users, remote follow-up training, platinum support and refresher training.
2. US Netcom's site-located communication solution - for districts who want to manage the entire notification process.
 For districts that prefer to manage their own communication hardware, US Netcom offers automated notification technology with enough phone line capability necessary to deliver both routine, scheduled notification for attendance, notification and relevant calendar information events, as well as school-level emergency notification.
 This solution has the added advantage of providing inbound “talking database” applications that give parents access to virtually any school information. Information including the communication of lunch balances, bus schedules, overdue library books and any other data-driven information stored in your database.
It also allows the district and each school in it to manage its own calling program by phone or over the web, but always under the supervision of the central office.It offers the capacity to conduct telephone surveys and to conduct school-specific emergency notification.
How fast are calls delivered with this method?
The speed at which calls are delivered depends on the number of phone lines available and the length of the message being sent. Rule of thumb: The more phone line capacity installed the faster the call delivery at your disposal. A general guideline for determining the capacity appropriate for your district is to calculate one phone line for every 500 students, or one line for every 250 students if the district intends to provide inbound “talking database” applications such as talking grades, homework assignments, etc.
Talking Databases
With the installation of additional supplementary hardware, the district may be able to add an expansive array of “talking database” applications that dramatically expand the level of notification services your district can provide to parents. US Netcom offers tremendously flexible outreach tools that allow the district to initiate many notification programs. US Netcom solutions can provide scheduled calls to parents when grades fall below expectation, when lunch balances reach a predetermined threshold, when bus schedules are changed or when there is an overdue balance at the school library.
US Netcom technicians have been tasked with many unique challenges by districts over the years, and they have proven again and again that student data residing in most SIS packages can be converted into “talking databases”. What JCBOE gains is a very long list of capability from which the district can take immediate advantage, including:
- Absence and tardy notification with touchtone response
- Emergency notification with pickup instructions
- Progress report notification with access to talking grades and test scores
- Bond referendum (vote today) reminder calls with polling date and locations
- Overdue library book reminders with account balance
- Low lunch balance account with account balance and automated alert
- Test reminder calls with date, time and location
- Invitation to school events with date, time and location
- Congratulatory calls to honor roll students, students of the week
- School bus schedules with automated notification of route changes
- Weekly class curriculum update calls
- Report card release announcement
- Immunization notification with push-button response
- Amber alert / missing child / neighborhood alert
- Booster club activity notification
We invite you to take advantage of this pre-existing technology and utilize it to meet any future communication needs required by the district. Some applications identified above require additional charges for implementation. The district will receive a full review of additional charges (if any) to implement any additional services beyond the scope of services identified in this RFP.
Advantages:
- The district owns the communication equipment necessary to provide routine daily notification for attendance and homework notification.
- After initial purchase the district pays only an annual fee for support.
- No recurring ASP service charges.
- Easy web access for school users to record messages, create call lists, send notification and print reports.
- Solution is expandable to accommodate future “talking database” applications such as grade information, test scores, lunch balance information, parent surveying and more.
3. US Netcom Combination Solution For Greatest Cost-Efficiency
This option combines US Netcom communication hardware installed at your site. and combined with US Netcom's Priority Messaging Service. This provides the most cost-effective solution for routine and emergency notification because it combines the lower one-time cost for hardware with immediate access to the US Netcom notification network of thousands of phone lines for emergency, district-wide notification.
This option begins with the installation of a US Netcom site-based system for routine, automated notification that includes incidents notifications, school closings, special meetings, parent/teacher conferences, graduation ceremonies, district events, changes in procedures (how to pay school lunches), sporting events, school events and lockdowns. The system includes hardware configuration and installation, software, training and Platinum support.
Included with this option is web-based access to the US Netcom’s Priority Messaging Service (PPMS) for emergency notification. PPMS provides immediate web-based and phone-based access to a bank of thousands of phone lines for school-level emergency notification. Each school in the district will receive up to two emergency calls per school year with this service. Cost of the service is low and based on the assumption it is used only when needed for real emergencies.
US Netcom's Priority Messaging Service
This option includes access to the US Netcom's Priority Messaging Service for emergency notification for the district’s schools. Authorized school users log in or call in to our operations center to record messages and send notification as quickly as the local Atlanta phone switch will deliver calls.
Advantages of this option:
- The district owns enough equipment necessary to provide routine, scheduled notification, which prevents the installation of more hardware than needed, keeping costs down.
- After initial purchase, the district pays only an annual fee for support.
- System is managed by the central office; school users granted web-based access to record messages, create call lists, send notification and print reports.
- Solution is expandable to accommodate “talking database” applications such as grade information, test scores, lunch balance information, parent surveying capability and more.
- Provides access to low-cost US Netcom Priority Messaging Service, with capability to send up to two emergency calls per school per year.
- Holds recurring annual per-schools charges for emergency notification to a minimum while offering access, capacity, immediacy and cost efficiency.
- Offers the greatest flexibility to exploit other parent communication opportunities, including inbound features not provided through an ASP service format
Finally, regardless of the solution you choose, we won't turn our backs on you. We encourage the use of our solutions every day, to provide the best notification solution for your district. The more you use it, the more advantages you'll see - and the better student performance and parent involvement you'll realize.
800-695-7788
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