Minnesota Schools Select Honeywell Instant Alert

MINNEAPOLIS-Honeywell announced yesterday that Valley Crossing Community School in Washington County and the Orono Public School in Hennepin County, Minn., have selected Honeywell Instant Alert for Schools to help improve communication with parents and guardians. The Web-based notification service allows administrators to deliver both emergency and routine messages in English or Spanish to families within minutes via phone, cell phone, pager, e-mail and PDA.

To use the service, a designated representative from the school sends a message online or by phone. The message is immediately broadcast to all contact points that have been provided by parents or guardians. Parents can update their contact information via the Web and specify how they prefer to be reached, such as by e-mail for a routine message, and a combination of e-mail and cell phones for emergency communications.

Instant Alert uses the same Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption protocol that protects financial and banking sites, ensuring the data are secure. The district does not have to install any hardware, software or additional phone lines because the system is Web-based.