Is Your School District’s Phone System Compliant With New FCC Regulations?

WSI Comandix on April 6, 2022

In light of two recent federal laws strengthening the effectiveness of emergency calls, many schools are taking a more critical look at their multiline telephone systems. Today, we’re sharing some of the key aspects of these two laws and an opportunity to better understand their impact while implementing changes that help ensure the safety and security of your school community.

Kari’s Law

If your school district’s multi-line phone system still requires you to dial 9, or any other number, before reaching an outside line, you’ll want to learn more about Kari’s Law.

This Federal Communications Commission regulation implements a set of changes that impact multiline telephone communications like those often found in schools and districts nationwide. The FCC regulation now requires such systems to allow users to dial 911 without entering a prefix. In addition, Kari’s Law requires that notification to another resource (for many districts this would be a security office) is received when a 911 call is made.

While this law is designed to ensure easier and more comprehensive emergency communication, many older or less integrated phone systems will need to be enhanced or upgraded to allow for these changes.

Ray Baum’s Act

In addition to Kari’s law, another recent FCC regulation is impacting multiline telephone systems. This regulation is called Ray Baum’s Act and it too has implications for school district-wide telecommunications. Specifically, Ray Baum’s Act requires all multi-line phone systems to send a dispatchable location along with a “call back” number each time a 911 call is made. This helps to ensure that police and other emergency responders understand where to route resources during an urgent situation and how best to respond.

In school districts that use multi-line phone systems (as most do), Ray Baum’s Act has been and continues to be quite impactful as such pre-existing systems will need to be enhanced to accommodate these requirements.

Learn More On Our On-Demand Campus Safety Webcast Series Complimentary Educational Webinar

So, what do each of these FCC regulations really mean for school communities with multiline phone systems?

How can district and school leaders make changes that align with the recent regulations and continue to ensure the safety and security of their school communities?

If you have questions like these, Eastern DataComm invites you to participate in our online on-demand webinar, a part of the Campus Safety Webcast Series, that is focused on enhancing school safety technology while complying with recent FCC regulations regarding emergency phone communication requirements. Campus Safety shares important educational resources with campus police chiefs, security directors, IT personnel, emergency managers, facilities directors, risk management professionals and executive administrators involved in the public safety and security of hospitals, schools, and universities in the United States.

Additionally, we’ve partnered with Mitel, an industry leader in telecommunications, to offer you a thorough and informative presentation.

During the webinar, we’ll review the recent FCC regulations with vital details regarding how multi-line phone systems (like those typically used within a school district) must function in an emergency and how to safeguard your school community by leveraging technology in emergencies like lockdowns or active shooter events.

Register To View Our Latest Connected And Protected Webinar

To register and participate in this complimentary educational opportunity, visit this link.

If you have more questions particular to your school district’s telephone system needs, write to us at [email protected] to schedule your complimentary Phone System Consultation.

Our team of advisors is here to do a deep-dive with you, examining the current technology you have in place and gaining a full understanding of your considerations – be they budget, timeline, strategy, or otherwise. Based on the unique safety and communication solutions needs of your school district, we’ll share with you best practices and recommendations on how to seamlessly keep your school community connected and protected. We view school safety holistically. As the phone system is a critical component of keeping your faculty, students, and staff safe, we also explore with you emergency notification, video surveillance, and access control technologies that can further augment the work you do to ensure the safety of your school community. Consider us your collaborative resource to aid in the betterment of how you safeguard your campus.

Because when it comes to school safety, we’re all in this together.

Honored With Mitel’s Education Partner Of The Year Award

WSI Comandix on March 30, 2022

Eastern DataComm is proud to announce that we’ve been named Mitel’s Education Partner of the Year!

Mitel, a global leader in business communications with users in over 100 countries, helps businesses and service providers connect and provide innovative services to their customers. Each year, Mitel recognizes the organizations that are leading the way with their Global Partner Awards.

These awards are given to companies with exceptional understanding of customer needs and unparalleled ability to provide innovative and customized solutions. These are two of the cornerstones of our work at Eastern DataComm. As such, we are truly honored to be recognized on a national level with this prestigious award for the work that we do for our customers in education.

We take a diagnostic and consultative approach to school safety that allows our clients to receive customized safety and communications solutions tailored to their unique school and district needs. We recognize that when it comes to school safety, every second counts. Using technology systems and platforms that allow for swift, effective communication saves lives. Mitel has been and continues to be our trusted partner in this endeavour to help improve safety for schools throughout the nation. 

