When you're in charge of a school district you know that alerting parents to school closings and keeping them informed of events in those schools is very difficult. Today, many families have all the adults in the home working outside the house, which means there are fewer housewives that stay at home with an eye on the news channels. Using a good voice broadcasting system can mean alerting those parents that will not see news reports on television or the radio, and also means being able to broadcast anything you find relevant.
The need for a good voice broadcasting system has risen with many school districts in recent years because it's no longer just inclement weather that will close schools. Unfortunately, threats of violence or bomb scares or students carrying guns to schools and other such emergencies have gotten more and more common these days. Even if there is only a threat of these things, schools will close or go on lockdown so that the threat can be investigated and the students secured. This means that parents benefit from a voice broadcasting system that tells them of these emergencies and where and how to pick up their children if necessary.
Another consideration for a voice broadcasting system is that since there are fewer and fewer parents in the home during the day, you know that you can reach as many as possible when you use an automated system. This means you don't need to have your clerical staff go though the process of alerting the news media of a school closing and following up if it's been rescinded. A simple message through your voice broadcasting system will alert all parents within minutes if there's a change in the schedule.
Because you're in charge of the information sent over the voice broadcasting system, you can also send out reminders of events in the school so that parents are informed of parent teacher conferences, school dances, field trips, half days, testing, and so on. Obviously your local news media will not carry such stories so using your own voice broadcasting system will mean a more effectively run school system and will mean parents being more organized about school activities. This can mean better participation on everyone's part.
In some cases schools can even be held accountable if they do not alert parents to certain dangers on school grounds such as the threats of violence, and the right voice broadcasting system can alleviate this risk. When a district uses an automated system, parents will have the responsibility of responding to that alert after it is broadcast. Some insurance carriers will even require schools to use an electronic or automated voice broadcasting system for this reason.
Shop around for a voice broadcasting system that is affordable for your school or district and remember that the costliest is not necessarily the best. Whatever you choose, it's typically more cost effective than the man hours needed to alert parents manually.
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