Empowering Schools With Insight That Helps Protect Their Communities

WSI Comandix on September 8, 2022

With the Parkland school shooting trial making headlines and the memory of the recent Uvalde, Texas, shooting in mind, there’s no more pressing a time than now to focus on school district campus-wide safety protocols.

At Eastern DataComm, we’re as committed as ever to empowering school districts across the country to take proactive steps in protecting their school communities, with the goal of preventing incidents like those named above and a long list of others from ever happening again. Responding effectively and swiftly should these potentially devastating events transpire is the absolute best way to mitigate damage and loss of life.

For this reason, our team will be traveling near and far this fall to host an educational seminar series called What Schools Must Do to Prepare for a Lockdown or an Active Shooter Event. We’ll be visiting a number of towns in New Jersey and Connecticut, doing our part to share this valuable information with school officials. We’ll continue to expand our footprint with these educational opportunities, so stay tuned for when our team will be in a town near you.

Today, we’d like to share a preview of those presentations with you so you know what is in store for our attendees with the hopes that you’ll be joining us in the upcoming weeks.

What We’ll Cover In Our Upcoming Seminars

Our presentation is engineered to support K–12 Superintendents and Business Administrators, School Safety and Security Professionals, School District IT Professionals, Higher Education Administrators, and those entrusted with ensuring the safety of school district students, faculty, and staff within your district.

What Schools Must Do to Prepare for a Lockdown or an Active Shooter Event is a workshop designed to assist school leaders in understanding how they can leverage technology to create safer schools inside and out.

In addition to detailing the key elements of school safety ecosystems and the challenges schools face when dealing with active threats, we’ll share insight on how emergency notification solutions, access control systems, video surveillance systems, and multi-line VoIP phone systems can help schools effectively respond to emergencies like active shooter incidents. We’ll share what other districts have done to successfully improve safety within their schools so that attendees can benefit from real-world experiences that others in their field have faced.

We’ll define the 3 principles every emergency notification solution needs to address to be effective in a crisis and why recent legislation and guidelines may fall short of thoroughly preparing schools for a lockdown or active shooter event. Seeing is believing. We’ll provide a live demonstration of Eastern DataComm’s emergency notification system and continuous monitoring service, LENS + OPTICS, to show attendees exactly how technology can and should work in their favor to help avert disaster.

Practical Insight And Interactive Feedback On Active Shooter Response

The workshop will also provide examples that explore the previous active shooter events that made national headlines. Our presenter, Eastern DataComm’s School Safety Advisor, Paul Jenne, will breakdown how these events unfolded and provide practical solutions to address the failure points that led to these tragic outcomes.

We’ll conclude the workshop with a discussion featuring thought leaders in education and technology, along with an audience Q&A. We encourage all of our attendees to come prepared with lots of questions for our team of experts to answer.

In addition to the vital information we shared last year, we’ll be discussing the recent shootings that made headlines, and how a comprehensive system to effectively respond to such events includes technology solutions like emergency notification, phone systems, paging, video surveillance, and access control.

If you attended last year’s seminar, there is certainly more to be learned and new ground to cover. With the content entirely refreshed for a new school year, we’re looking forward to seeing both new and familiar faces in the crowd.

We’ll also tackle some of our most-asked school safety questions we’ve heard from educators across the nation. Some of those queries include:

  • How do we ensure notifications cover the entire property in an urban environment or an open campus environment?
  • What if your campus does not have an overhead intercom system?
  • How can you send an emergency announcement from outside the building?
  • Do all VoIP systems work with e-911?
  • If budget is limited, and a school needs to prioritize which aspects of safety technology they need to upgrade first, where would you recommend they start?
  • Is there a way to monitor an emergency notification system to ensure it is working optimally?

A Workshop That Helps You Prepare For Moments When Every Second Counts

In an active shooter event or other emergency warranting a lockdown or shelter-in-place, every second counts. We firmly believe that when it comes to school safety, we’re all in this together.

That’s why we’re offering this presentation in a variety of locations this fall with more to come in the spring.

Our goal is to help as many schools as possible prevent devastating incidents. Though we cannot stop someone from deciding to perpetrate horrendous acts, we can and will do our best to stop them from doing the damage they intend to inflict.

Connect With Us And Join Us For The Workshop This Fall

We’d love to welcome you to one of our upcoming events. Please be sure to follow us on social media to keep apprised of the latest educational opportunities in your area. You can also check back on our Seminar page to see when and where new locations are added. Our current roster includes:

Thursday, October 6 – Maggiano’s of Hackensack, NJ

Tuesday, October 11 – Hartford, CT Marriott

Wednesday, October 12 – Stamford, CT Marriott

Tuesday, October 18 – Maggiano’s of Cherry Hill, NJ

Wednesday, October 19 – Maggiano’s of Bridgewater, NJ

Ready to explore the best ways to keep your school or district safe this fall before our seminars commence? Contact us here to schedule a Complimentary School Safety Consultation.

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.

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.

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!

Is It Time to Move Your Phone System to the Cloud?