This year and every year, Eastern DataComm is committed to providing effective technology and communication solutions that keep schools as safe as possible. In addition to unparalleled on-premises phone solutions like Mitel phone systems, our team diligently examines the ever-evolving safety and communication needs of our customers in education. Not only do we partner with best-in-class industry giants, but we also develop innovations for the needs we see presented by our customers. LENS+OPTICS, our lockdown and emergency notification system, plus continuous monitoring service, is a primary example of the technology we outfit schools with to better safeguard their campuses.

We will continue to carry out our mission of developing and spreading technology that keeps our communities connected and protected – a commitment shared by Mitel. We are excited to continue our partnership with this cutting-edge, industry-leading company and look forward to making schools across the nation safer. 

To learn more about ways the right-fit phone system can better protect your campus or to schedule your complimentary School Safety Consultation, contact us here.

Case Study: Park Ridge (NJ) School District

WSI Comandix on March 3, 2022

District Implements Leading-Edge Communication And Emergency Notification Systems With Help From Eastern DataComm.

The Park Ridge School District comprises three schools with more than 1,200 students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12.

Events like Superstorm Sandy and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting were shocking demonstrations of the need for reliable emergency notification and communications systems.

After months of research and investigation, the New Jersey School Board Association’s (NJSBA) School Security Task Force made several recommendations, including the development of redundant communications and multifunction notification systems that integrate with local police and emergency responders.

The Park Ridge School District then worked steadfastly to implement and enhance their phone system as well as their communication and emergency notification technologies, relying on the expertise of the Eastern DataComm team to strategize and execute against this goal.

“We first started working with Eastern DataComm to update our phone system more than 15 years ago, and we’ve been working with them on upgrades ever since,” said Bob Wright, Business Administrator for the Park Ridge Board of Education. “They are very reliable, and they can do a lot of different things for us. It’s very handy to have someone like that as a vendor.”

Improving Communications

District officials first contacted Eastern DataComm to discuss replacing an on-premises PBX phone system that was no longer meeting their needs. The aging analog system did not support basic features such as voicemail, and phones could only be placed in common areas such as the main office and the teacher’s lounge. Infrastructure issues made it cost-prohibitive to wire buildings for classroom phones.

Eastern DataComm recommended a Mitel Voice-over-IP (VoIP) system that delivers far more flexible communications. Fiber trunk cabling can support multiple users and devices, making it possible to put phones in every classroom without running individual cables for each phone.

Integrated Systems

The fact that the phone system operates over an IP network has allowed the district to integrate paging and school intercom system applications that improve emergency notification capabilities in all three of their school buildings. All phones have a built-in interface that allows teachers, administrators, and staffers to use a telephone handset to page someone or make building-wide announcements.

“It has been a very good system,” said Wright. “We’ve had very few interruptions in service over the years, and the system is very easy to understand and use. Sometimes with Voice-over-IP, there can be issues with latency where you’ll actually hear yourself speaking through the line, but they’ve done a very good job of eliminating that. It sounds just like you’re talking through a wired phone line.”

An Advanced Emergency Notification System: LENS

School officials were excited to learn that more advanced security features could operate on top of the newly upgraded phone system including an advanced school safety system.

“Using the phone system that we already had, we could install this system that could provide real-time information to police and other designated contacts in the district. We went through a couple of presentations and found that we really liked this product.”

The product that impressed Park Ridge School District officials most was Eastern DataComm’s Lockdown Emergency Notification System (LENS). The system uses a proprietary controller to link the Mitel phone system with other features across the IP network including:

  • School intercom systems
  • Alarms
  • Strobe lights
  • LED signboards

LENS allows teachers, staff, or administrators to quickly begin lockdown, evacuation, active shooter alerts, or shelter-in-place procedures. The LENS Solution can be initiated from any school phone or any of the activation buttons installed in common areas.

Once activated, the system initiates screen-pop alerts on phones throughout all school buildings and the Board of Education office, along with intercom audio messages, strobe lights, and LED sign board messages. A wireless radio component ensures that the notification reaches all outdoor spaces, including parking lots and sports fields.

An emergency notification also triggers automatic calls to 911, police, and fire departments.

Time is of the essence in an emergency, and LENS allows teachers, staff, or administrators to quickly initiate lockdown, evacuation, or shelter-in-place procedures. LENS can be activated from any school phone or from any of the several “stopper” buttons installed in common areas.

