Campus Suite Launches Notifications System for Schools

In a move that signals SchoolNow’s continuing commitment to helping schools and school districts communicate more effectively and efficiently, the company has launched it’s notifications system for schools.

Developed in concert with company’s newest version of its Campus Sites school content management software, Campus Reach enables any size school or district to deliver push notifications directly to their school community using this cloud-based software.

From one, single dashboard, authorized school administrators can quickly and securely create a message in a variety of popular channels, then send it to parents and anyone in their school community who’s opted in to receive notifications. School personnel can record a voice message sent via phone, compose a text, email, social media posting, Facebook Messenger message, and automatically post an alert on their school website.

“One of the goals in designing Campus Reach was to not only cover all the channels everyone’s using these days, but simplify how a school staffer would use the system,” said Eric Fulkert, CEO of SchoolNow. Schools are still exploring how to make the most of using notifications, and some have come under fire for not following FCC guidelines for reaching parents via their phones. “By creating a super-friendly dashboard, an administrator can blanket the district, a school, or a group in a matter of minutes.”

Creating a communications hub

Available as either a stand-alone service or one that integrates with the Campus Sites CMS, Campus Reach automatically registers parents using phone nos. from existing school data bases. Anyone who has entered contact information automatically receives critical emergency and school closing notifications, but users can set up their own preferences to select additional information they want to receive.

All notifications – whether routine messages or time-critical alerts – are automatically formatted so they can be viewed on every mobile device.

For those using both Campus Sites and Campus Reach, one centralized dashboard enables school administrators to manage everything, creating a convenient communications hub for the school.

Notifications = improved engagement

Well beyond using it solely for school closing announcements, schools communicators are learning how notifications – when used strategically – can have a powerful impact on engaging parents. They’re tools for academic achievement: a reminder to register for that important event, or an alert that a student’s behavior needs immediate attention. “We all know that the more parents feel connected to what’s going on at school, the better the outcome for parents, the teachers, the school, and most important, the students.”

Fulkert strongly urges any school using any notifications system, create an opt-in page. This will will help not only broaden the reach of notifications, but help prevent schools from legal problems surrounding user permissions.

Keeping pace with technology

The cloud-based technology that delivers Campus Reach not only improves efficiencies for school communicators and eliminates the IT strain on schools, it assures schools receive the benefits of all future updates to the software.

“Part of our mission is to help schools keep pace with technology when it comes to school communications,” said Fulkert. “The launch of Campus Reach and our recent major improvements in our Campus Sites content management system are exciting advancements and examples of how we’re trying to make technology more accessible.”

“By doing so, we are making it easier for schools to be more efficient and effective in communicating, and this has far-reaching effects beyond the staff – but for all the school stakeholders: parents, school board members, anyone committed to students’ success.”

For more information about Campus Reach notifications system for schools, go to the notifications page at SchoolNow.com.