Dear Parents,

Keeping you informed is a top priority.  That’s why we have adopted the ALERTNOW Notification Service which will allow us to send a telephone or e-mail message to you providing important information about school events or emergencies. We anticipate using ALERTNOW only to notify you of school delays, cancellations due to inclement weather or emergencies.  In the event of an emergency at school, you can have peace of mind knowing that you will be informed immediately by phone and e-mail.

What you need to know about receiving calls sent through ALERTNOW

•    Caller ID will display 651-454-4570 when an announcement is delivered.
•    ALERTNOW will leave a message on any answering machine or voicemail.
•    If the ALERTNOW message stops playing, press the number “1” and the message will replay from the beginning.

We are very excited to incorporate ALERTNOW as a tool to improve parent communication and look forward to having the ability to deliver real time information to you and provide awareness of all the great events that take place within the school.

Call F.A.Q. for Parents

Below is an overview of common questions and issues regarding AlertNow broadcasts.

The message started playing and then stopped. Why?

AlertNow utilizes the industry’s most Advanced Answering Machine Detection (AAMD)
software. The system starts the broadcast immediately upon telephone pickup;
simultaneously, it is listening for interruptions. If the system is not interrupted by noise
or someone speaking within the first 3.5 seconds, the message is delivered. If the
system detects a greeting longer than a few seconds, the system treats this as an
outgoing message from an answering machine and will stop playing, wait for silence
(usually after the beep), and then start the message over so that it can be recorded in
its entirety.

While the software is 98% accurate in distinguishing live vs. machine, errors can occur
if the person repeatedly says “hello” or answers in a noisy environment (i.e. traffic,
children playing, loud music or television, dog barking, etc.). Generally in these
situations, the system stops playing the message. It is waiting for silence to start the
message over. In a noisy environment, where silence is unattainable, call recipients can
press the number 1 on their telephone and the message will play from the beginning
without interruption.

What if the line is busy or there is no answer?

The AlertNow system will make up to four attempts (depending on account settings) to
reach each number, with three minutes in between each call. If the message is not
delivered by the fourth attempt, the school is notified of such in the delivery report.

Why is my answering machine recording only half of the message?

If the answering machine greeting is sporadic with various periods of silence or does
not start playing within 3 seconds, the system may read this as a live person and begin
playing the message before the machine has started recording. This will result in a
recording of silence (if the AlertNow message finishes playing before the machine
begins recording) or of just the last portion of the AlertNow message. Parents can
simply re-record their outgoing message so that there are no pauses.

Alternately, if the answering machine is set to record for a specific amount of time (e.g.,
30 seconds) and the AlertNow message runs longer than that, this will also result in
message cut-off. The recommended solution is to have parents set their machines to
record for a longer period.

For answering machines or voicemail systems where it is necessary to enter a mailbox
number, AlertNow is unable to leave a message.


My caller ID showed that the school had called, but there was no voicemail. Why?

The system will ring a line up to six times. If your answering machine is set to pick up
on seven or more rings, the message may not be delivered to your machine. Therefore,
we encourage you to set your machine to six rings or fewer. Another possibility is that
there is a break or a substantial silence in your machine’s outgoing message, causing
the AlertNow message to play prior to the machine actually recording. Please make
sure that the greeting is seamless to facilitate successful message delivery.

Why doesn’t the school’s name and/or phone number appear on the caller ID?

AlertNow passes the caller ID information to the local telephone carriers, but it is up to
those carriers to pass it along to their customers. Furthermore, different local telephone
companies process caller ID information differently. Some provide the name associated
with the number, while others do not. For example, a telephone company may require
an individual to subscribe to “Advanced Caller ID” in order to receive the school name
along with the phone number. Unfortunately, we have no control over this feature.

Will the system call phone numbers with extensions?

The AlertNow system is capable of dialing extensions, but we cannot guarantee the
success of such a call. First of all, strict rules must be followed when entering the
number in the AlertNow system. It must be formatted as ten digits, a space, a lower
case x, then the extension number. Secondly, if the phone system on the recipient’s
end requires menu navigation (such as, “Press 1 if you know your party’s extension”)
AlertNow will not be able to deliver the call.

I have a telemarketer screening device or service. How will that affect the call?

Devices such as TeleZapper and services from the phone company such as Privacy
Manager or Privacy Director are specifically designed to prevent “unknown” calls from
progressing to the customer’s phone. Unless the district has chosen otherwise,
calls launched through AlertNow display 651-454-4570 on the caller ID,
which is a non-standard, “unknown” number, triggering most privacy manager services.
AlertNow’s software is designed to distinguish between a live answer and an answering
machine, not to navigate though privacy management services. Parents can contact
their phone company and request that 651-454-4570 be added to their list of allowed
callers.