LENS brings all of these processes together to provide a comprehensive, seamless approach to emergency notification that is as rapid and effective as possible.

“People can now initiate a lockdown regardless of where they are in the building, whereas before you would have had to go to a designated area,” said Wright. “When we run drills, I get both a text message and a phone call — and it happens in the instant that something is triggered. We’ve been using it now for several months and it’s been working great.”

A Diagnostic And Consultative Partner For Your Safety And Communications Technology Needs

Wright has come to expect great solutions from Eastern DataComm.

“It’s been a very good relationship… The products are very good and their service is great. If you do have an issue, they will respond to you same day — which is almost unheard of, especially in the telecommunications industry.”

And what truly sets Eastern DataComm apart from others in our field is that we become your school physical security consulting partner utilizing our comprehensive diagnostic, collaborative, and consultative approach to safety and communications solutions.

Connect With Eastern DataComm

Eastern DataComm has the expertise to help keep your community connected and protected.

Schedule your complimentary School Safety Consultation with our Safety & Communications Advisors today by calling 888-902-4091 or emailing us at [email protected].

Our Approach: How Eastern DataComm Is Transforming The Way Our Customers Leverage Safety And Communications Technology

WSI Comandix on March 1, 2022

Eastern DataComm provides schools, businesses, and municipalities nationwide with end-to-end solutions that are the right fit for their ever-evolving safety and communications needs.

We have over 30 years of experience designing, installing, and maintaining safety and communications solutions for hundreds of our customers in the education, government, and business sectors.

Whether you’re exploring:

Eastern DataComm has the expertise to help keep your community connected and protected.

But what truly sets us apart from others in our field is our comprehensive diagnostic, collaborative, and consultative approach to safety and communications solutions.

More Than A Vendor: A Partner That Tailors Your Safety And Communications Solutions

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Guide for Preventing and Protecting Against Gun Violence notes that each school building and its population is unique and the solutions selected to address the safety need of each environment should reflect this.

And at Eastern DataComm, we’ve been designing and adapting our clients’ school safety systems and mass notification systems to serve those unique needs for over three decades.

Our many years of experience have shown us that designing and implementing safety and communications technology is never a one-size-fits-all process. To find success and greater security for your school district, business, or municipality, you need more than a technology vendor. You need a true partner. That’s exactly the commitment our team has made to each and every one of our customers.

Right from our initial consultation and onward, we take the time to connect with you – unearthing and fully understanding the challenges and pain points that you face when tasked with safeguarding your community. We endeavor to get to know your district’s unique strengths and areas of need. This consultative, diagnostic approach allows us to define specific solutions that will work best for you and your goals.

Collaborative, Comprehensive Safety And Communications Solutions

One key part of our consultative and diagnostic approach is connecting with you to move through a comprehensive Safety and Communications Audit. As part of this process, we ask questions about your school environment, current technology, and what you need your safety and security solutions to achieve for you. Most importantly, we listen. Paying careful attention to the details our customers provide enhances our ability to deliver

We explore potential improvements you could make to enhance your safety, communications, and physical security technology for your school district, business, or municipality. We look to define what changes can be made to improve how you keep your community connected and protected.

As we move through the audit, we look to uncover areas where you could enhance your current safety and communications hardware or equipment to improve functionality and ease of use. In cases where your current technology is defunct, inefficient, or not designed for user-friendliness, we are happy to draw upon our years of experience and expertise to recommend alternatives as upgrades or replacements to improve your safety and communication practices. What is central to our process is ensuring that we provide you with the information and education you need on safety and communications technology options to make the most informed decision to safeguard your community. If we find that you’re following all recommended best practices in a particular area, we highlight that finding as part of our audit report and conversation to follow, commending your efforts and commitment to ensuring the safety of your community. We will continue to provide you with the latest education and informational resources to support your current and future decision-making processes for selecting the right-fit solutions as your safety needs evolve and so too does the landscape of technological options.

And while our consultative and diagnostic process is comprehensive, the one thing you won’t find in the process is a batch of cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all technology “packages”.

Our clarity, support, transparency, and personalization are just some of the reasons our clients trust us with their safety and communications technology solutions.

