Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Communicating On Campus: What’s the best method?

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 03 Mar 2004 14:23:43 -0500

Communicating On Campus: What’s the best method?
Rosemary Wineki, Southern LINC

Efficient school communications have been
essential to educators and school administrators
for decades. But the need to reliably communicate
to all school personnel—from maintenance to
security to bus drivers—has significantly
increased in the past few years.

Devastating events such as campus
shootings and the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks have forced administrators to
re-evaluate school communication and
emergency plans.

The U.S. Department of Education and the Office of Homeland Security set
aside $30 million to help schools prepare for terrorist, chemical and
biological attacks, and administrators understand all too well that
communications planning is central to those preparations.

But even during non-crisis times,
administrators are finding the need for
staff to communicate instantly among
themselves and across school grounds, for
day-to-day conversations. Analog 2-way
radios and pagers have been the
traditional method of on-campus
communications. But the bulky and
outdated equipment is being replaced
on campuses across the country, with
more dependable digital wireless
technology combining two-way
radios, phone service, text messaging
and Internet access in one hand-held device.

Is your school district considering switching over to wireless,
push-to-talk communications equipment? Consider the following issues
when making the decision to upgrade:

Will your communications method include everyone you need to talk to?
Every staff member throughout school
should have instant access to dependable
communications devices. The network
should also be open to others who
frequently communicate with school staff,
such as food supply vendors and local
public safety officials.  Thousands of
firefighters, police officers and city
employees already use wireless
push-to-talk technology.  See if your
local public safety uses a commercial
wireless vendor that is interoperable
with your school system.

Can the wireless solution work where you need it?   On and off campus,
school districts need to communicate with key staff members.  School
buildings are typically sturdy structures with thick walls, which can
weaken signal strength.  Check with your wireless carrier to see if they
offer in-building solutions—antennas specially designed to amplify the
signal strength within a building.  Wireless coverage also needs to be
readily available off campus, on bus routes and other frequent
destinations.  The Pass Christian School District on the Mississippi
Gulf coast has a wireless handset on each school bus at all times. “Now,
if a bus breaks down, the driver can immediately get in touch with
someone, and we can send out another bus right away to pick up the kids
so they aren’t late for school or getting home,” says Monroe Necaise,
maintenance and transportation director for the district.  “If a driver
sees an accident on the road, he or she can alert other drivers to the
problem and advise them to take an alternate route.”

Are there any privacy issues using
wireless, push-to-talk technology?

School administrators and security officers have long been aware that
sensitive information should never be communicated via traditional
analog networks. Anyone with a police scanner can listen in on
conversations on those radio networks.  “With those old radios, anyone
could pick up what you were saying,” says Mike Parker, the
transportation and maintenance director for Stone County Schools in
Mississippi, which now uses Southern LINC’s digital wireless network to
connect 51 school staff members.

Southern LINC utilizes Motorola’s iDEN technology, which is “inherently
private,” meaning no known scanners can interpret transmissions. In
addition, the push-to-talk feature on most handsets allows users to
communicate directly with a single person, or with several parties at a
time via a group-talk feature.

What role can text messaging play in campus emergency management?

Emergency alert systems based on text messaging have gained ground
recently, allowing central command posts to send text messages to
multiple wireless devices in the event of an emergency.  Make sure your
wireless provider offers flexible text messaging capabilities that can
send a message to one or hundreds of people simultaneously.  Text
messages with step-by-step directions can be saved and referenced later,
a feature that is especially convenient during chaotic emergency
situations.
Whether your district is small or large, rural or urban, it might be
time to investigate wireless, push-to-talk communications networks for
your school.

Based in Pensacola, Rosemary Wineki is a Direct Sales Office Supervisor
for Southern LINC, the wireless communications service from Southern
Company (NYSE: SO).  Southern LINC recently launched the Education
Network, a wireless communications solution specifically for the
education industry.  More information about Southern LINC can be
obtained by calling 1-800-818-LINC (5462) or by visiting the Southern
LINC web site at www.southernlinc.com.

3/1/2004

http://www.gulfherald.com/news/article.asp?newsid=3265

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