The alarming rate of school shootings in recent years has led to the creation of emergency notification systems that can send various types of messages to multiple devices, including live videos to law enforcement.
Administrators have more control of their messages, including the ability to determine who has received and read them.
One system even expedites the process of family reunification through technology that identifies and accepts guardian signatures.
Blackboard Mass Notifications
Blackboard
This system provides one interface for sending notifications to phones, emails, RSS feeds, social media and websites. School officials can customize messages and preset urgent announcements. They can also see who has read messages and when they were read.
DAmag.me/blackboard
Cahoots app
Cahoots
Using this app, district administrators can send a mass text message by tapping the emergency toggle at the top of the screen before holding down the app’s big red button. Doing this also creates a live, secure voice channel to chat in real time with select school faculty.
DAmag.me/cahoots
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Additional emergency notification system for schools
One Call Now app
One Call Now, an OnSolve company
This app sends automated texts, emails, and text-to-speech and voice messages to various devices. Senders can find out who listened to or read their messages with real-time reports and can forward messages to e-calendars and other individuals. Additionally, the app stores sent messages for future reference.
DAmag.me/onecallnow
InformaCast Fusion
Singlewire Software
This emergency notification system sends emails, SMS texts, push notifications and phone calls to on-premises devices and smartphones through the InformaCast Mobile app. Administrators can also display messages on digital signage, the internet of things and networked equipment, such as IP clocks.
DAmag.me/fusion
Raptor Emergency Management
Raptor Technologies
District officials can hasten family reunifications with this app’s real-time updates of student status and location. The app also verifies and records guardian signatures using time-stamped data. Additionally, district officials can distribute drill schedules, monitor compliance and send emergency alerts.
DAmag.me/raptor
NetSupport Notify
NetSupport
This one-way mass notification tool enables administrators to deliver desktop alerts that cannot be skipped, ignored or saved for later. Alerts carry varying priority and audibility options. This tool also creates real-time records of who has received and read the message.
Netsupportnotify.com