What Our Clients Say About Collaborating With EDC

“It really is the total package. They have the right equipment. They have a great team, each with their own area of expertise. They say they’re going to do something in a certain amount of time, and they do it within that time. Whenever we have had a problem, even if it isn’t their responsibility, they have helped us. I would highly recommend Eastern DataComm.” – Executive Director, St. Joseph’s School for the Blind

Connect With Our Team To Put The Eastern DataComm Approach To Work For You

To experience the Eastern DataComm difference for yourself, book your Complimentary Safety and Communications Consultation here.

What To Look For When Selecting Your Access Control System

WSI Comandix on February 3, 2022

Does your current access control system need an upgrade? Are you thinking about bringing this technology to your school district, business, or municipality?

Here are three key areas to evaluate whether you’re considering installing or upgrading your access control system.

Do You Need A Way To Improve Daily Operations Or Automate Intruder Prevention?

Do any of these situations sound familiar?

  • Your staff is checking IDs by hand each morning
  • You’re still using locked file cabinets to protect sensitive information from unwanted eyes
  • You’re manually controlling who enters the building and when they do so

If any of these apply to your school district, business, or municipality, chances are that you want an even safer, more efficient, and more effective mode of knowing (and controlling) who’s allowed into buildings and on your grounds. Automating your school’s safety through access control technology not only improves the daily flow of people into and out of your building, but it also reduces the likelihood of human error by taking staff out of the manual operations that technology can do more efficiently. And that means a safer district for students, faculty, staff, and visitors.

When you’re considering whether to install or upgrade your access control system, it’s important to evaluate your day-to-day operations that could benefit from such changes and the added level of safety and security those changes would bring.

Some potential safety features that can be provided by an access control system include:

Swipe Card And Card Reader Technologies

Swipe card readers prevent unauthorized entrance by adding a layer of security to entryways. Eastern DataComm specializes in installing new swipe card systems and providing customers with existing systems the upgrades they need to ensure the highest level of access control and physical security possible.

Request To Exit Systems (REX)

Eastern DataComm offers both motion detection that releases the door when it senses motion and an exit button that releases the door when pressed. When using magnetic locks in your access control system, a request to exit button is required in case of emergencies. In emergency situations, it will disable the magnet’s locking power and allow for exit through that door.

Door Position Indicators And Magnetic Locks

Door position indicators and magnetic locks allow for controlled access and notification of potential security risks by using a system of doors, magnets, locks, and indicators to show if a door is open or closed, which could indicate the presence of an intruder.

Does Your Access Control System Integrate With An Emergency Response Notification System?

Another key consideration is how adding or enhancing an access control system can keep your district safe in the event of a fire, intruder, lockdown, or other urgent situation.

In cases like these, you’ll want to ensure your building’s fire escape plan and emergency lockdown procedures are not in opposition to one another.

And restricting access to certain areas in the event of an emergency or lockdown situation becomes faster, easier, and more effective when you have an access control system with technology that integrates with your emergency notification system.

At Eastern DataComm, our Lockdown and Emergency Notification System – LENS + OPTICS – integrates seamlessly with the access control systems we install and maintain for customers.

LENS (Lockdown Emergency Notification System) is a comprehensive notification platform that integrates with a school’s phone and paging/intercom systems. Once activated, communication is rapid and automated, including pre-recorded announcements over the PA system, activation of LED beacons and signboards, calls to cell phones and desk phones, PC pop-ups, emails, text messages, and pre-recorded calls to police.

To cover remote areas outside of the building, Eastern DataComm takes measures like installing wireless-enabled speakers and LED beacons to ensure complete coverage over the entire school grounds. Additionally, video surveillance can also be incorporated with LENS, which can quickly help law enforcement and first responders pinpoint the location of the identified threat.

LENS+OPTICS, coupled with access control, allows for restricting access to certain parts of buildings and grounds during emergency situations. Integration with other aspects of access control including Request To Exit Systems, Swipe Card Systems, and Door Position Indicators provide added information regarding a potential intruder and increase safety measures in the event of a lockdown.

To ensure that your LENS solution is running optimally, OPTICS, our continuous monitoring services, keeps eyes on your lockdown and emergency notification system so you don’t lose focus on your school’s safety.

This means our team at Eastern DataComm can create a comprehensive emergency notification system combined with access control, leading to further physical on-premises safety and security.

Do You Know What To Look For In Your Access Control Partner?

