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Is
any special equipment needed to offer and use ParentBroadcast?
No. Announcements are made
from any standard telephone.
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Our budget is always tight. How
much does ParentBroadcast cost?
The price for ParentBroadcast is a low,
fixed annual charge based on the number of students. There are no hardware or software
costs, usage fees, or other charges. The standard version of the service allows unlimited messages
for any purpose. For schools seeking an extremely inexpensive emergency notification system,
an "urgent message only" version is also available, allowing unlimited use in situations that
affect the safety of students, staff or the public. A representative of ParentBroadcast will be
pleased to provide a price quote for your school or school district.
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How
often can schools use the service?
Schools have unlimited use
of the ParentBroadcast service for announcements to families and staff.
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When can the
service be used?
ParentBroadcast is
available for use 24/7. We recommend that emergency messages be
sent as soon as information is available. For non-emergency
reminders, messages can be recorded at your convenience and scheduled for delivery
at any time. Most schools deliver non-emergency messages in the evening when families are
most likely to be at home.
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How
do school announcements reach parents?
After the school official
records and sends the ParentBroadcast announcement, parents' primary
phone numbers are immediately called with the recorded voice message.
The message is recorded on voice mail or an answering machine if there
is no answer.
In emergency situations, messages are sent to a "Family Emergency Contact
List" consisting of up to 4 phone number and 4 email addresses. The email instructs parents to call a
toll-free number to hear the urgent school announcement.
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What
if no one is home to receive the school announcement?
If there is no answer, the
school announcement will be left on voice mail or an answering
machine. When there is no answering machine or voice mail
service, ParentBroadcast will redial every fifteen minutes for up to
three attempts.
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Can
ParentBroadcast be used in addition to other means now being used
to communicate with families?
Yes. Schools are encouraged
to continue using other traditional means to reach families including
radio and television broadcasts. ParentBroadcast is a valuable complement
to existing methods as it can reach families more quickly and in more ways.
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If
a family's phone number is protected by a privacy manager program
(call blocking service) will school announcements get through?
Yes, but only if the call blocking service
is programmed to accept calls from ParentBroadcast. On Caller ID,
ParentBroadcast calls display with the school's name and phone number.
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Can
we assure parents that their account information, phone numbers and
email addresses will be secure and that confidential information will
not be shared with third parties?
Yes. We have a strict privacy
policy. Schools and families can be assured that personal information is
secure and, under no circumstances, will phone numbers or email addresses
be shared with third parties. Please see our Privacy
& Security Notice for details.
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How are
family and staff contact data set up?
One primary phone number for each family and staff is extracted electronically from the school database. Multiple options are available for data setup and transfer.
Families have the option to have up to 4 phone numbers and 4 email addresses to receive emergency announcements. Families manage their own emergency contact list [exclusive feature of ParentBroadcast] by telephone or internet.
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Can we select which
families are contacted when we send a message?
Yes. Schools can send a message to all school
families, to all families within a specific grade, or to more than 80 custom lists. The
custom lists are set up by the school for groups including athletic teams, clubs,
daily absentee calls -- any situation where families need information from the
school.
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Each morning,
our school calls the parents of any child who does not report to school. Can ParentBroadcast
be used to make these calls?
Yes. The school office can quickly
select all absent students each morning and send a message to those families.
