Critical Communications Systems for Schools

The top two priorities of any leader of a school system are your student’s education and safety. While you can practice drills and prepare for the worst to the best of your abilities, the way you communicate with staff and responsible parties is of utmost importance.

Can a critical communications systems for schools become a hero in an emergency situation? We say yes. When an emergency happens, response minutes and even seconds can mean the difference between life and death. The proper critical communications systems for schools can decrease response time, getting your staff and students the help they need faster.

Emergency Situations: The Old System

As you know, there are several emergency situations that may occur during the school year. While we certainly hope your school avoids those situations, it is important to be prepared for emergencies. Think about your current emergency protocols. Most schools utilize their PA system to convey messages to their staff and students. However, if students are working collaboratively, their classroom can be noisy, causing the teacher to miss important safety information for those students. Teachers are often given colored sheets of paper to signal the safety status of their students to the designated safety team member holding a two-way radio. While PA systems, colored paper and two-way radios can be effective, they are far from the most efficient methods of communication during a crisis.

Key Features During Emergencies

Critical communications systems for schools give your staff the ability to communicate with anyone in your system instantaneously. Notifications can be sent to and from staff through the chat feature, keeping everyone informed at all times.

Did you know the average response time for emergency responders is 10 minutes? With the panic button feature included in a critical communications system for schools, your staff can alert either the office staff or emergency services from their platform, shaving off valuable response time. This is not only important for the school building as a whole, but also for teachers who may have an emergency in their classroom and need the nurse’s or administrator’s attention right away.

The integrated zone-controlled PA system is a key player when it comes to intruder alerts. If your building ever has an unwanted visitor, your system allows you to not only alert staff, but also allows you to pick and choose which areas of the building receive those notifications and announcements; you can direct instructions to your staff without alerting the intruder as to where you are sending your students, if your students need to be safely relocated.

Additional Benefits of Critical Communications Systems for Schools

A critical communications systems for schools is not only useful during emergency situations. It is also useful for the day-to-day activities it takes to run a school. Think about the old system of communications that your staff is using. Odds are your staff calls the bus barn on the landline telephone. The administrators email staff members. Teachers use an intercom to talk to the office and staff members bring two-way radios onto the playground. This is far from the most effective and efficient way for your staff to communicate.

When your school uses a critical communications system for schools, all your communication features combine together into one easy to use platform. This platform smoothly integrates communication between staff members, administrators, and key stakeholders. Not only is the desktop application useful, but it also comes with a mobile app. Your staff can now carry your school communications with them anywhere. From the classroom and the playground to fieldtrips out of town.

HighComm’s Critical Solution

At HighComm, we care about your students’ safety as much as you do. With our school communication system, your staff can communicate information in a timelier manner than ever before. Our cloud-based phone system is a reliable option you can count on. Along with the safety features listed above, our phone system has other high-impact features your staff will love. We would love to discuss this further with you.