Finally, in addition to considering how access control can make your daily operations more streamlined, you’ll want to be sure that you have the right team on your side for planning, installing, and maintaining the system. When you work with our Safety and Communications Advisors and Technicians at Eastern DataComm, you can rest assured that you have the right technology and support resources in place to safeguard your school, business, or municipality community in the event of an emergency or lockdown Eastern DataComm has served hundreds of schools, businesses, and municipalities with customized technology solutions tailored to their unique needs and priorities. We not only offer seamless installation and unparalleled maintenance support, but we’re also happy to provide our customers with actionable insights stemming from our collective expertise in emergency notification, creating solutions that ensure ongoing safety and security.

Connect With Eastern DataComm

To learn more about how our team can support you as you install or upgrade your access control and emergency response technology, contact us at [email protected] for a complimentary consultation.

Is Your Emergency Notification System Working for You? Here’s How to Tell

WSI Comandix on January 10, 2022

School and government administrators have had an overwhelming volume and variety of unprecedented issues to handle these last two years. Not only has COVID-19 altered the physical and psychological landscape of schools, but there has also been an increase in serious incidents such as multi-victim homicides being perpetrated in educational facilities across the country. These frightening incidents have led many decision-makers in both education and government to explore the potential for emergency notification systems as a tool that enables rapid communication to first-responders who can mitigate damage and loss of life.

These emergency communications systems are typically initiated as soon as a school or building goes into lockdown. They allow administrators to communicate with emergency responders outside of the building to bring about a safer resolution to the incident whenever possible.

To help ensure the safety of our children at school, administrators are making strides to put strong safeguards in place that can help protect their communities, starting with a robust emergency alert system.

Three Main Features an Emergency Alert System Must Have

An emergency alert system, also called an emergency notification system, is a safety and communication solution designed to quickly broadcast emergency alerts and notify the proper channels, including police, students, and administrators inside and outside of the building. These notifications, along with a variety of other warning features, get the word out as quickly as possible. For example, they give instructions to those inside the building on whether they should evacuate or shelter in place.

However, every emergency notification system is not created equal. Here are a few features your school or municipality building’s emergency alert system must have in order to save lives.

The 20-Second Rule

The first 20 seconds of an emergency situation are undoubtedly the most critical. Your emergency alert system should be able to be activated from anywhere inside your building so that you aren’t wasting precious seconds in transit to a panic button that’s locked in an office or across the hall.

Fully Automated

Once an alert is triggered, your emergency notification system should be fully automated. The last thing you want is to expend your resources and time doing things that could be handled by technology – removing the opportunity for human error. The best emergency alert solutions can do everything themselves, from the initial active shooter or lockdown alert to deliver pre-recorded emergency notifications to law enforcement and first responders. These notifications include everything from texts and computer pop-ups to audio and visual notifications for students, faculty and staff that are visually or hearing impaired both within the school buildings themselves.

Complete Campus Coverage

With many schools getting larger and more geographically spread out, it’s never been more important for an emergency notification system to be able to cover the entire school grounds. That means inside AND outside school buildings. Places like athletic fields and parking lots can often be overlooked, but also need to be included in the coverage plans.

LENS+OPTICS Delivers Safety and Peace of Mind

A safe school environment is an essential component of what conditions empower effective learning. When students feel unsafe, they are more likely to engage in risky behaviors and score notably lower on standardized tests. Over the last few years, the percentage of children who feel safe at school has declined, and concerns from both parents and children tend to be at their highest immediately following a high-profile school shooting.

Investing in an emergency notification system reassures parents and students that the safety of your school campus is top priority. The Lockdown Emergency Notification System (LENS) Solution from Eastern DataComm is a comprehensive system that offers improved overall communication during a lockdown or incident. Coupled with OPTICS, Eastern DataComm’s continuous monitoring service, you can rest easy knowing that the technology you have in place is ready to respond when it is needed most.

What to expect with LENS + OPTICS

Our LENS+ OPTICS can be integrated with a school district’s current communication system, thanks to the expertise of our safety and communications technicians. From there, the LENS Solution can be activated by pressing a lockdown button, dialing a code from an on-premise phone, or even activating from a smartphone application.

Once activated, the system plays an automated pre-recorded announcement over the school’s existing paging system, as well as around the perimeter of the grounds. It reaches external areas like sports fields and portable school classrooms. Audio and visual alerts like strobes and LED signboards are installed to ensure loud areas like the auditorium and cafeteria are adequately covered.

After the initial warning, automated calls with a pre-recorded lockdown message are sent to first responders like the local police and other key administrators throughout the district like the superintendent, principal, and school security staff. Notifications also include PC screen pop-ups, emails, and text messages about the lockdown event.

