SchoolMessenger Launches SmartCall to Cut Notification Costs in Half

Districts Send Non-Emergency Calls Over Idle Phone Lines Using Patent-Pending SaaS Notification Service

Denver (PRWEB) October 28, 2009 -- SchoolMessenger, a leading U.S. parental notification company, today launched SmartCall™, a patent-pending software add-on to its hosted CommSuite service that allows school districts to cut their notification costs in half. The software connects to a district's existing telecom infrastructure to route non-emergency calls through idle phone lines, while at the same time ensuring that all time-sensitive, emergency calls continue to route over the massive calling capacity of SchoolMessenger's best-in-class SaaS platform.

SchoolMessenger will demonstrate CommSuite and SmartCall in Booth #812 at the National School Boards Association T+L Conference this week. Company representatives will also participate in two sessions presented by Cisco Systems. The sessions, Effective Communications Systems for Schools, will take place October 28 and 29. In addition, Kyle Berger, Executive Director of Technology Services, Alvarado Independent School District (TX), will highlight the budget saving benefits of SmartCall in the session, "Rapid Notification Services: Emerging Trends and What Works," on October 28 at 3:30 p.m. in Room 403.

"SmartCall represents an evolution in cloud-based notification products and is the first SaaS-based mass notification solution to control costs by routing non-emergency calls over idle phone line capacity," said Sanford Kenyon, president of SchoolMessenger. "Our hosted CommSuite platform automatically manages the entire process. Districts enjoy an average of 50% savings with no additional work and without sacrificing critical communication services and peace of mind."

SmartCall is an extension of CommSuite, SchoolMessenger's Software as a Service (SaaS) notification solution. It fits on a single USB drive and requires no maintenance once installed. The hosted service provides the same massive calling capacity for super-rapid, extremely secure and highly reliable delivery of notifications that thousands of schools, districts and colleges count on from SchoolMessenger. By leveraging its existing telecom infrastructure, districts enjoy the added benefit of markedly lower costs.

"Running our district requires a significant phone system, but when the school day is over dozens of phone lines go unused," said Derry Lyons, Director, Information Technology Services, South Kitsap Schools (Washington). "SchoolMessenger is the only notification system with the architecture required to tap that unused capacity. Plus there is no staffing required, no hardware to manage and absolutely no maintenance. It's a hands off, lights out resource."

"SmartCall allows us to leverage our existing Cisco system, is extremely easy to use and offers a nice mix of cost savings, features and functionality," said Walter L. "Luke" Fox, Executive Director of Information Technology at Richland County School District One (South Carolina). "Just recently it was put to the test. Our local phone lines went down one weekend day and our notification jobs were transferred to SchoolMessenger's hosted capacity without fail. We weren't aware of the switchover to standby capacity until we saw it in a report on Monday morning."

About SchoolMessenger
SchoolMessenger is a leading provider of notification solutions for education. Thousands of school districts, public schools, colleges, universities, private schools and other educational facilities in all 50 states depend on the company's innovative solutions to connect and effectively communicate with millions of parents, students and staff every day. Founded in 1999, the company is headquartered in Santa Cruz, California. For information, visit http://www.schoolmessenger.com or call 888.527.5225.

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