WSI Comandix on December 26, 2017

8x8 NJ Partner | Hosted PBX

Many organizations are using the cloud for some of their communications and collaboration tools. The cloud reduces or eliminates capital costs for on-premises hardware, offers more flexibility, shifts management and maintenance responsibilities to the cloud service provider, and allows you to pay as you go for what you need.

Organizations are also moving their phone systems to the cloud. With a cloud-based phone system, phone service is delivered through the Internet. In addition to placing and receiving calls, features such as voicemail, call routing and call forwarding can be accessed through the cloud provider.

Although adoption of cloud-based phone systems, such as 8×8, is on the rise, many organizations have reservations, which are largely based on misconceptions about how a cloud-based system works. A common misconception is that when you move your phone system to the cloud, control of the phone system goes with it. However, a cloud-based phone system actually gives you more control and makes it easier to manage. The system is easier to deploy, and settings that apply to an individual user or the entire organization can be changed remotely via a web-based interface. Services and users can be added and removed as needed without complex implementations and reconfigurations.

Call quality is another longstanding concern about cloud-based phone systems. For many years, this concern was justified due to interference issues and a lack of bandwidth. The near-ubiquitous availability of Internet bandwidth and better technology have overcome these challenges, and organizations are able to monitor their cloud-based phone systems for call quality. Also, a cloud-based system can be integrated with an on-premises system so you don’t have to move the cloud in one fell swoop.

Cloud-based phone systems deliver real business benefits that go far beyond cost savings. You can pick and choose advanced features and applications that you might not be able to afford in an on-premises system. You can integrate communications systems with business applications, processes and workflows, which improves productivity and efficiency. Also, the cloud is built for the mobile workforce, allowing anytime, anywhere communication. Built-in redundancy and disaster recovery allow your employees to stay connected to colleagues and customers, regardless of weather, a power outage or other disruptive events.

There are certain features to look for in a cloud-based phone system. It should be easy to manage and make changes as needed without IT involvement. It should offer both mobile and desktop applications instead of trying to make one version work for both. Look for high-definition audio to ensure high call clarity, as well as applications for instant messaging, video and audio conferencing, and presence. Security must be a top priority. Look for a system that uses advanced data encryption to prevent unauthorized interception of business calls.

Although a cloud-based phone system is easier to deploy than an on-premises system, careful planning is required to ensure a smooth implementation.

Eastern DataComm can design your system around your business processes and goals, configure your system to do what you need it to do, and help train your employees. Let us help you choose and implement a cloud-based system that boosts productivity, efficiency and the bottom line.

Technology Upgrades to Help Schools from “Falling Back”

WSI Comandix on November 6, 2017

school clock, paging and bell solutions

It is now the end of Daylight Savings Time and schools need to set all of their clocks to “fall back.” While most of us are trying to get accustomed to the time change, a complex routine is playing out in many schools across the country.

IT administrators must go through the painstaking task of resetting the school’s bell schedule. School districts typically have a wide range of clocks, some of which are set by opening the cabinet and entering numbers on a keypad, others which require knowledge of complex codes. Newer clocks were programmed to automatically update for daylight savings time — that is until Congress extended it in 2007.

The clocks and bell schedule isn’t the only antiquated technology schools must contend with. In many schools the paging system is at least 30 years old — sometimes even older. The “brains” of these systems is a head-end unit the size of a refrigerator that’s housed in the main office. A microphone is used to make an announcement, which is amplified by the head-end and sent out to hardwired speakers throughout the school.

These giant head-end units are a wiring nightmare and weren’t designed for today’s needs. These systems also typically have one zone, meaning that messages go out over every speaker. Administrators may get annoyed with having to listen to morning announcements, and neighbors complain about hearing announcements from the outside speakers. At the same time, issues with wiring and bad speakers often create no-coverage areas throughout the building.

These systems would be obsolete if it weren’t for the need to make emergency announcements. However, it seems almost futile and depending on the situation dangerous, to run to the main office to make an announcement that most likely won’t reach everyone.

To better meet their school safety and emergency notification objectives, schools should upgrade to a modern head-end unit with a zone controller that enables messages to be directed to appropriate areas of the building. For example, morning announcements can be directed only to classrooms while emergency announcements go to all speakers.

A modern head-end unit can also be tied to an IP phone system, allowing school officials to make announcements from any phone in the building. This is extremely beneficial in an emergency. With Eastern DataComm’s LENS solution, if the principal sees a dangerous situation, she can go to a nearby phone, dial in a code, and make an announcement and notify students and staff of an emergency without having to run back to the main office. In addition, modern head-end units typically have an override port to ensure that an emergency announcement gets control of the speakers.

In order to maximize your investment in communication and school safety technology, existing wiring and speakers that are still functioning may be able to be reused and augmented with additional speakers to cover hallways and other areas with no coverage. Most school paging systems installed decades ago were intended for morning announcements, so additional speakers are generally needed to ensure that emergency announcements can be heard throughout the school no matter where you are on school grounds.

It’s imperative that you work with a team that understands schools and knows where there may be areas throughout school grounds that are not covered by your existing speakers.