OPTICS, which continuously monitors components that affect LENS to ensure it is always running optimally. In the event of a crisis, LENS+ OPTICS is the force that provides those in charge of ensuring the safety of their school campus with the ability to handle any critical situation as best as possible.

Want to learn more about how it works? You can explore the details of our LENS Solution here.

Why Partner with Eastern DataComm?

Eastern DataComm developed LENS + OPTICS after working closely with state officials, local police, and other school safety experts. The sole focus of our work has been to create a solution that can expedite communication, allowing for quick action in response to a threat on school or municipality grounds.

From design, to set-up, to testing, to monitoring, we’ll be with you every step of the way to ensure that your chosen solution works for the unique safety needs that define your campus.

Work with Eastern DataComm to Deploy LENS + OPTICS as Your Emergency Notification System

Eastern DataComm has been working with hundreds of school districts for over 30 years to assist them with improving safety and communications through leveraging technology. Our continued goal has been to offer reassurance to students, faculty, and staff that they will be able to respond as quickly as possible in the event of an emergency.

Contact us today to learn more about our comprehensive communication systems, and to discuss with our team of safety advisors what solutions might be best for your school’s needs.

6 Reasons to Upgrade Your Business Phone System

WSI Comandix on January 7, 2022

Businesses replace their desktop PCs about every five years. Mobile devices are replaced more frequently, especially for companies that allow employee-owned devices, because many consumers upgrade their smartphones and tablets as soon as they qualify for carrier discounts.

Yet many organizations tend to cling to old phone systems for 10 to 20 years. To give you a sense of how old that technology is, the iPhone was introduced 10 years ago, and the founders of Google purchased the google.com domain 20 years ago.

Why don’t organizations upgrade or replace their phone systems? In many cases, the business value of a new phone system is grossly underestimated. If the old phone system still works, there’s no sense of urgency to replace it. Or is there?

Here are six reasons why you should consider upgrading from a legacy phone system to a leading Voice over IP (VoIP) platform.

1) A New Phone System Provides Cost Savings

This is the slam dunk of a selling point for a new VoIP business phone system. A VoIP system eliminates the need to maintain separate voice and data networks and can help reduce telecom costs. With a cloud-based voice system, you can choose the features you want and pay for the service as a monthly subscription, with minimal upfront investment.

2) Valuable New Features

Today’s VoIP platforms give users access to conference calling, call presence, call routing, “find me, follow me” and many other features through an intuitive interface. All of this functionality can boost productivity and enhance customer service.

3) Application Integration

Unified communications platforms allow users to instant message, schedule and hold virtual meetings, and share files from their desk phone or softphone. Customer relationship management and other business applications, such as SalesForce, AMS 360 and NetSuite, can also be integrated with the phone system to streamline workflows.

4) Mobility Issues Resolved With New Phone System

With today’s VoIP phone systems, calls can be automatically forwarded to a mobile device, where the user can access the same tools and services they would find on their desk phone. This is far more efficient and reliable than expecting a caller to leave a message and wait for the recipient to retrieve the message and return the call.

5) New Business Phone Systems Offer Simple Scalability

As your business grows in terms of personnel and remote locations, a new phone system built on a VoIP framework makes it easy to add users, offices, devices, numbers, services and capacity without reinventing the wheel.

6) Elimination of Obsolete Technology

Old phone systems may still work, but the technology will eventually fail. When that happens, good luck finding parts and someone to make the repairs. Repairing outdated technology is a slow, expensive process, and every minute of downtime will cost you money. Invest in a new phone system now before the old system breaks down.

Why the Right Expertise Matters

Anyone can buy or sell a phone system. Choosing the right system for your organization and getting that system to do what you need it to do is a different story. That requires collaboration with data networking and communications experts. What features do you need? Would a cloud-based or on-premises system make more sense? Will your infrastructure support a new system? How will you keep your data secure?

Eastern DataComm will walk you through the planning, design, deployment, adoption and support phases of your phone system implementation, answering these and other questions to help you maximize ROI.

Let us show you how a new business phone system can help you reduce costs and do business better.

8 Factors to Consider When Implementing a Cloud Phone System

WSI Comandix on December 15, 2021

In a previous post, we discussed why more organizations are moving their phone systems to the cloud and what to look for in a cloud phone system. More than cost savings, a cloud phone system offers more control and flexibility, simpler management, the ability to add or remove users and services as needed, access to advanced features and applications, and built-in redundancy and disaster recovery.

