Hosted Telephony for Education

Keep teachers, staff and parents in communication with our affordable, easy-to-use hosted phone system

Background

The education sector must consider many factors when introducing a telephony system. Schools look for three things in a phone system – resilience, safety and efficiency. The phone system supports the day-to-day operations of a school so it is crucial it has certain features and functionality.

The Challenge

Teacher and student safety is paramount and therefore a communication system that enables the staff and students to be safe at school is imperative.

Schools need a reliable, resilient phone system. If there are circumstances that mean the phone system cannot work in the way it is designed to, an effective disaster recovery plan is needed. It is vital that messages can be left so that issues can be dealt with quickly and efficiently.

Instant messaging can also be beneficial, especially where an emergency situation arises or where a quick response is required between teachers and staff. Having the ability to prioritise calls is a must. The nature of a school environment means that particular calls will place a greater priority than others, and the system must be able to cope with this demand. The main challenge for schools is selecting a telephony system that has the high quality features required within a set budget.

The Solution for the teacher

• Safety
  Page all phones in case of emergencies or other announcements, and with mobility features such as twinning with mobiles and the soft client for PC and smart phones, turn staff into a mobile workforce in case of an emergency.
• iPhone app
  A call pull feature allows teachers to easily transition from a call with a parent or an administrator from their handset to their mobile device.
• Personal mailbox
  Every extension includes a personal mailbox and voicemails can be accessed from a phone, email or mobile application – meaning teachers no longer have to rely on secretaries to pass messages on.
• Instant Messaging
  If the teachers all have laptops, instant messaging is available through the soft client in order to quickly speak to colleagues.
• Integration with Outlook
  Enabling teachers to dial parents or other contacts directly from their PC.
• Call recording
  A vital tool for important calls.

The Solution for the administrator

• Mobility
  Administrators often move all around the school but that should not make them difficult to contact.
• Never miss a call
  Soft phone, twinning, sequential ring.
• Auto attendant
  ensuring the right person is being spoken to, and custom greetings to give a warmer, more professional image.
• Blacklisting
  Limit disruptions during the day by blacklisting malicious callers.
• Conferencing
  Use the outbound conference facility to hold vital all-staff calls.
• Ease of Use
  Schools may not have a dedicated IT team – a hosted phone system removes the dark art.
• Queueing
  Providing an intelligent, friendly way of dealing with calls even during the busiest periods.

A Horizon hosted phone system can help the education sector reach its full potential – much more than just a phone system.