Targeted, timely, one-to-one communication is the key to engaging parents, encouraging students, and demonstrating community leadership. To meet those needs, AlertNow offers a variety of features and functions beneficial to K-12 educational institutions.

• Language Translation: The built-in language translation tools allow schools to send out voice messages and e-mails and be delivered in parents’ native language. Schools can break-through language barriers to communicate more fluidly with foreign-born parents and promote more involvement.


• Polling and survey capabilities: The multi-question survey tool is easy to use and allows for school and district administrators to collect clear, concise data concerning issues affecting students, staff, parents and the surrounding community. Obtaining solid information and opinions can help ease parental concerns, address faculty issues and increase community involvement.


• Initiate messages from any computer or phone: AlertNow is entirely web-based and calls can be initiated from any Internet-enabled computer or phone. If the power is disrupted or the phones lines are down, time-sensitive messages can still be sent out.


• AlertNow Access Parent Portal: Parents can view recent school messages, update contact information, allocate preferred message delivery preferences and contact their child’s school through an easy-to-use Web-based service. Enabling parents to manage messages and modify contact preferences can save school administrative staff time and energy, as well as encouraging greater parental involvement.


• Blackboard Connect for Teachers™: Instructors can choose from more than 100 commonly-used messages to help communicate a student's classroom performance. Comments speaking to each student’s individual needs can be sent to their parent’s preferred language, helping accelerate comprehension and response.


• One-touch playback and online message retrieval: Parents can choose with one-click from several options for retrieving missed messages from unsuccessful calls. Schools reduce the number of incoming calls from parents inquiring about missed calls as messages can easily be retrieved.


• Text-to-speech attendance notifications: Using a text-to-speech engine, the voice of a school official can be blended with a pre-recorded message to send out student-specific information, like daily absence and truancy notifications. Improving school attendance levels can lead to increased district funding from the state.


• Real-time call statistics and reports:Detailed message summary report automatically delivered to sender showing message reception and call delivery status. Gauge audience receptiveness of calls to develop and institute effective messaging procedures.


• Security and quality assurance safeguards: All school and district data is stored securely in the database and is encrypted in accordance to FERPA regulations.


• Dynamic groups and lists: Targeted messages can be sent to specific people or groups using data from SIS system integration. Send information to only those who need it and avoid inundating contacts with subject-specific messages.