Sharp as a Tack School District has three schools and a district office. Each school has a digital telephone system with regular telephone lines (POTS lines).  The District is building a new school and needs a telephony solution.  Several issues exist with the current telephony system:

○      When the staff calls parents or vendors, the number broadcast is from the line on the phone the call was placed on, not the schools main number. Parents then call back on the specific line shown on their caller ID, not the school’s main telephone number.

○      Notifying parents of school closings.

○      Ability for teachers to communicate with parents by phone, but not be interrupted with calls while  teaching.

○      The district (like many schools) needs to cut costs and save money in order to balance the budget.

 

Rival5 Managed Communications Solution

Rival5 provided the following:

○      Recommend the District make changes to their WAN network in coordination with ICN (Illinois Century Network) to improve network functionality.

○      Installed a server and feature rich IP/PBX software at the District office.

○      The District purchased telephone handsets at a discounted price with Rival5 programming them to point to the District office IP/PBX.

○       SIP Trunking delivered via the ICN (Illinois Century Network).

○      The telephone number broadcast is the main number for each school and District office.

○      When 911 is called, the number broadcast is the specific number for the phone the call originated from.

○      The District now has a specific telephone number parents can call for school closings or district information. Parents can press 1, 2 or 3 for information pertaining to the specific school their child attends.

○      The Superintendent can record a greeting stating the status of the District for a particular day.

○      Each Principal can record a greeting stating the status of their particular school and the status of after school events.

○      Voicemail with a common telephone number for all staff members, although each teacher may not have a physical telephone.

○      Parents can call the teachers DID (Direct Inward Dialed) number and be directed to Voicemail.  The teacher will be notified via Email, with or without an attached .wav file.  After listening to the voicemail, the teacher can delete the email, which will also delete the voicemail from the telephone system regardless of what Email system the school uses.

○      The District filled for Federal E-Rate funding and will receive a set percentage of the telecom services invoiced in a rebate check.