Teachers are the key to our nation's success. You may think that's just a phrase politicians say, but it's rooted in truth. We owe so much to them. The best teachers show up to work on time sure, but they also teach with passion. They hope to reach every student, make the best lesson plans, and equip their students with the skills for success. A teacher's leadership inspires others to lead.
If we incorporated everything a teacher must do in their job description, we would be inserting verbiage from first responders, nurses, janitors, administrative personnel, counselors, philanthropists, referees, and more. This added expectation, especially behavioral and safety-related, can be extremely overwhelming for people who are chasing their most sought out attribute — the ability to empathize with and inspire students to learn.
I believe a school district should strongly consider implementing a bi-directional wireless communication alert system from Badge Messenger. Below are six reasons why...
1. Teachers Can Focus on Teaching
Teachers are constantly being pulled in many directions. They wear multiple hats. With a system like Badge Messenger®, they can focus more of their attention on what they’re passionate about — teaching. It provides each faculty member with a messaging device uniquely integrated into a wearable identification (ID) badge holder that we call a “Messenger” — connecting them to the main communication hub, Communicate Alert Respond Evaluate Learn (CAREL), our mobile command center.
A Messenger will allow a teacher to send a message to the office with the push of a button, instantly requesting support from maintenance or a nurse. And those magic support buttons are always close by, right on the back of their badge holder. Messenger alerts are sent immediately to their destination where help can be promptly dispatched.
2. It’s Not Overly Complicated
One of the most important features of the Messenger is what it’s not — a multifunctional communication device like a smartphone. When an alert is sent to Messengers, the teachers know that it’s not a social media update or a text message with a grocery list. The private communication network provides exclusive communication between the portable CAREL and the Messenger users, allowing them to focus on the protocol that should be followed within their school.
There’s no need to worry about unlocking screens, passwords, navigating Apps, software updates, or any other headache associated with smartphones. This level of simplicity allows teachers to focus on the task at hand and respond to an alert or make a request with ease. Our school alert system contains innovative technology that needs little management and has fewer drawbacks than our competitors.
Each Messenger is equipped with four buttons for support requests:
- Help
- Medical
- Security
- Maintenance
It also has a display for sub-menus specifying the type and level of need, as well as request status.
3. Badge Messenger Gives Teachers Confidence
Badge Messenger gives teachers the confidence to handle difficult situations. For example, if a fire alarm is sounded and reconfirmed on their Messenger, their job is to:
- Notify the office they received the message
- Follow the school’s fire evacuation protocol
- Inform the office their students are safe and accounted for; if they’re unable to comply, respond and ask for help
The CAREL can change (or cancel) any alert with the push of a button, requiring confirmation from each Messenger user relative to their alert status. It can be crucial to change an alert, like a fire alarm, so students aren’t lead directly into harm’s way. Messenger alerts can be altered in cases where more communication is required, leading to safer schools and happier faculty.
4. It Works During Outages
Emergencies can happen for a number of reasons, but rarely do they happen at opportune times. In extreme circumstances, power or wifi may be out due to weather conditions or a fire. Is your communication system able to function without one of these features?
One of the key features of Badge Messenger is that it works on its own encrypted network and is able to function on battery power. This means it works during a power outage and doesn't rely on the use of cellular data or wifi — it's always ready to do its job. Badge Messenger will provide you the peace of mind to know that no matter the circumstance, your staff will always be able to communicate.
5. It Provides Real-Time Staff Tracking
Badge Messenger integrates with and enhances the school’s existing emergency system protocol by providing real-time staff status, as well as empowering them to initiate emergency and non-emergency support requests. All messages are tracked in real-time as each Messenger user acknowledges alert receipts and their compliance status is displayed. This confirmation capability and process control tool can be crucial during an emergency.
6. CAREL Permanently Tracks and Time Stamps Every Button Push
CAREL is always tracking and time stamping every button pushed for future analysis. All the Messenger information is accumulated and compiled without any additional paperwork for faculty members. This data is invaluable to administrators because it evaluates a school’s emergency situation performance and operational efficiency. The CAREL makes it possible to review how many and what type of teacher requests are made, how long it takes to respond to them, and resolve issues from support — allowing for a better and safer education setting.
Learn more about Badge Messenger in this video:
The communication alert system from Badge Messenger is a self-contained system that does not require a Wi-Fi network to operate. It functions in a power outage, and it doesn’t require staff members to use smartphones. With Badge Messenger, a school can own and provide the tools necessary to empower teachers to focus more of their mental energy on what they were ultimately hired to do — prepare students for the next phase of their lives.