Schools should also consider implementing a modern bell schedule with an easy-to-use, browser-based interface. This eliminates complex configuration during the beginning and end of Daylight Savings Time or when schools have delayed openings, and ensures the time is always accurate. It also allows the bell schedule to be tied into the paging system so that a bell or other tone can be played over the speakers rather than actual bells installed throughout the building.

At Eastern DataComm, we’ve worked with over 100 schools in NJ and NY Metro Area. We understand the technology challenges schools face and have developed practical, budget-friendly solutions to maximize investments. Let us help you upgrade your bell schedule, paging system and emergency notification system to relieve maintenance headaches and improve your school safety preparedness.

How to Simplify Your Telecom with SIP Trunking

WSI Comandix on June 1, 2017

If your business is looking to simplify its phone management, SIP trunking might be the relief you’re looking for. By eliminating the need for maintenance and installations, your teams will have to spend less time managing telecom issues and more time focusing on core business matters.

Fast Implementation

A new SIP trunking solution can be deployed within 30-60 days, or even a few weeks depending on the scope of the project. Because SIP trunking installation is handled behind the scenes, primarily by your SIP trunking provider, you will be able to get up and running without any disruption to your business. There is nothing additional to configure at your end, provided you have a strong connection to the Internet and a SIP-compatible business phone system.

No Maintenance

Once you’re up and running, increasing capacity is as simple as contacting your provider. No more hard wires or installations required – all you have to do is request additional trunks to scale your solution. Your SIP provider will also manage the network and disaster recovery so you don’t have to. With a reliable vendor, redundancy is automatically baked in and your provider will handle all of the failover destinations if a hardware or carrier issue should occur.

Single Vendor

Many SIP trunking providers offer other communications solutions as well. If your provider does, you’ll have one point of contact for all of your communication needs. No more pointing fingers or needing to call multiple vendors to determine the source of the issue. Instead, you’ll have one call to make to get to the root of the problem. By having one vendor, you’ll be able to save time and provider a seamless experience across all of your communications solutions.

Remove Geographic Barriers

With SIP trunking, you can integrate with local PSTNs to streamline interactions between employees in multiple locations. Because remote locations can be added easily to the same network and enjoy access to the same communications applications as workers at headquarters, both regional and international offices benefit.

Support for Growth

As your business grows, you currently have to forecast adding new lines in advance to prevent capacity issues, plus invest a lot of time and money into physical space and installation management required to turn up additional lines. With SIP trunking, call capacity can be increased on-demand to support unlimited concurrent calls. Hence, you don’t have to spend time installing additional lines when business demands change or get caught in a bind if unexpected seasonality occurs. Plus, you won’t have to account for future grow and overpay for lines you aren’t using.

4 Reasons Why SIP Trunking is the Perfect Match for UC Solutions

WSI Comandix on June 27, 2016

SIP trunking comes with many benefits – reduced telecom costs, cloud functionality and ease of capacity expansion are just a few. When paired with other communications solutions such as unified communications, businesses are able to seamlessly integrate those benefits with UC functionality such as desktop sharing or instant messaging. By extending your onsite UC solution with SIP trunking, you’ll be able to improve employee productivity, reduce costs and harness the flexibility of the cloud.

What is SIP Trunking?

SIP Trunking is a way to deliver voice and media over the Internet. If your business phone system, or PBX, can connect to the Internet and use the SIP protocol to make calls over the Internet, then SIP trunking can be a means of delivering high quality, reliable digital voice services for your business without the cost of additional hardware.

There are many benefits associated with SIP Trunking, but here are our top four reasons why SIP trunking and UC are the perfect pair:

  1. Consistent Experience Across Offices

SIP trunking supports voice and media data so you can run your all communications efforts over the same network. By removing geographic barriers, you’ll be able to deliver a consistent experience across your different office locations and remote employees, and increase productivity by giving your employees access to the same systems and data.

  1. Improved Business Continuity

Carrier diversity and redundancy is a key benefit of SIP trunking. If an outage does occur, your business phone system will have access to multiple carriers through your SIP trunking provider’s network to ensure uptime. Top SIP trunking providers invest a great deal into their network to ensure automatic failovers that support disaster recovery needs. Plus, your vendor will manage all of the carrier relations and maintenance so you don’t have to.

  1. On-Demand Scalability

When your business grows or if you have seasonal fluctuations in call volume, you’ll likely need to add phone lines to support those changes. With SIP trunking, your telecom connectivity can quickly scale as you need it to. Call capacity can be increased on-demand to support unlimited concurrent calls, while ensuring you never pay for more than you need. Instead of forecasting advance installations and incurring the associated costs, all you’ll have to do is contact your provider to increase the number of trunks.

  1. Stepping Stone to Cloud

SIP trunking is a great alternative if you’re considering the cloud but aren’t quite ready to make the leap. By combining onsite UC solutions with SIP trunking, you’ll be able to maintain the control of your onsite solution while gaining cloud benefits such as flexibility to grow and simplified management.

Have you thought about pairing #SIPTrunking with your #onsite #UC solution?  If so, give us a call today!

Proud Member Of