Whether an emergency is man-made, natural or attack — having the capacity to communicate quickly with first responders, community, employees, students, and parents is critical.

Elgin Local Schools realizes this importance and has recently contracted SynreVoice Technologies Inc. for an emergency call system called SchoolConnects. This call system will help the district enhance communication among parents, students, teachers, and administrators while saving money.

“We believe that student safety is extremely important and our goal is to make every student feel safe and secure while achieving an education,” said Doug Ute, Elgin Local School District superintendent. “With this service made available through SynreVoice, we are able to contact parents and the community immediately through phone, e-mail, text messaging, or cell phone in case of an emergency.”

In addition, principals can use SchoolConnects to deliver personal messages in their own voices to parents and conduct automated surveys with little effort. Teachers can push out information to parents and students in specific grades and classes. Counselors and social workers can use SchoolConnects to communicate with parents of students requiring special attention. Librarians can use the system to collect overdue library items and fines.

Currently, the district is in the beginning testing phases. Elgin plans on rolling out the emergency call system at the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year.