SchoolMessenger Awarded Contract by Puget Sound ESD to Deliver Parent Notification Solutions to the Region's K-12 School Districts

Three-year agreement enables 35 Washington state school districts to adopt communication solutions that deliver 24/7 voice, e-mail or text messaging.

Santa Cruz, Calif. and Seattle, Wash. (PRWEB) August 20, 2007 -- SchoolMessenger, a leading U.S. parental notification company, today announced that Puget Sound Educational Service District (ESD), Washington's largest educational service district, has awarded the company a three year contract. The agreement will enable up to 35 school districts serving nearly 400,000 students in the greater Seattle-Tacoma area to purchase SchoolMessenger parent notification solutions to enhance communications in those communities.

The SchoolMessenger contract complements Puget Sound ESD's existing emergency communications system, SchoolReport.org, by enabling schools to connect more frequently with parents, students and staff. SchoolReport.org is a centralized regional resource that relays timely and accurate emergency-related information from its Web site through local radio and television broadcasts, the Internet and email. In contrast, SchoolMessenger parent notification solutions will allow administrators to deliver direct-to-parent voice messages to their home, business and mobile phones. Calls can be made for emergency alerts as well as more routine announcements, updates or messages between the school and home, such as attendance notifications, special events, holiday or testing reminders, volunteer requests and more.

"Our goal is to provide area superintendents and principals with tools that they can use to enhance the communication process within their communities," said Joan Tritchler, assistant to the superintendent for Puget Sound ESD. "After a thorough evaluation of seven voice notification vendors, we believe SchoolMessenger solutions offer districts the best quality, flexibility and cost advantages. Whether for routine daily calls or important time-sensitive announcements, SchoolMessenger solutions can simplify and improve communication to families throughout the district, or at a specific school."

SchoolMessenger offers a selection of hosted and on-site notification solutions to fit any budget or communication objective. In each case, the software allows school or district administrators to create personalized and timely voice messages, emails or correspondence in any language, according to family preference. All SchoolMessenger solutions integrate with more than 130 information systems.

"We are pleased to partner with a progressive service group like Puget Sound ESD," said Julie Abbott, vice president of Sales for Reliance Communications, the parent company of SchoolMessenger. "They understand the value of proactive communication in today's schools, as evidenced by their vision with the SchoolReport.org service and their leadership in enabling districts to implement voice notification solutions in their region."

About SchoolMessenger
SchoolMessenger, a division of Reliance Communications, Inc., is a leading provider of parent notification solutions for education. Its family of products, which include desktop, server and hosted solutions, are in use in more than 6,000 districts and schools, connecting educators with millions of parents everyday. Founded in 1999, the privately-funded company is headquartered in Santa Cruz, California. For information, visit www.schoolmessenger.com.

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