SchoolCast provides messaging via multiple communication vehicles – email, text messages, cell or landline voice calls, and PDAs/Blackberries
By supporting all major means of communication common today, SchoolCast makes it easy for everyone to be able to receive alerts and notifications at home, at work, in their cars, on campus – anywhere!
TRUE Text Messaging!
SchoolCast uses true SMS text messaging, not "SMTP" or "email-based" text messaging as many companies do. This is important because only SMS text messages are truly supported by the cellular networks – SMTP messages merely "piggyback" on the cellular networks with the lowest delivery priority, no way to ensure the messages are in fact received, and have a low reliability and deliver ability rating.
Targeted Messaging
SchoolCast is able to send messages to your entire school community or just select groups of people. There are an unlimited number of groups available for the client to customize and place people into – school sites, campus "zones", vocational vs. traditional students, athletic teams, bands, clubs, etc.
SchoolCast delivers targeted messaging options to all of these groups and our flexible "user permissions" options ensure that only those members of the school staff (or others that the school designates) are able to send messages to those within their authorized groups (i.e. the football coach can't accidentally send a "practice is cancelled" message to the entire school population).
SchoolCast is a "remotely-hosted" web-based application
SchoolCast requires NO software to be loaded by you or your students, faculty, or staff members – it operates through the Internet via any computer (Windows or Mac) with a standard web-browser (Internet Explorer, NetScape, FireFox, etc.).
SchoolCast may also be accessed and used via standard or cellular telephones from anywhere in the world that access a U.S. toll-free phone number.
Since SchoolCast is not hosted at your school, it does not require or utilize your school's phone lines or electricity or computer equipment to operate, with the exception of your accessing of the SchoolCast system (as described above) to maintain or manage the system periodically, request reports, or to initiate alerts.
SchoolCast provides trusted reliability and back-up support
SchoolCast's data and communication servers are located in multiple regions of the U.S. and are therefore not subject to regional or local weather events, blackouts, or other man-made or natural disasters. Additionally, all of SchoolCast's service providers are top-tier companies in their respective areas providing complete data mirroring and functional redundancy, "100% up-time", and performance speeds enabling calls to your entire school community within a matter of minutes – even less for text messages!
SchoolCast meets or exceeds all of the guidelines for a "Campus Alerting System" as reported by the Virginia Tech Shooting Review Panel in August 2007.