Despite the benefits, adopting a cloud phone system is not a risk-free proposition. Implementing and using a cloud service is relatively simple, but aligning a cloud phone system with business operations and goals to maximize ROI is a complex process that requires a well-defined plan.

Here are eight factors to consider when moving your phone system to the cloud.

  1. User Experience. What applications and features do users need to become more productive? What are their priorities? Do different groups of users need different tools and services? Engage employees throughout the process to ensure the solution you choose is a good fit.
  2. Long-Term, Strategic Planning. Most organizations use a cloud phone system with other applications and services from multiple vendors. In addition to an implementation plan, there needs to be a roadmap in place to ensure disparate platforms can be integrated and performance can be holistically managed.
  3. Technology Evaluation. It’s tempting to choose the cheapest solution or even the one that seems easiest to use. However, cloud phone solutions must be evaluated based on business and communications requirements. This will ensure the system you choose has your must-have features, as well as valuable features you may choose to add down the road.
  4. A Phased Migration. As we mentioned in the previous post, you don’t have to move everything to the cloud at once. Migrating to a cloud-based phone system in phases allows you to move small groups of users and/or services to the cloud and gradually increase as you work out the kinks with minimal disruption.
  5. Assessment and Testing. What is the current state of the user experience and performance? What will the minimum benchmark be after implementation of a cloud phone system? Will your IT environment be ready to support phone features in the cloud today and in the future? Assess and test before, during and after deployment as needs evolve.
  6. Performance and Quality Monitoring. Proactively troubleshooting and addressing issues will help you avoid disruption to business operations and the user experience. Data from a variety of sources will need to be collected and correlated to maintain high levels of performance and quality.
  7. Application Integration. Users must be able to access all applications in a cloud phone system through a single interface. Otherwise, you’re asking for inefficiency and management complexity that can negate some cloud benefits. Make sure the applications you choose can integrate with other platforms.
  8. Security, Compliance and Business Continuity. A cloud provider should be able to prove to you that your data and applications will be secure and minimum compliance requirements will be met. The provider should also have a documented business continuity plan in case of an emergency.

Do not underestimate the skills and resources required to migrate to the cloud and meet ROI and productivity expectations. In most cases, this is not a do-it-yourself project, and it’s never a learn-as-you-go project.

Eastern DataComm can provide the expert guidance you need to successfully implement cloud solutions. Let us help you assess your existing infrastructure, develop a migration plan, and evaluate solutions to take full advantage of the benefits and minimize risk.

LENS Customization Meets School District’s Unique Safety Requirements

WSI Comandix on December 7, 2021

In the wake of the horrific 2018 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, a Federal Commission on Safety was established to research and recommend best practice solutions to improve school safety. As part of its final report, the commission recommended a multilayered approach to physical security that addresses the needs of diverse student populations, including students with disabilities.

That’s a recommendation that resonated with officials at the Berkeley Heights (NJ) Public School District.

The district comprises six schools serving approximately 2,500 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12. Governor Livingston High School is well known throughout the region for its award-winning inclusive education program for deaf, hard of hearing and cognitively impaired students.

The safety of those students was a high priority when the district embarked on a project to improve its emergency notification system in 2019. Officials quickly discovered that longtime technology provider Eastern DataComm could provide the ideal solution.

Meeting Special Needs

Our team at Eastern DataComm, which has been supporting the district’s Mitel phone system for many years, showed officials how its proven Lockdown and Emergency Notification System (LENS) could be integrated with the phone system to boost security across the district’s six school buildings. Best of all, the system could easily be customized to meet the unique requirements of its hearing-impaired population.

In a recent case study, Mike Skara, the technology coordinator for Berkeley Heights Schools, noted that most notification systems are highly reliant on horns, loudspeakers and public address notifications to warn students, teachers and staff of an emergency. The district would need a system that featured more visual alerts for students in the high school’s deaf and hard-of-hearing program.

Our engineering specialists at Eastern DataComm accounted for such scenarios when originally designing the LENS solution. In addition to generating emergency notifications over phones, intercoms and loudspeakers, the system integrates strobe lights and LED signage to deliver visual cues. Accommodating Berkeley Heights’ special requirements only involved adding additional signs and lights in the high school’s classrooms and common areas such as the cafeteria.

Multiple Methods of Communication

EDC further customized the system to integrate with the school district’s Google G Suite collection of cloud-based tools that enable digital communication and collaboration between students and teachers. That creates additional avenues for delivering emergency notifications with alerts transmitted by phone, text and email. Additionally, notifications can be designated for distinct audiences in different buildings.

There was no guesswork with the LENS solution, either. Eastern DataComm has implemented LENS in hundreds of K-12 schools and municipalities in the New York/New Jersey Tri-State area.

“It’s a well-designed solution that was already being widely used, so it was pretty clear it would check off all the boxes for us,” said Skara. “Plus, Eastern DataComm was able to customize it for our particular needs.”

School safety and security solutions must account for the needs of all students, and provide for multiple modes of communication with administrators, staff, teachers, first responders and law enforcement. Eastern DataComm’s LENS solution prepares schools to respond rapidly in any emergency.

Is your school best prepared to handle the worst? Get the conversation started by contacting us by phone (201)-457-3311 or email [email protected] today.

7 Ways Unified Communications Benefits State and Local Government

WSI Comandix on November 15, 2021

Many government agencies at the state and local level still rely upon legacy phone systems or Centrex-type services leased from carriers. These older systems are difficult to manage, expensive to maintain, and lack many of the features of a modern communications platform. Designed when most workers sat at desks throughout the day, they are incapable of supporting today’s remote and mobile workers.

Unified Communications for Public Services

Legacy phone systems aren’t just frustrating for government employees — they make it difficult for agencies to meet the expectations of their constituents. As consumers we have grown accustomed to seamless communication via a variety of channels, including phone, email, text and online chat. We are used to having ready access to accurate, up-to-date information. We demand this level of service from businesses, and expect nothing less from government agencies.

An IP-based unified communications (UC) platform can help state and local governments enhance both their operations and the services they deliver. UC brings together voice, video and collaboration tools in a single interface, eliminating communications silos and enabling seamless transition from one channel to another. “Presence” lets users know whether someone is available and their preferred means of communication, eliminating phone tag. UC solutions can also be wirelessly integrated with other applications and data to streamline workflows and provide one-click access to powerful communications tools.

Unified Communications for Government: 7 Benefits

  1. UC makes it easier for constituents to reach the right person to answer their questions and solve their problems. UC supports personalized call handling and routing, as well as auto-attendant and contact center capabilities.
  2. IP communications creates a common platform across multiple sites and agencies. (ex: Borough Hall and the police department, DPW, town library and/or the fire department.) By enabling real-time collaboration, it helps boost productivity, speed response times and facilitate decision-making.
  3. Many government agencies are using telework programs to reduce costs, provide for continuity of operations, and give employees greater flexibility. A UC system can be extended to teleworkers so they remain connected and have access to the tools they need when working remotely.
  4. Many municipal administrators and other key personnel are frequently out of the office. The mobile device integration enabled by a modern UC platform gives them secure access to the communications environment — anytime, anywhere. With mobility, administrators can make and receive phone calls just as if they are at their desks.
  5. Because IP communications leverages the data network for voice calls, it is more cost-efficient and easier to manage than legacy platforms. Web-based administration tools simplify moves, adds and changes across multiple locations. Teams can access comprehensive features and functionality without draining vital resources. With a short amount of training, most anyone can easily access this information and make these changes – saving costs with a limited IT team that many municipalities have.
  6. Whether on-premises or in the cloud, today’s UC platforms have a fault-tolerant and redundant architecture that helps ensure continuous availability for disaster recovery.
  7. An IP communications system can also be integrated with physical security systems. UC becomes the communications platform for emergency notification systems. With the LENS solution, a municipality can notify everyone inside and outside the building as well as other sites that an emergency event has commenced. The UC platform enables the solution to call the local police, 911 and key administrators simultaneously as well.

The ShoreTel Unified Communications platform is a proven solution that connects people and information while reducing total cost of ownership. It is highly secure and reliable, with failover capabilities that are essential to government agencies for both day-to-day operations and during emergency situations.  You can ensure high quality services with enterprise-class availability to meet the demands of your employees and constituents.

At Eastern DataComm, we are proud of our history serving the communications needs of state and local governments.

Let us show you how we can enhance the quality of your communications infrastructure to help you increase efficiency and better serve your constituents.  Contact us today!

Proud Member Of

Society of Communications Technology Consultants International SCTC logo
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Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents CAPSS logo